By-passing catalytic

[Richard Pryor]

i love the look of the Princess, but it seems very high-maintenance. The BK thread is a mess. But it looks beautiful!

I like the idea of a catalytic, but I love the simplicity of my Regency. Pretty straight forward.

There’s a new pro-series that I don’t seem mentioned a lot here. From what I could gather from the description, you can decide when to use the catalytic.

“When the included thermometer enters the "Active" range, use the bypass control to engage the catalyst; and watch your fire burn longer and more consistent, while still being environmentally friendly.”

Can I not do this with the Princess? When visit comes over I’d like to burn one log or 2 in high and for the fire to look pretty. And keep feeding it so it continues to look pretty. Seems like you can do this with the Regency pro? Or is the pro a pure catalytic and I read wrong?

 

[jetsam]

You should not purposely burn the BK with the cat bypassed. People do, but you can damage the stove that way.

It also makes absolutely no sense. You get a better flameshow with the cat engaged because all the air routes past the window instead of up the flue.

You are also throwing most of your heat away.

So I guess your answer is, "You could, but it would give you a worse fireshow, less heat, and it is pretty much the only user-selectable way to damage the stove."

The princess burning normally is just as flamey as any other steel box with a fire in it. The difference is that it has a low setting, which you don't have to use.

Here's a hot princess burning on medium-low. If you crank it up it you get more primary flame. As some of you can see, a partial load is on the tail end of the offgassing phase.

Stove Tea jar barely visible in lower left!

 

[Richard Pryor]

Princess it is then!

 

[TX-L]

Here is my Blaze King, obviously with the bypass closed, and with the dial set on medium. Fuel in this photo was very well seasoned Bitternut Hickory. I've had absolutely no maintenance issues with it. The cat is ceramic, not stainless, and has lasted 10 years since new. Mine is the King, not the Princess.

 

[ddddddden]

You probably shouldn't burn any stove using the bypass for the entire burn time. Bypass is intended to be opened at startup/reload time, during which temps are lower. Venting through the bypass @ high temps for long periods could warp the bypass door / frame. Also, it's easier to overfire with bypass open because the chimney can very quickly heat up and start pulling hard (compared to how it draws with the bypass closed.)

 

[bholler]

i love the look of the Princess, but it seems very high-maintenance. The BK thread is a mess. But it looks beautiful!

I like the idea of a catalytic, but I love the simplicity of my Regency. Pretty straight forward.

There’s a new pro-series that I don’t seem mentioned a lot here. From what I could gather from the description, you can decide when to use the catalytic.

“When the included thermometer enters the "Active" range, use the bypass control to engage the catalyst; and watch your fire burn longer and more consistent, while still being environmentally friendly.”

Can I not do this with the Princess? When visit comes over I’d like to burn one log or 2 in high and for the fire to look pretty. And keep feeding it so it continues to look pretty. Seems like you can do this with the Regency pro? Or is the pro a pure catalytic and I read wrong?

The hybrid regencies should not be run full-time with the bypass open. just like and cat stove you use that to get the stove up to temp then close it to rout through the cat.

And I have burnt. Both tube stoves and now a princess. And no the flame show is not as nice in the princess but it is ok when I get in higher ranges.

On a side not I can't beleive you like the look of the princess. I think it is one of the ugliest stoves on the market now. But it is a very good stove.

 

[Highbeam]

When you run an efficient stove on high to enjoy the fire be prepared for the heat. Unlike a fireplace, the stove isn’t designed to waste that energy.

 

[jetsam]

Here is my Blaze King, obviously with the bypass closed, and with the dial set on medium. Fuel in this photo was very well seasoned Bitternut Hickory. I've had absolutely no maintenance issues with it. The cat is ceramic, not stainless, and has lasted 10 years since new. Mine is the King, not the Princess.

View attachment 240396

For those wondering why there are no flames in that photo:

The air intake on a BK is on a thermostatic flapper. In the photo, the firebox is hot enough that the thermostat has shut intake air back a lot. The cat is making tons of heat and there is little to no visible flame. If the firebox cools, the thermostat will open up the air and you will see flames for a while before it shuts down again to meet your specified temperature.

If at any point you want to see purty flames, you just turn a dial to turn the thermostat up.

 

[ddddddden]

The air intake on a BK is on a thermostatic flapper. In the photo, the firebox is hot enough that the thermostat has shut intake air back a lot. The cat is making tons of heat and there is little to no visible flame. If the firebox cools, the thermostat will open up the air and you will see flames for a while before it shuts down again to meet your specified temperature...

I'm guessing that if you try to burn with the bypass open, BK loses it's automatic mojo with the air control.

 

[lsucet]

I'm guessing that if you try to burn with the bypass open, BK loses it's automatic mojo with the air control.

You still controlling the air, just the emissions, risk to damage the stove plus a chimney fire shooting the flames thru the bypass.
You still saying I want a black box.
But the cat is out of the picture. No reason that I can think.

 

[ddddddden]

I meant only the 'automatic' part of air control. I'm just guessing, but my guess is that the thermostat is calibrated for how the stove burns with the bypass closed. My stove(non-BK) burns almost like a completely different stove, when the bypass is open.

 

[Woody Stover]

automatic mojo

Enough with the off-topic music hijacks!

 

[ddddddden]

...finally, a theme song for the BK Crew!

 

[lsucet]

I meant only the 'automatic' part of air control. I'm just guessing, but my guess is that the thermostat is calibrated for how the stove burns with the bypass closed. My stove(non-BK) burns almost like a completely different stove, when the bypass is open.

The thermostat react to temp not how the stove burns. It is all about the temp and your settings. To have flames all what he needs to do is dialed up as another member mentioned. For sure a lot of heat will be shooting straight up the chimney, in somehow I do understand what you are saying and it is true that with all that heat going away the tstat is not working efficiently.

 

[jetsam]

If the stove is on low, you will actually get a lot more flames with the bypass open. The flapper still opens up intake air to reach the commanded firebox temperature. With half the fuel going up the chimney, more flames are needed to make that heat, because when bypassed it is a smoke dragon with a thermostat (no cat, no baffle, straight shot from the firebox to the sky).

On high, you will get less flames with the bypass open because you lose your secondaries (again, because you are putting a big hole in the baffle when you open the bypass).

There is no reason to do that, though. If you want flames and efficiency, just leave the cat engaged and turn up the thermostat. On a really cold day, there will already be plenty of flames with no adjustment.