Unable to keep the fire running full - Princess32

[Dieselhead]

I have a 25’ flue on my king with a manometer inline. I can WAY overdraft when running the stove hard. Almost triple recommended spec. Damper brings it back to reality. Also when you have a good coal bed and want to turn up the air to burn them down it holds the heat back in the stove. You can physically hear the stove get hotter when the damper is engaged. I’m actually doing it right now, nice blue flames and the stove is pinging and dinging. Damper open. -0.15wc, damper closed -0.08wc. Less flow up the flue is more heat radiated to the firebox.

 

[stoveliker]

One other thing you can check is whether the cat works.
Seeing the cat gauge go down when you turn down the air from full throttle can happen. But if you turn the air down more, generally the cat gauge should go up, because more smoke is produced that the cat eats and combusts.

You saying it goes to the no go edge is odd (to me).

Is your cat a dud?
Only ever burned cordwood? What fire starter do you use? No nails?

 

[Murray01]

Maybe your stove is running as it was designed to.

Have you tried running your other heat source and the stove simultaneously? I find when coming into our place, in winter with a cold stove it takes about 3 hours to warm the place up running electric heat and our Princess 32. Once the inside temperature is in the +23C range, electric heat is shutdown, it still takes 2-3 days of running our stove aggressively to get to a point where we can run it at 50% throttle or less. You have cold air all around the house trying to get in while you have a little wood stove in the middle trying to repel all that cold air.

I just started burning Birch and what seems to work for me is the biggest splits on the bottom then I pile Jack Pine on top of the Birch, by the time I reload the Birch coals are long gone.

My opinion on BK stoves is they are excellent at keeping a room at a set temperature, to get to that set temperature can be an exercise in patience.

 

[m37charlie]

I want to clarify that what I call, mainly in my own mind “clinkers” are actually large birch coals. Which my King is several inches deep in, because I filled it with birch at 11pm and set the thermostat at ~2.1. I will use my spruce till bedtime tonight and the “clinkers” will disappear.
As far as”overdraft at subzero temperatures”, running at full blast for hours, the measured temperature at the top of the 3’ single wall temperature section in the picture is around 300F. Without a damper.

 

[MattA311]

I talked to my dealer today about all the options and thoughts about the problems. In the end, I was told, and I believe him, that it is operating at max. I did just remove my catalyst and completely clean (carefully) and replaced with new gasket. He said the sad truth is that the best wood we have in Alaska is the best of the worst allowable wood in the world to burn. Birch just isn’t that dense and when it’s -32F outside, 4-6 hour burn times is all you’ll get at max with birch. He said a damper is a horrible idea and will cause serious issues and that the Blaze Kings essentially have all the damper you need. He agreed about using a fan on the box to extract all the heat you can get from it. And he showed everywhere I need to check and clean.

He mentioned we get clinkers all the time here because the Birch burns so fast that the coals just fall on the older coals and insulate them so shoveling out the firebox every 3-4 days may be required when it’s this cold out. Right now we’re at 5F, which feels like summer but we’re expected to get back to -30ish in the next couple of days so I’ll report back how the performance is doing.

He said burning these stoves hot is what they need and they’ll burn as clean as they can be. You’ll have the cleanest glass on the front when you do and I agree, the glass is nicely clean.

I can tell you from a few years of operating a Blaze King that your stove is not operating normally and your dealer is way off on a few things. Stoveliker is correct in that you’re getting too much draft, you are. Your cat is not operating correctly because it’s constantly getting clogged due to your draft.

The other thing he said about your wood is also incorrect. Birch and Spruce are fine to burn and with the throttle wide open it should be blowing you out of the house with heat.. even at -32F. With Blaze Kings wood isn’t as important as it is with traditional wood stoves.

Here’s what I would do.

1. Get a key damper and measure your draft, then adjust accordingly when the temps drop that low outside.

2. Ditch your stove top fans (they suck) and get the factory fan that mounts on the back of the stove. They’re a total game changer and will make your house a lot warmer.

3. Your catalyst might be shot by this point, so I’d buy a new catalyst. You can find them on midwest hearth for a little over $200.

4. When you make fires pack as much wood in the box as you possibly can. Make it so there’s minimal air gaps in-between the splits and make it as tight as possible. It’s like a game of Tetris.

5. Stop listening to the dealer and listen to the experts on this forum. The dealer is misinformed and not leading you in the right direction. Again, if the stove was working correctly you’d have more than enough heat. On high they produce an insane amount with a full firebox.

Good luck!

 

[Warm Floor]

Forgive me if I missed it, but one thing I don't see being discussed in this thread is the issue of whether or not the air your stove is using comes from outside through an outside air kit or it comes from inside your building. If you have a heavy draw, and its air is feeding from the warm air inside your building, then you have to pull cold air in to make up the difference. That can really affect the outcome you feel.

 

[begreen]

m37charlie, I know that Alaskans are resourceful. That's admirable. However, unless the wall behind the tiles is masonry with no combustibles, the clearances in that install look suspect. It may have worked for 32 yrs but eventually pyrolysis could catch up and cause a fire. Also, galvanized pipe should not be used as stove pipe. We want you to be safe as well as warm.