BK Princess need help

[Illinois burner]

The manual said to check at a medium fire. I checked it about 18 inches of the top of the stove

 

[rdust]

Yeah Illinois burner did a load with the stove hot and shut the stove down to see if he could maintain a prolonged cat light off and decent stove top temps.. Something is wrong here, That dented chimney section is only an outside dent right?

I know, I recommended it. I was just curious what his final setting was, big difference between the cat stalling on 1 and 1 3/4.

The cat stalling on a lower burn is either due to the chimney not pulling enough or bad wood.(I can't see the cat being bad out of the box unless it didn't get a good wash coat, anything is possible I guess). I can dial mine to 1 which is full closed and the cat will stay active for 24 hours.

 

[rdust]

The stove stalled out after 2 hours. Just had to turn it up a bit. The manometer tested at .03 positive. Now I have to figure out what that means. It's the high side of what I need I guess

Was the reading taken on 2? I would consider 2 a medium burn and 3 a high burn.

 

[Highbeam]

The cat stalling on a lower burn is either due to the chimney not pulling enough or bad wood.(I can't see the cat being bad out of the box unless it didn't get a good wash coat). I can dial mine to 1 which is full closed and the cat will stay active for 24 hours.

I can't go to 1.5 without stall. In fact, I'm at 1.75 as a minimum setting. Illburner's cat is new so should be spunky.

 

[Illinois burner]

Yes sir

 

[Illinois burner]

Wood has been approved. Drafts checked out. There is something interactive that I'm not catching

 

[Illinois burner]

I meant internal . Damn auto correct

 

[rdust]

I can't go to 1.5 without stall. In fact, I'm at 1.75 as a minimum setting. Illburner's cat is new so should be spunky.

You also have a chimney near minimum spec, not a big deal since you know where the line is and it seems to be working for you.

 

[rdust]

Wood has been approved. Drafts checked out. There is something interactive that I'm not catching

It's not complicated, you have a big steel box, a cat, a t-stat and a chimney. The cat is new and should be fine(I've never heard of a dead cat from the factory, maybe the gasket wrap around it is bad or it was installed wrong?), the t-stat was replaced as long as it was installed properly that isn't it, the only thing left is the wood or the chimney. Since the chimney checks out I'm leaning towards the cat, check to make sure it's tight and the gasket wrap is in place. I doubt the cat itself could be bad but I guess anything is possible.

Edit: also have the bypass but something would have to be seriously wrong with that. It's a heavy plate and the weight of it alone would seal pretty darn good.

 

[rdust]

Wood has been approved. Drafts checked out. There is something interactive that I'm not catching

What was the t-stat setting when you check the draft?

 

[cannon]

For several weeks now you have been sucking a whole lot of flame through the cat,my guess would be that it is toast.Here is info from Firecat website.
Why is 'flame impingement' bad for the catalyst?

Direct flame contact is death to the catalyst. A catalyst burns the byproducts in the smoke. The gases such as CO, HC, and O2 ignite with each other in a chemical reaction in the presence of the catalyst (while passing through the honeycomb configuration). Direct flame inhibits this reaction by changing the chemical make-up of the catalyst breaking down the substrate or ceramic. Today's modern wood burning stoves are designed so that flame impingement is unlikely. However, it is not impossible. A strong fast draft can pull the flames into the catalyst. A hot fire with all the primary air controls wide open or perhaps the firebox door or ash pan door ajar are other ways the catalyst might receive flame impingement. Stacking too many logs in the firebox can elevate flames too close to the combustor.

 

[rdust]

For several weeks now you have been sucking a whole lot of flame through the cat,my guess would be that it is toast.Here is info from Firecat website.
Why is 'flame impingement' bad for the catalyst?

Direct flame contact is death to the catalyst. A catalyst burns the byproducts in the smoke. The gases such as CO, HC, and O2 ignite with each other in a chemical reaction in the presence of the catalyst (while passing through the honeycomb configuration). Direct flame inhibits this reaction by changing the chemical make-up of the catalyst breaking down the substrate or ceramic. Today's modern wood burning stoves are designed so that flame impingement is unlikely. However, it is not impossible. A strong fast draft can pull the flames into the catalyst. A hot fire with all the primary air controls wide open or perhaps the firebox door or ash pan door ajar are other ways the catalyst might receive flame impingement. Stacking too many logs in the firebox can elevate flames too close to the combustor.

The BK design is pretty good to limit flame impingement, it may get some but I'd be surprised if it destroyed the substrate/wash coat that quickly. Anything is game at this point though.

 

[tarzan]

I have 12' from stove collar to chimney cap (mobile home) and am running on what would be zero T-stat setting with stove top at 550 right now so definately every set up is different.

Once I finish this radio flyer wagon load of what seams to be the rocket fuel of wood I will go back to burning wood that I must maintain a setting of 1.5 to keep cat in the active zone.

 

[BKVP]

Is there any way for you to enclosed some of that chimney? Your entire stack is exposed to the cold air and that has a HUGE effect on stack temps/draft.

I'm new on here. Not sure how to find Zanny. At 6:30 I was down to a few coals. Still just into active. About 240° on stove top. I would have to borrow my buddies bucket truck again. Here's pics of the outside. (broken image removed)(broken image removed)

Wood has been approved. Drafts checked out. There is something interactive that I'm not catching

Your draft, while checked, is weak. As the outdoor temp drops, the draft should increase. .04 is almost a minimum.

 

[cannon]

Flame impingement doesn't happen over night,but the cat will go inactive first.When the cat goes inactive the thermostat gets turned up higher to get more heat,the higher the setting the more flame is drawn into the combustor which eventually leads to crumbling.

 

[Illinois burner]

I'm not enclosing it. I may at a much later date, when funds are better, run it through the roof. I don't understand how the draft is low when it's
A. 35 degrees outside
B. Stated in the owners manual. .002 to .003 on medium fire and .005 on high

 

[Illinois burner]

Sorry, I meant. 02 and .03

 

[Rich2343]

I put another 4 feet of pipe on today giving me at total of 19 feet outside. It looks ridiculous. I just loaded it with the wood I have at 3:45. The next load will be the kiln dried wood. Hopefully I see a dramatic change

Illinois. Ridiculous you say living in a mobile home and have 12' of stack out on the roof. People tell me they can see the stack before the trailer . It works that's all that important to me . I still have some tweeking to do before I'm happy.

 

[rdust]

I'm not enclosing it. I may at a much later date, when funds are better, run it through the roof.

I'm surprised you didn't run it straight up and out to start. I would figure the stove pipe would be cheaper than class A, of course double wall ain't cheap either.

 

[tarzan]

Are your stove top and probe temps with blower on or off? If the blower is on, at what speed?

 

[Bill C]

Illinois , I really feel for you ! Hope you can get that figured out.
I'm buying a new stove soon, to replace my old one. I'm very interested in your situation since I'm considering the BK Princess.
I have an 8" masonry flue that's approx 18-19 ft from stove to top. My old stove is a cat and has always drafted fine.
I'll be watching your threads, hope you can get the problem located and corrected soon. Hang in there

 

[Illinois burner]

Those were with it off

 

[Bill C]

I can't help but think there's a issue with the stove. The flue is extremely high. You have draft, so it should burn well ?

 

[claybe]

Those pictures are when he was loading and early in the burn. When the wood is fully engulfed it appears the bypass is closed.

I was looking at the pics you posted on page three of the stove and on the pics showing your stove the bypass lever was open on both pics, "when the lever points to you its opened, when its pointed away from you its in the closed position" I know those were pics of the stove before and after a reload but can you confirm that the lever is pointed away from you right now?

This is what I was thinking too that he was reversing the closing of the bypass. Illinois can you confirm that the bypass is being closed correctly? Have you watched it close when there was no fire in there? Have you done the dollar bill test on the bypass? I have a princess insert and a very short run of pipe and about 1200 sqft and it heats it fine. I even got over 24 hours on some fruit wood a few days ago. Can you post how you are adjusting the tstat as you go? I load with everything open. When the cat is active I close the bypass and turn it to half way open down from full open. Let the cat probe get about half way into active and the turn it down to about 1/4 to 1/8 open. The insert does not have the same Dots as the free stander. Post your minute by minute with every detail and pictures if possible. Chris will chime in as well and he will make sure this gets fixed. Hang in there.

 

[Rickb]

1 other question as well. When you ran it lower 1.75-2 for a while did you hear the thermostat clicking open and closed?

Also I am not sure where your located but I have a probe for double wall stove pipe you can have. Never needed it with my BK.