creosote build up BK princess

[North of 60]

Been in the BIZ for 9 yrs, now... I try to sway customers away from CAT stoves altogether, for both of our piece of mind...

Thats to bad.

 

[summit]

pull out the baffle and clean from the bottom w/ flex rods.... also to consider: is there a cap on the liner? is it the one that came w/ the liner? often the standard liner cap is made like those for a prefab chimney: it has spark guard strips and/or mesh around it. this catches alot of flyash and soot bits and can heavily restrict the draft, even thought the stack itself is clean. i have swept alot of chimney setups like yours over the years, and usually a clogged cap is the reason for the smoke back (provided the wood is good and seasoned and the baffle is installed correctly.) also, if you had the chimney swept: I would verify the sweep didn't leave a pile of soot on top of your baffle... If he didn't take it out when he swept it this could be a factor as well.

Man, seems like a lot of "if your baffle" and "usually" and "provided the wood is" in the advice to that Summit owner too

Let's be honest, there are a lot of if's and buts with any stove and flue setup. Having a cat or non-cat doesn't change that. In both cases there is a lot to think about.

There is to be sure... howver the one piece baffle is a little easier setup than the CAT... also that particular poster had been running his stove for a couple seasons, not just one month like the guy in this post.

 

[fattyfat1]

I try to sway customers away from CAT stoves altogether, for both of our piece of mind...

glad I'm not one of your customers, I can't stand being mislead by salesmen when I've already done my research.

 

[Chopslide]

well we have some wood on the fire on this post anyway
I will try some different wood this afternoon and see if that makes a diff in smoke output and keep you posted

 

[RustyShackleford]

welcome to having a CAT stove: sure you can burn it forever on low, but I don't care how great the CAT is supposed to be: it all ends up as cresote in the end...

Umm, what? This doesn't make any sense at all.

Indeed. On my old Dutchwest, I stopped even looking at the chimney more than every 3 years,
and even then it didn't really need cleaning. Lots of long slow catalytic burns.

I expect (but don't assume, that is, I won't wait three years to clean chimney) the same or better
performance from the BKP.

 

[Todd]

Ok it got warm enough to get on the roof (33f) I cleaned the flue cleaned out and inspected the stove... the cat seemed to be snug in its mount... bypass door seal looked fine I couldent find anything wrong that jumped out at me so.... started a new fire....at about halfway into the active zone on thermo closed bypass tstat on 3 let it rip for a half hour mabe more.. cat thermo is pegged.. climbed ladder to check stack and smoke.... not alot but smoking a little. I then turned it down to 2.5 and waited 20 minutes or so checked again and still smokin a little
I am burning mostly dougfir that was standing dead 2yrs back split and stacked 2yrs ago reading something like 14% on the meter.
my idea that the cat is ok is mostly from the fact that it will stay engaged for a burn cycle easily but that could be wrong as well.
Its about 32 now high pressure for the next couple days so it will be cold enough at night to let it rip a little and check again for smoke tomorrow

What color is the smoke? Some newbie cat stove owners see white and think it's smoke when it's really just steam which is caused by high combustion efficiency.

 

[pen]

Ok it got warm enough to get on the roof (33f) I cleaned the flue cleaned out and inspected the stove... the cat seemed to be snug in its mount... bypass door seal looked fine I couldent find anything wrong that jumped out at me so.... started a new fire....at about halfway into the active zone on thermo closed bypass tstat on 3 let it rip for a half hour mabe more.. cat thermo is pegged.. climbed ladder to check stack and smoke.... not alot but smoking a little. I then turned it down to 2.5 and waited 20 minutes or so checked again and still smokin a little
I am burning mostly dougfir that was standing dead 2yrs back split and stacked 2yrs ago reading something like 14% on the meter.
my idea that the cat is ok is mostly from the fact that it will stay engaged for a burn cycle easily but that could be wrong as well.
Its about 32 now high pressure for the next couple days so it will be cold enough at night to let it rip a little and check again for smoke tomorrow

What color is the smoke? Some newbie cat stove owners see white and think it's smoke when it's really just steam which is caused by high combustion efficiency.

I think everyone has made that mistake before. Only way I learned this lesson was while being frustrated and looking at my "smoking" chimney I noticed that my neighbors propane hot water chimney had the same smoke! I then put 2 and 2 together to equal another even number.

pen

 

[Hiram Maxim]

Ok it got warm enough to get on the roof (33f) I cleaned the flue cleaned out and inspected the stove... the cat seemed to be snug in its mount... bypass door seal looked fine I couldent find anything wrong that jumped out at me so.... started a new fire....at about halfway into the active zone on thermo closed bypass tstat on 3 let it rip for a half hour mabe more.. cat thermo is pegged.. climbed ladder to check stack and smoke.... not alot but smoking a little. I then turned it down to 2.5 and waited 20 minutes or so checked again and still smokin a little
I am burning mostly dougfir that was standing dead 2yrs back split and stacked 2yrs ago reading something like 14% on the meter.
my idea that the cat is ok is mostly from the fact that it will stay engaged for a burn cycle easily but that could be wrong as well.
Its about 32 now high pressure for the next couple days so it will be cold enough at night to let it rip a little and check again for smoke tomorrow

What color is the smoke? Some newbie cat stove owners see white and think it's smoke when it's really just steam which is caused by high combustion efficiency.

I think everyone has made that mistake before. Only way I learned this lesson was while being frustrated and looking at my "smoking" chimney I noticed that my neighbors propane hot water chimney had the same smoke! I then put 2 and 2 together to equal another even number.

pen

Its just like the newer 96% efficient natural gas furnaces.

First time I saw my neighbors running I thought they were doing laundry :lol:

 

[Chopslide]

I may have some steam as well but im guessing this should not cause the creosote problem that I am having
my fire today is 4hrs old mostly in coals now and I still have smoke. I have been running pretty hot all day never below the normal range on the tstat and still not able to get clean exaust
Only at the end of the last burn was there no smoke/steam from the flue
so probably have to talk to my dealer and mabe bk as well

 

[Todd]

Can you look up at the cat and see it glow red? I know, I know, the cat doesn't have to glow to be working, but my experience is with a near full to full load the cat will always turn red when you engage and continue to glow for the first couple hours. Cats will turn red when temps reach over 1000 degrees so I'm thinking If it's working and burning relatively cool smoke and turns red it has to be creating heat. Another thing it may be is a leaky bypass, I remember watching the BK video where they talk about tightening the bypass plate bolt. Maybe yours is lose?

 

[SolarAndWood]

4 hrs and coals? Are you loading the stove up, burning off any crap with the bypass open, getting the cat good hot and glowing then letting the tstat do its thing?

 

[Patapsco Mike]

Just to make sure, you do know you have to push the cat lever all the way down, firmly, until you feel it lock- right? You can't just lower it, you need to give it a firm push until you feel it lock. If you don't do that last push you might not be getting a tight seal.

 

[Chopslide]

Solar I am loading it up but burning on a high setting (3 mostly yesterday) so it is going thru the wood much faster. if I load on active coals and leave bypass open to "burn off the crap" it gets really hot really fast so I have been letting the thermo get to the middle of the active zone and closing bypass (pushing it all the way to lock.... thanks mike I caught that in an earlier post)
If the cat is engaged when I reload I shut the bypass right after loading as per the manual
I have been burning doug fir and larch since the clean yesterday very old dry.... to the point where it barely reads on the meter.

 

[Chopslide]

todd I am seeing a glowing cat when the themo is up well into the active zone
I have seen nothing about adjusting the bypass door but am thinking it is the most likely culprit at this point... where did you see this video?
thanks all for the replys

 

[Highbeam]

So to be sure, when measuring moisture you are resplitting a piece of wood and measuring inside that freshly split surface right? If this was a non-cat stove I would tell you that screen clogging is normal but I'm not so sure about that with cats stoves.

What color is the smoke you are getting. Blue or white.

 

[BrotherBart]

todd I am seeing a glowing cat when the themo is up well into the active zone
I have seen nothing about adjusting the bypass door but am thinking it is the most likely culprit at this point... where did you see this video?
thanks all for the replys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBSNWKI-d-A

The video proves beyond a shadow of doubt that a Blaze King performs better than a two hundred year old Franklin stove design. :lol:

 

[Chopslide]

Thks for that vid link BB next time I get it cooled down I think I will check the door mabe a flashlight? would be a good idea to look for leaks
Happy turkey day all

 

[begreen]

Overall, outside of the promo there are a lot of good tips, especially the parts on burning, seasoned wood, dollar bill test, etc.

armchair critic... What did Apple pay for the promo? Stove pipe thermometer at 5'? She and he are adding wood to the stove with no gloves? And who has a brand new pair of boots sitting by the bedside?

 

[Chopslide]

after checking out the video (thks BB) I cooled down the stove and checked out the adjustment on the bypass door... it seems to be seating well and I think I can rule out air leakage ( any major leakage)
checked it out w/bright flashlight and could not see any light at all
so I guess what is left is cat or wood problems I am still seeing smoke (small amount) thru all stages of my burn cycle so something isnt right
will be checking in with my dealer on mon then go from there...

 

[Hiram Maxim]

after checking out the video (thks BB) I cooled down the stove and checked out the adjustment on the bypass door... it seems to be seating well and I think I can rule out air leakage ( any major leakage)
checked it out w/bright flashlight and could not see any light at all
so I guess what is left is cat or wood problems I am still seeing smoke (small amount) thru all stages of my burn cycle so something isnt right
will be checking in with my dealer on mon then go from there...

How tall is your chimney?

And did you check the loading door to make sure it was dollar bill tight?

 

[pyro68]

Burn wide open for about 15 minutes each day, and that will help prevent future clogs.

agree 100%, no substitute for a real hot burn morning & evening.

 

[Chopslide]

5' single wall to ceiling..... 12' of double to roof jack.... 3' above peak.... all straight up I do burn at 3 for a while when reloading but stove gets hot pretty fast and have to turn it down before it gets to out of control
I have also re adjusted the door latch using the d bill trick but am not sure how hard it should be to pull out
thks

 

[Lanningjw]

5' single wall to ceiling..... 12' of double to roof jack.... 3' above peak.... all straight up I do burn at 3 for a while when reloading but stove gets hot pretty fast and have to turn it down before it gets to out of control
I have also re adjusted the door latch using the d bill trick but am not sure how hard it should be to pull out
thks

On my BKPI, the dollar bill is really really hard to pull out. Watch Blaze King 101, it show when its to easy and he makes the ajustment.

I just wanna say that the I had the smoke coming out of my chimney when I was burning to wet of wood. What happened when you tried differnt wood? Sorry your having problems!

>I have been burning doug fir that reads 13 to 15% on my cheap moisture meter and have had the cat engaged for almost all of the burn time.<<< Maybe your cheap moisture meter is not working correctly, Is it the one from Harbor Frieght?

 

[Chopslide]

I might try one more turn on my door seal to be sure
I do have some faith in my meter just from checking different wood piles I have around for next year some reading in the 30s and others low 20s my old wood reads pretty low and new wood high so I think its close
After all the checking it probably boils down to some wet wood/ new stove/ and operator error..... thinking it will burn clean and playing around with low temp burns

 

[RustyShackleford]

Just to make sure, you do know you have to push the cat lever all the way down, firmly, until you feel it lock- right? You can't just lower it, you need to give it a firm push until you feel it lock. If you don't do that last push you might not be getting a tight seal.

I am such a dufus that I did not realize this until I read the above, and yet I have been
getting clean burn as evidenced by chimney effluent clarity.