Just the tip…

[Dieselhead]

While cleaning and inspecting the big king for this upcoming season I noticed the tip of the cat probe looks a little worse for wear. I think it worked ok last season although it never went past probably 230 position but I had some hot fires. It does settle down back to the first tick mark when cold.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Nice "Wedding Crashers" reference.

I dunno about the probe though. I burn my stove too hot on occasion (more than 1800 degrees), but mine has never looked like that.

 

[MRD1985]

Water getting down the flue at any point contributing to rust?

 

[Dieselhead]

Nice "Wedding Crashers" reference.

I dunno about the probe though. I burn my stove too hot on occasion (more than 1800 degrees), but mine has never looked like that.

😎 glad ya got the reference. How old is your probe? Mine is circa 2014

Water getting down the flue at any point contributing to rust?

No, but even if it did it wouldn’t effect the probe at least on a BK.

 

[MRD1985]

Could be just baked from the last 11 years of high heat. I’d just replace it

 

[Dieselhead]

Yea I agree, I’m gonna get one on the way tomorrow.

 

[RustyShackleford]

How old is your probe? Mine is circa 2014

Not sure. I broke a few of 'em. I think they got too hot and the little spot weld that holds the inside of the coil spring broke.

 

[Highbeam]

They do that. Mine looks even worse right now. Seems to be a corrosive metal rod with a protective coating that peels off. The whole purpose of the probe is to conduct heat so it’s just a solid rod with no internal moving parts. I figure as long as it’s still the full length it’s good.

 

[moresnow]

While cleaning and inspecting the big king for this upcoming season I noticed the tip of the cat probe looks a little worse for wear. I think it worked ok last season although it never went past probably 230 position but I had some hot fires. It does settle down back to the first tick

Check out the Condar brand. Have had good luck with them.

 

[Dieselhead]

Check out the Condar brand. Have had good luck with them.

I ordered a condar 3CX-2 this morning. It should match up with what was oem in my stove which is a 1 7/8” probe with a 2 inch dial. I ordered that directly from condar and I also ordered a Cat from Midwest Hearth to have as a backup on the shelf as this is going to be season 4 on the current piece. I burn mid Oct-April so Im about out of hours on this one potentially.

 

[Highbeam]

While cleaning and inspecting the big king for this upcoming season I noticed the tip of the cat probe looks a little worse for wear. I think it worked ok last season although it never went past probably 230 position but I had some hot fires. It does settle down back to the first tick mark when cold.

Plus the condar meter has numbers and a much more obvious active zone. It's a shame that BK cat meters don't have numbers. Like a scene from idiocracy.

 

[Tron]

Plus the condar meter has numbers and a much more obvious active zone. It's a shame that BK cat meters don't have numbers.

I don't think these cat thermometers are very accurate. TBH, their only purpose is to tell you when the cat is active and when not.
And a thermometer that gives wrong measurements is even worse than one without numbers at all.

 

[Highbeam]

I don't think these cat thermometers are very accurate. TBH, their only purpose is to tell you when the cat is active and when not.
And a thermometer that gives wrong measurements is even worse than one without numbers at all.

Could be, I have no way to verify that the instrument is accurate but condar's flue probe meter with basically the same construction has excellent accuracy compared to an auber thermocouple so I have no reason to doubt the cat meter's accuracy. Why do you doubt the accuracy?

I agree that the main purpose is to know when to close the bypass and the better graphics help.

 

[Dieselhead]

The new unit showed up today. It’s a nice replacement and was packaged very well. Made in the USA also. How’s the needle look on room temp compared to you guys that have one? Need any adjustment or perfect?

 

[Tron]

Why do you doubt the accuracy?

I don't personally, just one thing that came to mind.
Like I said, for the purpose of cat active/inactive, no numbers are needed (and maybe even confuse the user), so that may be why there aren't any.

But yes, I replaced mine with a condar, too, as the original had suffered a bit over time.

 

[reaperman1]

I tried out my new Condor last night for the first time. The gauge was pinned as far as possible showing the cat was way over 1600 degrees. I put in the old one and my older BK one. Both old gauges showed about the same temp around 1000. The fire was small so I know for fact the cat wasnt near that hot. If I knew of a digital probe to use for the cat temp, Id buy one in a second

 

[Dieselhead]

I tried out my new Condor last night for the first time. The gauge was pinned as far as possible showing the cat was way over 1600 degrees. I put in the old one and my older BK one. Both old gauges showed about the same temp around 1000. The fire was small so I know for fact the cat wasnt near that hot. If I knew of a digital probe to use for the cat temp, Id buy one in a second

That ain’t right, are you going to inquire with condar and see what they have to say about it? I haven’t had the need to fire mine up yet.

 

[Tron]

If I knew of a digital probe to use for the cat temp, Id buy one in a second

You can buy lab-rated thermocouples for these temperatures, together with some display electronics. Put some heat shield on the cable and you're good.
Probably has a low WAF (women acceptance factor), though.

 

[Todd]

I tried out my new Condor last night for the first time. The gauge was pinned as far as possible showing the cat was way over 1600 degrees. I put in the old one and my older BK one. Both old gauges showed about the same temp around 1000. The fire was small so I know for fact the cat wasnt near that hot. If I knew of a digital probe to use for the cat temp, Id buy one in a second

What does your Condar read at room temp? I’ve had a couple thermometers damaged during shipping and were off. They were good enough to send me new ones.

Auber has some digital thermocouple probes but then you have to deal with a wire hanging over the stove.

 

[reaperman1]

That ain’t right, are you going to inquire with condar and see what they have to say about it? I haven’t had the need to fire mine up yet.

Last winter I tried to contact Condor when my 6 month old thermometer started spinning freely. After multiple attempts and emails, they never responded back. So much for the warranty. I’ve accepted the fact that most everything these days is junk. Except my Auber flu thermometer, that thing rocks.

 

[Highbeam]

I tried out my new Condor last night for the first time. The gauge was pinned as far as possible showing the cat was way over 1600 degrees. I put in the old one and my older BK one. Both old gauges showed about the same temp around 1000. The fire was small so I know for fact the cat wasnt near that hot. If I knew of a digital probe to use for the cat temp, Id buy one in a second

Hold up, the whole reason some of us dumped the BK meter is that it does not show temperature. It has no numbers so no, your old BK meter did not show 1000. Do not make the false assumption that the needle should be pointing the same direction on a condar vs. a BK meter. In my experience the condar meter moved less for the same amount of temperature change. It was harder to peg.

 

[Highbeam]

The new unit showed up today. It’s a nice replacement and was packaged very well. Made in the USA also. How’s the needle look on room temp compared to you guys that have one? Need any adjustment or perfect?

View attachment 341159 View attachment 341160

Room temperature stove and meter, the condar should point at the F. So you're pretty dang close, I wouldn't mess with it.

 

[Dieselhead]

Room temperature stove and meter, the condar should point at the F. So you're pretty dang close, I wouldn't mess with it.

Thank you

 

[reaperman1]

Hold up, the whole reason some of us dumped the BK meter is that it does not show temperature. It has no numbers so no, your old BK meter did not show 1000. Do not make the false assumption that the needle should be pointing the same direction on a condar vs. a BK meter. In my experience the condar meter moved less for the same amount of temperature change. It was harder to peg.

Your correct, the bk meter doesnt show temps, however between the old condar and bk meter, they were basically in the same area opposed to the new condar which was pegged out. There was only three 1 1/2" x 8" pieces an oak branch in the stove, as I had just fired up the stove 20 minutes earlier. After seeing how well the Auber works, Id like to use something similar to measure the cats temp.

 

[RustyShackleford]

After seeing how well the Auber works, Id like to use something similar to measure the cats temp.

There are K-type thermocouples that can handle those temps, no ?