What is most likely the problem?

[Swamp Fox]

I have an eight year old Blaze King King KE1107. Last month I cleaned the Chimney and stove and every thing looked like all previous years. While I had the connector pipe off I checked the by-pass door gasket and saw that it needed to be replaced. As noted in a previous thread I used regular 5/8 inch rope gasket and could not get it to pass the dollar bill test. then I learned I needed the high density gasket, which is not available anywhere around here. I ordered some off the internet and it took two weeks to get some delivered. I installed the high density 5/8 inch rope gasket yesterday and got a very good seal on the by-pass door.
This afternoon I started my first fire, got a good base of coals and after a while loaded up the stove with about 7 or 8 splits (all oak at 16 percent moisture content and about 5X7 in width.
Here is my problem: The thermostat was on 3.5 when I put the splits in and every ten to fifteen minutes I would turn the thermostat down .5 (3.5--3.0--2.5--2.0--1.5--1.0). All previous years I would burn mostly around 2.5 and the stove top would be around 550 degrees.). No matter what I do with the thermostat, I can't get the stove top below 660 degrees...even when I turn the thermostat fully (pegged) counter clockwise! If I turn the thermostat up to 2.5 or 3.0 the coals will get redder and the temp will go up...but, turn the thermostat all the way counter clockwise and it will not go below 660 and I can hear a roaring draft through the connector pipe (double wall black). The cat combuster has glowed bright red consantly now for over four hours. All this I've never experienced before. Of the possible causes listed in the trouble shooting section of the manual, the only two that I can suspect is either the loading door gasket is leaking or the thermostat is bad. One thing very different with this fire than any other is that the door glass got extremely black in a very short time and has not burned off (even with the 700 degree temps.).
What is more likely the cause of my problem? Looks like I'll be staying up tonight to monitor this thing until I fill comfortable leaving it.

 

[weatherguy]

I would check the door gasket right off the bat. Could be it's burning different with the new bypass gasket too. I wouldn't worry too much about the stove temp, how's the cat temp? Is it staying safely in the active zone?

 

[Swamp Fox]

I would check the door gasket right off the bat. Could be it's burning different with the new bypass gasket too. I wouldn't worry too much about the stove temp, how's the cat temp? Is it staying safely in the active zone?

If you are familiar with the cat prob on a Blaze King, it is at the two o'clock position. The active zone on the cat probe is from about the 10:00 to 4:00 position. My needle is staying at the 2:00 position.

 

[jeff_t]

Is there a lot of active fire in it? That would seem to me to indicate an air leak more than hot temps. Is the 660 right on top of the cat?

You could pull the cover off the thermostat and make sure it is doing what it should.

 

[HotCoals]

Just turn the t-stat kinda fast,open and close ..you should hear the flapper hit when turning it closed.
I don't know if it's just my bk or what but I seem to get a stronger draft with the by-pass door closed then with it open.
Now if you were leaking smoke up the by-pass you may have a stronger draft with it just heading for the cat.
But you still should be able to kill the fire off the wood by turning it way down..if not the fire is getting air from someplace,likely the door.

 

[HotCoals]

Oh and if you do pull the cover make sure when you put it back on to close the flapper first. It can get stuck if it is open some when replacing the cover.
Do the click test.

 

[weatherguy]

If you are familiar with the cat prob on a Blaze King, it is at the two o'clock position. The active zone on the cat probe is from about the 10:00 to 4:00 position. My needle is staying at the 2:00 position.

So that's in the safe zone, sounds like the door gasket especially with the black glass. I'd let it cool and give it the dollar bill test and also check the tstat like Hotcoals suggested.

 

[Swamp Fox]

thanks for the replies so far. There has not been an active fire since the initial start up. Once I got a fire going and closed the by-pass door, all I have had has been a good bed of red coals at the bottom. The cat just stopped glowing about 20 mins ago and the stove top is now at 500 degrees with the tstat set on 1.0. When I turn the tstat knob fast I do hear it consistently flap/hit each time. The temp guage is just to the right of the cat probe. I will move it further back away from above the cat to get better stove top readings, but my major concern is not being able to control the output. When the stove is cool, I will change out the loading door gasket, and change the glass gasket also. I hope that is all it is.

 

[Frank625]

Did you figure out your problem Swamp Fox?

 

[Swamp Fox]

Did you figure out your problem Swamp Fox?

Haven't figured it out yet. The stove has just recently cooled down enough that I can change out the loading door gasket tomorrow. Only problem is that I only have Rutland 7/8 inch (low density) gasket to use. You wouldn't believe the difficulty I've had finding a source for high density gasket. Had to go through a retailer 90 miles away and have them order it directly from Blaze King...hard to tell how long it will be before It is shipped, as I've waited over three weeks now for combustor wrap and still not gotten it.
In a previous reply I said I had located some high density 5/8 rope gasket for the by-pass door and installed it Fri. Before I ordered it, I spent a good bit of time on the internet looking for the high density by-pass door gasket. A web retailer who advertises on here told me that A.W. Perkins item number 127 was HD and was what I needed. I e-mailed A.W. Perkins directly and asked for their item number for "5/8 inch HIGH DENSITY rope gasket" and received a reply that in fact it is 127. so I installed it Fri. As a result of my problems last night, I decided to call A.W. Perkins this morning and order some HD gasket for the loading door. I was told by the lady that all their gasket is low demsity. What????? Your previous e-mail told me 127 is HD! Her reply, "I made a mistake, all our gasket is low density.".
Other than Blaze King where do you buy HD gasket? What brand and product number do they have for the 5/8 inch rope and 7/8 inch rope?

 

[begreen]

Haven't figured it out yet. The stove has just recently cooled down enough that I can change out the loading door gasket tomorrow. Only problem is that I only have Rutland 7/8 inch (low density) gasket to use. You wouldn't believe the difficulty I've had finding a source for high density gasket. Had to go through a retailer 90 miles away and have them order it directly from Blaze King...hard to tell how long it will be before It is shipped, as I've waited over three weeks now for combustor wrap and still not gotten it.
In a previous reply I said I had located some high density 5/8 rope gasket for the by-pass door and installed it Fri. Before I ordered it, I spent a good bit of time on the internet looking for the high density by-pass door gasket. A web retailer who advertises on here told me that A.W. Perkins item number 127 was HD and was what I needed. I e-mailed A.W. Perkins directly and asked for their item number for "5/8 inch HIGH DENSITY rope gasket" and received a reply that in fact it is 127. so I installed it Fri. As a result of my problems last night, I decided to call A.W. Perkins this morning and order some HD gasket for the loading door. I was told by the lady that all their gasket is low demsity. What????? Your previous e-mail told me 127 is HD! Her reply, "I made a mistake, all our gasket is low density.".
Other than Blaze King where do you buy HD gasket? What brand and product number do they have for the 5/8 inch rope and 7/8 inch rope?

I think Osburn sells high-density door gasket in 7/8" for the 2200 in 8ft lengths. I don't have the number handy, but they will ship direct.

 

[begreen]

Maybe try Osburn's direct ordering system?
http://parts.osburn-mfg.com/replacement-parts.aspx?IdSite=3
or call?
View attachment 116749

 

[jeff_t]

Chris wrote in another thread that the rope comes from Mid-Mountain Materials. Where else you can buy it, I do not know. A quick google search only turned up 1" rope from an OWB vendor. Maybe a PM will help.

You can get combustor gasket directly from Firecat
http://www.firecatcombustors.com/ACIG-2-p/sku_acig-2.htm

 

[johnstra]

this appears to be a source for high-density rope... (broken link removed).

 

[Swamp Fox]

Well, it looks like I'm back in normal operation mode. I changed out the loading door gasket and the window gasket today. It appears as though the old window gasket had gotten really loose and I'm thinking it was the source of a pretty good air leak which prevented me from being able to control the fire. Everything appears to be working fine at this time.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Frank625]

Glad to hear you figured it out and you are up and running again. It's getting cold around here now so that was good timing.