Beginner with BK Princess insert- need advice

[bon.ivey]

Little old lady with wood stove seeks knowledgeable input!! My late husband was a wood-burning expert. Now I am left with learning the technical stuff. Help!

My Princess insert was installed in September last year and I used it from October until March. It worked beautifully. My wood was 3 yrs old, and I was burning jackpine by day, and birch at night. In mid-March I ran out of that wood and used standing dead jackpine (locally called chicos) that had been cut/split 9 months earlier. Also at this time the contractor who did the installation returned to add a cap to the steel-lined chimney.

At this point the stove began to burn poorly and smoke. I stopped using it, until trying it now. Someone who has a BK King stove told me to remove the cap. I had that done ( the guy who removed it said he could smell creosote), and the stove still smoked. There must be blockage there. I need advice from Princess Insert users! Any dialogue with BK dealers must be done by long-distance phone calls.

How should the chimney be cleaned? Must it be disconnected and pulled out of the fireplace? Is there anything that must be done to avoid damaging the flexible pipe connecting the stove to the steel chimney liner?
How to protect the catalytic burner?
How can I inspect the chimney myself (manual says every 2 months)?
What is most likely the cause of smoking? The cap, the birchwood which had bark on it, or the newer wood with higher moisture?

I should add that I live in a remote small town where most "chimney sweeps" are guys with a brush who work on the railroad and sweep in their spare time. About every third homeowner burns wood but I believe I have the only BK Princess Insert in town. I worry that someone unfamiliar with them might muck it up.

I hope some of you Men Who Burn Stuff can give me some good advice. Thanks!

 

[SolarAndWood]

Welcome to the forum, sorry to hear about your situation. Tell us the sequence of events and what you saw when you recently tried it. What you loaded, how much you loaded, how you got the fire going, when you closed the door, when you closed the bypass, tstat settings, etc. Was there smoke in the house?

 

[webby3650]

So, is the stove smoking in to the house? Or, is it smoking from the flue? You don't want to remove the cap, just make sure the cap doesn't have mesh in it. If it is smoking more than normal. you should check the combuster. Look up in the top,front of the stove, you will see a steel panel with round holes in it, it will lift up and out. The combuster looks like a honey comb, is it in tact? It should not be crumbling or clogged up. Be careful not to poke it, it is fragile, if you remove it it will likely need a new gasket. We have replaced one under warranty that was less than a year old, it was totally disintegrated.

 

[webby3650]

If it has a SS liner on it, it will not need to be removed from the fireplace. On this stove you would open the bypass, and brush it down from the top. The creosote will land in the firebox. Fly ash will build up behind the combuster, this will need cleaned out periodically, probably not every year though.

 

[bon.ivey]

Forensic Report on attempt at firing stove:

Thanks for the replies! I started the trial fire the same way I did when the stove worked perfectly. There were 2 inches of old ash in the bottom of the stove. About 5 sheets of newspaper, crumpled; kindling laid in a grid pattern, then some 1-2 inch diameter pieces of wood, then a couple 2-3 inch diameter pieces. I didn't fill the firebox right up as this was just a test.

Tstat set on high, fan on high, bypass open, and door open just a crack. Paper ignited, some flames visible as long as door open a bit. When it seemed to have caught, closed the door. Flames out. Open door, flames relight. Spent 10 minutes doing this. Went out to look for smoke from chimney. Finally got some, not healthy smoke but "smoldering" type. Opened stove door to look in, smoke backed up into house. There were flames only when door was open 3 inches, but smoke coming into house was too much. Shut door and shut down stove after about 1/2 hour of fiddling. It was barely warm to the touch.

Looking at cold stove remains today, found I had been producing artist's charcoal. Even the kindling was black but intact. Some paper was unburnt. Removed charred wood and saw what I had not seen when lighting the fire the other evening: the interior of the stove is coated with black corn flakes! I removed the perforated plate and found the catalytic burner seems clear and whole. No crud in the holes.

What are your thoughts?

 

[bon.ivey]

Forensic Report on attempt at firing stove:

Thanks for the replies! I started the trial fire the same way I did when the stove worked perfectly. There were 2 inches of old ash in the bottom of the stove. About 5 sheets of newspaper, crumpled; kindling laid in a grid pattern, then some 1-2 inch diameter pieces of wood, then a couple 2-3 inch diameter pieces. I didn't fill the firebox right up as this was just a test.

Tstat set on high, fan on high, bypass open, and door open just a crack. Paper ignited, some flames visible as long as door open a bit. When it seemed to have caught, closed the door. Flames out. Open door, flames relight. Spent 10 minutes doing this. Went out to look for smoke from chimney. Finally got some, not healthy smoke but "smoldering" type. Opened stove door to look in, smoke backed up into house. There were flames only when door was open 3 inches, but smoke coming into house was too much. Shut door and shut down stove after about 1/2 hour of fiddling. It was barely warm to the touch.

Looking at cold stove remains today, found I had been producing artist's charcoal. Even the kindling was black but intact. Some paper was unburnt. Removed charred wood and saw what I had not seen when lighting the fire the other evening: the interior of the stove is coated with black corn flakes! I removed the perforated plate and found the catalytic burner seems clear and whole. No crud in the holes.

What are your thoughts?

 

[SolarAndWood]

You definitely don't want the fan on until the fire is well underway, the tstat is turned down and you are on cruise control. It sucks too much heat off the stove and will keep the cat from lighting off.

I bought my stove used and I think the original owners had a similar experience to you. 2 good hot burns and all the corn flakes were gone. Don't lose hope.

It sounds like you never get the fire really going to me. However, DISCLAIMER COMING, you should have a sweep ensure that the chimney is clear before we proceed with getting more aggressive with the starting technique.

If you turn the fan off, leave the door open longer, leave the bypass open longer and leave the tstat higher longer, the BK will burn any wood clean, hot and long even if the wood isn't perfectly dry.

The scene should look something like the pic below before you close the door if you have any concerns at all about the dryness of the wood or you are doing a cold start. My personal opinion is the real strength of these stoves is how easy it is to burn them for 7 months straight. Once you get into the rhythm of reloads on the hot coal base, it is a 10 minute process.

Hang in there, make sure the flue is safe and we will get you going. Unless you want to get in the stove and clean it out well, I would also have the sweep scrape the entire firebox out with a putty knife to remove as much of the creosote as possible. It is a dirty job and if you don't do it before the first hot fire, you are going to have a period of anxiety as it burns off.

 

[Todd]

You might need a sweep or it could be the relatively warmer temp creating a sluggish draft. Colder weather may give you better start ups. What about the guy who installed the liner, is he a sweep as well? Someone should be able to sweep right down into the stove with the bypass open without removing the insert and this should be done once per year. Another thing you should check is the liner connection to the stove exhaust collar. Remove the surround panels and looksee at the connection and make sure it's secure with no gaps.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

It sounds as if there is a blockage somewhere in the liner.