Blaze king Princess issues....

[Mookiepie]

First time poster, long time lurker. After hours and hours of research and countless forms read, I decide to purchase a blaze king princess insert. I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake. Here is my setup:
I'm in S.E Pa. 25 ft 6" ss liner, "almost" straight shot up. (One adjustable 45 elbow off the stove to hook up into the liner as the outlet on the stove is at an angle) The elbow is adjusted to be almost straight, not even close to 45 degrees. Masonary chimney on exterior of house, clay liner is 12x12 and the space between clay liner and SS liner is filled with insulation. Perlite or vermiculite, I can't remember. Wood is 2-3 year old (split and stacked) oak (3 years) and ash (2)with consistent MC of 13-18%. My brother is an arborist so I'm lucky enough to be able to get premium wood for free. It to toot my own horn, but my dealer was very jealous of my woodpiles, my wife is still not that impressed. I digress.

Stove was Installed 3 weeks ago. Average night time temps: 30-40 daytime is 50-60. Issues are:
Smoke from chimney
Lousy burn times/inactive cat
Whistling/sucking noise coming from right (temperature control) side of stove.

-Dealer has been out and said the smoke issue is due to loose door, so we adjusted the door for a tighter seal, however I'm not sure why that wasn't addressed when stove was installed. He checked out the stove and cat and said everything should be fine now. Anyway, that issue seems to have been corrected.
-I'm loading the stove up fully at 20:00, allowing fire to get established with bypass open, close bypass only after cat is active and fire is ripping. Burn on high for 20-30 min, then over the course of the next 1/2hr throttle the stove to its lowest temp setting. At 05:00 when I wake up, the stove is consistenty in the "not active" zone, however there is still plenty of fuel in the stove and stove is fairly hot. What's the deal with that? Still having the issue after the dealer serviced the stove.
-The whistling noise coming from the stove is going to make me shoot myself it's so anoying. The dealer said it's just the sound of the stove drafting, but it sounds like old farmhouse windows leaking air during a windstorm. That's the best way to describe it. Not supper loud, but can certainly be heard across the room. Adjusting the thermostat ever so slightly will alleviate the noise for a few moments, but it soon returns. I havent read anyone complaining about this issue, which makes me assume it's not common.
I've been heating with wood for 10 years now, and understand there is a bit of a learning curve with these stoves, but I'm getting a little nervous I just blew close to $4k. I've called blaze king 2 times to address the issues, first time they told me to contact the dealer, which I did. The second time they played the "ill transfer you game" until finally getting the VM box of "Chris". I left a message, but have yet to hear back. In all fairness the message was left today, but I'm hoping someone here can help!
Thanks boys.

 

[Highbeam]

I'm loading the stove up fully at 20:00, allowing fire to get established with bypass open, close bypass only after cat is active and fire is ripping. Burn on high for 20-30 min, then over the course of the next 1/2hr throttle the stove to its lowest temp setting. At 05:00 when I wake up, the stove is consistenty in the "not active" zone, however there is still plenty of fuel in the stove and stove is fairly hot. What's the deal with that? Still having the issue after the dealer serviced the stove.

Here's your mistake. You do NOT just shut the stat to the lowest setting as that will snuff the fire and stall the cat. Spend some time to find the lowest possible setting that dependably results in the cat staying active. It will be under 50% but above 25%. Only slam the stat closed when you have a chimney fire.

Your other problem is a noise? Mine makes no noise but perhaps the higher stat settings will cure it.

 

[Mookiepie]

Maybe I wasn't clear enough with what I wrote, but I do not go directly fro hi to low, I throttle it down slowly over the course of 1/2 hour only AFTER burning it on high for 1/2 hour. From the time I engage the cat until the time the temp gauge is on the lowest setting is no less than 1 hour. The noise is consistent at different temps, not just the lowest setting.

 

[Tocramed]

I have a new Princess insert this year and the whistling noise happens with mine as well. Usually when I have it throttled down, but it only lasts for a few minutes after I adjust the thermostat. If it is windy outside, it might last a little longer.

Maybe I am doing this wrong, but once I have a full load established, I am able to adjust the thermostat to the lowest setting (in increments over 15-30 minutes) without it stalling the cat. I have done this every night since we installed the unit. It doesn't drop below about 25% of the active zone until the end of the burn cycle. Last night had a full load going at 5pm; 6am this morning it was still about 30% in the active zone with a small amount of wood left. 38^F outside and windy.

 

[Woody Stover]

You do NOT just shut the stat to the lowest setting as that will snuff the fire and stall the cat.

once I have a full load established, I am able to adjust the thermostat to the lowest setting (in increments over 15-30 minutes) without it stalling the cat.

Hard to believe Mookie can't shut the air down almost all the way, with a 25' liner...

 

[prezes13]

It's relatively warm. How is your wood? You said you got a lot of it but is it dry? I don't have a bk I wish I did but sounds like either wood or draft problem. Maybe you can't turn the stat too low, with colder temp you probably will but maybe not yet.

 

[Woody Stover]

It's relatively warm.

It's hardly ever warm in WI.

 

[prezes13]

I meant at Mookiepie's place he said 50-60 df

 

[prezes13]

Ct is still warm we had a water main break last nigh I was in my long sleeve thirt

 

[Woody Stover]

I meant at Mookiepie's place

Oops! Still, it's 30-40 at night and he's lighting the fire in the evening. You'd think 25' would be pulling like mad.

 

[begreen]

It's relatively warm. How is your wood?

Wood is 2-3 year old (split and stacked) oak (3 years) and ash (2)with consistent MC of 13-18%.

Should be drafting well at 30-40F with 25ft of chimney.
Wondering if the noise is air trying hard to bypass the thermostat flapper. Does it have a hole in it?

 

[prezes13]

It's hard for me to say I don't light up my stove till it's low 30 during the day, I suspect that mid 40 and slightly wet wood will do it.

 

[prezes13]

My bad I missed it.

 

[Woody Stover]

From what he says, wood should be dry enough...

 

[Highbeam]

The answer is to not shut the stat down so far. The description of the problem is perfectly consistent with cat stall. The BKs allow pretty great control of the combustion air.

 

[Woody Stover]

Wondering if the noise is air trying hard to bypass the thermostat flapper. Does it have a hole in it?

I think it does...I like that theory. I would be tweaking on that hole a bit. Maybe round off sharp edges slightly with a saw chain file, or dabbing a small raised ring of high-temp silicone around the hole, or...??

 

[Highbeam]

Wondering if the noise is air trying hard to bypass the thermostat flapper. Does it have a hole in it?

I know my princess has a hole in the throttle plate. Here's a photo. Each model stat is different though and I would not want to put a blob of anything on the flapper since it would weigh one side and work against the bimettalic spring with unpredictable results.

 

[kennyp2339]

Well lets eliminate a couple of variables, go by either some non treated 2x4's *dried, or some compressed wood blocks. Make a normal fire with the t-stat on high 5 oclock position, let the stove heat up good for 30min, then turn back the t-stat to a little less then the 3 o'clock position, leave it alone, see what your burn times are, see what the fire box does.
at that setting since you are burning truly dry wood you shouldnt have a lot of soot build up on the glass, your firebox should also have very little coals / fuel left over at the end of the burn, your cat should remain active through the whole burn cycle.
Once that completed, do any other fire with your split wood, use the same t-stat setting and then compare the 2 burns.

 

[jeff_t]

The second time they played the "ill transfer you game" until finally getting the VM box of "Chris".

Chris is @BKVP. You got transferred you to the right guy.

 

[BKVP]

Chris is @BKVP. You got transferred you to the right guy.

We spoke in detail yesterday. I suggested trying some larger diameter pieces as much of his load appears to be 3-4" diameter. That much surface area just burns so much faster. The noise has to be combustion air being pulled through the thermostat opening. There really isn't much that can be done about this if the draft is that strong. He also suggested that the cat was in active but some charred fuel remained. With less than "cold" temps, running on low burn rates could stall the cat as other indicated.

 

[twd000]

I'm resurrecting this thread, rather than starting my own, because I am experiencing a similar whistling sound on my Princess Insert. Unlike the OP, however, the heating performance of my insert has been incredible. 12-hour burns like clockwork, days in the 30s, nights in the 20s. Stovetop holds at 400-450F and room holds at 70-72F. I have a 25' insulated stainless liner inside an interior masonry chimney. Insulated block-off plate at bottom and top. I suspect my draft is "more than adequate". I am running at 30-40% throttle setting on the thermostat dial. The whistling sound gets worse as I dial it down; I haven't dared go any lower for fear of snuffing the fire and stalling the cat. It sounds like my stove has asthma and is struggling to suck air in through the intake. Have I just hit some resonant frequency of air passing over the tstat hole? Should I try a lower setting to see if the whistling goes away without stalling the catalyst?

 

[webby3650]

I'm resurrecting this thread, rather than starting my own, because I am experiencing a similar whistling sound on my Princess Insert. Unlike the OP, however, the heating performance of my insert has been incredible. 12-hour burns like clockwork, days in the 30s, nights in the 20s. Stovetop holds at 400-450F and room holds at 70-72F. I have a 25' insulated stainless liner inside an interior masonry chimney. Insulated block-off plate at bottom and top. I suspect my draft is "more than adequate". I am running at 30-40% throttle setting on the thermostat dial. The whistling sound gets worse as I dial it down; I haven't dared go any lower for fear of snuffing the fire and stalling the cat. It sounds like my stove has asthma and is struggling to suck air in through the intake. Have I just hit some resonant frequency of air passing over the tstat hole? Should I try a lower setting to see if the whistling goes away without stalling the catalyst?

No one but you can answer that question. Every install is different, and the whistle you are experiencing is not a common issue. Turn it down and monitor the stove, I really doubt it will stall. If it does, ohh well.. just turn the t-stat up.

 

[Woody Stover]

How about filing or sand-papering around the edges of the plate, or the hole (?) in the plate? I don't THINK that would void the warranty...

 

[jetsam]

Mine whistles too, but the hole in the flapper definitely is not the source, otherwise it would whistle all day on low burns.

There's a narrow zone between fully closed and somewhat open that does make a whistling noise. You can get to it any time by twiddling the thermostat, but you can't make it stay there because the air is always opening or closing a little by itself.

It's quiet enough that I can barely hear it, but I have 15' of flue, not 25'. (I also have a background heavy in motorcycles and guns and chsinsaws and jet engines, so take that for what it's worth.)

 

[twd000]

Mine whistles too, but the hole in the flapper definitely is not the source, otherwise it would whistle all day on low burns.

There's a narrow zone between fully closed and somewhat open that does make a whistling noise. You can get to it any time by twiddling the thermostat, but you can't make it stay there because the air is always opening or closing a little by itself.

It's quiet enough that I can barely hear it, but I have 15' of flue, not 25'. (I also have a background heavy in motorcycles and guns and chsinsaws and jet engines, so take that for what it's worth.)

So I was using the whistle to tell me I'm getting close to the stall point, but what you're telling me is that I should set it just above or below there and hope the spring doesn't bring it back to that bad spot?