HotCoals said:
daleeper said:
HotCoals said:
fdegree said:
I haven't had the cover off mine for an extended period of time to watch what it is doing. But, I'm having a hard time believing it never moves once it's set. If it never opens, why do the flames, and glow of the wood, appear and disappear...especially during the first 12 hours of the burn during a cold night. Perhaps it is moving so little that it is difficult to detect, but it must be moving if the glow comes and goes.
During mild weather, perhaps it doesn't move, because I rarely see the glow at all during those burn cycles.
Just my observations and reasoning...
I'm not saying it won't move some because it will.
It's working off the heat of the stove through conduction.
Would love to see it work off of stack temps!
Maybe a box right above the stove (at the flue exit)..I'm thinking 5 or so inches up off the surface with the t-stat in it then linkage down to the flapper.
The bK does fine with the long burn without it it being sensitive.
Actually, you did say that it will not open earlier in this thread HotCoals. I have a Royal Heir, which doesn't have numbers or any sort of markings to know what level you are set at, but basically the same thermostat as the princess/king. So I made some marks on the knob itself, and use them in relation to the stove cabinet. Most of the time, I can hear the flapper shut when I turn it down to my normal setting, usually made between 6-7 in the morning. When I get back mid to late afternoon, the flapper will be wide open if the wood is about gone, or opened slightly if the fire is still going, but the wood has burned back to the back of the stove. And the room will be within a few degrees of where it started when I left. I believe that the thermostat is moving on my stove anyways. I had an old earth stove that operated the same way, although not quite as reliable about room temperature.
HotCoals, why do you want the thermostat to move in relation to the flue temperature? It seems to me that stove temperature is what is going to determine the temperature of the room, and that is what I would want controlled. I do watch flue temp, but that is not what dictates room temperature. The ideal goal would be to have as low a flue temp as possible, yet still maintain a draft, regardless of how hot your stove is. That would indicate a good efficiency of harvesting the heat off the wood burned. Not trying to argue on this point, just trying to understand where you are coming from.
Show me where i said it never moves.
The temps fluctuate more in the flue then the stove.
I'm would hope to make the flapper open more and sooner then it does..then to close when the desired temp is reached.
Also when the stove is about out of fuel and the flue really cools it should open up way more to burn down the coals.
I'm not saying it would work for sure..but I'm interested in trying it.
I have always said it's a great stove and I would buy it all over again...but the t-stat is not the magic.
Certainly not the key to long burns.
Maybe I misunderstood you, but post #20 and #21 in this thread read that way to me.
Post #20 "You are assuming it is doing something." I assumed you were talking about the thermostat flapper.
Post #21 "But it takes a act of God to open back up again." Again, I assumed you were talking about the thermostat flapper
I do not have experience with either the King or Princess, but my Royal Heir thermostat flapper moves faster than the earth stove did. I agree it moves slow, but I don't think one would want it to slam shut and then fly wide open quickly either.
I agree that the stoves are great, and the thermostat is not magic, but I would have to disagree about it not being the key to long burns. Certainly the cat has the most to do with the long slow burns, but I believe that the thermostat plays a strong second part. This morning when I set the stove thermostat for the day at about 7:30 a.m., the thermostat flap was closed, but not tightly closed, the firebox had wood burning but no flame. When I just checked it at 5:00 p.m., the thermostat was opened up (not sure that it was wide open, but opened up quite a ways), and the room was within 2 degrees of the temp that I left it this morning, and I did not touch the stove from 7:30 to 5:00. This happens on all most days, there are a few exceptions, usually cold, windy days. I know that my fil's fisher will not do that, nor would my bil's ashley. I will admit that I have not used any other epa stoves that don't have a thermostat, so I can't say by experience, but I don't think any others can keep the temp constant like that with a manual control over that kind of time period. Even my old earth stove with a thermostat and bigger firebox couldn't do that. I say that the thermostat plays a big part in that.
I see something interesting in your comment about your flue temps fluctuate more than the stove? My stove doesn't do that. When I load my stove, flue temp rises fast with the bypass open, cat thermometer rises slowly until bypass is closed, then rises pretty quickly, but then as I begin to close down the thermostat, the flue temp on my stove slowly descends and usually will stay real steady once I have the thermostat set where I want it. I would say in my stove that the flue gas temp is more or at least as steady as the stove temp, as I really have to open it up for the flue gasses to raise much.
Anyway, HotCoals, I have enjoyed the discussion, and enjoy my stove. I have finally purchased a well used/abused BK King that I will be reconditioning and will be burning next season. We'll see how it burns in comparison to my small royal heir.