2021-2022 BK everything thread

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Nice! I’m in Delaware County, and will be out stacking some wood today. Waiting for a final quote on a BK Ashford insert and hope to be joining the club here soon.
DelCo... home of Aunt Mary Pat... and Wawa.
 
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With fire out...open door. Secure door between your knees. Place one hand on each side of the glass. Press hands towards one another. Push back and forth, up and down. Does the glass move? Careful on the up movement to not lift door off hinge pins.
I checked the glass out this weekend, it does not move whatsoever. I'm not sure what to think, the door rope appears to be slightly worn. How often should door rope be replaced? The best I can do is replace the rope and try a Steel Cat. Is there any chance I just got a bad ceramic cat, resulting in it falling apart? I don't think this is the most likely answer.
 
I checked the glass out this weekend, it does not move whatsoever. I'm not sure what to think, the door rope appears to be slightly worn. How often should door rope be replaced? The best I can do is replace the rope and try a Steel Cat. Is there any chance I just got a bad ceramic cat, resulting in it falling apart? I don't think this is the most likely answer.
You instincts are correct. In my 27 years, I know of two combustors the supplier sent us that had no coatings....and it was intentional. It was used in R&D to gather baseline data.

The second was sent to OMNI test labs and used by them in combustor longevity testing.

If the rope gasket is leaking, it could explain why so much of the failure was center of combustor.

When you see failure spread evenly across the face, that tends to be from multiple causes, such as running the stove with door cracked open....
 
You instincts are correct. In my 27 years, I know of two combustors the supplier sent us that had no coatings....and it was intentional. It was used in R&D to gather baseline data.

The second was sent to OMNI test labs and used by them in combustor longevity testing.

If the rope gasket is leaking, it could explain why so much of the failure was center of combustor.

When you see failure spread evenly across the face, that tends to be from multiple causes, such as running the stove with door cracked open....
Whenever the door is open the bypass lever is in the correct position. With the extreme temperature here I am forced to do a lot of hot reloads. Generally I flip the bypass lever wait 2-3 minutes and open door to reload. Typically I only wait about 30 seconds after a reload before engaging the cat again.
 
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Whenever the door is open the bypass lever is in the correct position. With the extreme temperature here I am forced to do a lot of hot reloads. Generally I flip the bypass lever wait 2-3 minutes and open door to reload. Typically I only wait about 30 seconds after a reload before engaging the cat again.
That quick re-engage could be the problem, although I know BKVP has also previously claimed to a fast re-engagement. I usually set a timer for 5 minutes after each reload, and wait that out (if not longer) before re-closing the bypass. I'm coming to the end of season 4 on my present ceramic cat, at roughly 7 cords per season thru that stove, with no such cratering of the front face.

That said, I would have (and did) initially name the problem of flame impingement, more than thermal shock.
 
Greetings,
My wife and I just purchased a Princess 32. I still have 6 weeks to "patiently" wait for delivery and installation. I've wanted a stove for several years, but my wife and I couldn't agree on things. I finally had a salesman come to our house and he was able to convince her. I have 20 acres of EAB infected Ash to burn, so I should be set for wood for a good while. I am really looking forward to good warm heat next year.
Dan
 
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Congratulations! Get that ash split and stacked, if not already done. Most will want 3 - 6 cords to feed a Princess all year, depending on how you run it. Ash is one of the few woods that can be burned after one full summer of drying in open air, but if you have concerns, see Poindexter's clear plastic film solar kilns.
 
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Broke down last night and started burning again lol, outside temps dropped down to 42, misty rain day with a northeast wind, inside was down to 64 and the cat was shivering (I blame my little buddy for this) made a fire and the house went up to 70 overnight, not bad with a box loaded w/ cherry and ash, I'll keep the fire going today since its pretty windy and temps wont get above 55, also tonight is going to drop into the 30's.
 
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41 this morning and it barely broke 50 today. Fire started this morning.
 
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In-flight back from AK. Better be warm at home...headed to EPA lab Tuesday to work with others on new FRM for cordwood.
 
My dealer told me they are planning on installing a 12' tall chimney for my Princess 32 when it comes in. I read in the online manual that 15' is the minimum recommended height. The chimney will be a DW 6" straight up with no elbows. When they install this, do they do some kind of draft test to ensure this is tall enough or should I be asking them about this?

Thanks,
Dan
 
You can try 12' but if you experience spillage or other performance issues, you'll need to add at least 3'.
 
I have one of my Ashfords on a pretty short chimney, surely well under 15 feet, maybe as short as 12 feet. It's some work getting it to draft above 40F, and if I'm not careful to establish draft before lighting a load, I can have the family yelling at me about the smoke. But it's never been a problem to get it drafting, usually by lighting something small first, and holding it farther back in the stove to heat the chimney. The only real problem in this operation is my own attention and memory, namely forgetting to establish draft on a dead-cold stove, before loading full and lighting it on a 50F evening.

It will also limit how far you can turn down before stalling, but that's been a problem more in theory than practicality for me, I can still run that stove pretty darn low and slow.

Spill-out from the door hasn't been any issue, as the chimney is usually pretty warm when I'm opening the door. How often do you open the door on a load of wood that's still producing smoke, when the chimney also happens to be cold? Never, in my case.
 
I would suspect that the stalling position on the thermostat may be higher, BUT that the heat output at the stalling point is very similar to the heat output at the stalling point of e.g. a 16' chimney system.
 
I don't know. The salesman is supposed to call me Monday and discuss it with me.
This is on a single floor ranch. I just went out and measured 12' and that would be 4' above the roof. 15' would be 7' foot above the roof. Maybe they don't want a skyscraper sticking above my roof?
 
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This is on a single floor ranch. I just went out and measured 12' and that would be 4' above the roof. 15' would be 7' foot above the roof. Maybe they don't want a skyscraper sticking above my roof?
Our chimney is 7' above the roof to meet the 10-3-2 rule. It has the required brace at 5' above the roof. Fortunately, its location is not visually prominent.
 
It probably wouldn’t look too bad depending on the roof/neighbors. I think not having it to spec wouldn’t be too bad if it was just at startup that’s the problem. Would suck though if you had any issues whatsoever and had to extend or buy a less draft hungry stove.
 
The problem with a BK with a chimney that is too short, is that it'll stall at warmer weather, precisely when you would want to make use of the low and slow capability.
 
The problem with a BK with a chimney that is too short, is that it'll stall at warmer weather, precisely when you would want to make use of the low and slow capability.
Not all short stacks resulting in stalling. Every install is different. The dealer will be able to spec if additional draft is needed.
 
Yes. Hence I said*too* short. And I noted that it would affect the range of operation that for many folks is the reason they get a BK
 
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