cat stove owners. a question about air flow?

[Mo Heat]

...get her up to 600 degrees (probe temp), engage the cat, let it burn down to large red coals, then open bypass, refuel with larger splits, burn with alot of air for 5-10 minutes, engage the cat, then bring the air down til there are lazy flames bouncing around the top of the fire box. Stove top runs between 550-650.

I admit I'm a bit paranoid in my recommendation, but it was meant to err on the safe side during troubleshooting. If he had a cat probe and could see 600 degrees come around, there'd be no need for an arbitrary initial wait.

You also have a soapstone stove. It's a lot more forgiving with thermal shock. And I admit that I start my fires weird. I don't use any kindling at all, so things are slow to progress. I figure I lose about half an hour doing it this way, but I don't produce much heat or smoke in that period, either. I use a modified top down method and can see little smoke at any time before or after engaging my cat.

There's so many variables like stove size, location, ambient temp, wood, kindling/starting technique, and on and on. I was essentially addressing the worst case scenario to insure a good outcome with no hard data (cat probe).

A cat probe thermometer takes all the guesswork out of it. BTW, what cat probe did you wind up buying/using after you sent the Condar back?

 

[ozarkjeep]

I dont have a cat probe, ive got a non contact thermometer, I read the temp on the face of the cat combustor it self, before last night, even at 800 degrees, it never turned orange before.

I think I need to clean the air holes in the tube better, per Shanes recommendation, and try it again.

Ill update later if I have time.

 

[Mo Heat]

Sorry Ozark, I was directing the cat probe question at Todd.

 

[Todd]

Sorry Ozark, I was directing the cat probe question at Todd.

After all the problems I had with Condar trying to get the right digital probe. I just bought an 8" probe from Woodstock that is a condar dial type probe. It sticks in a hole on the back of the stove, and I put a 90 degree bend in it for easy reading.

 

[ozarkjeep]

how long is the probe todd?

this is what I need to fit into my stove, a 90 degree bend and then a couple of inches to the dial.

Sorry Ozark, I was directing the cat probe question at Todd.

After all the problems I had with Condar trying to get the right digital probe. I just bought an 8" probe from Woodstock that is a condar dial type probe. It sticks in a hole on the back of the stove, and I put a 90 degree bend in it for easy reading.

 

[Todd]

The probe was a total of 8". After I put it in a vise, I carefully bent it 90 degrees about 2 " from the dial. Now it sticks inside the stove about 6", is about 3" from the cat and seems to read just fine. You can probably get a shorter one from Condar, just be carefull bending it.

how long is the probe todd?

this is what I need to fit into my stove, a 90 degree bend and then a couple of inches to the dial.

Sorry Ozark, I was directing the cat probe question at Todd.

After all the problems I had with Condar trying to get the right digital probe. I just bought an 8" probe from Woodstock that is a condar dial type probe. It sticks in a hole on the back of the stove, and I put a 90 degree bend in it for easy reading.

 

[ozarkjeep]

that thought had crossed my mind, but I was unsure if it would damage the probe.
Good to know, thank you!

Ill have a cat temp probe now.

The probe was a total of 8". After I put it in a vise, I carefully bent it 90 degrees about 2 " from the dial. Now it sticks inside the stove about 6", is about 3" from the cat and seems to read just fine. You can probably get a shorter one from Condar, just be carefull bending it.

how long is the probe todd?

this is what I need to fit into my stove, a 90 degree bend and then a couple of inches to the dial.

Sorry Ozark, I was directing the cat probe question at Todd.

After all the problems I had with Condar trying to get the right digital probe. I just bought an 8" probe from Woodstock that is a condar dial type probe. It sticks in a hole on the back of the stove, and I put a 90 degree bend in it for easy reading.