Crown Royal 7200mp

[Terryl]

Replaced my Hardy with a Crown Royal 7200mp. Supposed to burn 40% less wood. This is Not true, burns just as much as my old Hardy if not more. Very disappointed

 

[brenndatomu]

Surprising to hear...the hardy is a known pig. I'd bet you a chicken dinner that you just need to learn how to run the CR...it might not be a "chuck n run" unit like the hardy...what kind of underground line do have? If you have cheap line that just kills efficiency!
Any operation tips @jblnut?

 

[sloeffle]

I agree, the multi-pass stoves are generally around 60 - 65% efficient where a Hardy is probably 20 - 30% efficient ( if that much ). If you are burning green wood you are not doing yourself any favors.

 

[hobbyheater]

What kind off a load does your system draw Btu's per hour ? Small load and the boiler can not gasifie it can only smolder .

 

[Terryl]

Same lines, dry wood. The Crown Royal is advertised to burn 40% less wood. NOT true, I am burning 50% more at minimum. The only thing here that changed is the wood burner

 

[brenndatomu]

Well something is wrong with it then, because nothing burns 50% more than a Hardy.
Is there a bypass that isn't getting closed? (Not real familiar with the details of the MP)

 

[sloeffle]

Same lines, dry wood. The Crown Royal is advertised to burn 40% less wood. NOT true, I am burning 50% more at minimum. The only thing here that changed is the wood burner

What did your dealer say ? I agree, there's no way you are burning more wood with a MP boiler than with an old school smoke dragon. Something isn't setup correctly.

 

[Terryl]

Dealer says my lines need replaced which I have a tendency to agree. But, I am burning way more wood than with my old Hardy. The only thing that has changed is the wood burner. It is a 7300 MP,

 

[Terryl]

I am in central Ohio, hasn’t been much weather below 30 degrees. Today it is 24 and all of next week in the teens and low 20s. I will need to stand outside and keep throwing wood in . lol

 

[brenndatomu]

I looked up the 7000 series CR MP OWBs...that looks like a real nice unit, a major step up from the old "firebox inside a tank of water" boilers!
You said it's a 7300, is that a similar size to what you had?
Do you fill it up all the way?
I know most people say they get the best efficiency from OWBs if they only load as much wood as they'll need to provide heat for 12 hours.

 

[Terryl]

I fill it up to above 3/4 full and have filled it totally full. Doesn’t seem to make any difference . I get 8 to 10 hours before I need to refill it. I have had it go out because all the wood burnt up

 

[Terryl]

Burned this all up in two months. This stack was 5 ft high and 10 ft across. 6 rows of oak, elm, cherry, locust. Plus another large stack in front of the woodburner

 

[brenndatomu]

Burned this all up in two months. This stack was 5 ft high and 10 ft across. 6 rows of oak, elm, cherry, locust. Plus another large stack in front of the woodburner

Wow, seems like plenty, depending on what you are heating.
So are you confident that the smoke bypass is closing properly?

 

[Terryl]

That I don’t know, how do I check that?

 

[brenndatomu]

Are your heat exchanger tubes clean? If things got gunked up from the warm fall we had, that would kill efficiency too.
Have you talked to your dealer, or other owners about how you have your settings, like the fan speed, differential temps, etc?
There's probably a CR group on FB, might be able to help tweak your settings too...oh, and that underground line, don't underestimate how much heat loss you can have there, if your dealer thinks you need to upgrade that, it probably needs it...don't cheap out on the underground line, that's false economy!!

 

[brenndatomu]

That I don’t know, how do I check that?

Well, never having been around one, I dunno for sure, but I'd think maybe you could see the bypass open/close if you operate it with the door open and looking around (up?) In the firebox a little...or maybe you can tell the difference by how much smoke rolls out the door, or not, when you cycle the bypass? You very well maybe able hear it open/close too? Some models make a pretty good bang/clunk when closed properly.
But like I said, really not sure on this one.

 

[sloeffle]

There's a really good FB group called Outdoor Boilers. There a bunch of folks on there who run MP boilers. I'd recommend asking any questions over there as it sounds like your dealer isn't being much help ( pretty typical ). Please be aware, you will need to have your big boy pants on to deal with some of those folks. Most of them are going to be blunt and to the point and not sugar coat things.

 

[jblnut]

Replaced my Hardy with a Crown Royal 7200mp. Supposed to burn 40% less wood. This is Not true, burns just as much as my old Hardy if not more. Very disappointed

I have had a 7400MP for three years now. I am heating my house and farm shop for around 10,000sq/ft. I burn mostly junk fence line wood like red cedar, poplar, box elder, elm, and a little ash. I find that loading the wood crossways in the stove to leave the steel on the sides to be the most efficient. The flames contacting the steel is where the heat transfer all occurs. This is the same as your old stove of course.

Are you getting any sticky/goopy creosote building up inside the stove in any place ? When I first got my 7400 I adjusted the setting on the back of the fan adjustment knob. I felt it was running way too slow while still being in the “optimum” yellow spot on the sticker by the fan speed knob. I run it at the very top of the yellow area (subjective of course) and have almost no sticky stuff anymore. My 7400 will heat up from 165-175f in 12-15 minutes to give to a gauge. When it’s cold (below 0f) I bump it up to 170-180f.

I’ve got a neighbor with a 7300MP and after giving him some suggestions he’s now heating up in that 12-15 min range as well instead of almost 30 min. These stoves are rated to burn coal so they can definitely handle heat. Don’t be afraid to turn that fan knob up.

Another thing that will greatly affect things is how you manage your ashes. I try to keep the actual grey ash in the center above the shaker grates and at least 3-4” thick. Doing this will keep the fire from being blown out as quickly. The first year I really struggled keeping the fire going and landed on a single up and down wiggle every other day as a routine on the ash lever. I empty the ash pan weekly and it’s rarely over half full.

If the 7300MP is indeed the correct size for your needs the lines and everything else aren’t going to be affecting the differences you’re seeing. That’s only makes sense so it’s gotta be either the stove or how you’re managing it.

I looked up the 7000 series CR MP OWBs...that looks like a real nice unit, a major step up from the old "firebox inside a tank of water" boilers!
You said it's a 7300, is that a similar size to what you had?
Do you fill it up all the way?
I know most people say they get the best efficiency from OWBs if they only load as much wood as they'll need to provide heat for 12 hours.

I find that only loading enough for 10-12 hrs gives the best bang for the buck so to speak. It was -9f and windy last night and I loaded it “full” around 9pm it was still around half full this morning at 7am when I went back to it. I shuffled the wood around to get the big chunks on top and the ash on the bottom and it’ll go until noonish before adding more wood.

I work from home so I have the ability to monkey with it as many times a day as needed but usually only check it at 6-7am, noon and then again around 9-10pm. When it’s above 25f I can load it up and not look at it until noon the next day.

That I don’t know, how do I check that?

You’d know. If you pull on that lever above the door and it doesn’t sound like you’re dragging something it’s not moving. Daily I shuffle it back and forth to keep it loose and make sure to clean the multipass area every day. I built a different scraped tool that has some “teeth” so it scratches it clean much easier than the rake deal it came with.

One more thing lol. I have an InkBird BBQ thermometer on the supply/return lines so I can see where it is at all times. When it’s taking longer to heat up it’s running low on wood. It will also send an alert if it gets too hot or too cold so you’ll know before there are issues like being out of wood or leaving the ash pan door open. There should be a 190f cutout that’ll kill power to the fans and shutters but if that ash door is open it’ll boil over and possibly melt down. The cutout resets at 150f if I remember correctly so don’t be alarmed if things don’t turn back on right away.

I’d be happy to answer any questions you have and can take and post pictures of anything you’d like.

Screenshot of the InkBird app. Blue line is shop return, orange line is house return, red/green are supply lines.

 

[brenndatomu]

I have had a 7400MP for three years now. I am heating my house and farm shop for around 10,000sq/ft. I burn mostly junk fence line wood like red cedar, poplar, box elder, elm, and a little ash. I find that loading the wood crossways in the stove to leave the steel on the sides to be the most efficient. The flames contacting the steel is where the heat transfer all occurs. This is the same as your old stove of course.

Are you getting any sticky/goopy creosote building up inside the stove in any place ? When I first got my 7400 I adjusted the setting on the back of the fan adjustment knob. I felt it was running way too slow while still being in the “optimum” yellow spot on the sticker by the fan speed knob. I run it at the very top of the yellow area (subjective of course) and have almost no sticky stuff anymore. My 7400 will heat up from 165-175f in 12-15 minutes to give to a gauge. When it’s cold (below 0f) I bump it up to 170-180f.

I’ve got a neighbor with a 7300MP and after giving him some suggestions he’s now heating up in that 12-15 min range as well instead of almost 30 min. These stoves are rated to burn coal so they can definitely handle heat. Don’t be afraid to turn that fan knob up.

Another thing that will greatly affect things is how you manage your ashes. I try to keep the actual grey ash in the center above the shaker grates and at least 3-4” thick. Doing this will keep the fire from being blown out as quickly. The first year I really struggled keeping the fire going and landed on a single up and down wiggle every other day as a routine on the ash lever. I empty the ash pan weekly and it’s rarely over half full.

If the 7300MP is indeed the correct size for your needs the lines and everything else aren’t going to be affecting the differences you’re seeing. That’s only makes sense so it’s gotta be either the stove or how you’re managing it.


I find that only loading enough for 10-12 hrs gives the best bang for the buck so to speak. It was -9f and windy last night and I loaded it “full” around 9pm it was still around half full this morning at 7am when I went back to it. I shuffled the wood around to get the big chunks on top and the ash on the bottom and it’ll go until noonish before adding more wood.

I work from home so I have the ability to monkey with it as many times a day as needed but usually only check it at 6-7am, noon and then again around 9-10pm. When it’s above 25f I can load it up and not look at it until noon the next day.


You’d know. If you pull on that lever above the door and it doesn’t sound like you’re dragging something it’s not moving. Daily I shuffle it back and forth to keep it loose and make sure to clean the multipass area every day. I built a different scraped tool that has some “teeth” so it scratches it clean much easier than the rake deal it came with.

One more thing lol. I have an InkBird BBQ thermometer on the supply/return lines so I can see where it is at all times. When it’s taking longer to heat up it’s running low on wood. It will also send an alert if it gets too hot or too cold so you’ll know before there are issues like being out of wood or leaving the ash pan door open. There should be a 190f cutout that’ll kill power to the fans and shutters but if that ash door is open it’ll boil over and possibly melt down. The cutout resets at 150f if I remember correctly so don’t be alarmed if things don’t turn back on right away.

I’d be happy to answer any questions you have and can take and post pictures of anything you’d like.

Screenshot of the InkBird app. Blue line is shop return, orange line is house return, red/green are supply lines.
View attachment 334522

Excellent tutorial...nice little jumpstart for new owners! 👍

 

[jblnut]

Burned this all up in two months. This stack was 5 ft high and 10 ft across. 6 rows of oak, elm, cherry, locust. Plus another large stack in front of the woodburner

How many cord do you think it gobbled up ? My 7400MP will eat a cord a week pretty easily when it’s below 0f. Granted, it’s all crappy wood but it’s still a good sized pile.

I’ve been burning since Halloween and have gone though roughly 6 cord so far. On track to go through 17-18 cord total which is about normal.

I’ve got a cousin with a 7400MP that is heating a similar amount of space and feeds it only red and white oak and ash and he uses about half of what I do. His stuff is seasoned for two full years if not more while most of mine is a year tops. That makes a big difference as well !!

 

[brenndatomu]

I’ve been burning since Halloween and have gone though roughly 6 cord so far. On track to go through 17-18 cord total which is about normal.

You are heating a lot of space though too...in pretty cold temps. Ohio only sees a couple days a year at zero or less, on average

 

[Terryl]

Thank you all for the tips, I am working with the dealer trying to get it figured out.
This is burning way more wood than my old Hardy, something just isn’t right. Hopefully we can get it figured out. I checked the bypass out and it is closed as it should be. I was hoping that was it but no is wasn’t .

 

[jblnut]

Thank you all for the tips, I am working with the dealer trying to get it figured out.
This is burning way more wood than my old Hardy, something just isn’t right. Hopefully we can get it figured out. I checked the bypass out and it is closed as it should be. I was hoping that was it but no is wasn’t .

I’ve left my bypass open before and it really doesn’t make that much difference. It only adds about 2’ to the smoke run.

Is it possibly that something unrelated happened to crap out at the same time ? Like some insulation coming off underground pipe or something else I can’t think of that wouldn’t seem plausible ?

We’re trying to help you ….. I asked a bunch of “what ifs” like how much creosote and how long it takes to heat up and such. If you answer some of those I bet we’d be able to collectively give you insight at a level at or better than your dealer.

 

[Terryl]

I bought this new in October, it was installed by the dealer. Like everyone we are getting older and our thoughts were to get a more efficient boiler so we won’t need to cut as much wood or buy as much wood. So far that thought didn’t work. We had more wood than we ever had before with our old Hardy we installed in 2006. I am wondering could this Crown Royal 7300 mp be a lemon? We are almost out of wood and it is just getting below 30 degrees here in Ohio.

 

[sloeffle]

We’re trying to help you ….. I asked a bunch of “what ifs” like how much creosote and how long it takes to heat up and such. If you answer some of those I bet we’d be able to collectively give you insight at a level at or better than your dealer.

I agree coming on here and saying "I've burned a lot more wood than in my Hardy" doesn't fix the problem. I'm 99% sure that your boiler came with an instruction manual, and it probably has a troubleshooting guide in the back of it. Have you followed any of those steps ? Hate to break this to you, if you own any kind of modern wood burning device and can't be the least bit of self sufficient then they probably aren't for you.

I'm in north central Ohio and I have a gasification boiler ( roughly 20 - 25% more efficient than yours as a guess ) and I've been burning since November off and on and have burned roughly a cord of well seasoned wood. My house is decently insulated so that helps some with my consumption. If you've been burning the same amount of time I could see how you've gone through that whole pile of wood in your picture. IMHO what you have in the picture you posted looks like roughly 1.5 cords to me. Maybe the picture is a little deceiving but each row I'd say is a face cord ( 1/3 cord ).