2021-2022 BK everything thread

[kennyp2339]

Have you taken off the stove pipe at the collar and looked whether all is ok behind the cat

Thats what I was thinking, I know when I clean my chimney I vaccume the cat chamber then take my cell phone flash light and make sure the little pocket directly in front of the cat doesnt have any flyash or crumbs.

 

[stoveliker]

Door gasket looks pretty good and you have the creosote marks on the glass that would suggest a leaking gasket, you can adjust the door latch to make things a little more snug if you think it could use it.
I say build a fire and let her rip, you shouldnt have any issues, if the cat is bad (highly doubt it because they are a lot tougher then one would think) its under warrentee anyway. The dealer would send for one, once it comes in then its a 30 second swap out.

To me the glass just looks like the corner blackness from not running full speed.
Moreover, if the gasket leaks, I think you'd have blackness on the gasket. There is some brown, but not indicating a leak imo.

 

[Puposky]

I’m on my second season with a princess and it seems to be running the same as last year. It goes below active when the fire is almost completely burned out and just a few coals. I forgot to bypass mine a couple times on reloading and like you, I thought I might have caused damage but doesn’t seem to be the case. I never filled out the warranty thing and had actually planned on just replacing it every couple years so I didn’t have to try diagnosing it but it doesn’t seem to have degraded at all that I’ve noticed. Here’s my sweet spot

View attachment 284525

That’s how mine behaved last year, I couldn’t believe my burn times, hopefully my cat was plugged on the back. How long of burns do you get in that position?

 

[Puposky]

To me all this looks fine. Cat and gasket and window.

So I'm a bit stumped if your flue is good as you state.

Have you taken off the stove pipe at the collar and looked whether all is ok behind the cat?

I cleaned it out mid September, but I did not try looking at the back of the cat. I took the collar off but just vacuumed out what was easy.

 

[stoveliker]

That’s how mine behaved last year, I couldn’t believe my burn times, hopefully my cat was plugged on the back. How long of burns do you get in that position?

You really can't compare the burn times between set ups. Wood type and moisture level, draft (flue stack, weather, geography, home tightness) all matter in the actual performance.

But the sudden different behavior is somewhat concerning to me.

 

[Nealm66]

That’s how mine behaved last year, I couldn’t believe my burn times, hopefully my cat was plugged on the back. How long of burns do you get in that position?

That’s my 12-14 hour refuel wether it’s ready or not. I’m probably not the best example for cat life. I refuel when my work schedule allows and sometimes it’s not ready but it gets done. I turn it to a lower setting after it’s been going a while and that puts me around the 24hour. I normally burn Doug fir. Struggling with the weather here, needs to be a little colder lol.

 

[Puposky]

Door gasket looks pretty good and you have the creosote marks on the glass that would suggest a leaking gasket, you can adjust the door latch to make things a little more snug if you think it could use it.
I say build a fire and let her rip, you shouldnt have any issues, if the cat is bad (highly doubt it because they are a lot tougher then one would think) its under warrentee anyway. The dealer would send for one, once it comes in then its a 30 second swap out.

Door is quite snug. The only spot that was kinda easy to pull a dollar thru was between the hinges.

 

[Highbeam]

I’m on my second season with a princess and it seems to be running the same as last year. It goes below active when the fire is almost completely burned out and just a few coals. I forgot to bypass mine a couple times on reloading and like you, I thought I might have caused damage but doesn’t seem to be the case. I never filled out the warranty thing and had actually planned on just replacing it every couple years so I didn’t have to try diagnosing it but it doesn’t seem to have degraded at all that I’ve noticed. Here’s my sweet spot

View attachment 284525

You shouldn't notice cat degradation on just the start of the second season. Look for failure this spring when trying to burn low and slow. If it lasts for twenty years of smoke free awesomeness, that's great too!

 

[Puposky]

You really can't compare the burn times between set ups. Wood type and moisture level, draft (flue stack, weather, geography, home tightness) all matter in the actual performance.

But the sudden different behavior is somewhat concerning to me.

Exactly, last year a 2/3 load, at these temps, around 32 degrees was lasting 16-20 hours. Now, I’m getting 12 and it’s inactive. Hopefully blowing this thing out is the ticket. I feel like there was buildup behind the cat.

 

[Highbeam]

I cleaned it out mid September, but I did not try looking at the back of the cat. I took the collar off but just vacuumed out what was easy.

You won't be able to see too much of the cat when it's installed by looking down through the flue collar. There is a funny little steel curtain that hangs down behind the cat.

Hopefully you can see enough to determine it is clean or plugged and for sure you need to clean the cat chamber after sweeping. Lots of stuff gets up there and can pile up behind the cat. It can be so much that getting the bypass to close tight is a problem.

Another trick to verifying a clean cat is to shove your phone up in front of the cat and try and take pictures looking right into the cells. Looking "through" the cat.

The setting of about 2 o'clock will get me about 20 hours of active cat time in my princess with softwood doug fir, maple, alder, etc. Full load packed tight.

Your door glass creosote pattern is totally normal. Looks fine.

 

[Highbeam]

Exactly, last year a 2/3 load, at these temps, around 32 degrees was lasting 16-20 hours. Now, I’m getting 12 and it’s inactive. Hopefully blowing this thing out is the ticket. I feel like there was buildup behind the cat.

Don't hit the cat with high pressure compressed air. You can actually damage the catalyst they tell us. BK has said you can use a can of air like they sell for keyboards which is at 60 psi. What I have done is crank down the air compressor regulator to 20 psi and puff puff the cat clean through a 3/16" rubber vacuum hose . Though I never had in issue with cloggage due to my setup particulars.

 

[Diabel]

you have the creosote marks on the glass that would suggest a leaking gasket

@kennyp2339…..what? My glass has been black for three years….I think your fingers were typing too fast….

 

[Puposky]

Don't hit the cat with high pressure compressed air. You can actually damage the catalyst they tell us. BK has said you can use a can of air like they sell for keyboards which is at 60 psi. What I have done is crank down the air compressor regulator to 20 psi and puff puff the cat clean through a 3/16" rubber vacuum hose . Though I never had in issue with cloggage due to my setup particulars.

Too late!

 

[Nealm66]

Lol

 

[kennyp2339]

Have you taken off the stove pipe at the collar and looked whether all is ok behind the cat

Thats what I was thinking, I know when I clean my chimney I vaccume the cat chamber then take my cell phone flash light and make sure the little pocket directly in front of the cat doesnt have any flyash or crumbs.

@kennyp2339…..what? My glass has been black for three years….I think your fingers were typing too fast….

Yeah, there should have been "DON'T"

 

[Nealm66]

I think 12 -15 is a pretty normal. Mine is hovering between active and not active for the 24 cycle and I don’t turn it down until it been going for a while on the 12-14 setting. Wood type definitely makes a difference. I had Idaho press logs go easy 30 hours last year

 

[Puposky]

You won't be able to see too much of the cat when it's installed by looking down through the flue collar. There is a funny little steel curtain that hangs down behind the cat.

Hopefully you can see enough to determine it is clean or plugged and for sure you need to clean the cat chamber after sweeping. Lots of stuff gets up there and can pile up behind the cat. It can be so much that getting the bypass to close tight is a problem.

Another trick to verifying a clean cat is to shove your phone up in front of the cat and try and take pictures looking right into the cells. Looking "through" the cat.

The setting of about 2 o'clock will get me about 20 hours of active cat time in my princess with softwood doug fir, maple, alder, etc. Full load packed tight.

Your door glass creosote pattern is totally normal. Looks fine.

I’ll try cellphone trick in morning, I started a fire already. I blew it out and am thinking that may have been it, hopefully. Because of my house setup I usually burn at a pretty low setting, or try to, even tho I live in northern MN. That may contribute to the possible buildup on backend of the cat.?

 

[stoveliker]

I’ll try cellphone trick in morning, I started a fire already. I blew it out and am thinking that may have been it, hopefully. Because of my house setup I usually burn at a pretty low setting, or try to, even tho I live in northern MN. That may contribute to the possible buildup on backend of the cat.?

I'm not sure; if the cat is hot enough when closing the bypass, it should not accumulate much, but whatever accumulates should be more at the front than at the back (where less stuff exists to adsorb if the cat works, and where gases will be hotter because the exothermic reactions have heated them up and thus they'd stick less).

 

[moresnow]

I’ll try cellphone trick in morning, I started a fire already. I blew it out and am thinking that may have been it, hopefully. Because of my house setup I usually burn at a pretty low setting, or try to, even tho I live in northern MN. That may contribute to the possible buildup on backend of the cat.?

The crud buildup behind the cat is residue that falls out of the pipe while cleaning or accumulation of crud from normal running in my experience. Shop vac gets it by removing the connector pipe and going in through the collar no problem. I use the flat hose extension to get in there nicely. A headlamp helps see into the stove while vac'ing. Or a small flashlight.

 

[Highbeam]

I'm not sure; if the cat is hot enough when closing the bypass, it should not accumulate much, but whatever accumulates should be more at the front than at the back (where less stuff exists to adsorb if the cat works, and where gases will be hotter because the exothermic reactions have heated them up and thus they'd stick less).

The stuff plugging cats seems to be fly ash perhaps stirred up from high intake settings and strong drafts. Obviously, the tiny cells of a steel cat are more likely to plug. I don’t know why the plugging appears to be on the back of the cat. Maybe the front just burns clean.

There have been some good pics in the previous Bk performance threads.

 

[Poindexter]

@Puposky , how many cords did you burn in the stove so far? We generally find here combustors are good for 10-14k hours in the active zone. I am kind of an outlier in that I can run one into the ground in about 8k active hours, about 15 cords. I would prefer to be running a princess in my house, but my wife liked the aesthetics of the Ashford 30, so I beat on my A30 like a rented mule.

It sounds like your wood is seasoned long enough and dry enough. One thing you might do is bring a few pieces into the garage for 48 hours or so and then split them open to measure the MC on the freshly exposed face. Typically pin type moisture meters are calibrated for Douglas Fir at +70dF. Colder temps will read lower than actual. If your wood is at +55dF all the way through you can add one point to what your meter reads for spruces and 2 points to what your meter reads for many hardwoods. You should be good there, but "not frozen" and "+55dF" are not the same; at 17% measured and happy user last year you have some head room.

I don't see any smoke leaking through your door gasket. Nice looking dog, and great looking racks. Do you grind some of your venison with bacon instead of beef fat? Moose ground with bacon 90-10 by weight is fabulous burgers up here.

Physically the combustor looks ok to me from the pics. If you only burned 2 cords last year we might conclude your combustor has finally settled down from being new and hyperactive. You have a ton of good advice and intelligent questions so far. You might have a dud cat, but I am not a BK dealer and not yet convinced of that.

Did you do a dollar bill test on the gasket of the bypass door, and how many cords have your burnt so far? Also, what are your current outdoor ambient temperatures? This could be a draft thing related to warmer than normal temperatures outdoors, warmer than last year, but I don't even know where my work shoes are for tomorrow, never mind ambient temps three time zones from here. Supposed to -20dF up here this time of year, it was +47 yesterday.

 

[Puposky]

@Puposky , how many cords did you burn in the stove so far? We generally find here combustors are good for 10-14k hours in the active zone. I am kind of an outlier in that I can run one into the ground in about 8k active hours, about 15 cords. I would prefer to be running a princess in my house, but my wife liked the aesthetics of the Ashford 30, so I beat on my A30 like a rented mule.

It sounds like your wood is seasoned long enough and dry enough. One thing you might do is bring a few pieces into the garage for 48 hours or so and then split them open to measure the MC on the freshly exposed face. Typically pin type moisture meters are calibrated for Douglas Fir at +70dF. Colder temps will read lower than actual. If your wood is at +55dF all the way through you can add one point to what your meter reads for spruces and 2 points to what your meter reads for many hardwoods. You should be good there, but "not frozen" and "+55dF" are not the same; at 17% measured and happy user last year you have some head room.

I don't see any smoke leaking through your door gasket. Nice looking dog, and great looking racks. Do you grind some of your venison with bacon instead of beef fat? Moose ground with bacon 90-10 by weight is fabulous burgers up here.

Physically the combustor looks ok to me from the pics. If you only burned 2 cords last year we might conclude your combustor has finally settled down from being new and hyperactive. You have a ton of good advice and intelligent questions so far. You might have a dud cat, but I am not a BK dealer and not yet convinced of that.

Did you do a dollar bill test on the gasket of the bypass door, and how many cords have your burnt so far? Also, what are your current outdoor ambient temperatures? This could be a draft thing related to warmer than normal temperatures outdoors, warmer than last year, but I don't even know where my work shoes are for tomorrow, never mind ambient temps three time zones from here. Supposed to -20dF up here this time of year, it was +47 yesterday.

Lately the temps have been around the freezing mark. Last year I burned a little under 3 cords. I kind of check my dryness throughout the year. This time of year I bring in enough wood, after I stuff the stove, for the next load to let it burn off any residual moisture. The wood I bring in is what I usually check, I split and check the center. So it has usually been in about 24 hours, I don’t know if that is long enough to heat it up though.

Maybe the cat is just settling in, if that’s all then it’s cut my burn time back significantly. Last night I put a 2/3 load of mostly oak/ some birch at 7 and this morning at 6 it is just active and wood is almost gone. At least it stayed in active throughout the night this go round. Last year that would be an easy 20 +hr burn at these temps. Now I’m struggling to get 12 hours, if I set it low it snuffs out, if I put it at med-low it burns out in 11 hrs. Maybe this is normal, but seems like most bk’s can coast to 20+ hours easy. Ok, feel like I’m ranting here.

I think I may take the cat out and make sure it’s not plugged or there is buildup behind it. I may just order another for a backup, I was thinking of going ceramic for giggles. The Midwest store sells them with the expansion gasket on them so I should be able to pop it right in? I suppose I should buy some 2” expansion gasket anyway, how much does it take to wrap a cat?

Also, I love bacon ground with my venison!! That is my shed hunting partner, she loves the stove!!

Thanks to everyone for helping me out I appreciate it a lot!

 

[Tron]

Now I’m struggling to get 12 hours, if I set it low it snuffs out, if I put it at med-low it burns out in 11 hrs. Maybe this is normal, but seems like most bk’s can coast to 20+ hours easy.

Well, it's all a function of burn rate (BTU/hr) and the BTU you pack in there. 20h might be possible at low output with high-BTU wood tightly packed tetris-style. My wood is mostly pine and amber trees, and even fully packed on low I barely get 12h. Nothing wrong with the stove, the wood is just gone by then. I suppose that's what you're experiencing, too.

 

[Nealm66]

I think something isn’t right. I get 12 -14 with Doug fir and that’s not really a full black screen setting. I thought the ones we purchase come with a ceramic cat?

 

[stoveliker]

Cat (metal or ceramic) depends on the model. I got a metal with my stove.