I have a 25 year old non-catalytic Blaze King Princess. I remember the thermostat working fine when it was new. But now it doesn't seem to work at all. The inlet air vane moves freely when I touch it. If I run a hair dryer on the bi-metallic coil, it moves quite a bit. Like maybe 30 degrees. But as the stove warms up or cools down, the air vane does not move at all. Any idea what could be going on here? Thanks.
Blaze King Princess Thermostat Problem
- Thread starter Bob Huenemann
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North of 60
Minister of Fire
Hello Bob, Welcome to the Hearth. Being that your stove is 25yrs old Id go for warranty. :lol:
On a serious note, one question I have is that are you operating the stove with the top cover off of the bi-metal damper control?
It needs to be on to contain the heat at the back of the stove to have it function correctly. Could it be that it is working and its your front door gasket that is not allowing your stove to control itself properly. The older units Ive seen up here had no glass and had a dual handle latching door that folds toward you. Sounds like your stat is working. I dont think the temperature from a hair dryer would drive it fully closed. Really check out that front door gasket. Your handles should feel quite restricted/ have resistance
when rotating them closed to suck the door into the stove when closing. Its quite a wide and thick gasket on that door from what I have seen. Iam hitting the hay and will check in tomorrow to see what you've gotta say. I hope its just your gasket. Sounds like the stove has served you well so far.
Cheers N of 60
On a serious note, one question I have is that are you operating the stove with the top cover off of the bi-metal damper control?
It needs to be on to contain the heat at the back of the stove to have it function correctly. Could it be that it is working and its your front door gasket that is not allowing your stove to control itself properly. The older units Ive seen up here had no glass and had a dual handle latching door that folds toward you. Sounds like your stat is working. I dont think the temperature from a hair dryer would drive it fully closed. Really check out that front door gasket. Your handles should feel quite restricted/ have resistance
when rotating them closed to suck the door into the stove when closing. Its quite a wide and thick gasket on that door from what I have seen. Iam hitting the hay and will check in tomorrow to see what you've gotta say. I hope its just your gasket. Sounds like the stove has served you well so far.
Cheers N of 60
I have solved the problem. I have NOT replaced the 25 year old door gasket, and I HAVE removed the cover from the air inlet tract so that I can watch the operation of the control vane. So your advice was beyond worthless. Pathetic, in fact. How many other people have benefited from your so called advice?
Bob, seems like you were given some friendly advice with some good suggestions. How about taking it in the spirit it was given and just stay thank you. Coming back with a grumpy attack and not even sharing what fixed the stove is neither helpful nor neighborly.
FWIW, North of 60 has helped lots of folks here, especially BlazeKing owners.
FWIW, North of 60 has helped lots of folks here, especially BlazeKing owners.
North of 60
Minister of Fire
Bob Huenemann said:
Well Bob thanks for the prompt reply from 2008 and your warm thoughts. Sorry for trying to give you some basic common sense advice on your 25yr old Blazeking Princess I have never seen. Thank you also for sharing your antidote. By the way any BK Ive seen has a large warning label on the damper cover stating ( DO NOT REMOVE) No user serviceable parts. Being your stove was 25yrs and you removed the cover I figured your label was missing (since you removed it.) The cover is used to retain the heat around the bi-metal. Since it was reacting to a hair dryer which is a much cooler ambient temp the bi-metal is exposed to and it was driving it 30%, it seemed reasonable to me to look for another problem. I assumed (MY MISTAKE) you were having an issue controlling your stove. Stupid me! After checking your door gasket and getting back to the forum I would of sent you on another wild goose chase for you to check your ash pan clean out (If your stove has one) and maybe deal with that 1/8 crack you could have in your stove structure itself. This is all I had to go on and I should be shot and __ss_d on for replying to a thread that was two pages in and not replied to yet. Sure was worth the effort. Again uhhhh Welcome to the Hearth. HOLY CRAP wished I could give you a refund. :coolmad:
N of 60
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