Tips for running my new blaze king insert

Ok I got my new blaze king princess insert all installed and seems to run well. I haven't loaded it up because I want to baby sit it for the first long burn and it has been too warm here. I notice that the temp gets up on the thermometer about 3/4 of the way and I turn it down at that point. Where do you guys normally run on ur thermometer? Is 3/4 the max I should bring it up? I'd like to see some pics of your loaded up stoves. Sorry of this is confusing. I'm looking for some running tips. Thanks Paul

The therm. that that you are referring to is really meant to monitor the cat, not the stove top. You should add a therm. to the top as well, to monitor performance. Once the therm is in the active zone, lock down the bypass and then set the burn control dial back to whatever is compfortable. The "normal" range worked very well for us unless it was VERY cold outside.

Yea I got a thermometer with numbers to check my stove top. Yea I know how to engage the cat. What do you mean? You had to run the stove out of the normal range?

The air control has a range from 1-5. It is labeled "normal" from about 2-4.

K inserts got dots but same concept. What are your stove top temps? What kinda burn times you getting with that thing?

There are so many threads and posts here on burn times, stove top temps etc... etc.. The search function is your friend. Enjoy your new stove / insert. Ive got a lot of old posts with pics and temps.
Check out (Lanning) (bfunk13) for some members with inserts.
Cheers

I just reloaded after a 24 hours, it was a mix load of pine and ash about 1/2-3/4 full. 30's at night and high 40's during the day I usually run mine on 1-1.5 on the t-stat. When it gets cold I usually run it somewhere between 1 3/4-2, 2 is at 3 o'clock if you're looking at your dial.

I'm sure some of the insert guys will chime in on where they run theirs.

The best I've got handy......

Thanks guys. I did for search but every now and then it is good to refresh the topic especially since more people ate buying the stoves and have new experiences with them. I was talking to webby to see how his compared to other reviews I have read.

BK insert guy is ready to answer. sorry I was up north winterizing my camper.

I could not find the info in a search so I'll add some comment and ask as well.

You start the fire, stat on max and bypass open. Things warm up and cat probe goes to active zone so you close the bypass. Got it, think we all know this part.

Then, your goal is to settle in for a long burn with stat at the 1 or twelve o'clock position or whatever the super long burn setting is on your stove. How do you get there? Do you immediately throw the stat to 1 as soon as the bypass is closed? Do you let it burn on high with cat enagaged for "awhile" and then move it down?

My problem is that I am pegging the cat temp probe all the way to the top of the active zone even with the stat at 1. It feels like I am overcharring the fuel load at the bginning so when I close the stat, the smoke really pours into the cat. My process has been to leave the stat on high, and then medium, with the cat engaged for about half hour before shutting the stat down to low. Gradually turning it down. Maybe this is a bad habit from my non-cat days.

I shut mine down in stages. Loading on a coal bed I'll open the bypass, crank the t-stat to the max position(6 o'clock) as soon as the wood catches I turn the t-stat down to 2 1/2 or so, if I leave it open more than that the fire is too active for my taste and it'll start sucking flames up the chimney, once the cat is active I close the bypass. After the wood is charred up I'll take it down a little at a time just as I did with my non cat stove. I don't really turn it down at any particular time but if it's on the warm side like right now I try to do it fast.(maybe every 5 minutes or so I'll knock it down 1/2-1)

Also don't worry about the CAT probe, I don't think it's all that accurate. I may try to find some type of insulator that can handle the heat to place between the probe base and the stove top.

The BK insert has dots on the Tstat dial rather than the numbers on the stove. You turn down for less air and up for more air. That part always confuses the insert guys when that get advise from the stove guys.

That's why I tried to use general terms like min and max. We all start at max air and eventually end up at a lower setting, often the min this time of year. So how do you folks make that transition? Does your cat temp probe skyrocket as you turn down?

How far over is the red needle going over in the active zone?

I like to start a new load with the by-pass open for 10 minutes to burn off moisture. The T-stat can be 3/4 to 1/2 open. Each stove/insert is differnt depending on factors. I then turn it down 1/4 every 20 minutes until its closed.

The insert depends more on the fan than the stove does.

When I got my stove, I couldn't find the probe in it. The dealer sent me another, and then I found the original down between some bricks. The one that came with the stove responds much faster and reads higher than the replacement. My stove was built in '06, and I got it new last year. I don't know if there were any changes made with the probe in that time, or they just aren't that accurate.

I treat it like the magnetic thermometer on top. It's a reference, not a precision tool. I know it ain't right, but I know where the stove will run. You'll get a feel for it. Relax and enjoy the ride.

I'm off the belief that they're not that accurate. I only use mine to to tell me when to engage the cat, of course I could even use the stove top temps to tell me that.

On that probe picture, I have the same probe but when cold the needle points to the little tick right under the inactive zone. When the cat is really hot it locks in place just under the highest tick mark which is at the hottest side of the "active" range. So a full sweep. I don't want max heat or hottest cat, I am shooting for a low and slow burn.

The cat probe stays there for hours before a slow decline.

I have actually taken to engaging the cat only when the needle is at the first tick into the active range so a little ways into the active zone to make sure that the cat takes off easily.

At no time does the red needle sit at the six-o'clock position as in that photo. In fact, due to the convection deck, the needle can't point there. Is that probe meter busted?

When I reload I burn In the bypass at 3.5 for 10-15 minutes and she's usually going pretty good so I close the bypass and continue to burn at full for another 10-15 min then turn her down to 2.5 for another 10-15 minutes. Lastly I turn it down to 1.5 and the flames snuff out, glass turns dirty and I let her do her thing for the next 24 hours.

I'm usually well into the active zone that first 15 minutes in bypass mode but I think it's important to burn off moisture and continue burning hot for a while after that to warm the chimney back up and also burn any deposits on the glass and cat.

My thermometer also pegs out full for the first couple hours.

I was thinking, do you suppose our "fresh" cats will be overly excitable for awhile? I'm not too hip on all the extra steps, was hoping I could go from cat engagement to low stat setting without having to make a change every 15 minutes.

Its been taken out of service and replaced by Condor. Or you can adjust it back to the bottom of the inactive zone.

I make my changes in probably 5 minute intervals. I can have a fresh load from coals to dialed down in 20 minutes most the time. This time of year I don't like overheating the house so I make the changes pretty quick. It doesn't appear to have any ill effects on anything to this point. If your wood is good and you do a 10-15 minute burn in to drive out moisture I see no reason you can't dial it down quickly from there. Even if it takes a little longer it's usually not a big deal this time of year since I load the stove at night.

Yes, new cats are a bit more sensitive and really take off for the first 100 hours or so then settle in for the long haul.

I don't see it as a big deal making 2-3 stat adjustments in a 24 hour burn. Also lately I haven't even monitored my stove top or cat temps much. I've been just burning it hot til the house comes back up to temp then set the stat at 1.5 and it seems to hold that house temp for most of the next 24 hours. As it get colder I'm sure I'll be changing to a 12 hour reload schedule and burning a little hotter.