Blaze King Princess flue cleaning report

[Patapsco Mike]

I was a little nervous about what I was going to find when I cleaned my flue after a full season of 24/7 burning in my new stove. My stove ran non-stop from November through March, it only went completely out maybe 3 times. I could see the cap was black from the ground, more black than the season before when I burned a non-cat Avalon. I know of the low flue temperatures, and I was a bit concerned given that I ran my stove low and slow nearly all winter and the oak I burned was right on the edge of acceptable moisture content.

Seeing my spark arrestor made me even more nervous. It was caked with a considerable amount of creosote. Way more than I'd ever seen before. I was already sweating from being 25 feet up in the air, so seeing that was unpleasant... Oh crap, I thought, I've been telling all these people about how great my BK is, and now it might turn out to be a creosote factory...

When I peeked down the flue I breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was barely worth brushing. I'm sure I could have gone all this season with no problem. My 18', insulated flue had less than 2 cups of fine creosote. There was more creosote on the cap than in the entire flue.

It seems odd to me that there was so much on the cap. My theory is that the flue gasses from the BK are too cool to heat up the spark arrestor at all. So the flue gas just hits that cold metal and precipitates out a lot of whatever is left in it.

Whatever, it was great to see, and it sort of closes the book for me on whether I am completely happy with my BK. I am very much looking forward to burning the VERY dry oak I have waiting for this fall.

 

[Pagey]

That's a good report. It's been a helluva oak-seasoning summer here. We hit mid to upper 90s as soon as May rolled around, and we haven't looked back yet. Mid 90s this week, and Sept. is almost over! I mow a 2.5 acre area, and I jog around the perimeter of it 3 or 4 afternoons a week. As I pass the wood shed, I can literally feel the day's heat radiating off the wood and can smell the oak and pine seasoning.

 

[podwich]

Before burning last season, I noticed a bunch of glaze creosote lining the chimney (well, I didn't know it was that at first but I figured it out). I had just bought the house so I don't know what the previous owners did to cause that. I had used some trisodium phosphate powder last season to try to help it. I bought a bunch of third stage remover stuff prior to going up there and trying to clean it and...wow. My chimney was almost spotless. How about that? Too bad I didn't look at it before buying the stuff- would have save some money.

 

[Lanningjw]

Hey Mike,
Same results with my PI. I cleaned the cap and liner several times thru out the heating season. The cap had black corn flake on it.
I have a center chimney with about a 20 foot run of uninsulated SS. Some of the wood I was burning was not up to speed, regarding moisture content.

 

[bluefrier]

I got nervous after reading the first few lines too, I just installed a buck 80 cat stove. Glad to hear every thing worked out fine.

 

[RustyShackleford]

With my old Dutchwest cat, I used to clean the chimney every 3 years whether it needed it or not.
One season of the BK under my belt and it looks like I can expect similar cleanliness.

Of course, don't assume you'll have similar results until you see for yourself.

 

[weatherguy]

I had about the same results but maybe a bit more creosote, I do have a 26' liner, not sure if that matters. It was also my first year burning and my oak wasnt so good so I put it all aside for burning this year. Next year should yield better results.

 

[BrotherBart]

Glad to hear that the Blaze Kings are giving the same accumulation results as my big Englander non-cat. ;-)

 

[Lanningjw]

Glad to hear that the Blaze Kings are giving the same accumulation results as my big Englander non-cat. ;-)

You seem so sarcastic towards the Blaze Kings line up? I enjoy reading your post but what gives?

 

[SolarAndWood]

I enjoy reading your post but what gives?

You didn't read the "what cat burners should expect" section in your membership packet?

 

[Patapsco Mike]

He's just bitter that he bought an inferior stove

 

[SolarAndWood]

Back to your original post, I had the same experience last year. Nothing in the pipe but some crud on the cap. I didn't have this with the old cat stove, but it didn't burn anywhere near as low as the BK reliably even though it was half the size. I find that if I wait for a day with no wind and burn hot for a little while, the cap cleans right up.

 

[weatherguy]

You seem so sarcastic towards the Blaze Kings line up? I enjoy reading your post but what gives?

He has "cat envy"

 

[begreen]

A clean flue is pretty common with a modern EPA stove burning dry wood. Doesn't matter if it is cat or not. However, being able to burn on low for extended periods of time (and still have a clean flue) is where the cat excels and the envy of all veteran wood burners. That's a good feeling.

But heck, someone has to ruffle the feathers of the cat crowd Lanning, lest they get too cocky. The money BB has in the bank with a nice stove that cost 1/3d of the price of a big BK is a pretty good feeling too. You can burn a lot of electrons for the difference and not move a single log.

For me, not having the headache of an hourly complaint about that big ugly black box in the living room is priceless. :lol: I'll stick with the T6 and run the heat pump when it's 50 outside.

 

[Pagey]

Wait. You burn WOOD in cat stoves?! :lol: