Blaze King Princess Bypass Frame Repair

[kennyp2339]

That’s a great way to melt those retainers!

I take back everything I have said about not being able to melt the by-pass retainers and warping the inside of the stove.

 

[kgrant]

Well I finally got around to glueing the gasket in. The tube of gasket cement I bought a few years ago wasn't any good. But the tube of furnace cement that is even older was still good. I have no clue why I had a tube of furnace cement so I figured I'd use it here before it went bad. I layed a nice thick bead down and pushed the gasket into it.

Bypass door is sealed up nice and tight now!

Next is welding the door frame cracks and boil the cat.

 

[kennyp2339]

Amazing, great skills and dedication to that stove... I guess the saying is true, nothing goes to waste in Alaska... that stove would have been on the curb in New Jersey faster than you could blink your eyes

 

[kgrant]

Amazing, great skills and dedication to that stove... I guess the saying is true, nothing goes to waste in Alaska... that stove would have been on the curb in New Jersey faster than you could blink your eyes

Haha, sorry but there is tons of waste up here. We're nothing special. I'm sure there are plenty of people in New Jersey who would have repaired it just like I did.

Thanks for the kind words though!

 

[kgrant]

Well I finally finished up this project.

I didn't want/need any of the heat shields that the ultra comes with so I took them off. The only problem is the thermostat indicator is built into the side shield. The piece I needed isn't available from bk so I made my own from a electrical box blank I had laying around. I had to cut about 1" off the control rod otherwise the knob would have stuck out too far.

I'm not too artistic, might have to get a factory sticker...



All loaded up, ready to go... the overhead hoist was sure handy loading her into the sled.



Made it to the cabin in 1 piece! Sure wish I had some help or equipment to move this thing.



I flipped it on its top to get it out of the sled. Then I tried the hand truck, couldn't get it up the stairs, almost lost it off the side. I scraped the hand truck and just walked it up the stairs.



Out with the old King!



I boxed up the bricks for the trip, no casualties. I wrapped the cat in an old towel, a bit crumbled off, nothing major.



Cat seems to be working fine. I wish I had remembered to tape the gasket on while I was in town. Kind of frustrating trying to keep the gasket in place when your hands are cold, -5° F inside when I got here.

Princess is giving the old King a break!

 

[Tar12]

Very nice! Something to be very proud of!

 

[kgrant]

Very nice! Something to be very proud of!

Thanks! I might paint it this summer. I do like the traditional black, but I might have to try something else.

 

[Tar12]

Thanks! I might paint it this summer. I do like the traditional black, but I might have to try something else.

What are your thoughts comparing it to the old King?

 

[kgrant]

What are your thoughts comparing it to the old King?

The princess took a little longer to get up to temp. It has thicker steel and more firebrick so that was no surprise.

I would say heat output is very similar. I ran the princess on high for 4-5 hours and it was putting out as much heat as the king was. But the king was limited by a 6" chimney.

I have a 6" chimney, the king didn't like that. If I had the air open too far it would start chugging/woofing smoke from all the seams. And with the air control closed I would have to stuff tinfoil over it or it would get too hot inside on warm days. And it smoked out the door while reloading, even after I made the door opening 4" shorter. It was too big for the cabin, but it was better than the barrel stove it replaced.

Now I need to write some simple operating instructions for the princess so when others use the cabin they'll know how to run it.

I will miss being able to burn my trash. I could always throw it in the old Monarch though! It doesn't get used very often.