I joined the club- just installed my BK Princess insert last night. I consider it a miracle that my insulated SS pipe fit my BK exactly as it had my Avalon Olympic. Didn't have to cut or move anything. Old stove out, new stove in, perfect fit. How often does that happen? First break-in fire will be this afternoon! I'm going to be nervous heading out to my woodpile with my moisture meter. I sure hope my cross-stacking paid off.
My buddy and I were going nuts trying to figure out what the two metal strips loose in the firebox were for. I thought they went into the stove somewhere, and had fallen out. A quick call to Blaze King revealed that they were to help slide the insert in... Guess I should have read ALL of the manual.
This is a huge insert. It's MUCH wider than my Olympic despite having a smaller firebox. My Olympic slipped out my front door with no problem. The Princess needed some serious wrangling, needed the storm door to come off, and even then it had to come in sideways. Thank goodness this stove weighs 150 lbs less than the Olympic or I would still be in bed nursing a sore back.
Looking inside the stove, this is a very different animal than any other stove I've owned. I love the thick, heavy door gasket. The mechanism used to close the bypass is pretty slick, and makes the clunky mess used on my VC seem like a joke. The catalytic converter is gigantic- I bet it has three times the surface area that my VC cat did. I love that it's in front, up out of the way, and heavily shrouded. It will be so easy to inspect and clean. No comparison to the Dutchwest, where you need to unbolt the whole top of the stove and buy a new gasket just to look at it. I love the permanently attached, hefty wooden handles. I am glad I do not have to worry about banging the burn tubes, and that the BK has some nice chunks of steel welded to the top of the firebox to protect it. The surround is much more solid and well constructed than that of the Avalon too, which is a nice touch.
Two minor complaints- the fan is much louder than that on the Olympic (but quieter than the Dutchwest). I suspect it's louder because it moves a heck of a lot more air than the Olympic did. The BK fan on MEDIUM moves far more air than the Olympic fan on HIGH. I was sitting on my couch and I could feel the breeze from my fan even on low/med. I could not feel that with the Olympic even on high. On low to medium the fan is not too loud, but I can't imagine ever running it on high if I'm in the room. I have a feeling the combination of a big and fairly light firebox together with a good fan is a very practical combination. The firebrick is very poorly fitted compared to the Olympic and of seemingly lower quality. The firebricks on the bottom of the BK are loose, with 3/16" gaps in several spots. The Olympic firebricks fit so tight that if there was any ash in the stove at all you could not replace them. The Olympic firebricks were also far more dense and durable. After moving the Olympic twice the firebricks were still immaculate. The BK has dings in several firebricks already and it's never been fired. Last minor issue is that I can see already that I will miss the very wide door of the Olympic. The BK door is MUCH smaller- probably 3 or 4 inches less wide. I will pay the price when the firebox is getting full and the last few splits I have are long ones.
Having said that, these complaints are minor and I am very happy based on a first look. More to come once I get her burning. There are a lot of new BK owners on the forum this season. Should be interesting learning from each other.
My buddy and I were going nuts trying to figure out what the two metal strips loose in the firebox were for. I thought they went into the stove somewhere, and had fallen out. A quick call to Blaze King revealed that they were to help slide the insert in... Guess I should have read ALL of the manual.
This is a huge insert. It's MUCH wider than my Olympic despite having a smaller firebox. My Olympic slipped out my front door with no problem. The Princess needed some serious wrangling, needed the storm door to come off, and even then it had to come in sideways. Thank goodness this stove weighs 150 lbs less than the Olympic or I would still be in bed nursing a sore back.
Looking inside the stove, this is a very different animal than any other stove I've owned. I love the thick, heavy door gasket. The mechanism used to close the bypass is pretty slick, and makes the clunky mess used on my VC seem like a joke. The catalytic converter is gigantic- I bet it has three times the surface area that my VC cat did. I love that it's in front, up out of the way, and heavily shrouded. It will be so easy to inspect and clean. No comparison to the Dutchwest, where you need to unbolt the whole top of the stove and buy a new gasket just to look at it. I love the permanently attached, hefty wooden handles. I am glad I do not have to worry about banging the burn tubes, and that the BK has some nice chunks of steel welded to the top of the firebox to protect it. The surround is much more solid and well constructed than that of the Avalon too, which is a nice touch.
Two minor complaints- the fan is much louder than that on the Olympic (but quieter than the Dutchwest). I suspect it's louder because it moves a heck of a lot more air than the Olympic did. The BK fan on MEDIUM moves far more air than the Olympic fan on HIGH. I was sitting on my couch and I could feel the breeze from my fan even on low/med. I could not feel that with the Olympic even on high. On low to medium the fan is not too loud, but I can't imagine ever running it on high if I'm in the room. I have a feeling the combination of a big and fairly light firebox together with a good fan is a very practical combination. The firebrick is very poorly fitted compared to the Olympic and of seemingly lower quality. The firebricks on the bottom of the BK are loose, with 3/16" gaps in several spots. The Olympic firebricks fit so tight that if there was any ash in the stove at all you could not replace them. The Olympic firebricks were also far more dense and durable. After moving the Olympic twice the firebricks were still immaculate. The BK has dings in several firebricks already and it's never been fired. Last minor issue is that I can see already that I will miss the very wide door of the Olympic. The BK door is MUCH smaller- probably 3 or 4 inches less wide. I will pay the price when the firebox is getting full and the last few splits I have are long ones.
Having said that, these complaints are minor and I am very happy based on a first look. More to come once I get her burning. There are a lot of new BK owners on the forum this season. Should be interesting learning from each other.
