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  1. rdust Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 9, 2009
    3,339 posts
    Michigan
    Since we have a bunch of new BK owners this year I figured I'd start a thread to discuss everything BK. This may help limit the amount of BK threads and give us one convenient place to ask questions or just boast about our burn times without ruffling any feathers. ::-)

    Anyway I'm on my second season with the Princess and it continues to impress me. I getting ready to load after 25+ hours, the load was a pretty full load of scotch pine and elm that was standing dead for years.(some pieces punky) Our overnight temps were in the 30's and our daytime high was 41, we've had 30+ mph north winds all day. House is still a comfy 72 at this point.
    #1

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  2. jeff_t Minister of Fire

    joined: Sep 14, 2008
    2,685 posts
    SE MI
    I have the same thing going on with my Spectrum. The hinge pins are made in a way that I'm not sure if a bushing will work. I was going to try something like that, if I had access to a lathe.
  3. Todd Minister of Fire

    joined: Nov 19, 2005
    8,788 posts
    Lake Wissota
    Excellent idea, I have the same issue, I'll be heading to the hardware store today. Thanks
  4. rdust Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 9, 2009
    3,339 posts
    Michigan
    The pin is a 3/8 so I just got a 3/8 steel bushing and cut it down. I think I cut them to 3/16 to start but filed them down to almost an 1/8 by the time I was satisfied.
  5. HotCoals Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 27, 2010
    2,035 posts
    Rochester,Ny.
    I checked my gasket..hits right in the middle all the way around..but I could use a new one.
  6. PapaDave Minister of Fire

    Just curious how that's possible, if they're made on the same assembly line. They must have jigs or something that's used to align the hinges before welding.
    This confuzzles me.
    I understand if one's 20 years old and another is brandy new, but several relatively new stoves with different door alignments seems weird.
  7. rdust Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 9, 2009
    3,339 posts
    Michigan
    Hotcoals has a King, Todd, Highbeam and myself have the Princess. The funny thing for me is my stove was made in 2006 and theirs are new so it's been like that a long time. Maybe there is a reason for it that I'm not seeing?
  8. PapaDave Minister of Fire

    Let the sleuthing continue.
    I'm curious if the newer models (sirocco, chinook) have this "issue"?
  9. Highbeam Minister of Fire

    The king guys have all the luck, less smoke out the door and better hinge alignment. Funny how we all had this problem but didn't bring it up.

    The hinges look to be attached to the face of the princess by poking them through a punched hole and then welding on the backside. So in theory, they should all be perfect or as appears to be the case, all buggered equally bad.

    After you shut the door and latch it, run your fingers behind the door face and feel how much gasket is squished out above the door frome and then compare to what is squished out below the door frame. It is a very apparent difference.

    It has been shown that a major killer of cats is the leakage of cold air from a bad door seal. Well, shoot, this potential leak is right up there close to the cat.
  10. Todd Minister of Fire

    joined: Nov 19, 2005
    8,788 posts
    Lake Wissota
    After a second look my door alignment isn't so bad. The grove is dead center on the bottom and side gaskets and the top just needed a little persuasion with my fingers. I have a good tight seal all around now.
  11. denjohn Member

    joined: Jul 25, 2010
    20 posts
    Southwest MN
    Reply from BK:

    PapaDave likes this.
  12. RustyShackleford Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 6, 2009
    513 posts
    NC
    Just checked mine and it is nicely centered. But thanks for making us aware of the potential problem.

    More poor quality control from BK. I'm sure if you contacted them about it, they would tell you it's not a problem, because it maybe affects 1 out of 1000 BK owners.
  13. steviebam New Member

    joined: Feb 10, 2013
    11 posts
    Would any of you bk owners be kind enough to post a pic of the fire? We have narrowed our stove search to the bk scirocco or pe super 27. I know the pe has a nice flame but the only bk's we have seen are brand new at the dealers and not in use. Thank you.
  14. rdust Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 9, 2009
    3,339 posts
    Michigan
    Picture a dark stove with charred wood inside, a slight glow of coals and a smoked up glass. ;lol The only time I see flames is when I'm burning mine after a reload for 30 minutes or so. If the stove is undersized for your space and you have to run it hot you may see more flames than I do. I get the occasional flame up and can watch flames if I want but choose to conserve me fuel.

    I don't have any on this pc, I'll post a picture or two tonight.
  15. jeff_t Minister of Fire

    joined: Sep 14, 2008
    2,685 posts
    SE MI
    Sometimes it looks like this
    2013-01-25_11-04-22_410.jpg

    Sometimes like this
    74964-9e09f16f28a99b72a576b5180069a0ea.jpg

    Usually somewhere in between.
  16. steviebam New Member

    joined: Feb 10, 2013
    11 posts
    Thanks, I think I can live with the somewhere in between. We live in the north west with moderate climate. The stove looks to be built like a tank. It would be over sized for our well insulated house. Can you burn a low fire without activating the bypass?
  17. Dairyman Feeling the Heat

    joined: Nov 15, 2011
    307 posts
    Southwest MO
    Todd's princess video

    steviebam likes this.
  18. Highbeam Minister of Fire

    I have the princess but I too live here in the northwest and have found the stove very suitable for our relatively long shoulder seasons where low temp burning is necessary.

    Put it this way, no other stove burns at a lower temp or for a longer time. Really. If this stove isn't cool enough for you then you are out of luck.
  19. HotCoals Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 27, 2010
    2,035 posts
    Rochester,Ny.
  20. HotCoals Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 27, 2010
    2,035 posts
    Rochester,Ny.
    Never burn without by-pass open unless just starting fire and not up to temp.
    Low burn when it warm out burns really slow..less draft.
    Still if it's in a smaller size room it could heat you out with temps above 45 no doubt..for sure the first 5 or 6 hours when the wood is off gassing pretty good...after that you would prolly be ok.
    You could go 40 hours ..i kid you not.
  21. steviebam New Member

    joined: Feb 10, 2013
    11 posts
    Thanks for taking the time to respond, BK all the way!!
  22. ohlongarm Minister of Fire

    joined: Mar 18, 2011
    703 posts
    Northeastern Ohio
    Had a 16 hour burn on huge ash splits last night,house maintained 75*with absolutely no temp deviation,could have gone longer but I'm leaving for the day,so I just threw in 3 hickory splits to hold until 6pm.Burned the stove on 2.5 for 3 hours before bed and had plenty of flame to watch.
  23. Todd Minister of Fire

    joined: Nov 19, 2005
    8,788 posts
    Lake Wissota
    Here's my Princess burning at #2 with 8 splits of Oak. Nice lazy flame and clean glass. Once I dip below #2 the glass starts to darken up on the sides. I have found this setting works best for me most of the average Winter days and give me a good 12 hour burn with plenty of coals for reload. 100_1790.JPG
  24. steviebam New Member

    joined: Feb 10, 2013
    11 posts
    Nice pic, I see the best seat in the house is gone!
  25. webbie Administrator

    joined: Nov 17, 2005
    10,925 posts
    Western Mass.
    BTW, not to go too far off-topic, but do you (dear readers) find it useful that this thread shows the original post at the top of each page? It's an add-on I'm trying out.
  26. Highbeam Minister of Fire

    No. Especially with the feature of jumping to the first new post I would not have noticed. Thanks for trying new stuff though. I visit a few forums and this one is the very best since the upgrade. Love the alerts, thread perviews, and jump to first new post features.

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