About to pull the trigger on a blaze king princess 32

[jetsam]

Good questions, and hard to answer.
1. I'm not sure that water is the main vehicle for mineral movement. Smoke (i.e. nanoparticles containing organic molecules - and more) likely contains much too. I would not be surprised if that carrier contains more minerals, as I think there is not much steam (small droplets of water) - it'll almost all be water vapor: given the relative humidity in the firebox the stability of steam will be negligible.
2. Catalyst poisoning is quite often related to compounds containing sulphur (and similar elements). Sulphur is a common "linker" of organic compounds to precious metal atoms (i.e. the active part of catalysts).
3. I am not convinced the acid bath removes minerals. After they have been there, at high T, a mild acid as vinegar won't really do much to minerals I think. See #2 for a possible reason why this works.

I do note that I am fairly knowledgeable in this area but would submit to people that actually have data, rather than the (well-informed) speculation above...

I can tell you that a vinegar bath definitely makes an immediate, noticeable improvement in a tired old cat. It's not like new again, but it's better. Doesn't seem to perk it up for too long, though. I suspect that wash coat flattening is a much bigger factor in performance decline than mineral depositation.

 

[stoveliker]

I can tell you that a vinegar bath definitely makes an immediate, noticeable improvement in a tired old cat. It's not like new again, but it's better. Doesn't seem to perk it up for too long, though. I suspect that wash coat flattening is a much bigger factor in performance decline than mineral depositation.

That makes sense; once the surface area has decreased (it's become flatter), it's very, very hard to reverse that. And unless the acid etches the alumina (which would also remove the catalytic metal) in a very particular way, that won't happen in the (hot) vinegar bath.

 

[WV Homestead]

So I went and ordered the princess today and when I got to my dealer the only model he had on display was the king model. And I asked if I could look at it. He said sure but I have to tell you I am not a fan of blaze king. I asked why and he said his king model couldn't heat the showroom floor to 80 degrees. Which i was shocked when. He said it . When I was looking at the model I noticed his thermostat to control heat output went past the highest and lowest setting. Like it kept tuning. Is that normal? I wonder if it was broken and stuck on the lowest setting

 

[Highbeam]

So I went and ordered the princess today and when I got to my dealer the only model he had on display was the king model. And I asked if I could look at it. He said sure but I have to tell you I am not a fan of blaze king. I asked why and he said his king model couldn't heat the showroom floor to 80 degrees. Which i was shocked when. He said it . When I was looking at the model I noticed his thermostat to control heat output went past the highest and lowest setting. Like it kept tuning. Is that normal? I wonder if it was broken and stuck on the lowest setting

Could be. The pointer should hit a hard stop fully clockwise to high pointingstraight down. There is a set screw that keeps the knob from spinning round and round. Could be loose.

 

[Dustin]

So I went and ordered the princess today and when I got to my dealer the only model he had on display was the king model. And I asked if I could look at it. He said sure but I have to tell you I am not a fan of blaze king. I asked why and he said his king model couldn't heat the showroom floor to 80 degrees. Which i was shocked when. He said it . When I was looking at the model I noticed his thermostat to control heat output went past the highest and lowest setting. Like it kept tuning. Is that normal? I wonder if it was broken and stuck on the lowest setting

interesting... because with softwood on medium I can make my house 80 if I don’t turn it down with the KING

 

[Poindexter]

When you are thinking about water vapor and minerals, don't forget cellulose, the stuff we are mostly burning, is a hydrocaron. The end products of (complete) hyrocarbon combustion are CO2 and H2O. Burning bone dry wood still produces water vapor at 600-1000dF, by combing hydrogen in the cellulose with oxygen in the air intake.

I had not, before this thread, considered what component of the smoke stream might be carrying the most minerals into the combustor.

For a first guess I am going to go with burning sap globs. Even in a raging hot stove they give off black smoke in the firebox and incite the combustor to indicated temps notably above ordinary. I have so far this season a golf ball sized and a second baseball sized chunk of dried spruce sap sequestered in the garage. I will be holding onto those until I am ready for a preview of my wife's spring wardrobe of course.

Fascinating question. Drier wood, below 12% for sure, in my experience, makes more smoke and that winter alluded to above was hard on my combustor. I wonder if throttle setting might be a factor as well, as osmium would be more likely to drop out of the smoke stream regardless of carrier molecule when the particle is at a lower velocity and thus has more time to be influenced by gravity.

 

[MMH]

Lol this took a major turn...which as some said (but not all) brings me back to chem physics and o chem....which I never want to go back to....ever

 

[Poindexter]

For the pasta thing, the water is going to "give" heat at 212dF to the room temperature pasta. My sister cooks a tiny bit of pasta in an enormous pot of boiling water (she did a semester abroad on the Med coast as an undergrad) so her water is still boiling right after the pasta goes in. I just use a bunch of salt in my pasta water to take advantage of the colligative protperties; and minimize the time it takes the pasta water to return to a good boil by turning the burner underneath up to high just before adding the pasta.

 

[stoveliker]

When you are thinking about water vapor and minerals, don't forget cellulose, the stuff we are mostly burning, is a hydrocaron. The end products of (complete) hyrocarbon combustion are CO2 and H2O. Burning bone dry wood still produces water vapor at 600-1000dF, by combing hydrogen in the cellulose with oxygen in the air intake.

I had not, before this thread, considered what component of the smoke stream might be carrying the most minerals into the combustor.

For a first guess I am going to go with burning sap globs. Even in a raging hot stove they give off black smoke in the firebox and incite the combustor to indicated temps notably above ordinary. I have so far this season a golf ball sized and a second baseball sized chunk of dried spruce sap sequestered in the garage. I will be holding onto those until I am ready for a preview of my wife's spring wardrobe of course.

Fascinating question. Drier wood, below 12% for sure, in my experience, makes more smoke and that winter alluded to above was hard on my combustor. I wonder if throttle setting might be a factor as well, as osmium would be more likely to drop out of the smoke stream regardless of carrier molecule when the particle is at a lower velocity and thus has more time to be influenced by gravity.

Yes, sure, water (and CO2) come out of the chimney. But that is vapor in the flue, i.e. isolated water molecules, not droplets. There is no way for minerals to hitch a ride on that as they do in droplets. Yes we see steam out of the chimney, but the vapor condenses to steam either near the exit of the flue or slightly below - there's no steam in your flue (or you'd have puddles at the bottom).

Drier wood making more smoke is interesting. I had not seen that.
I'm not sure what your osmium remark is trying to say - I assume that's the active element in the cat? Regardless, in the convective turbulence in the firebox the influence of gravity on (the difference in behavior of) single nano- or microparticles (due to their different weight) is negligible.

 

[Nealm66]

Doesn’t make any sense....none of this makes any sense

 

[Nealm66]

My appointment got postponed so crossing my fingers for next Tuesday for them to come and check it out and make sure they have everything needed. I’m wondering if it’s the rona that has them so busy. 6 weeks or more out and they have more than one crew. Luckily there’s lots of firewood to be had

 

[Highbeam]

Doesn’t make any sense....none of this makes any sense

i think there might be some ethanol mixed in with the comments. Some jokesters. Or maybe I’m just blissfully ignorant about some things.

 

[Highbeam]

My appointment got postponed so crossing my fingers for next Tuesday for them to come and check it out and make sure they have everything needed. I’m wondering if it’s the rona that has them so busy. 6 weeks or more out and they have more than one crew. Luckily there’s lots of firewood to be had

Here’s some inspiration. Coyotes are outside yipping, barking, and howling. Stove is chewing on some maple and fir.

 

[rdust]

Believe I’m on my 10th season here. Gasket maintenance/replacement as needed and replace the cat every 3-5 years or as needed. Yes, the stove is the bees knees.

I bought mine after a few people here had them. I was Skeptical at first, it far exceeded my expectations. I documented lots of burns and performance of my stove in the beginning. I had trouble finding any of that type of data when I bought mine. Now there is a bk specific thread every season.(Yes I started the first one )

 

[Tron]

And, yes that quote is from Wolfgang Pauli! Was in my office for a while (surface physicist...)

In that case, you know exactly what I'm talking about ;-)

 

[Highbeam]

Believe I’m on my 10th season here. Gasket maintenance/replacement as needed and replace the cat every 3-5 years or as needed. Yes, the stove is the bees knees.

I bought mine after a few people here had them. I was Skeptical at first, it far exceeded my expectations. I documented lots of burns and performance of my stove in the beginning. I had trouble finding any of that type of data when I bought mine. Now there is a bk specific thread every season.(Yes I started the first one )

and you, rdust, were one of the users that convinced me to make the big upgrade to the princess in 2012. 8 seasons later and I’ve only had to replace the door gasket once and cats at the expected 10,000 hour interval.

Oh and I did change to a cat thermometer with numbers. That was more for fun though.

Your fully loaded firebox pictures are also inspiring and my wood has been split bigger ever since seeing those.

 

[WV Homestead]

what size fresh air kit do u guys have? it was an option to either get the 4 inch kit or the 3 inch kit with the princess model can u just pick either one? or should u get a certain size based on certain things @BKVP

 

[begreen]

what size fresh air kit do u guys have? it was an option to either get the 4 inch kit or the 3 inch kit with the princess model can u just pick either one? or should u get a certain size based on certain things @BKVP

3" is adequate for most shorter runs under 10-15' if there aren't many 90s in it. If the run is longer or if there are more than two 90º turns, then the 4" would be better.

 

[WV Homestead]

3" is adequate for most shorter runs under 10-15' if there aren't many 90s in it. If the run is longer or if there are more than two 90º turns, then the 4" would be better.

i have a straight run of 16 feet . i got the four inch should i switch to the 3?

 

[begreen]

i have a straight run of 16 feet . i got the four inch should i switch to the 3?

Straight run with at least one 90º elbow to get under the stove or to terminate? I'd stick with the 4".

 

[Highbeam]

i have a straight run of 16 feet . i got the four inch should i switch to the 3?

The 4” is always better than 3” except for tight spaces like inside a 2x4 stud wall. I moved from 3” to 4” when I ran new ducting even though mine is short. 4” ducting is also more common and available in the HVAC world. Since it’s used for dryer vents they make lots of fittings.

 

[BKVP]

what size fresh air kit do u guys have? it was an option to either get the 4 inch kit or the 3 inch kit with the princess model can u just pick either one? or should u get a certain size based on certain things @BKVP

How long is to run to f/a source? If you run less than 10-12', 3" should be just fine.

 

[WV Homestead]

How long is to run to f/a source? If you run less than 10-12', 3" should be just fine.

1 to 2 feet. will the four inch be bad (cause problems) or just not necessary

 

[BKVP]

1 to 2 feet. will the four inch be bad (cause problems) or just not necessary

Not necessary but should not present any problems.

 

[BKVP]

So I went and ordered the princess today and when I got to my dealer the only model he had on display was the king model. And I asked if I could look at it. He said sure but I have to tell you I am not a fan of blaze king. I asked why and he said his king model couldn't heat the showroom floor to 80 degrees. Which i was shocked when. He said it . When I was looking at the model I noticed his thermostat to control heat output went past the highest and lowest setting. Like it kept tuning. Is that normal? I wonder if it was broken and stuck on the lowest setting

Without you indicating the dealer, I contacted my rep. He tells me no wood stove would heat the place to 80! Assuming it's the same dealer, but few burn a King. My rep thinks the knob set screw must be loose, so he'll visit with him in the weeks to come...thanks for the heads up.