Dressing up the Dragons for the holidays

Hi All;
This past spring, the Shop Dragon got a partial rebuild, and at the same time, she got her first coat of oil on the bricks.
Sure made her look good!
Late this fall, the Studio Dragon got a full update, with a new double bell, new spiffy metal bling, and a nice oil job for her bricks.
Sure made her look good!
Meanwhile, Shorty, the belle of them all, has been left feeling neglected. (She really was not!)
I had assured her during the long summer that I was saving the best for last, and her time would come.
As the hot months passed, a coating of dust covered her beautiful bricks, and the deeply embedded clay began to show up as grey around the edges.
As the heating season began, Shorty showed her displeasure, struggling to remain above operating temperature(130°F) at the outlet and dripping black water from her cleanout door.
Burping during startup, even blowing the cleanout door open one time!
All sure signs of an unhappy Dragon!
(They also happen to be sure signs of a typical cold shoulder season startup and of living in a dusty 100-year-old house...)
Yesterday was Shorty's day at the spa!
She got a complete makeover!
She got her ashes hauled! Always makes a girl dragon smile!
A complete dusting and a new coat of oil to bring out her deep brick red color.
I removed her Raven bling and epoxied rare-earth magnets to the bricks to allow for easy removal during her spa days.
What an attitude adjustment!
She is feeling good, looking good!
She is heated up with two fires a day.
The Belle of the ball is cruising the Swamp Creek drainage daily, and she is STYLING!

Love this!! I love that the kitties approve, too - not always easy to achieve!

Some fine looking dragons there. My own cat is anxiously awaiting her mass heater, soon to be installed.

Where do you suppose that black water drip comes from? I would have thought she'd be entirely dried out from the last heating season!

Is this a yearly issue of masonry absorbing ambient moisture from humidity over the summer and needs a few burns each new cold season to dry it out again?

Below 130°F, condensation happens.
During the shoulder season start-up, with only one fire a day, the whole mass is not up to working temperatures.
The new double-wall, first-generation Brick Batchbox has few problems with cooling between fires, and it is built precisely to Peter's ISA specifications. (ISA- Internal surface area) It does not have a bypass connected.
My Shorty core build was the first in the USA.
This was one of the first builds within a whole single-wall brick mass.
I built it to a 6" first-generation ISA numbers.
After my build was complete, and we recorded the internal temperatures, Peter reduced the overall ISA for future Shorty Core builds by 10%.
So my Shorty is sitting in an oversized bell.
I must use my bypass during the shoulder season to get a good draft started, then slowly close it to send as much exhaust as possible to the lower portion of the bell, until reaching temperatures above the condensation point at the outlet chimney.
Until I reach those temps, I get black water from my cleanout door.
Once it is cold enough to have two fires a day, my bypass remains completely shut, and my exhaust gas temps quickly rise to an average of 150F-170°F while operating.
There will be no more drips from Shorty until late spring shoulder season arrives.