Diabel
Minister of Fire
Lots of VC guys use the auber meters, it prevents and protects our stoves from melting. I dont think this thread reads like an ad. They are handy tools to have for wood burners. Just like IR guns handy gadgets to have.
Old condar probe meter vs. new auber digital thermocouple
- Thread starter Highbeam
- Start date
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Left over from a past job is a roll of stainless steel sheathed high temp thermocouple wire. We didnt want to have splices in the field so we would order it in 100 foot lengths and our company billed the client whether we used it or not. I dont have a thermocouple welder but a couple of tight wraps seem to last quite awhile.
Laymen tend to throw around accuracy and precision terms interchangeably and that makes a test engineer cringe. Some of our test results could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to a client so we had to be pretty careful with terms. So the question with respect to the Condar is which one of these four is likely to be the best description?, my guess is precise but not accurate unless its calibrated. Barring corrosion of the bimetal strip, my guess is differential expansion rates are pretty fixed for the life of the coil so the precision is "baked in". On the other hand the potential for the dial to get knocked inadvertently is definitely high. It could have been wrong leaving the factory (the Friday afternoon effect), it could have been knocked around during shipping or it could have been knocked around at home. Ideally if its precise it can normally be made accurate with calibration. I think to most folks the absolute value is less important than the repeatability. The meter could be calibrated in nonsense values but as long as the stove owner used them consistently to guide the operation of the stove it would work.
Laymen tend to throw around accuracy and precision terms interchangeably and that makes a test engineer cringe. Some of our test results could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to a client so we had to be pretty careful with terms. So the question with respect to the Condar is which one of these four is likely to be the best description?, my guess is precise but not accurate unless its calibrated. Barring corrosion of the bimetal strip, my guess is differential expansion rates are pretty fixed for the life of the coil so the precision is "baked in". On the other hand the potential for the dial to get knocked inadvertently is definitely high. It could have been wrong leaving the factory (the Friday afternoon effect), it could have been knocked around during shipping or it could have been knocked around at home. Ideally if its precise it can normally be made accurate with calibration. I think to most folks the absolute value is less important than the repeatability. The meter could be calibrated in nonsense values but as long as the stove owner used them consistently to guide the operation of the stove it would work.
mellow
Resident Stove Connoisseur
Ahh, that time of year again.
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Digital Cat Probe
Just so I understand completely, the front of the cat is the inlet? That seems very odd to me, as -- aside from some radiation -- I'd expect temps to be fairly cool on the inlet side of the cat. It is surprising the two different probes read very differently, but it sounded like you have a...
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mellow
Resident Stove Connoisseur
Doubt you will see that, you could build your own if you know coding. Search on here for Raspberry pi or arduino
That would be cool.
I looked on amazon and found the at200 for twice the price that I got it directly from auber. The good news is that you can read the amazon reviews for tips and tricks and then buy it from the manufacturer.
RandyBoBandy
Minister of Fire
Like diabel I have the AT100 for my encore. It’s a must with these stoves. I also have an imperial pipe probe which I bought because it was lopro and blended in with the pipe which is what I thought I wanted. Well turns out I can’t read it from the recliner. So basically during warm up I’m constantly walking over to the stove to check the flue temps. It would be sweet to have a digital unit with two probes one for the pipe and one for the cat.
That would be perfect for the house BK. It might be tough to make the cat probe look good since the hole is top middle of the stove but the function would great.
Aesthetics... If you don't have a wall power plug nearby, is your only option getting a very long cable for the probe? I saw something about, what imagine, is a large battery option, but I don't see that flying as the main visual in the living room.
Many of us already have a power cord for the stove blower so a cable is already present which will sort of hide another cable. The thermocouple in the pipe is not sleek but at least it’s in the back. The display is pretty nerdy looking with red glowing digits and is always on.
The whole thing is fine for a nerdy bachelor, or in a shop, but not every wife will approve of this in the living room.
Gearhead660
Minister of Fire
Power draw I suspect is low. A compact rechargeable lithium-ion battery or pack would probably work ok.
My wife and son actually like the clear and responsive display and alarm. I think she just attributes the minimal wiring up to stove stuff.
Gearhead660
Minister of Fire
So my wife decided to reload the Myriad before I got home...alarm went off and she quickly closed the damper. Think the Auber is justified now for sure in my opinion!
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