I have a new BK 40 also, and learning to use it the last few days. I can't go anywhere near 4 o'clock. If I move the temp control knob past the beginning of the white band on the dial, the cat temperature guage on the stovetop goes to the very end of the white "active" band and even a little beyond. If I see it go beyond, I turn the knob back and open the bypass for awhile to lower the cat temperature into the white zone, since I assume anywhere past the white band means the cat may be over-heating. I've been told on another thread that new cats can be overactive.
Your discussion is very interesting.
Dale,
While tis may be off-topic, in my limited (1.5 season) experience with the King 40, my biggest obstacle was following the directions in the manual to run it on high with the door unlatched for 25 to 35 minutes. Comparing it to any of the other 4 stoves I've had in the same location, it runs against what my brain wants to do! What I have found is, you have to bring the stove up to temperature, as in HOT, on the initial fire. In the beginning, I would close the door and bypass nearly as soon as it would reach minimum active temperature, thinking I was saving wood and burning smoke. While the cat was indeed hot enough to light off and go beyond the high range, the stove still seemed to not be hot enough to warm the house. (Rather disheartening when you dropped the major coin for this thing!) The glass would also darken quickly (relatively) and never clear off during normal use. I forced myself to follow the initial fire instructions, and I say force, because watching and listening to that roar is counterintuitive to "normal" (i.e. other types of) stove operation. It also freaks the wife out, so be prepared for that! Regardless of your cat being at light-off temp, close the door, but leave the bypass and thermostat open. The fire will nearly go out, it seems, but it's not, really. Wait 10 minutes, or when you see the smoke clear from the fire box and active flame again, THEN drop the bypass and throttle it back. If you turn the knob quickly, you can hear the flap close. Whatever the temperature of the stove is at that time, if you set the thermostat to where you hear the flap fully close, that is the stove temperature that it will maintain, give or take a bit. Conversely, if you light it and let it rip until you see the cat come up to light-off temp, then close the door and the bypass, the stove will still be "cold", and your (my) brain wants to keep the thermostat turned up to get the stove hot. At this point the cat glows like a light bulb as it tries to heat the bulk (mass) of the stove.
Long story short, if you heat the stove, the cat will maintain it. If you try to use the cat to bring the stove up to temp, it's going to take a lot more time and a lot of cat!
By the way, you cannot walk away from this stove during start-up. That REALLY freaks the wife out!
My opinion.....
