Question for seasoned Blaze King burners.

[ohlongarm]

This is my third season burning a BK ultra,and I just started burning one week ago,I also had my chimney extended by four feet ,prior to I was running the minimum requirement of twelve feet.Anyway this stove has turned into a bigger beast than before stove tops of 700+ are easily achieved and the cat has never run hotter,often times hitting 1600*I even bought a new cat probe thinking my original was not accurate well the new one shows the same high cat temps even at the end of the burn I'm at 500*.Question can one reload ,or add wood when the cat is at 500* or more without leaving the bypass open,example open bypass,cat probe showing 500* or more add wood close bypass,and just let it do its thing or do you need to leave the bypass open and thouroughly char the wood and then shut bypass and adjust t-stat.I am running the t-stat at about 1.5 to 2 lately.Did the extra four feet of chimney make such a difference?Thanks

 

[HotCoals]

Height of the chimney can surely make a diff.
Try turning the t-stat all the way down after the burn is settled in...or very close to 1.
If my stove is like in the last 1/3 or more of a burn or more I do just that..open by-pass for a min or so then open door to put in some wood then close by-pass after a few mins..as long as I'm at least 10 o'clock on my cat gauge.
You just don't want room air hitting a hot cat.

If cat does not fire off after awhile I turn up the air for a few more mins till it does.

 

[rdust]

Sure it sounds like the chimney was marginal at best before, now it's where it should be. If I recall correctly when you installed the stove you had posts about not being able to dial it down to low.

I always get the new load going before closing the bypass. Even if the cat is up to temp the fresh batch of wood is at best room temp along with the moisture inside of it. I may not char the full load but usually wait for all of it to become involved.(5-10 minutes probably)

 

[HotCoals]

Sure it sounds like the chimney was marginal at best before, now it's where it should be. If I recall correctly when you installed the stove you had posts about not being able to dial it down to low.

I always get the new load going before closing the bypass. Even if the cat is up to temp the fresh batch of wood is at best room temp along with the moisture inside of it. I may not char the full load but usually wait for all of it to become involved.(5-10 minutes probably)

Sounds reasonable.
Thing is by heating up the wood fast and hard that by itself release's more moisture faster.
Even with the by-pass open the cat still will get some of that moisture.
It's a balancing act that is really splitting hairs imo.
I think as long as the cat is cooler then 500 degrees there is not much to worry about.