Old Princess cats compared to new

[Parallax]

The price certainly looks a lot better. If you do, let us know what turns up.

 

[Doug Morford]

Here's what I ended up buying. It's a kej-1101 bkk. I had to drive 5hrs to Seattle to pick it up, but it was only $200. I also got to visit some friends while I was there, so not so bad.

I'm concerned about my place only being 1400 Sq ft, but not too concerned from what I've read about these stoves.

 

[HotCoals]

My old King looked just like that!
With the fan on heat will blow out the vents just below the top.
We had two doors..the one you have and a glass door. There was no cat and the stove used 30% more wood then the BKK cat we have now.
The old stove had to be welded twice because of cracks near the opening of the door at the corners. There was no t-stat.
Stove would throw some big heat though at times.

 

[mellow]

I could never go back to a stove with no window, I hope you fair well with that stove, that is a lot of stove for 1400 sq ft, but it looks like you have open studs so you might have quite a bit of heat loss.

 

[Highbeam]

5 hours from Moscow to Seattle? You're a madman! Looks really good for the price. Stat, cat, blower, big king firebox, and it's all yours. I think you did good if the insides are as good as the outsides.

 

[Parallax]

Is that the one that I linked to above? If so, it looks way better in your photos than the ones posted on craigslist. Very cool looking stove. I don't generally like the looks of steel stoves unless it's placed in a setting where it fits in seamlessly. I like stoves that are focal points which, for me, usually means cast iron. But that one's so interesting and retro, I think it would look good almost anywhere.

 

[Doug Morford]

No, it's one I found on my own. I do really like the look though, you're right.

Is that the one that I linked to above? If so, it looks way better in your photos than the ones posted on craigslist. Very cool looking stove. I don't generally like the looks of steel stoves unless it's placed in a setting where it fits in seamlessly. I like stoves that are focal points which, for me, usually means cast iron. But that one's so interesting and retro, I think it would look good almost anywhere.

 

[Parallax]

Nice find! When did they manufacture that model? It's a King?

 

[Doug Morford]

I didn't take too much of a look at the insides as I bought it, as I obviously wasn't going to not buy it having driven so far.

So the bad news: He seems to have burned a bit of trash in this stove as he's been renovating the house he plucked it from. The fire box was full of nails and paint cans. I'm pretty sure it was red paint, because now my hands are red from cleaning it out. Here's a pic of the cat. I'm thinking it needs a new one, but I'll let you folks confirm that. It was just sitting in the seat with no gasket or anything so I'd at least need to buy that. It doesn't have any kind of outer ring that I thought would be present either. Or does the gasket just sit between the cat and combustor seat?

I really can't afford a new $300 cat. Is there anywhere I can get one that's not a firecat for cheaper if this needs to be replaced?

 

[Doug Morford]

Yep, it's a king. I think they came out with this model in 83'. They must have been ahead of the curve, because it's EPA cert.

Nice find! When did they manufacture that model? It's a King?

 

[Parallax]

Very nice. Nice deal too.

I see a couple of options for cats on Amazon.

This one is less than $200.

This one is closer to $300.

By the way, there's a flame guard that goes over the combuster. Can't tell from your photos if yours is missing. If you run it without the guard, you'll ruin your brand new cat.

 

[Doug Morford]

Thanks for the help. It looks like they just cost a lot. The first one you listed is a round cat, but I need an oval shape.

Yep, I have the flame guard. It's a weird contraption, I'll take a picture of it once I get it back together. It has a secondary air tube that blows air right in front of the cat behind the flame guard.

I'll probably put this cat back in without a gasket and run it to see how it does while I wait for the new one in the mail.

 

[Parallax]

Secondary air tube? Interesting. Perhaps an early engineering solution to the problem manufacturers had when cats were first installed. My Ashford has no such tube, just the flame guard.

 

[jeff_t]

Princess 'hybrid', from 1983.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hybrid-stoves.112866/#post-1504389

Many cat stoves have a dedicated air supply for the cat. current Blaze Kings don't.

 

[mellow]

I would try giving it a bath and see if you can clean that crap off: (broken link removed to http://www.woodstovecombustors.com/Cleaning_your_combustor.html)

 

[Doug Morford]

I may do just that (cleaning the cat). If I can get it to finish this load of wood that is. It's been going 11 hrs now and it looks like 1/2 to 3/4 of the wood is still left. I need to clean the chimney too, so I'm turning it up from 1.5 to 2 in hopes that it burns down before it gets too late.

Yeah, the secondary tube runs across the ceiling of the firebox from the back (pre-heated), and the output blows air about an inch from the cat.

 

[Doug Morford]

A side question, have you guys ever heard of someone disabling the automatic bypass closing button on these stoves. I've found it to be pretty obnoxious right from the get go. You have to open the door before opening the bypass.

I'm thinking the easiest way would be to just take the old angle grinder and hack off the button. No fuss.

 

[Highbeam]

Why do you think you need a new cat? Mine looks kinda like that. Cracks are okay. Heck, I even have a little missing chip from one cell. Sure, you might need a gasket but it is possible that the cat is in great shape if the guy ran it in bypass due to lack of knowledge. Trash burners often want to just get rid of stuff.

 

[Doug Morford]

I honestly wasn't sure if I needed a new one or not. I have zero experience in the matter aside from reading about it. I wasn't sure if some of the catalyst material had flaked off or not. It seems to be burning great though. Although there is a small amount of smoke fairly consistently coming out of the stack. Not a lot, but more than I would expect. I might let this load go out, and take a look at it now that I've possibly burned off the gunk. I might wash it if it doesn't look better.

I'll probably keep this one as a backup once the steelcat arrives.

 

[Doug Morford]

These are Monosperma's pics, but here's what the flame guard and burn tube look like.