Todd said:
Slow1 said:
Do you use the probe temp or stove top temp to decide when to engage the cat when starting from a cold stove? I've wondered about this one as I like to monitor both and I know the stones take a while to warm up and carry the heat to the surface so if the flue is running nice and hot for a bit but the Fireview stovetop is still not up to the 250 min, is it ok to engage the cat?
Sorry I missed your question. I use a combo of both and also look at the wood and make sure it's charred good. If you just go by the probe temp from a cold start you could lite off in a couple minutes but it could stall because the wood isn't ready. The cat also needs some time to adjust to the stove temps so there's no thermal shock.
If you reload on a good bed of coals you can monitor that probe and engage a little sooner like 5-10 minutes instead of waiting on the delayed stove top if you have good dry wood.
What does a stall look like anyway? Not that I plan to try and stall or even cut it that close, but it would be nice to be able to recognize one if it does happen.
I rather figured one wouldn't want to try and light off on the heat in the pipe from kindling before splits were well charred, however I have seen that the fire can be well established and the splits beyond charred with the pipe temp cruising along nice and hot 300+ and it seems to just be a matter of time for the surface temps to rise. Add to this the fact that 'exploring' the surface temp with the IR thermometer I see that the back of the top goes up first (no surprise - that is where the exit is when bypass is open) and can be over 250 well before the middle of the top gets over 200 - thus I've sat there thinking that it should be safe to engage the cat.
As to reload on coals - I'm hoping that I'll be able to come up with a timed method where I put the splits in the stove, come up with a set time, then be able to close things down - this will seriously help with the 'get the wife to do it' project. She doesn't want subjective measures like "well charred splits" - she wants to set the timer and just pull the lever.