I Drilled The Soapstone For A Probe

Nice

 

WOW, that looks OUTSTANDING ! Thanks for sharing.

 

Anyone ever drill a steel stove for a probe? I would like to put a probe in my Jotul Rangeley, even though I already have stovetop thermos, flu probe, IR temp gun...boys must play

 

Well done, keep us posted on your temps.

 

...and on how the new cat is working.

 

Nice job! Bet your a happy wood burner now

 

Initial observations:
I should have done this long ago.
CP (cat probe) takes the guess work out of it.
I haven't experimented with the lowest engagement temps, but this mornings reload: I engaged at 600F CP and 275F STT- The CP gained 100F every three min until it hit 1200F and I left for work. The STT of course hadn't moved. I knew the cat was active, no guess work needed.

 

How long did it take you to get up to 600 before you engaged the cat?

I've played around with mine and engaged at 500 a couple times and she lit off fine but it doesn't take very long for it to hit 500 if you have a good bed of coals and dry wood. I feel more comfortable waiting for 600 to drive out a little more moisture.

 

The CP was at 600 when I got up this morning. I reloaded on a big bed of coals, set the draft at 1.75 and went do do my morning routine ( shave etc). 15 min later wood was burning and chared well, CP was still at 600 and I engaged the cat. Im not sure if the CP varied while I was in the bathroom.

 

Now that you've had some time to play, what kind of temps are you seeing at different air settings?

 

I doubt Im getting an accurate reading.

Ive not spent much time at home monitoring the stove and CT (cat temp) since installing the probe. I can and do walk by the stove and tell at a glance if the cat is active, and that was my main motivation. The max CT I remember seeing is 1200F. I see that often, every day. I installed a new SS cat at the same time that I drilled for the probe. It gets turned on hotter and faster than a teenager, which is nice. Often, I reload, burn it in for 7-8 min, Throw the bypass lever at 200F STT, 600F CT and the cat is turning red before I can bend down to glance through the glass. CT typically climb at 100F every 2-3 min. It is working great, but the 1200F max CT tells me its not an accurate reading. I dont have a theory as to why its inaccurate unless it just a bad thermometer/probe.

All in all, I love it. Mission success.

 

Glad it's working out for you. 1200 is the max I saw with my Condar as well.

 

I pulled the probe this morning. I put on the welding gloves as the CT was reading 1100F but the probe face was too close to the stove top to grasp it with the glove on. I took the glove off and pulled the probe bare handed. You guessed it. It burnt me.

Anyway. I pulled it to make a high temp indicator out of a paperclip for it. Here is a pic that shows how far through the heat shield the probe penetrates. 5/8"

 

Day one with the high temp indicator and I learned something. CP has been up to 1350F while I was gone, STT peaked at 625F. I thought I had seen the probe there before, then I doubted myself.

 

Last nights highs. Pushing 1400F

 

That sounds about right. Where was your air setting? Last couple days I've been burning hot around 1.25 and I'm seeing cat temps in the 1300's with STT in the 600's. Also noticed the sides of the stove can get quite hot into the 500's.

Where's your cat temp at when your down to coals and ready for reload?

 

Last night I reloaded on a deep bed of coals and set the draft at .7

600F CP is what I typically see when needing a reload. Its been cold here (for AR) so Ive kept the stove temps up lately. 7F this morning and windy.

 

Sounds like your pretty in line with me. When it's cold I reload on a bigger bed of coals with cat temp around 600. When it's warmer out I can get away with reloading around 500. My probe will drop into the 300's while reloading in the bypass mode then takes about 10 min to get back to 600 when I engage.

 

The last pic was from this morning actually. After a 10 hr burn. 580 CT and 290 STT

My probe it to slow to react during a reload, the temp doesn't drop on the gauge. When I pulled the hot probe out of the stove the other day and set it on a welding glove it took maybe 5 min to drop from 1100 to 300. Its a little sluggish.

 

My Condar was pretty sluggish as well but I think yours is much more accurate than the way I had mine installed down through the flue collar.