New Blaze King Princess Insert

[KB007]

We just had a BK PI29 insert installed and so far it seems like the right choice.

We’ve had 2 Regency I3100s over the last 13 years - both developed cracks after about 6 yrs of use and while Regency replaced the first one under warranty, it seems you only get 1 replacement. So much for lifetime warranty - guess that’s the lifetime of the unit, not so much the lifetime of the owner.

I digress, after the second one I decided to change it up and have always been very impressed with the BK line so decided to buy the Princess.

We are in a ~1,800 soft bungalow, chimney is approximately 18-20 ft 6” stnless liner. We live in Ottawa, Canada. Have had a few fires to cure the paint, most of the smell is gone. Have a digital flue thermocouple screwed to the connector perhaps 3” above the stove connection point using an Auber temp gauge. All my wood is >2yrs CSS.

Have been running 24X7 for 4 days since being installed. My overnight loads have seemed to last 12-14 hours to the point that I feel like I want to do a hot reload. May have lasted longer, but the burn seemed to be getting fairly low by that point. These were fairly full loads, but I didn’t try to jigsaw the last few pieces into the box. For overnight I have had the thermostat down around 5:00 (with 12 being WOT and 6-7 being very low).

My cat therm seems to run as expected, occasionally getting beyond 6:00 for periods.

Now for the questions:

1. For the “30 min burn on high” I presume that’s 30 minutes +/- once a good fire has taken hold with the bypass closed?
2. My flue temps don’t seem to get anywhere near the old Regency used to get, with the cat therm well into the active, I seem to be seeing 400F +/-. My dealer did mention that they would be lower, but Iv’e seen others mention higher flue temps, not sure if the insert has lower flue temps than the BK stoves do.
3. Is there any point in a stove top thermometer on the Princes Insert? I have another Auber magnetic thermocouple that I could use for that, but haven’t seen much discussion about any stove top thermometers.
4. Does the cat thermometer go in before the top of the shroud or after? When we put it in with the shroud top piece on first the cat therm sat at a weird looking forward angle. With the cat therm inserted before the shroud top, the therm is a little hard to read.
5. Will the thermostat loosen up with use? Right now it seems rather “notchy” and not rotate as smoothly as I would expect - does it stay that way and just live with it?

So far, in general I am very happy with the new BK insert. The learning curve has started but doesn’t seem to be impossible. TIA.

 

[stoveliker]

1. Yes. For e.g. pine that is properly dry and takes off fast, 30 mins is too much imo. You want a good fire,.all splits burning well.
2. Nice. Less.heat.out of the flue!
Is your liner insulated?
3. No, imo.
4. Idk (I have a freestanding stove)
5 in my case it didn't loosen up (but it's fine as is). Maybe e open it up to see if it has been lubricated sufficiently?

 

[KB007]

Thanks. Liner is not insulated - just 6" stainless inside clay flue.

 

[stoveliker]

Actually, is this a surface thermometer (and not a probe into the flue)?

Then it's quite warm for a BK (though you're measuring close to the stove; most folks measure 12-28" up).

In any case, better too warm then not warm enough.

 

[KB007]

Yes, it's a eye-loop thermocouple screwed to the outside of the pipe. Very accurate. That's about as far up as I can get given the size of the clay flue and fireplace opening.

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, but for magnetic thermometers on single wall pipe, the gas temperature inside is about double what the surface magnetic thermometer reads.
I'm not sure how that scaling goes for your, because you may have better thermal contact. So comparing temps between stoves with probe thermometers may be hard.

As long as you get a feel for how things are going, it's good.

 

[fao1989]

Yes, it's a eye-loop thermocouple screwed to the outside of the pipe. Very accurate. That's about as far up as I can get given the size of the clay flue and fireplace opening.

On this thread I have related question. Have a BK A25, 6 in stainless steel liner not insulated in a clay flue. No temp gauge but I'malso considering an eye-loop thermocouple screwed to the outside of the liner vice a magnetic external probe attached to/near the collar. Given the tight confines, like KB007, I think I could get an eyeloop attachment 3-5 inches above the stove connection point, but not higher. [Not sure how the liner connects (dealer installed); straight to the collar or via an appliance adapter.] On a different thread one of the forum a veteran had advised against 'cut or drill into the flex liner, especially if it is a thin one'.

1. Does the type of screw used to connect the eye loop probe to the liner or adapter matter (heat tolerance)? Does an Auber eyeloop probe come with a preferred screw, or mandate a heat tolerant screw? [type?]
2. If I screw in 3-5 inches up, do I attach it to the liner or appliance adapter (if existing) and does it matter?
3. Does the screw penetration effect a liner or appliance adapter integrity or risk smoke escapement?

Many thanks!

 

[KB007]

1. I don't recall if the loop came with a screw, my installer used a stainless screw to attach.
2. I have an adapter attached to allow for the correct angle to attach to the liner. The attachment point is on the adapter.
3. There might be something to that at the extremes, in my case he used a 1/2" screw. Anything longer might get in the way for cleaning.

As Stoveliker said, there is a "conversion factor" for flue probe temp to external flue probe temp. As it sits today for me that seems to be roughly 1.8 : 1 so the external will be lower than a flue probe.

 

[fao1989]

1. I don't recall if the loop came with a screw, my installer used a stainless screw to attach.
2. I have an adapter attached to allow for the correct angle to attach to the liner. The attachment point is on the adapter.
3. There might be something to that at the extremes, in my case he used a 1/2" screw. Anything longer might get in the way for cleaning.

As Stoveliker said, there is a "conversion factor" for flue probe temp to external flue probe temp. As it sits today for me that seems to be roughly 1.8 : 1 so the external will be lower than a flue probe.

Thanks KB007!