2021-2022 BK everything thread

[panderson03]

No need to clean it as it doesn't affect the temp reading (it might slow the reading down a tiny bit, but this is a slow measurement anyway).
If you are nevertheless concerned, I'd use fine sandpaper if it is crusty. Lightly rub it; don't abrade the metal.

thank you!

I don’t actually burn much cedar in my stove. Most of the cedar gets burned in the fire pit. On occasion when I come across a nice fallen/broken/dead cedar 5-7” across I will buck it and throw it in the firewood pile. Any wood will burn just fine as long as it is well seasoned.

thanks for your help!

 

[kennyp2339]

I wonder if you can comment on your experience with burning cedar. we have many cedar trees >6" diameter that i'd love to burn in our Princess but i'd heard burning cedar in a stove or fireplace comes with challenges. thank you!

I pretty much burn everything, some of the stuff like pine, cotton wood, cedar, white birch gets tossed by other burners as un-desirable.
For me, the princess is a refined tool, yes I agree with some members that it can lack on big output when temps dive below zero deg f, but the princess is like a sherman tank to me, the stove covers about 95% of my heating needs.
As far as burning cedar (referencing eastern red cedar), just like any other wood, make sure its dry, splits can be big ( I sometimes squeeze 8 - 10" diameter stuff into the firebox) more or less if is dry and and can fit, it gets burnt.
Lower btu wood in my opinion gets exploited in the BK's, as long as you get a good base fire going, active cat you can turn the stove down, smolder the firebox and let the cat cook off the smoke and transfer the heat to the stove top (about 450 - 600 deg stove top to) that usually is enough heat for me when the outside temps are above 28deg f, I'll ball park 16-18hr burns, if it gets lower I burn a bit hotter and run the blower, and my burn times for lower btu wood go to 10 - 12hr loads, still longer then most stoves and it covers my heating needs.
I get in trouble with cold once the temps hit the single digits or below, especially if there is a NW wind going, but that only happens in the depths of winter and lasts 2 weeks tops, so I dont mind supplementing with oil fired hot water baseboard, still saving tons of $$$ and having lot of fun, thats what its all about to me.

 

[Highbeam]

I burned a few cords of dry western red cedar through my BK 3 years ago. I didn’t like it and I normally a fan of burning anything if it’s dry. The weird oils and tars in the red cedar left a ton of brown oily soot everywhere in the firebox. Like fingering out the exhaust pipe on an old school bus.

This particular cedar was all small diameter, under 8” or so which makes it extra oily in my experience. The big cedar logs I’ve burned were like 3’ across and the wood was less oily.

I would prefer pine!

 

[ratsrepus]

I burned a few cords of dry western red cedar through my BK 3 years ago. I didn’t like it and I normally a fan of burning anything if it’s dry. The weird oils and tars in the red cedar left a ton of brown oily soot everywhere in the firebox. Like fingering out the exhaust pipe on an old school bus.

This particular cedar was all small diameter, under 8” or so which makes it extra oily in my experience. The big cedar logs I’ve burned were like 3’ across and the wood was less oily.

I would prefer pine!

one would think that the cat would get plugged up

 

[Bill in the U.P.]

Hello . I installed a BK King a year ago and enjoyed the heat all last winter. I just cleaned the stove and chimney this week. There was a lot of creosote in the firebox. Huge chunks up along the tubes on either side, etc.... Even behind the metal plates on the sides were full Is this normal or is it the fault of less than dry wood or throttling down the stat too quick or some other operator error?

 

[stoveliker]

Hello . I installed a BK King a year ago and enjoyed the heat all last winter. I just cleaned the stove and chimney this week. There was a lot of creosote in the firebox. Huge chunks up along the tubes on either side, etc.... Even behind the metal plates on the sides were full Is this normal or is it the fault of less than dry wood or throttling down the stat too quick or some other operator error?

That is normal for running the stove on low. You create creosote in the box. The cat is supposed to burn that off before it goes into the flue.

Best to clean at the end of the season; creosote is corrosive (esp. In humid summer weather). Best to have one blazing hot fire at the end (Tstat all the way open, bypass closed). It makes the creosote crusty and you can brush it off easily.

 

[kennyp2339]

Hello . I installed a BK King a year ago and enjoyed the heat all last winter. I just cleaned the stove and chimney this week. There was a lot of creosote in the firebox. Huge chunks up along the tubes on either side, etc.... Even behind the metal plates on the sides were full Is this normal or is it the fault of less than dry wood or throttling down the stat too quick or some other operator error?

I burn with the t-stat on high for an hour at least once a week, it really reduces the buildup inside the firebox.

 

[Nealm66]

Man, that would be kinda cool to have that in the user guide. Mine wasn’t too bad at all compared to my old pre epa stove.

 

[ohlongarm]

This is my fourth year burning a King Parlor, we burn 24/7 I'm wondering does the gasket checking method of a dollar bill to check the seal is accurate? I put a dollar bill in all four corners , as well as the middle of the door both top and bottom, the bill wouldn't budge if I pulled any harder it would tear. The gasket looks as clean as new. Am I good to go? THX

 

[gthomas785]

It sounds like your gaskets are in good shape. Do you have some reason to suspect otherwise? over firing, short burn, etc

 

[ohlongarm]

It sounds like your gaskets are in good shape. Do you have some reason to suspect otherwise? over firing, short burn, etc

Not at all just figuring four years lots of wood burnt , might be time to change it.

 

[Bill in the U.P.]

Feeling better with this learning curve. Thanks to everyone who replied. Today I adjusted the knob on the t-stat. It loosened up last winter and after I tightened it up realized it wasn't where it was originally. I also added some bands to my stove pipe. I have a very tall stove pipe made of three adjustable sections that will adjust out to 68" each. Having 3 tiny screws being the only thing preventing those sections from sliding together was unsettling to me. I bought three bands designed for 6" Class-A pipe that fit the diamater of my double wall 8" to act as "clamps" or "stops" for those slip joints. Actually looks nice too, like accent rings.

 

[Nealm66]

Wow, that is a tall pipe

 

[Nealm66]

The bands look good, you bedazzled it

 

[kennyp2339]

Not at all just figuring four years lots of wood burnt , might be time to change it.

If you change out the door gasket, do the window, and if you dont want to change the window one out, just check and make sure the retainer bolts are snug holding the glass to the door,

 

[Highbeam]

Not at all just figuring four years lots of wood burnt , might be time to change it.

I've changed the door gasket once in the last 9 years at about the 4-5 year point. I did a much better job than the factory so I expect it to last longer and it has so far. When you're ready, it's not a terribly difficult procedure but as Kenny points out, be sure to verify that the glass gasket and retainers are properly installed. My glass gasket was fine but the factory left a big chunk of welding slag (a rock) under the retainer brackets that once removed allowed me to properly snug all of the nuts that are buried under the door gasket.

Oh and you need an OEM blaze king gasket from a BK dealer. No aftermarket junk. The door seal is just too important on a cat stove like this.

The one I'm worried about is the bypass gasket. That bugger looks hard to access I can already imagine the sore neck! Luckily it's not quite as important.

 

[showrguy]

I've changed the door gasket once in the last 9 years at about the 4-5 year point. I did a much better job than the factory so I expect it to last longer and it has so far. When you're ready, it's not a terribly difficult procedure but as Kenny points out, be sure to verify that the glass gasket and retainers are properly installed. My glass gasket was fine but the factory left a big chunk of welding slag (a rock) under the retainer brackets that once removed allowed me to properly snug all of the nuts that are buried under the door gasket.

Oh and you need an OEM blaze king gasket from a BK dealer. No aftermarket junk. The door seal is just too important on a cat stove like this.

The one I'm worried about is the bypass gasket. That bugger looks hard to access I can already imagine the sore neck! Luckily it's not quite as important.

I did a bypass gasket in my princess last fall, you need to remove the CAT, the bipass plate will NOT come out, you need to move it around in there and work around it..
Spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how to manuver the plate to remove it, lots of curse words were displayed, once I was convinced it was’nt coming out things went pretty well

 

[Highbeam]

I did a bipass gasket in my princess last fall, you need to remove the CAT, the bipass plate will NOT come out, you need to move it around in there and work around it..
Spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how to manuver the plate to remove it, lots of curse words were displayed, once I was convinced it was’nt coming out things went pretty well

When the time comes, I'm going to try to get that bypass plate out. It has to come out, they didn't build the stove around it!

 

[Diabel]

When the time comes, I'm going to try to get that bypass plate out. It has to come out, they didn't build the stove around it!

Unless the engineers were from Germany haha

 

[showrguy]

When the time comes, I'm going to try to get that bypass plate out. It has to come out, they didn't build the stove around it!

That’s exactly what I thought….. Please make a video when you attempt it, that’ll be fun..
Had I done a video, and had it edited for TV, you woulda thaught I was Tony Beets having a major issue with something that would’nt cooperate…. Lol

 

[begreen]

Considering this is a wearing part one would expect there to be a field service guide on this for dealers.

 

[ohlongarm]

Had the interior double walled chimney pipe removed yesterday for cleaning, it hadn't been cleaned since last year at this time.
About 8 feet all it had was some black discoloration , no buildup at all. The entire job took about 7 , 8 minutes. The exterior pipe was just a little black no creosote buildup at all maybe 1/10 of an inch, 3 swipes with the plastic brush and it was shiny.
The ash catch basin had about a quart of very fine particulates , consistency of fine sand , vacuumed up and done. The chimney cap had about a half inch of crusty creosote. It took less than a minute and it was clean. I must be doing something right all my wood is 18% or lower. Entire job took about 15 minutes. I'm running the minimum chimney height as recommended by BK.

 

[stoveliker]

while the minimum chimney height might in some cases give draft issues, the advantage is that the gases have less time to cool down. Hence a clean pipe (and a bit crusty cap). Nice!

 

[ohlongarm]

while the minimum chimney height might in some cases give draft issues, the advantage is that the gases have less time to cool down. Hence a clean pipe (and a bit crusty cap). Nice!

Correct, only if it's very humid and rainy , I may have to crack the stove door a few minutes to draft properly. When it gets cold no issues.

 

[clancey]

Beautiful looking home but so so tall that piping is connected to the stove...I can see it burning better in the winter time with that long way to go up and getting a nice draft as well..I bet you have a pretty stove too..Why in the world would they make a part so hard to get out like that--to me they need another shot of thinking about it and how in the world would you clean your piping? Just curious don;t know much here..nice posting..clancey