Tonight, I miss my old stove..(BKK questions)

[Beetle-Kill]

For starters- -5f with -30f+ windchill tonight. The front room is 65.3f which is too cold for me. The Timberline would have had this room 10 deg. warmer last year. The BKK is 500f stove top, and the CAT is 1600,-fan is maxed. and flue is at 610f. 'Stat is at 3+. What am I doing wrong? If I lower the fan I'll max out the cat., but the stove top doesn't get up tp temp.(600f. +) I have never had the stove above 630f., without maxing out the CAT. I have checked the door gasket, tough to pull a dollar through at the top/ latch side( pretty tight all other areas.) The by-pass clamped the dollar(s), and let me rip them apart. It's tight enough. What am I overlooking? or do I need to start shopping for a more radiant stove with an 8 exhaust.? BTW- Happy New Year to everyone!!

 

[kgrant]

Do you have side shields on yours?

I just cruised the BK manual and they don't give temps for over fire. "If the chimney or connector glows your over firing"

Condar says not to avoid cat temps of 1800 and up.

 

[ecocavalier02]

i have no problem gettin a stove top of 700. with the fan on . is it hard for you to get it to that temperature? if iso sounds like your wood.

 

[kgrant]

Maybe your cat thermometer is reading on the high side. Try swapping your flue and cat thermometers and compare readings. I'm pretty sure I read you have a probe flue thermometer. If not never mind

 

[Renovation]

i have no problem gettin a stove top of 700. with the fan on . is it hard for you to get it to that temperature? if iso sounds like your wood.

I think BK's issue, and he's been struggling with this for a while, is that he is limited by his cat temperature--his cat thermometer reads higher than other BK owners for a given stovetop temp, and so he has to keep his stove temp down to protect his cat.

Correct?

 

[ecocavalier02]

my cat will go in the high range for the initial hour or so when im on 3 . if i turn the fan on it cools it down a litte. but like kgrant said it says its not recomened to run that high for long periouds of time. once i crank her down to 2 1/4 or 2.5 she'll stay at 3 oclock for a little while till it settles down. dont think theres much harm done. havent had any problems.

 

[kgrant]

My cat thermometer doesn't have number. I know I've run it wide open (thermostat full open) quite a few times for several hours each time. I'm sure I was over firing the cat. I don't even have a flue thermometer anymore. Or a stovetop. I don't have a speedometer in my truck either. But I do have stovetop and flue on my Englander, that thing's dangerous w/o them.

 

[ecocavalier02]

if you leave it on 3 for a long time the cat temp is going to be very hot. i dont think that anybody running the bks are not having a high reading when running on 3 for a long period of time.

 

[Beetle-Killer]

Sorry, my comp.screwed up I think. Eco-cav- I'm stlill burning my splits from last year, I doubt it's a moisture content issue. (dead standing Pine, downed and stacked for 2+ years, then split and stacked for the last 18 months with RH of less than 30% for ?- who knows? It's pretty dry up here.)- kgrant- CAT thermo may be faulty, I don't know. I just replaced the factory graph thermo. with a Condar scaled thermo. I had to use the 1.75 probe, 'cause I thought the longer ones wouldn't fit. - S&W has stated 12 hr. burns with the fans maxed. Bogydave is doing the same with the T-stat @ 2.5 or so.. I can get the same burn times without a problem, but the stove is not getting hot enough to heat the house. I know I have insulation issues, the damn front room slider door has frost on the inside of the room right now, but the old stove ...... well that was never an issue.

 

[ecocavalier02]

Sorry, my comp.screwed up I think. Eco-cav- I'm stlill burning my splits from last year, I doubt it's a moisture content issue. (dead standing Pine, downed and stacked for 2+ years, then split and stacked for the last 18 months with RH of less than 30% for ?- who knows? It's pretty dry up here.)- kgrant- CAT thermo may be faulty, I don't know. I just replaced the factory graph thermo. with a Condar scaled thermo. I had to use the 1.75 probe, 'cause I thought the longer ones wouldn't fit. - S&W has stated 12 hr. burns with the fans maxed. Bogydave is doing the same with the T-stat @ 2.5 or so.. I can get the same burn times without a problem, but the stove is not getting hot enough to heat the house. I know I have insulation issues, the damn front room slider door has frost on the inside of the room right now, but the old stove ...... well that was never an issue.

have you tried just leaving it on 2.5 or 3 for a while. i think u might be getting freaked out that its to hot and it really isnt.. the cat is going to read high for a while when t stat is that high.

 

[Beetle-Killer]

I understand what you're sayinthe CAT g. I've played with the T'stat across the board, going from full open to about 1.5- anything less than that won't work this time of year. I am concerned that with my wood, the CAT will be shouldering the majority of the burden. OR I'm doing something wrong. I'm considering a flue dampner, just to keep some heat in the stove before the flue. I'm puzzled about my current higher flue vs. stove temps.

 

[Beetle-Killer]

Sorry, had to pull a "POOK" to re-post. get it corrected later. Thanks, JB

 

[ecocavalier02]

Your flue temps are higher than stove top? Interesting. Sumtin a rite. Dumb ? U do make sure the bypass clicks when u shut it ?

 

[Renovation]

Your flue temps are higher than stove top? Interesting. Sumtin a rite. Dumb ? U do make sure the bypass clicks when u shut it ?

Yep, look at his first post.

I agree, something is sta-range. Maybe a leak somewhere?

Have you consulted with BK about this, BK? (Probably a dumb question.)

 

[kgrant]

How tall is your chimney? Damper is a cheap thing to try, go for it.

Since you have the fan going on max, try putting the stovetop thermometer right in front of the chimney. Or build a shield for it out of a beer can or something. That may give more accurate stove top temps. If you have side shields take them off, see if that makes a difference in heat output.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

ecoc- I agree, something is not right. "Lanning" stressed locking the by-pass, with an additional tug after seating it. This I do, 'cause I know what can happen with steel and heat. ?Question?- If I added another 2'-4' piece of chimney pipecould it have any effect? I can't see the extra draft being a positive as to stove performance. Current set is- (ALL double-wall )- 32" verticle from stove top- double 45 degree adapters verticle- to form a 6" off-set, 17" verticle, 45 degree of class A to a 8' run, 45 dgree up about 6', overall run would be about 19' or so. Would extra external Class A help? I'm not lacking for flue temp. currently.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

kgrant- I had the side shields, and they went away quite awhile ago. I ordered them off of spec. for my clearances, but not an issue right now. They are not on the stove. BTW- do you think a Dampner would help? I know it worked wonders on the old stove, and I think it would help on this one also. I just don't think I have excessive draw, but who knows?

 

[kgrant]

Buy or make or borrow a manometer and measure the draft. BK gives a max min for this. Adding more chimney is going to increase draft. Or adding a damper should be an easy experament.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

kgrant- what is a "manometer"? I'll search this, but real quick, does my situation sound like I need more draft- or a in-line dampner to reduce the draft?

 

[kgrant]

I just repaired a broken stove top meter I had around. The spring came off the drum. I rewelded it back on. Idk how accurate it will be but it should be close. Thermostat at wot no fan stovetop is 750. Cat is pointing at Inc. I put cat probe in flue and it is just before 12 o'clock (whatever temp that is).

I'll do fan on high in a few. It's hot in here! Beer is cold. Fireworks are loud!

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Good for you! Sounds like you have a hell'uva lot tighter house than I do! My beer is @ 98.6 and increasing, plus my neighbors are probably pissed about the clips of LCP .380 I just dumped into the creek! Whatever, happy New Year!!

 

[kgrant]

Ok. Fan on high stat on high. Flue was at 11 o'clock. Cat at 4th mark. Stovetop w/o shield was 600 w/ beer can shield 600. Stovetop meter is sitting next to cat meter in all tests. Flue probe is 20" above stovetop.

Happy new year! I'm only hot cuz I'm sitting next to the stove!

Get a damper and try it.

How many sq ft are you heating?
How tall is your chimney?

 

[kgrant]

Just saw post about manometer draft stuff. A manometer is a tool that measures the draft of a flue.

You seem to be getting around the same temps as me with lower stst settings. Maybe you have more draft than me. I o lh have 16 feet of chimney at most. And 10 feet of that is outside.

Wish I had actual temp readings I could give.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

My ears are ringing!! I think the flue dampner might help, my flue temp. is over 600f., while stove top is barely 550f. CAT @1650 or so. I miss the 700f. + stove temps. of the old stove.

 

[kgrant]

I forgot to say my cat is also 8 years old. It's used and abused. Has had about 40 cords bburned through it.

Did you have a damper in your old stove?