2021-2022 BK everything thread

[moresnow]

Weather starting to break in northern Minnesota, I let the fire burn out yesterday. Lows of 19 degrees tomorrow. With the fire out I cleaned out the ashes and was going to lightly brush the cat and check for fly ash. Was quite surprised to see it crumbled. This was a new cat this year. I do run my stove hard but do not abuse it. I never once opened the door with the bypass in the wrong position and typically wait a few minutes before engaging it when reloading. I got two years out of my previous cat. May be time to try the droplet HT-3000 and movie the princess into the shop. The cat seems to be working prior to letting the fire burn out I had a solid 12 hour burn.

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That's unfortunate. Believe I'd be giving the door and glass gaskets a close looksie. Hate to ask but do you have others loading the stove without you?

 

[stoveliker]

Have you seen that the flame shield is still preventing impingement of (primary) flame on the cat?

 

[sprawlnstall]

That's unfortunate. Believe I'd be giving the door and glass gaskets a close looksie. Hate to ask but do you have others loading the stove without you?

The door passes the dollar bill test, I will check the glass. Anything specific to look for? Wood was extra dry this year so it is not a fuel issue.

 

[sprawlnstall]

Have you seen that the flame shield is still preventing impingement of (primary) flame on the cat?

Not sure what you mean? the flame shield is on properly. No one other than me operates the stove.

 

[stoveliker]

With very high draft I have seen flames go to the cat from the open triangles at the side. Ceramic cats crumble when flame impinge (not saying that all crumbling is due to impingement).

 

[sprawlnstall]

I suspect my draft is a bit on the strong side, and it did seem like we had a lot of high winds this winter. However My two previous cats did not crumble. I did burn a lot of dry pine this year, no other change in burning habits.

 

[Ashful]

Wow... just saw the photo. Stoveliker already asked the first two questions that came to my mind. Blowing the front off a ceramic cat like that is usually due to flame impingement. Flame impingement is caused by one of a few things:

1. Bad design. However, we already have many Princess owners on this forum who can rule that out.

2. Incorrectly installed or removed flame shield.

3. High draft. Given the way BK spec's these stoves, that might be any pipe taller than 10 or 15 feet, in your climate.

4. Leaky door. This seems unlikely, as I'd expect you'd to have reported your cat probe temp being too high, if that were the case.

 

[sprawlnstall]

I would imagine it would be hard to incorrectly install the flame shield. My chimney is 22-23 feet tall. It seems to draft well but I do need to keep the door cracked for a few minutes to get a fire started from scratch. I would really like to prevent his from happening again. Is a steel cat susceptible to flame impingement also?

 

[kennyp2339]

I would imagine it would be hard to incorrectly install the flame shield. My chimney is 22-23 feet tall. It seems to draft well but I do need to keep the door cracked for a few minutes to get a fire started from scratch. I would really like to prevent his from happening again. Is a steel cat susceptible to flame impingement also?

Dont open the door when the by-pass is closed

 

[stoveliker]

I would imagine it would be hard to incorrectly install the flame shield. My chimney is 22-23 feet tall. It seems to draft well but I do need to keep the door cracked for a few minutes to get a fire started from scratch. I would really like to prevent his from happening again. Is a steel cat susceptible to flame impingement also?

My (steel) cat still looks fine, despite flames sometimes sucking in from the sides to the cat.
However, crumbling is the deterioration of the skeleton. Steel does not do that.
I can't say whether the washcoat containing the catalyst is affected. (My temperature/glowing does seem uniform, suggesting it's not affected. Yet?).

 

[BKVP]

Please check the glass gasket seal in the door frame. Flame impingement doesn't usually take out a cordierite substrate in just a single season. You cannot install the flame shield incorrectly or if you forced it you might, but 99.99% not the issue.

I'm leaning towards door rope or glass gasket. Thermal shock can do some damage, but that would be caused by loading ice or snow laden fuel, unlikely given your experience of using the stove and participation on this site.

Where did you purchase the combustor that is damaged?

BKVP

 

[sprawlnstall]

Please check the glass gasket seal in the door frame. Flame impingement doesn't usually take out a cordierite substrate in just a single season. You cannot install the flame shield incorrectly or if you forced it you might, but 99.99% not the issue.

I'm leaning towards door rope or glass gasket. Thermal shock can do some damage, but that would be caused by loading ice or snow laden fuel, unlikely given your experience of using the stove and participation on this site.

Where did you purchase the combustor that is damaged?

BKVP

The gasket was purchased from a local dealer near the mahnomen area. The rope door and glass appear to be in good shape. What would a defect in the glass look like?

 

[Ashful]

I would imagine it would be hard to incorrectly install the flame shield. My chimney is 22-23 feet tall. It seems to draft well but I do need to keep the door cracked for a few minutes to get a fire started from scratch. I would really like to prevent his from happening again. Is a steel cat susceptible to flame impingement also?

Maybe on a Princess, but it's easy on the Ashford, as my dealer can attest. They dropped off two Ashfords here in 2015, and one had the flame shield was installed backwards. After looking at them both, I had a good guess as to which one was wrong, but had to actually go surfing online to confirm.

22 feet might create a fairly strong pull in your climate. It's worth checking, if the glass gasket doesn't appear to be the issue. My pipe is closer to 30 feet, but it was pulling 0.21" (4x ideal and 3.5x allowable maximum) in a much milder climate than yours.

 

[BKVP]

The gasket was purchased from a local dealer near the mahnomen area. The rope door and glass appear to be in good shape. What would a defect in the glass look like?

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.

 

[sprawlnstall]

Thanks. Looks like we may have a warm up coming soon, Ill shut it down and inspect. Even with a crumbled cat, it seems to be operating okay. I don't think there is an air leak. I turned my thermostat down this morning after loading, firebox went from raging fire to a dull glow almost immediately.

 

[BKVP]

Thanks. Looks like we may have a warm up coming soon, Ill shut it down and inspect. Even with a crumbled cat, it seems to be operating okay. I don't think there is an air leak. I turned my thermostat down this morning after loading, firebox went from raging fire to a dull glow almost immediately.

That means the thermostat is working, but a very small injection of room air could case that thermal shock.

 

[kennyp2339]

Here we go again, cherry & ash this time around

 

[Dieselhead]

Here we go again, cherry & ash this time around

Same, I have done a few 4 log fires over the last couple weeks, when solar gain hasn’t got the house to a comfortable temp to carry us through the night. With this wind and temp overnight in the 30s we’re in BBM (Black box mode) over here.

 

[Ashful]

Never really stopped here. I’ve had fires probably 6 of the last 7 nights. Just loaded and lit a batch of red oak, albeit a half-full batch.

 

[BettyHubbler]

I had been lurking around this website for the last year and finally pulled the trigger after a lot of research and reading. I just want to thank everyone on these threads for their responses. My wife and I recently had our blaze king sirocco 25 insert installed and we couldn’t be happier. It was installed on maybe the last “cool enough” day of the season and it absolutely amazed us with how much heat it put out. Our existing masonry chimney already had a tremendous draft, and once an insulated liner (28’) was put into the mix this insert absolutely delivered as advertised! I put 5 small (and I mean small!) splits in it at 8pm and they burned until 3am with the cat engaged the whole time. This is just a thank you to everyone who posts on here that us lurkers are reading and taking it all in!

Roger

 

[Nealm66]

That’s a really good looking setup to boot

 

[BettyHubbler]

That’s a really good looking setup to boot

Thanks! The sirocco’s look was a major part of our initial decision when shopping, the efficiency made it a no-brainer for us. Really looking forward to the next cool season!

 

[Nealm66]

We’re still plenty cool enough to burn here. 24 hour reload weather keeping the house between 70-74. Not sure if the Sirocco can do the 24 hour burns? I guess it probably depends on the fuel. 12 hour reloads are the best I think anyways because of how quick. 24hr reloads sometimes takes a minute. Enjoy either way. Hopefully you’ve got some good dry wood for the next winter

 

[spudman99]

Good looking fireplace Betty. Whereabout are you in SE PA (which County)? Several nearby burners are here in this thread and can be of great assistance.

One thing I always preach is dry wood. Hopefully you have 2-4 cords of wood already cut and suntanning right now. Absolutely imperative that you have dry wood to get the 12 hour burns. With my princess insert, I load around 8am, bake for 10 min, engage combustor and walk away. Reload at 8pm. Rinse and repeat. Makes life simple and the heat keeps a comming.

 

[BettyHubbler]

Chester county. Plenty of wood dry and ready for next season! My house is surrounded by big beech trees and a few storms have helped me get nice stacks ready! Here’s just a small bit from recently… plenty more in other places stacked and ready to go from seasons past!