Week old blaze king princess poor draft PLEASE HELP

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JamesTorclethorpe

New Member
Jan 20, 2026
4
New Hampshire
hello I am new to the forum my name is Jimmy
I have recently installed a brand new blaze king princess 32 wood stove with Selkirk double wall dsp inside pipe and Selkirk sure temp stainless steel outside pipe
I am an HVAC contractor and
I have followed all of the rules on installation to a t including

Minimum height of chimney- current chimney height 19 feet

My chimney extends 3 feet past the highest point on my roof

I have over two feet of rise from the flue outlet of the stove (2 foot minimum)

The stove has been burning for exactly one week and a day today it was installed last Monday and I am noticing poor draft

When I go to load the stove even if I crack windows and feather the door open the smoke pours out of the door it does it less when there is a good sized bed of coals

The wood I'm burning is 2 year old wood i cut and stacked myself it is very dry I am also burning some one year seasoned wood which hasn't made much of a difference I do not have a moisture meter to check

The only thing I can think of is when I put the chimney cap on (which does not have a bird screen mind you) I seated the chimney cap edge firmly against the pipe rather than securing the band a little higher to allow a gap from the pipe to the end of the cap might this be restricting the draft?

I want to go back up on the roof and try to adjust the chimney cap to allow the pipe a gap but we had a good snow storm Sunday and Monday and now I can't get up there without a lift which I don't want to spend the money on at this time

I will say the house is in a pretty good negative because when the windows are open the air comes in pretty good

Anyone have any ideas I've attached some pictures

[Hearth.com] Week old blaze king princess poor draft  PLEASE HELP [Hearth.com] Week old blaze king princess poor draft  PLEASE HELP
 
Is the bypass being opened, then wait for a few minutes before opening the stove door?

RE: chimney install. It needs a brace at 5' above the rooftop.
 
2 90 degree turns don’t help draft a lot. Which model cap did you use? Was it this one?

[Hearth.com] Week old blaze king princess poor draft  PLEASE HELP
 
Seems like this could be a case of a cold stove with a colder exterior chimney that drafts weakly until warmed up. Softening the 90º in the stovepipe with two 45s will help a bit.

[Hearth.com] Week old blaze king princess poor draft  PLEASE HELP

Another question. Is that a pellet stove upstairs? If so, was it running when the smoke rollout happened? Were any other exhaust appliances running at that time? (bathroom or kitchen exhaust fan, clothes dryer, etc.)
 
I am opening the bypass but not waiting a few minutes before opening the door

Yes that is the cap I am using

The pellet stove is not being run at all upstairs I am using heat pumps to heat the upstairs

I have not been paying attention to what appliances are running it seems like more often then not smoke will roll out unless stove is above 600° with good bed of coals seems to roll out less

And yes I have the brace for the roof didn't get to it before the snow happened it's on my list of stuff that needs to happen asap
 
Modifying the stove pipe run as shown above will help a bit. The main issue appears to be with getting the chimney pipe hot. Try to keep the flue temps over 350º and watch the flue for creosote buildup. I recommend having a CO and CO2 monitor in the room in case draft reverses at the end of a low burn.
 
I am opening the bypass but not waiting a few minutes before opening the door
It's good to do this for a couple of reasons. One is that it lets the cat cool down a bit. And more heat will go up the flue which will help build up draft a bit.
 
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Does smoke roll out when a window is cracked before opening the door?
 
I run that same cap and have the band up as high as it can go without it being on the reduced twist lock part of the pipe, then have the 3 supporting straps up tight to the bottom of the locking band, that leaves a few inches under the necked down portion of the cap. You are effectively reducing the diameter of the flue by having the cap tight to the pipe like you set it as of now.
 
In order to run the pipe with 45s I would need more height and would have to do the entire vent run over and patch the holes in my house in order to get the height as blaze king requires atleast 2 feet of rise that's definitely not an option this season
 
I have a 6” cap hanging around I went and measured it. It’s only 5-3/4” reduced so that’s not as bad necked down as I was thinking. Having it up would be better though, more of a Venturi effect and smoke can rise up out of the flue more without hitting an obstruction.
 
In order to run the pipe with 45s I would need more height and would have to do the entire vent run over and patch the holes in my house in order to get the height as blaze king requires atleast 2 feet of rise that's definitely not an option this season
No, it would mean a shorter vertical off of the stove, then a 45º offset aligned to end at thimble height. Look up in the offset tables for the stovepipe to determine the offset rise. With the telescoping length on the bottom connecting to the stove, it may be possible to use the 12" or the current horizontal section (18") in the offset.

Smoke doesn't like to travel horizontally. It really slows down the draft. The shorter that section is the better.