BK T-stat question-

[Beetle-Kill]

Anyone else experiencing this?
Full stove, burning nicely. Bypass closed and temp. of Cat. guage @ 1500. T-stat @ 2.5 or so, been that way for over an hour, and things are fine.
..and then I turn the T-stat to less than 2. Just a little, for the overnight haul. 45 min. later, Cat temp is 600 and dropping.
Is my T-stat going south?(bad)
(No, the wood is fine. M/C is not an issue, period)- The stove dies at a 2 or less setting, that's the issue.

 

[nate379]

I don't have numbers on my cat temp guage, but mine burns fine with the air shut all the way off. If I let it burn on #2 it would be melting the paint off the walls in my house.

 

[greythorn3]

I don't have numbers on my cat temp guage, but mine burns fine with the air shut all the way off. If I let it burn on #2 it would be melting the paint off the walls in my house.

even if its on full boar, it should not be burning or melting anything outside the clearance! you need to check your clearances before you or some one else gets hurt using that stove. look on the back of your stove and verify your in compliance with the clearance before its to late and some one loses their life.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

greythorn, pretty sure that Nate379 is in good shape, in regards to his stove. His posted T-stat settings have made me question my stove.
I think I have a glitch in the T-stat, just not sure.
opinions?

 

[nate379]

I have been suspecting that actually it's mine that isn't set right. If I left the T Stat in the "normal" area I think it would overfire the stove if it was stuffed full.
I don't want to test it of course, the closest I came was this early winter.
I had loaded it up, got the wood burning well with the air wide open, then engaged the CAT and turned the air to #2. I usually give it a few mins like that and the turn the air down. I got distracted and ended up outside for 30-40 mins. Came in the house to grab something and as soon as I opened the door, I had the hot metal/curing paint smell and it was pushing 85* in the living room! CAT gauge was pegged out, coming around for another go at it and stove top temp was over 850* (as high as the numbers read on it). That was with the fan on too.

I normally run the stove with the knob at 12:00 and it will run at 400-500* stove top temp until the wood has run out.

 

[HotCoals]

Anyone else experiencing this?
Full stove, burning nicely. Bypass closed and temp. of Cat. guage @ 1500. T-stat @ 2.5 or so, been that way for over an hour, and things are fine.
..and then I turn the T-stat to less than 2. Just a little, for the overnight haul. 45 min. later, Cat temp is 600 and dropping.
Is my T-stat going south?(bad)
(No, the wood is fine. M/C is not an issue, period)- The stove dies at a 2 or less setting, that's the issue.

If you are burning hardwood sometimes believe it or not the wood is not charred enough to give the cat enough cat food.
The way to tell is after you shut her down for the long burn wait maybe 15 mins(or temp dropping)and shine a flashlight in there and see if there is much smoke going on.
I have had this happen..that said usually if I do nothing ..meaning come back and check latter..the coal will have the wood smoking again and the cat is red and the probe temp is back up.

You are doing the right thing at leaving it around 2..that's usually where the t-stat will just close and hopefully open some if need be latter in the burn.
This is a thread just made for me..I been studying this t-stat for almost two seasons now..lol.

Anyways..your results will very.

In short you have a cat stall from insufficient smoke...that is my best guess from here..nothing to do with the t-stat really because you are setting it to a closed position and the cat should stay active for most of the burn without it every opening up again.

 

[HotCoals]

Beetle kill,
When that happens just open her up again for awhile to get the smoke going.
But it's not the t-stat because there are plenty of cat stoves out there that don't have one.
I have had this happen with ash also that was not prime.
If the moisture is not boiled out enough this can and will happen..it contributes greatly to cat stall imo.
But even if it is really dry wood..it can still happen..just not being charred enough.

With pine or some other soft wood..I have never had it happen...same with eco-bricks.
The diff in out gassing is huge.

Another thing..when I shut down if my window smokes up some..I pretty much know it won't stall..lol.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I've seen that too when dropping the tstat. I've always thought it was because the tstat is running off firebox temp not cat temp. With a full load in the stove and the stove at temp, I bet it takes a long time for the stove to cool down to the new setting especially without the blowers running.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Guess I'll chalk it up to one of those weird things. I'll keep an eye on it, thanks all.

 

[rdust]

Sounds like a cat issue if anything.

 

[bogydave]

I've gone down & looked at the cat temp & it just below active, a few hour later I go & it's up in mid range of active. I made no changes.
I think it's just the stat is working, IMO.
But the cat is not as efficient as when new, there is a "life span" & the coating gets used up & need replaced. somewhere around 12,000 hours.
Combustor Reference:
http://www.woodstovecombustors.com/How_They_Work.html

 

[HotCoals]

Trust me it's not the t-stat.
A lot of cat stoves don't even have one.
I don't even know why I bother..have a nice day.

 

[bogydave]

I don't even know why I bother..have a nice day.

Because you love us, & you care & you want to help.
Was meant to make you laugh :lol:

 

[HotCoals]

I've seen that too when dropping the tstat. I've always thought it was because the tstat is running off firebox temp not cat temp. With a full load in the stove and the stove at temp, I bet it takes a long time for the stove to cool down to the new setting especially without the blowers running.

Right.

If you have a hot stove and say you set it for 1.5..I doubt it would ever open again on that load till you were down below 200.
If you guys would just take those two screws out and pull the cover and leave it off for a few days..you would see what I'm saying.
The t-stat is not the magic...sometimes I wish it wasn't even there.

 

[SolarAndWood]

May not be perfect, but I'm glad it is there when I stuff 100+ pounds in the box and leave for an extended period.

 

[HotCoals]

May not be perfect, but I'm glad it is there when I stuff 100+ pounds in the box and leave for an extended period.

Can you explain why..just curious.

 

[SolarAndWood]

This past weekend I went out to my buddies farm to pull some trees out of the woods. Stuffed the stove Saturday morning, set the tstat and left. Got home Sunday evening, stuffed it, set the tstat and went to bed. I know that the tstat may not manage the burn exactly like I would if I was if I was around to manage it. But, I'm not. I can stuff it and not worry about it going nuclear. I also know that when I get home it is an easy reload even if it is 2 days later. It is also a big damn stove that does the job in January but doesn't overheat the house in October. Perfect control system, no. But a pretty good compromise in my opinion.

 

[HotCoals]

Still you did not explain to me how the t-stat gives you that long burn..swing and a miss..but I'm still listening..lol.
You see..it probably never opened again after you set it to two or lower.
I love the stove but it would be fine without it.
Just my opinions for what they are worth..that and a buck will maybe get you a coffee!

 

[jeff_t]

Most cat stoves don't have a thermostat, but they do have a primary air control, which is what the thermostat is on the blaze king. On the low side, I don't think it does much of anything at all. But with a big, fresh load and burning on the hotter side of 'normal' I can definitely hear it doing its thing, and see changes in the flame. Keeps it from getting too hot, without having to babysit it. I guess it takes some of the guesswork out of the operation. You know where it needs to be set for the current outside conditions, you set it and leave it. As the load burns down, it stays open longer until it's open all the time.
When the stove is relatively cool, you can turn the knob slowly and hear the flapper closing. When you find that point, that's pretty much it, doesn't do much if you turn it lower because it's closed all the time.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I almost never touch it after I set it after reload. I doubt that I could get that with a single fixed adjustment on every burn of every full load from September through May.

 

[HotCoals]

I almost never touch it after I set it after reload. I doubt that I could get that with a single fixed adjustment on every burn of every full load from September through May.

You are assuming it is doing something.
Someday you will pull the cover and watch it.
None the less..cheers!

 

[HotCoals]

Most cat stoves don't have a thermostat, but they do have a primary air control, which is what the thermostat is on the blaze king. On the low side, I don't think it does much of anything at all. But with a big, fresh load and burning on the hotter side of 'normal' I can definitely hear it doing its thing, and see changes in the flame. Keeps it from getting too hot, without having to babysit it. I guess it takes some of the guesswork out of the operation. You know where it needs to be set for the current outside conditions, you set it and leave it. As the load burns down, it stays open longer until it's open all the time.
When the stove is relatively cool, you can turn the knob slowly and hear the flapper closing. When you find that point, that's pretty much it, doesn't do much if you turn it lower because it's closed all the time.

It will if set higher then the stove temp shut the air down once the heat builds..as long as it's not set too high..3 or above.
But it takes a act of God to open back up again.
Maybe it's just mine..but it is real slow to react..nothing like the BK brochure says.
Still..I'm more then happy!

A lot of what you guys are hearing is the stove clicking from heating up..not the t-stat opening and closing.
Pull the cover.

 

[jeff_t]

A lot of what you guys are hearing is the stove clicking from heating up...

Oh.

 

[HotCoals]

Just pull the cover and observe.
You won't see the t-stat but you will see the flapper.

 

[nate379]

I agree with HotCoals. I found out a while back that I don't really use the T Stat on my stove. I always burn with it at around 12:00-#1... which is closes the air all the way down.


IF I pull that plate off, won't that bypass the OAK?