BK king cat inactive, CO problem

[Yoshimi]

I'm hoping you all can help me otherwise I'm going to have a very expensive, decorative cold black box in the corner of my living room.

We recently moved into a new house with a BK king stove. We have been having no end of problems with smoke in the house when we first light it which we are told is a problem with our chimney being too long and getting too cold.

Today though, we had a different problem. We stacked the stove full at 3pm, left it burning at 2 (3 o'clock) all day and everything was fine, checked it before bed and it was still fine, and still had lots of wood to burn. Woke up at 6am to all of the carbon monoxide detectors going off. The stove still had fuel but had gone completely inactive. So I'm now sitting in a freezing house with all the windows open trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Can anyone help?

 

[Highbeam]

The cat will go inactive when the fuel runs out. Was there fuel still in the stove? Describe your chimney. Is the stove supplied with outside air for combustion?

 

[bholler]

Obviously your draft stalled and without draft the stove will not work right. It will just sit there and smoulder creating co which with no draft will escape into the house. It is most likely a chimney issue but I would say you need to get a pro sweep out there that knows blazekings to go over the stove and chimney to find all potential issues. I think it is probably a chimney issue but it could possible be a stove problem but it does not sound that way.

 

[tcassavaugh]

i think it sounds like a draft problem too, either that or your wood is green and won't burn. what setting did you have the draft/burn on. maybe it was too low. i'm not that familiar with the blaze king. you said it came with the house, did you get a manual with it? CO is not something to mess with. gotta figure that one out.

 

[begreen]

Provide some more details on the installation and post a picture or two if possible. On what floor is the stove located? What type of chimney is it connected to? How tall is the chimney? Is the stove pipe 8" all the way to the chimney connection?

 

[Rickb]

Green wood......... It does not burn well in my BK at low settings.

 

[Niko]

When you bought the house did the home inspector give you any heads up of the wood stove setup? Please dont bash a product especially when we have no idea if you even no what your doing, if your setup is correct or even if your wood is good.

asking questions on hearth to educate yourself is a great start. But dont start pointing fingers until you have the facts. I mean if that black box is expensive im guessing your house is way more expensive. Maybe you should start pointing the fingers at yourself, your the one using it.

Yes a name means something to me.

 

[tarzan]

When you bought the house did the home inspector give you any heads up of the wood stove setup? Please dont bash a product especially when we have no idea if you even no what your doing, if your setup is correct or even if your wood is good.

asking questions on hearth to educate yourself is a great start. But dont start pointing fingers until you have the facts. I mean if that black box is expensive im guessing your house is way more expensive. Maybe you should start pointing the fingers at yourself, your the one using it.

Yes a name means something to me.

Good Grief Man, I'm really starting to worry about you.

 

[rdust]

Good Grief Man, I'm really starting to worry about you.

 

[Niko]

Good Grief Man, I'm really starting to worry about you.

Im just fine my man. Nothing to worry about.

 

[BuckyBeaver524]

Green wood......... It does not burn well in my BK at low settings.

Are you suggesting that burning green wood in a BK can result in poisoning ones home with CO ? That doesn't sound right. And if what you say is true, these stoves are very dangerous. Probably everyone on this site has burned green wood (either out of desperation or by mistake) at one time or another.

 

[Woody Stover]

Please dont bash a product

I will bash the product later, and will notify you when I do, so that you can learn what to look for when you suspect a bashing.
He didn't blame the stove. He, in fact, stated that he had been told that he has a chimney problem. It sounds to me like he may have a direct-connect setup, i.e. the connector pipe dumps into the clay liner, no stainless liner to the top. Just a guess, though...

 

[bholler]

When you bought the house did the home inspector give you any heads up of the wood stove setup? Please dont bash a product especially when we have no idea if you even no what your doing, if your setup is correct or even if your wood is good.

asking questions on hearth to educate yourself is a great start. But dont start pointing fingers until you have the facts. I mean if that black box is expensive im guessing your house is way more expensive. Maybe you should start pointing the fingers at yourself, your the one using it.

Yes a name means something to me.

He did not bash the product at all. He came here to ask what was going on and told us what stove he was having problems. Get out of the defensive fan boy mentality and start actually reading the threads you are commenting on.

I will bash the product later, and will notify you when I do, so that you can learn what to look for when you suspect a bashing.
He didn't blame the stove. He, in fact, stated that he had been told that he has a chimney problem. It sounds to me like he may have a direct-connect setup, i.e. the connector pipe dumps into the clay liner, no stainless liner to the top. Just a guess, though...

That is not a direct connect at all. A direct connect is an insert with a short stup of liner run up into the first clay liner. what you described is just a stove install into a clay lined chimney which is perfectly acceptable as long as it is done right.

 

[Woody Stover]

Was there fuel still in the stove?

He said yes.

That is not a direct connect at all. A direct connect is an insert with a short stup of liner run up into the first clay liner. what you described is just a stove install into a clay lined chimney which is perfectly acceptable as long as it is done right.

Yeah, it sounds like he doesn't have an insert since he describes it as a "box." It could be vented into a fireplace as a direct-connect, though. I was just going on the assumption that what he was told was right, that the chimney is getting too cold. Seems to point to either no liner in masonry or thru-the-wall Class A getting too cold outside. He's in Idaho so he might be living in the frozen tundra. I guess it could also be something as simple as a gunked-up cap screen, though...

On what floor is the stove located?

Sounds like ground floor if it's in the "living room."

 

[kennyp2339]

Yeehaw .... lets get back on point, to the OP can you give us specifics of the install? What type of setup do you have, type of chimney? masonry, masonry with liner, class a metal pipe, coming off the stove collar do you have single wall black pipe with a 90deg bend into the chimney, or is double wall, does it go straight up? how big is the flue, is it the required 8" that BK recommends? Do you have a moisture meter, are you burning wood less than 16% as BK recommends, can you test that by splitting a room temp piece?
When was the last time the chimney was cleaned? Can you visually check the cap to make sure there's no build up? What stove setting are you running at? perhaps due to semi dry wood your getting good initial burns keeping the cat active but as the burn goes into the decay stage there's not enough air and the cat is stalling, what does the t-stat look like, when was it oiled last? it could be getting stuck.

 

[Niko]

Where is the op? One post and a very serious one at that With the only specific detail being a name, I will take that as bashing a product thank you. If he wasnt bashing a name should have never been mentioned, Especially in the main title.

Such a serious problem and yet pretty much every single detail is left out except for the stove name.

Im no fan boy but you can get of your high horse and stop acting like you run this place.

Everyone is here to help, some can help a lot more.

 

[bholler]

Where is the op? One post and a very serious one at that With the only specific detail being a name, I will take that as bashing a product thank you. If he wasnt bashing a name should have never been mentioned, Especially in the main title.

You seriously need help

 

[bholler]

Seems to point to either no liner in masonry or thru-the-wall Class A getting too cold outside.

Yes you may be right but there is nothing inherently wrong with either of those setups. Both can work just fine if done right. It comes down to the fact that we need way more info if we are going to help any more.

But honestly with the severity of the situation the op should not be looking on the net for help they need to get a qualified sweep there in person to figure it out.

 

[Niko]

You seriously need help

Thanks for your professional opinion, what do you charge a hr for this? I just dont know where i would be in life without your guidance.

Love
Niko

 

[Highbeam]

To the op, you stalled the cat. You can only run your stove so low on your chimney without stalling the cat and the setting you used was too low. Turn it up a bit more and keep the stove warmer, cat active, flue temps higher, and that will provide the draft strength you need to keep your smoke going up the chimney instead of down.

The above assumes that your chimney is clear and installed as required by the manual. If you don't know or don't want to let us help you verify this then you must hire a certified chimney professional to make the assessment. Failure here can lead to death.

 

[bholler]

To the op, you stalled the cat. You can only run your stove so low on your chimney without stalling the cat and the setting you used was too low. Turn it up a bit more and keep the stove warmer, cat active, flue temps higher, and that will provide the draft strength you need to keep your smoke going up the chimney instead of down.

I agree with you but i think there is probably more going on than that a stalled cat by itself should not cause CO leakage. I think it is probably a chimney issue as well

 

[Highbeam]

I agree with you but i think there is probably more going on than that a stalled cat by itself should not cause CO leakage. I think it is probably a chimney issue as well

That's why my post continues to say this very thing.

 

[bholler]

That's why my post continues to say this very thing.

Yes I know that

 

[BuckyBeaver524]

i think there is probably more going on than that a stalled cat by itself should not cause CO leakage. I think it is probably a chimney issue as well

Sounds like you're on the right path....if just a stalled cat caused CO problems, these stoves would have killed many Hearth members by now.

 

[jetsam]

They went to bed with the stove burning fine and woke up to no fire and CO alarms.

Maybe the chimney cap plugged completely, or there was a weather event that caused negative pressure.

Either way, gotta look at the draft and fix it.

Am I really the first one to say 'cap' in this thread?