Blaze King Princess input blocked ?

[RustyShackleford]

Not sure on the inserts but on the freestanding stoves the bypass only opens a little ways. Meaning an open bypass does not mean that all of chimney sweepings will fall into the firebox. Only a small portion make it into the firebox through the bypass opening.

Havne't read the whole thread, so maybe not helpful ... but if I feel like there's a lot of debris in that area, I just pull the catalyst, and then it's very easy to clean out. Just need a new gasket for it, but not too bad if you buy a 10ft roll: https://pellet-stove-parts-4less.co...-x-1-16-acig-2-inch-12?variant=43407332671660

 

[RustyShackleford]

Duh, just realized I started the thread But yeah, it was my imagination.

 

[cr0]

Hah nice one Rusty.

I went ahead and cleaned my flue from top down, sooteater poly tines on a drill, with bypass open and loading door closed. Then I went and did indoor cleaning, reset the cat thermometer to the right place. I tried vacuuming up into the bypass area as much as I could, and I reached in with gloved hands to sweep down any dust I could reach up there. I called that good and started the stove again, following the manual precisely. Now four hours later, it is running well. Burning this first load on medium-high and being shoulder season we may let it go out again, so we'll wait for a cold snap to really load it up when hot and see if we can still get good overnight burns.

It seems like the way to fully clean that area behind the combuster would indeed be to remove the combuster. I did not want to mess with the gasket and all that, just going into the 3rd season. I gently vacuumed the combuster and left it as is. It has been glowing on and off but since bypass closed, there are barely any emissions visible, which is always great and impressive to (not) see! Thanks again everyone for helping me get more familiar and capable with this.