BK Princess OAK

[stoveliker]

I remember the manual does say to do some small fires first. I thought it was to dry out the bricks and prevent them from cracking?

(Or, in other words, "read the manual(!)" I believe it has a "your first fire" section.)

 

[DonTee]

Haha. Yes I should read the manual. I did watch a video made by BK on YouTube. About how to operate the stove. It was a funny video, but informative enough that I got what they were trying to say.

I’ve run woodstoves for years, but this is my first cat stove. And actually this is my first brand new stove.

 

[moresnow]

Haha. Yes I should read the manual. I did watch a video made by BK on YouTube. About how to operate the stove. It was a funny video, but informative enough that I got what they were trying to say.

I’ve run woodstoves for years, but this is my first cat stove. And actually this is my first brand new stove.

For sure read the manual closely. Operate per direction or you will likely be back here disappointed. Eventually you can get your personal routine figured out. Enjoy.

 

[BKVP]

The small, short fires are intended to cure the paint. Just make 3-4 fires of increasing duration and surface temperatures.

 

[DonTee]

For sure read the manual closely. Operate per direction or you will likely be back here disappointed. Eventually you can get your personal routine figured out. Enjoy.

It does seem like many problems people complain about on this forum are operator error. That and wet wood.

 

[DonTee]

So I have the stove about where I want it. Looking at the install diagram it seems like the corners have to be a minimum of 4” from the walls.

I still have rock board on the wall behind the stove and on the floor under the stove. There’s an inch gap between the rock board and the drywall. I’d like to extend the rock board over to the windows

The tape on the floor is a rough line where the rock board will be cut. I’ll have tile on the floor and tile or rock on the walls behind the stove.
The rock board on the walls might be extended up to the ceiling

This is where my woodstove was last winter. It was spaced away from the wall a bit compared to the BK. But even with a stove top temp of 650 degrees, the walls behind the stove barely got over 100 degrees.

I also spaced the chimney closer to the house this year. My horizontal run is down to 30”. Basically it goes like this. Woodstove to the 90 degree bend on the stove pipe is 30”, then 30” horizontal, and then 20’ of chimney outside.

I was planning on leaving out the key damper this year. I at least want to try this setup without the key damper. Last year I put one in because my VC stove was hard to calm down sometimes.

Any comments on the install?

 

[BKVP]

When measuring to corners of stove, ignore your non combustible wall board and measure to sheet rock...

 

[DonTee]

Right, that makes sense. Thanks BKVP

I have about 5” to the rock board, so it’s around 6.5” to the drywall. I could probably ditch the 1” spacers that are behind the rock board. I would still keep the stove where it is.

With my old stove I was trying to get it as close to the wall as I could. But I still had to be something like 12” out.

 

[DonTee]

I want to get an Auber thermometer for the stove pipe. Which one is the popular one around here again? AT200?

I want something that not only has a temp readout, but has an alarm in case someone (my wife) leaves the stove door open and forgets about it.

The exact one I’m looking at is the AT200CHIM. I have single wall stove pipe right now. Gonna do double wall in the future, but for now it’s single wall.

For anyone that has one of the Auber units. Does the built in buzzer make enough noise? Or do I need the external buzzer

 

[DonTee]

What is the point of this piece in the middle? I noticed there’s a bolt in the bottom holding it on. Is the square supposed to be removable for dumping ashes into the pan or what? With the little hook on top in thinking yes. I didn’t see it in the manual. Maybe I missed it.

 

[stoveliker]

The latter is the "lid" of the ash drawer.
You can lift it off and shovel ashes down that hole into the ash drawer.

I never use this; I just scoop it out.
(And if you have a model without ash drawer, I don't know why this thing is still there..?)

 

[BKVP]

What is the point of this piece in the middle? I noticed there’s a bolt in the bottom holding it on. Is the square supposed to be removable for dumping ashes into the pan or what? With the little hook on top in thinking yes. I didn’t see it in the manual. Maybe I missed it.

View attachment 299468

Some models come standard with ash drawers. Other such as the KE/PE Parlor models the ash drawer is optional. EPA does not permit you to change anything inside the firebox without recertification, which means retesting which is a huge expense.

 

[DonTee]

I have the ultra pedestal model with the ash drawer. So my understanding is to use that feature I just take off the nut on the bottom, and then that little plate will lift right off ?

 

[stoveliker]

Hm. My piece there has an eye (bolt) welded to it, and you can lift it off with the poker that came with the stove.
I could not see your picture to see if you have a bolt rather than an eye there.

My plate is indeed just laying there. The assumption (no, data, because tested...) is that the weight of the 1/4" (?) thick metal from which this is made is sufficient to prevent air leaking in. It is important though that IF you use the ash drawer, that this area is clean enough when you close it again, that it properly seals. Small coals etc. there could leave a gap, and thus air leaking in. (This is why I don't use it - though shoveling it in there, and taking the drawer out could in principle limit ash dust from spreading in the home. I always do this when the stove is hot, so anything I stir up in the bucket I deposit my ashes in gets sucked right back into the stove and thru the bypass out the chimney.)

 

[DonTee]

Mine has the little eyelet there too. But it doesn’t budge. There is a small lock nut on the bottom. I assume it’s bolted in place so it doesn’t bounce around in the stove during shipping. I just wanted to make sure I’m understanding how it works before I take the nut off

 

[Ashful]

Mine has the little eyelet there too. But it doesn’t budge. There is a small lock nut on the bottom. I assume it’s bolted in place so it doesn’t bounce around in the stove during shipping. I just wanted to make sure I’m understanding how it works before I take the nut off

I ordered two, both with ash drawers, and neither had that ash plug bolted in. They just lifted out, using the L-rod poker that comes with the stove.

Having worked most of my life in manufacturing environments, I would guess your stove was on a work order originally configured for "no ash drawer", had the plug bolted in, and then later diverted to the "has ash drawer" side of the line to fulfill your order. The fastener to retain the plug was already installed when it reached inspection, and there's likely no inspection step for that plug fastener on the check list for the "has ash drawer" stoves, to verify its presence of (or lack thereof).

Check your ash drawer, and you should have a separate pan and lid. The lid should be stowed upside down, under the pan. If there, remove the fastener holding that plug in, lift out, and you'll figure out the rest from there.

 

[DonTee]

That makes sense. My stove was one that the dealer already had I think. It had legs on it but I wanted the pedestal so they ordered it.

Pic from underneath

 

[Ashful]

Cool. Yeah, probably the dealer missed one step in the conversion, or BK's instruction sheet for the conversion skipped that detail. No biggie, you know what to do.

The thing laying in the ash drawer, which almost looks galvanized in this photo, is the ash pan lid. I accidentally threw one of mine away with the original ash pan drawer assembly, during a swap to update my stoves, a sign of how seldom they're actually used.

But the ash pan itself is an excellent accessory, IMO. I made mention of emptying my stoves of ash every week, and implied the shallow belly of the Ashford is to blame, but it's actually the ash pan capacity that keeps me on that schedule. Let it go two weeks on most hardwoods, and you're going to have to make two trips anyway, so you might as well just do it every week and maintain maximum free loading volume, while you're at it. A good excuse to vacuum up any dust around the hearth, and give things a basic weekly check and cleaning, while you're at it.

 

[Highbeam]

I want to get an Auber thermometer for the stove pipe. Which one is the popular one around here again? AT200?

I want something that not only has a temp readout, but has an alarm in case someone (my wife) leaves the stove door open and forgets about it.

The exact one I’m looking at is the AT200CHIM. I have single wall stove pipe right now. Gonna do double wall in the future, but for now it’s single wall.

For anyone that has one of the Auber units. Does the built in buzzer make enough noise? Or do I need the external buzzer

I use an auber probe meter with a probe into the single wall pipe above my noncat shop stove. The thermocouple probe works great with single wall unlike the mechanical condar probe meter that is calibrated for double wall pipe only.

I’ve definitely hit the internal alarm and it’s very loud. No problem hearing it in the same room even with stove fans blowing.

 

[DonTee]

I use an auber probe meter with a probe into the single wall pipe above my noncat shop stove. The thermocouple probe works great with single wall unlike the mechanical condar probe meter that is calibrated for double wall pipe only.

I’ve definitely hit the internal alarm and it’s very loud. No problem hearing it in the same room even with stove fans blowing.

What temp is your alarm set to go off at? Just curious.

 

[Highbeam]

What temp is your alarm set to go off at? Just curious.

I believe I set it for 1000 but this is a noncat with 10’ of vertical single wall into 9 feet of vertical classA and the stove is only run on high output. I’m not aiming for efficiency!

There’s a pretty strong argument that flue temperatures will significantly cool in the 8’ of single wall between the auber probe and the class A.

It’s a bit of a pain in the butt to adjust the alarm.

 

[DonTee]

Ok good to know. I was just reading the website about it, and they say that with the external piezo tweeter it’s as loud as a smoke detector. That’s kind of what I’m going for.

Also I don’t quite understand the different probe options. The single wall pipe option uses a washer sensor. The double wall option uses a 4” thermocouple. I want the thermocouple. So I wonder if I can use that with single wall pipe.

 

[BKVP]

Ok good to know. I was just reading the website about it, and they say that with the external piezo tweeter it’s as loud as a smoke detector. That’s kind of what I’m going for.

Also I don’t quite understand the different probe options. The single wall pipe option uses a washer sensor. The double wall option uses a 4” thermocouple. I want the thermocouple. So I wonder if I can use that with single wall pipe.

Don't you single wall on your new Blaze King. You'll want black double wall pipe to help contain the minimal heat loss to help sustain draft.

 

[DonTee]

I am going to change out to double wall at some point. Hopefully sooner than later. I have some Duravent DVL picked out. It’s about 300$ for the setup.

So what kind of issues will I run into if I use single wall for a little while? Creosote buildup? I do plan to pull the stove pipe often for the first part of the winter. To check the chimney and stove pipe for build up. It’s what I do until I have a known good setup.

I did contact Auber about the probe question. They said I can use the 4” probe meant for double wall pipe on single wall. The only issue I might have is mounting it. But they said the probe will work, and it’s more accurate than the washer probe they sell for single wall pipe.

 

[BKVP]

Don't you single wall on your new Blaze King. You'll want black double wall pipe to help contain the minimal heat loss to help sustain draft.

With Single wall your clearances are 18". So if you later replace it with double wall, clearance will be up 50% less.

Double wall hold stack temps much better to sustain draft. Usually, all things being equal, double wall set ups allow lower operating range without the cat going inactive and also higher end heat output, all due to improved draft.