Blaze King princess thermostat sticky, BK Princess ultra

[rideau]

My neighbor called me and said her Princess got so hot one night a smoke detector starting going off at 2 AM. The cat probe dial was twisted around and the surface thermometer was beyond 900 with a wildfire raging in the box. This was all happening with the stat setting below "2". She turned it down all the way and the stove calmed down but she didn't; she was scared to leave the stove unattended.

The stat knob was stiff, resistant to turning. I took the cover off and lubed all the points where there was a wear area with gun oil, the stat knob turned MUCH easier afterwards. Also cleaned all the dust off the flapper. It seems to work fine now, no issues since then.

This is the same stove that originally came with the backwards-wound thermostat coil. And a stainless cat that plugged/wouldn't light off properly and was replaced with a ceramic. As good as it is, it has had some issues. I have not read on this forum of any of these issues with the King.

That sounds like the cat clogging problem with stainless cat on the PH - seems to happen to a few with really tall chimneys/strong draft/no ashpan combination. The outside surface of the stainless cat gets covered with fly ash, blocking the openings, at least in part. No ceramic cat available for PH. Obvious attempts at solution with PH: add a damper, add as ash pan. Did your friend fit into this profile? Would be helpful to know. More info we can get to figure out for sure why some, but only a very few, people are having this cat clogging issue with fly ash.

Thanks.

 

[fire_man]

This thread reads like an exciting novel where you can't wait to get to the end, but you want to take your time along the way!

I don't understand how the "click" feature works on this thermostat, my old VC Resolute's thermostat was always continuously opening or closing, with no "click" to it. On the BK, it's as though a separate spring gets wound up and lets go to close the flapper when the bimetalic coil reaches the proper temperature.

This sure sounds like a binding shaft but at least it's got an easy fix.

 

[Highbeam]

The click we speak of is just the flapper shutting fully. Since the flapper has that hole in it, the stat calls for a zero setting very frequently. These full cat stoves just don't use much air.

So far, so good. The stove is working well.

 

[HotCoals]

Some mistake the stove heating up (clicking) for the t-stat closing.

 

[RustyShackleford]

This thread reads like an exciting novel where you can't wait to get to the end, but you want to take your time along the way!

You don't need to get to the end to know the moral of the story though: another problem with the thermostat area on BK stoves, which BK chooses to bury their heads in the sand about.

 

[Highbeam]

You don't need to get to the end to know the moral of the story though: another problem with the thermostat area on BK stoves, which BK chooses to bury their heads in the sand about.

To be fair, my stat coil was wound correctly and I found no defects upon examination of the stat system. My symptom was a hot stove at a low stat setting but the cause could be several things including some out of BK's control. I have not contacted BK about this since I really can't blame them without evidence.

 

[claybe]

I have the princess insert and I can't hear a "click" nor have ever been able to hear a "click". Do you think something is amiss? Stove has not been down long enough for me to check yours and shackelfords claims.

 

[jeff_t]

The literature states that if the bimettalic spring were to fail that the flapper would slam shut. If the flapper falls off of that shaft it sure looks like it would fall into the intake manifold. At least on carburetors the flapper is usually attached with screws.

I just took a look, and I see what you are saying. Not very confidence inspiring, but the welds on mine seem pretty substantial.

I have the princess insert and I can't hear a "click" nor have ever been able to hear a "click". Do you think something is amiss? Stove has not been down long enough for me to check yours and shackelfords claims.

The only time I here a click that is actually from the thermostat butterfly is when I turn the knob quickly to the closed position. It isn't very loud, and you might not hear it with an insert. I'm not sure where the thermostat assembly is located. Any other clicks and pops are expansion and contraction. I don't believe that the bimetallic coil would close it hard enough to make a click, and I'm not sure it would close completely at all unless it were at an already low setting.

 

[Highbeam]

I don't believe that the bimetallic coil would close it hard enough to make a click, and I'm not sure it would close completely at all unless it were at an already low setting.

At least with the stoves, it is quite easy to pop the cover off and watch it for awhile if you really want to know. I am pretty certain that the flapper does close fully as needed. If the flapper is even slightly open, the stove is getting lots of air.

 

[Skidooer]

Did you notice any warping in the housing that the stat sits down into? When i changed the stat in my Princess it was because it would stick about 1/4" open (at 1.75 setting), but only sometimes.... After Valley Comfort sent me a new thermo, i removed the old one and really had to pry it out of the warped housing. Once out of the stove it worked great, passed the hairdryer test perfectly many times. The whole problem was that my high draft issue was causing the stove to overfire, and the heat warped the housing inward, binding up the themostat. Once i pryed it out true, both the old one and new one worked wonderful. But obviously i sent the old one back anywany. And the old one was stiff, and the lube inside was all dryed out and nasty looking.
I have since traded the princess in after having nothing but problems, and now burning my new King Ultra, which so far I LOVE! I can not believe the difference in heat and burn times. I just hope it doesnt give me any problems...

 

[Highbeam]

I ran the flapper through it's range and cleaned the mating surface so no, no sticking was evident.It moved freely all the way. Good thing to check though and I'm glad you brought up the possibility. These threads stay around forever and somebody searching for info in the future might have the problem you describe.

 

[ernie]

If anyone wants a new thermostat control for their Blaze King stove, we stock a few in our online store, www.hechlers.com