Yes and gauges lag so it would be tough to have to manage control of cat temps.
They don't lag much when the tip is 1/2-3/4" away from the cat surface. Sometimes you can see the probe needle moving. I can control the rate of gassing, and the temp of the cat, with the air control on my stove. Perhaps you don't have that degree of control since your thermostat is making adjustments independently of where you set it.
Bk seems to think 1800 is the limit. Then took all the numbers off of the cat meter dial! Not needed!
Condar makes many (most?) oem cat probe meters and also sells them with numbers....I might make it my next stove farkle.
When my cat is the hottest on the cat probe meter is not when it is the brightest glow. It's odd that way. Sometimes part of the cat isn't even glowing.
Heh-heh. Your curiosity is finally getting the better of you, isn't it?
But yes, sometimes one part of the cat may glow when another section doesn't. Depends how that particular load is gassing, how the air is flowing around the wood, etc.
Strange...brighter glow should be giving you higher probe reading. Not sure what's going on there...blower interference cooling the probe spring?
Condar used to say 1700 is the limit. Lots of different numbers floating around.
As with stove temp, I figure the lower the better as long as I'm burning clean and getting the heat I need.
The cat on my stove recommends not going over 1400. I have not seen over 1200 yet. I don't know if I'm not burning it correctly or turn it down to quickly. I routinely seen temps between 700 to 1000. Everything seems to burn great I just dont know how some people see temps at 1500 plus. It's definitely hot.
Different probe setups will read a little differently. On my SIL's Dutchwest, for instance, I saw a higher reading when I replaced her old probe with a new one which had the tip a little closer to the cat surface. As you and you are burning clean when you look at the flue, and are getting the heat you need, I'd say you are doing well. Is there any way to see the cat on your stove? Can you look up through the window, or look in around the bypass rod hole and see the cat glowing?
Is there any way to replace the gauge with one that includes the actual temperature?
This the one that came with my high valley, you need to know what length probe you need before purchasing it, guess you can just remove it and measure the probe on the one you already have
View attachment 191865
Right, just take out the old probe and measure the actual probe length, from tip to the first flange. That will be the probe length you want to order. Or if the probe is on top of the stove and extends to over the cat surface, you can remove the probe, then stick carefully stick something in the hole until it touches the surface of the cat. The subtract 1/2-3/4", and that should be the length needed. Now, the Buck probe comes in from the front, parallel to the cat surface, so this method wouldn't work. redyute's pic is of the old style Condar probe, which still comes with some stoves like High Valley and Buck.
Here's the new style, which I think has been re-calibrated, comparing the temp positions on the dials. I'm pretty sure this is the one that BK uses. The old style has a face diameter of 1.5", new-style is 2", so you have to get the one that's gonna fit. The new style face was a pretty tight fit on the Dutchwest...I had to position it a certain way to make sure the needle didn't hit the probe face cavity on top of the stove.