Princess not as hot as could be!

[Rich2343]

You did good taking the pipe off and cleaning behind the cat..some don't think to do that. cheers!

thank you.

 

[Rich2343]

If the wood is not thoroughly seasoned it's going to produce less heat and more coals. I know, I just went through a battle with 2 yr old maple that didn't season well. Give the fire more air, take it up to "1" and see how it runs.

wow would have never thought after 2 yr.

 

[HotCoals]

wow would have never thought after 2 yr.

BG is right and especially if you have bigger splits and the stacks are not in good sunlight and wind.

 

[begreen]

wow would have never thought after 2 yr.

Me too! I had it stacked in a shady location and parallel to the prevailing winds instead of at right angles. Critters moved in between the splits and built nests which retained moisture. And the bark also held in moisture which gave rise to interesting colonies of all sorts of bugs and worms. They created their own ecosystem in the pile. I had earthworms at 4ft! Anyhow, now I'm burning nice dry wood from the shed and it is wonderful.

 

[PapaDave]

Hey Rich, I know you're getting hammered with questions, but the one re: c/s/s time hasn't been answered yet.
How long has the wood been cut, split, then stacked.
We always ask this, because sometimes (actually, quite often) folks think cutting down a tree 3 years ago, then splitting right before burning means it's "seasoned".
The truth is more likely that it's not dry yet. When was this wood split, then stacked.......I guess we can assume it was cut 3 years ago.
The answer will get that question out of the way and help to determine if it's the wood or not.
Can't forget this part....welcome to the Hearth.

 

[Rich2343]

Hey Rich, I know you're getting hammered with questions, but the one re: c/s/s time hasn't been answered yet.
How long has the wood been cut, split, then stacked.
We always ask this, because sometimes (actually, quite often) folks think cutting down a tree 3 years ago, then splitting right before burning means it's "seasoned".
The truth is more likely that it's not dry yet. When was this wood split, then stacked.......I guess we can assume it was cut 3 years ago.
The answer will get that question out of the way and help to determine if it's the wood or not.
Can't forget this part....welcome to the Hearth.
View attachment 123682

it was c/s/s for 3 yr. it is cracked all the way to the center average size 6 in

 

[Rich2343]

Me too! I had it stacked in a shady location and parallel to the prevailing winds instead of at right angles. Critters moved in between the splits and built nests which retained moisture. And the bark also held in moisture which gave rise to interesting colonies of all sorts of bugs and worms. They created their own ecosystem in the pile. I had earthworms at 4ft! Anyhow, now I'm burning nice dry wood from the shed and it is wonderful.

wow. wasnt sure that putting wood in a shed would season well. thank you. looks like a new shed going up.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Can you shoot us a picture of your wood stacks.....

 

[begreen]

A wood shed, correctly oriented and ventilated so that the prevailing wind can blow through it is a huge blessing. There are several threads here in the wood shed forum on this topic if you need inspiration. Ours holds 6 cords. I'm going to build a 3d bay onto it this summer to house the splitter and mower.

 

[Rich2343]

Can you shoot us a picture of your wood stacks.....

yes but im not home today

 

[Woody Stover]

wow would have never thought after 2 yr.

Me too! I had it stacked in a shady location and parallel to the prevailing winds instead of at right angles. Critters moved in between the splits and built nests which retained moisture. And the bark also held in moisture which gave rise to interesting colonies of all sorts of bugs and worms. They created their own ecosystem in the pile. I had earthworms at 4ft!

begreen lives in an area of the country where it's pretty humid (and not much wind according to the maps.)
You'll get the quickest drying if your wood is stacked loosely in single rows so the wind can blow through it. Many folks will dry their wood like this, then put it in a shed (where the air movement isn't as good,) after it's dry.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, I was lazy and stacked it along the fenceline where the tree came down. Should have put in in the shed last spring.

 

[rdust]

Im folowing bk instructions closely on lighting. I hear people turn up the stove to burn coals up however the only way i can is if i open the door. my stove was set on O and temp on the pipe at 16 in was at 220 and surface was at 320 i dont get resonable burn times if i turn it up. reading that folks at that setting are cooking themselfs out in a leaky cabin in alaska.

I burned my stove on the "n" this past week when we had minus temps and managed 12 hour burns. My stove top is usually in the 600* range during the first few hours of the burn with that t-stat setting.

If you can post a couple pictures of the stove when you load it and then several more pictures for the first few hours of the burn. Do you get any water/moisture boiling out of the ends of the splits when you load the stove? Are you loading n/s(straight in) or e/w(right to left)? Try splitting the wood a little smaller, if it's not well seasoned that will help it burn.

The chimney is going to be on the short side for a BK but *should* work on paper.

 

[aansorge]

15 ft is a little short...I'd add 3 more feet of pipe on a princess.

 

[HotCoals]

15 ft is a little short...I'd add 3 more feet of pipe on a princess.

Thing is he says he can open the door with no smoking problems. That leaves the wood suspect to me.
He needs to get a moisture meter and check on a fresh split.

 

[HotCoals]

Rich,
Try a part load of some of the smallest pieces you have and see how that goes. Do at least a 1/2 load though.

 

[jeff_t]

Is the cat probe getting well into the active zone? It should be at the far end of 'active' in the early part of the burn cycle, if all is well. I'm guessing not, as you would see temps of 550-600 over the cat.

Any smoke out of the chimney?

 

[Rich2343]

Is the cat probe getting well into the active zone? It should be at the far end of 'active' in the early part of the burn cycle, if all is well. I'm guessing not, as you would see temps of 550-600 over the cat.
.
Any smoke out of the chimney?

yes the probe does get to about 3 oclock. when im reloading. longer burn times about 10 o clock. yes im told that it isnt smoke its condensation.

 

[HotCoals]

yes the probe does get to about 3 oclock. when im reloading. longer burn times about 10 o clock. yes im told that it isnt smoke its condensation.

The cat pobe should at some point go to the end of the scale and even farther at times.
Do you see it( the cat) glow a bright orange?

 

[rdust]

This is what a full load in a Princess should look like. When you read about long burn times this is how we load them. Wood is stacked decently tight and very little space is wasted.
Full Load

Glowing Cat

 

[Rich2343]

The cat pobe should at some point go to the end of the scale and even farther at times.
Do you see it( the cat) glow a bright orange?

sometimes it glows bright orannge. most of the time a dull orange

 

[HotCoals]

sometimes it glows bright orannge. most of the time a dull orange

Well that leaves me still no choice but to think your wood is suspect my friend.
Your draft seems fine they way you talk.
Get your smallest wood heat up the stove good..I'm talking at least 500 stove top then close the t-stat down,all the way down if you want..just make sure the flapper closes. Then come back and tell us about the burn.

 

[Rich2343]

Well that leaves me still no choice but to think your wood is suspect my friend.
Your draft seems fine they way you talk.
Get your smallest wood heat up the stove good..I'm talking at least 500 stove top then close the t-stat down,all the way down if you want..just make sure the flapper closes. Then come back and tell us about the burn.

will do .I thank you.

 

[jeff_t]

sometimes it glows bright orannge. most of the time a dull orange

If it's glowing, it's hot. What is the stove top temp at this point?

Surface temp of 220 on single wall pipe? That's pretty normal, if the actual flue gas temp is roughly double. Actually, one could consider it on the high side for a Blaze King.

At what point did you see a 320° stove top temp? Is this a max temp? With a deep coal bed? Active cat? The 'O' in normal is a low to moderate setting.

Are you using a magnetic thermometer? IR?

What do you consider 'reasonable burn times'?

 

[Rich2343]

Back at the wood stove. I purchased some sawdust bricks. Went through the 1 ton in a month. I have noticed with the outside temp about 10° and wind gust or 25 mph the princess is burning excellent. The only flames are coming from the cat.