Blaze King Princess 32 (newbie) what am I doing wrong?

[Dieselhead]

That was someone else, OP in the initial post stated 15'.
But even then, your 25' is almost 1/3 taller than a 19' flue...

Ours is around 20', I think, and I have no draft issues at all.

Yea that’s the quote in my post, the 19’ guy. Should be in its own thread so there wasn’t the confusion..

 

[PE32noob]

Have you ever measured to see how your flue is drafting? If it’s pulling too hard heat may be going up your flue. A key damper may be needed.

I haven't measured the draft, but have wondered if its pulling too much. I need to add another 2ft to the stack for code, so I'll check the draft next time I have the ladder up.

 

[Clmillard97]

OP, I'd be interested in what happened when you call our offices and "were not able to provide any information to help".

Did you happen to catch the staff members name?

BKVP

I don’t recall the name of the person I spoke to. They said to continue burning as the stove is new and could be the cause.

 

[kborndale]

I haven't measured the draft, but have wondered if its pulling too much. I need to add another 2ft to the stack for code, so I'll check the draft next time I have the ladder up.

If it already has too strong of a draft you don't want to add to the stack, that will just make the draft even stronger.

 

[spudman99]

Baby steps clmillar97. Glad you got an overnight burn. Cautious is better, although it is really difficult to overfire this unit. Now that you graduated to 2nd grade, time to ramp up. Dont be afraid to fill the box full. You can regulate the heat with the dial and fans as needed, moving off of the 4 o'clock position. So long as the cat reads in the active zone you are good. On reload, if you do so when it is active, you need not let it run bypass open for 20 minutes. Just get the fire going for 5 min or so, then turn down the thermostat and close bypass. Try to avoid direct flames hitting the cat shield too much as that can damage the cat. Otherwise keep warm and keep posting with your progress.

 

[Groaner]

I was having the exact same problem up until yesterday. My house is 1300 sqf on two levels and the temperature inside was never going above 68. Yesterday afternoon I loaded it full and let it rip for a good 20 minutes before dialing it back slowly. It climbed to the 6 o’clock position then came down really slowly before settling at about the 3 o’clock positions. It stayed there all night and when I woke up this morning the house was 70 degrees F. First time ever. Outside temp was 23 degrees F. The thermostat knob on the side of my stove was at the 4 o’clock position. I think I was being way too cautious about the cat gauge on top.

Tron
A question , you have 1300 sq ft house. How big is the room where your stove is?
I have 900 but also have a cathedral ceiling where my stove is that is 14x18.
Is the Princess work able to it too much stove?

 

[Tron]

Is the Princess work able to it too much stove?

As has been mentioned, with the BK's there isn't really a too-large stove since they all can be dialed way down.
As an example, my home is 3600sq. ft, one level, but due to the maze layout the area the stove heats is roughly 1000sq. ft., give or take (a bit of heat does seep through the house eventually).
And I even run the stove when it's 50-60F outside to keep the temperature inside up and prevent the furnace from kicking in. Works like a charm.
During the cold spell we've had recently (teens at night and below freezing during the day) I've run the stove at maybe 75% wide open and it kept he living room easily at 76-77F.

 

[Rblack]

Hello everyone, I’m new to this and looking for some help/advice. I’ve read everything I can find on Blaze King stoves and it seems like I’m the only person having trouble controlling my stove. It’s uncontrollable. If I turn the thermostat up a hair the gauge on top pegs out pointing toward 5 or 6 o’clock. So I have been running it in low(I turn it down until I hear the little flap close) then I turn the dial up a hair and the gauge goes all the way up again forcing me to turn it back down. It’s driving me absolutely insane because this is our main heat source and I’m having to keep an eye on it 24/7. I’ve burned about 1 cord maybe a bit more through it so far.

I’ve talked to Blaze king and they were not able to provide any information to help. I spoke to the company I purchased the stove from and they said “this is a first” and couldn’t provide any help.

Stove - brand new stove, brand new chimney, 15’ straight up, double wall into class A through the ceiling and on the roof. Terminates 3’ above ridge.

Wood - all hard wood stored in my basement reading 12-14% on a fresh split. I would consider the splits to be medium in size. I’ve already tried loading with the largest logs I could find and it does the exact same thing.

I’ve tested the door gasket and it’s tight all the way around.

Relighting the fire while still in active zone. I disengage the cat damper, turn the thermostat to high, open the door, fill the box full, close the door, let it rip for like 5 minutes, close damper door and lock, start turning down the thermostat or it will climb to the 6 o’clock position on the gauge. I always turn it down when it points toward the word active on the gauge. I’ve tried turning it down slowly. It doesn’t help.

I have a call into our chimney guy to come out and add a 3’ section of pipe to the top to give me 18’ total. I’m at a loss of what to do so this is the last thing I can think of.

Please HELP!

Hello, did you get the blower with your stove? It makes all the difference. I wasn’t going to get one as my stove is in the center of my house and my last cast iron stove didn’t have one or need one. For some reason I decided to get the blower with the stove. The gal at the store commented to me that it also helps keep the catylitic temp guage in the correct operating range. She is 100% correct. With the blower off and the thermostat fully open while operating with the catylitic lever engaged, the red needle goes way past the end of the gauge if it’s a good fire going. As soon as I turn the blower on the needle drops into normal range. I’m lucky I decided to get the blower. Also you get way more heat out of the stove using the blower. When room is warm enough I just turn down the thermostat and turn off the blower and the needle will remain in the safe zone until I stuff more wood in or open the thermostat back up. Also if I burn without the catylitic temp guage. Lever engaged I don’t thing the red needle goes that high anyway. Good luck.

 

[Rblack]

This is first season for my Princess 32. It does the same thing until I turn the blower on, it then brings the needle back down. After a while I turn blower off and it it’s fine until I add more wood and get fire going full blast, but the blower will always bring the needle back into the normal operating range for me.

 

[stoveliker]

Hello, did you get the blower with your stove? It makes all the difference. I wasn’t going to get one as my stove is in the center of my house and my last cast iron stove didn’t have one or need one. For some reason I decided to get the blower with the stove. The gal at the store commented to me that it also helps keep the catylitic temp guage in the correct operating range. She is 100% correct. With the blower off and the thermostat fully open while operating with the catylitic lever engaged, the red needle goes way past the end of the gauge if it’s a good fire going. As soon as I turn the blower on the needle drops into normal range. I’m lucky I decided to get the blower. Also you get way more heat out of the stove using the blower. When room is warm enough I just turn down the thermostat and turn off the blower and the needle will remain in the safe zone until I stuff more wood in or open the thermostat back up. Also if I burn without the catylitic temp guage. Lever engaged I don’t thing the red needle goes that high anyway. Good luck.

The gal at the store doesn't know well enough what this all means. A blower cooling down *the gauge* doesn't mean anything. The cat is still hot, your thermometer just less so because of the wind blowing past it.
And that's fine.
Cats run hot initially (up to one cord) . They'll settle down on their own.