During startup and until the air control starts modulating the combustion my bk Princess insert produces rolling flames 🔥. Once the combustion is well underway and the stove is heating the room nicely the air control will begin to modulate the air going into the stove and you get less rolling flames and a nice amber glow from the burn with an lots of secondary combustion flames which are fun to see. I enjoy the rolling flames.
The problem with the smoke relates to the amount of fuel in the firebox. The more fuel, the more moisture content in the fuel and the greater mass. This all works against how the stove is designed to operate. So first, the owners manuals shares users instructions. By starting the fire with some kindling and slowly adding larger pieces of wood, the combustor will go active much quicker and that means clean burning sooner. Also, by having the proper air to fuel ratio when you light the fire (have the thermostat wide open as instructed) firebox temperatures increase more rapidly and help to deal with combustion moisture. Once active, you can load larger and larger pieces. So long as the combustor is active, you can just keep loading all winter longer without having to relight the stove. Of course you may need to clean out ashes more often depending upon the fuel species being burned. Video is great, but try running the stove per the manual and you should see much faster combustor activity and less smoke.
I enjoy your choice in music as well. I would check the damper setting. The fire seems to be flowing too well. The smoke out the chimney is a typical symptom that maybe the damper is not adjusted to the closed position. Smoke is unburned fuel. The catalytic converter should burn ALL of the smoke. This is just my opinion. I am not an expert at all. I have a princess Blazeking stove. I have not even fired it up yet. Just an observation. Thank you so much for your video. God bless and be with you.
I just fired up my Princess for the 1st time using the manuals instructions of starting a small kindling fire then adding to it. I got no smoke at anytime
That’s good; it never worked for me. Also I’d rather load up the stove for a full burn light it and let it do it’s thing. Starting a small fire and adding to it just seems like extra work.
@@n121pp67 Yea I agree but I'm just learning it. Next I'll try a top load and center under the exhaust port so it drafts right away. the top down is supposed to be smoke free I thought
I have a stainless Steel liner in my masonry chimney in a 2 story house. I’ve always wondered about the insulated pipe and how much of a difference it makes. Based on your results it seems to help quite a bit.
The fire should not be burning like this if it is engaged properly. You should have little to no open flame other than a secondary flame from unburned gas.
I think there are many ways to skin a cat with wood stoves and inserts. I also use the approach of building my fire on top of large fuel splits (wood). It’s the method advocated by the American Chimney Safety Institute primarily because the hottest part of the flame is at the bottom of the flame not the top so there is less particulate and creosote generated during the burn phase. That said, you need to be smart about having small, but not too small, wood above a couple layers of wood…I.e., graduating from smaller tinder to slightly bigger kindling to medium then larger wood…provided you can fit that in your wood stove. My last two stoves was a Jotul and then a Blaze King. The wood should be 10-12% moisture or less…a $100ish moisture gauge is a very good friend. As for making kindling from whole or split logs, I take logs with the fewest knots, split them into eighths and then hand tap the skinny splits so I’m working down to roughly 1 inch pieces of wood. Rather than chopping the kindling (difficult and unproductive) I just tap into a piece of wood (the one-eighth split) and then put my hand on top of the axe head lift it up a bit above the log I’m chopping on, then bring it down just hard enough on the big chopping log to split it. This keeps things safe as you can’t cut yourself in the process…trying to explain that in words is tough…hope that makes sense and maybe it’s how everyone does it. I have been in Yukon for the past 16 years and use a lot of wood to keep warm over winter and if I could buy kindling it would be priced ridiculously expensive so I’ve had to find a way to efficiently make kindling. If anyone is interested in the Chimney Institute’s recommended fire starting method, look here: www.csia.org/top_down_burn.html Derek
Hello I have a question when you reload your woodstove and the needle is still in the active zone, I assume you open the bypass then put your wood in. But do you close your bypass immediately after reloading as long as the needle is in the active zone or do you let the wood get engolfed with flames with the bypass open for a while then close the bypass. I was told by a friend that everytime I reload my stove I need to leave the bypass open with the air intake dial turned all the way up for 20 minutes. But the problem is that the stove overfires and I get a runaway up the stove pipe. It sounds like a freight train. The only way to stop it is to close the bypass and turn the dial down. I have found that if I'm reloading my stove I tune the air intake dial all the way up and only let it burn hot with the bypass open for about 10 minutes. Then I close the bypass and let the stove burn hot for another 20 minutes with the air intake dial turned all the way up so that the wood gets fully engulfed. The after 30 minutes I set the air intake dial to the disired level. Do you think thats a good way to operate the woodstove, Oh by the way I have a Blaze King Princess. thank for you input.
Hello your method is a good one and would minimize steam induced shock to the combustor. By not closing the bypass immediately even in the active zone you can burn off any water in the wood and ensure that you don’t get a steam induced crack in the combustor. I usually wait for the stove to get to the inactive zone before reloading but if I have to load whilst in the active zone I would keep air control on a very low setting and close the bypass after about 5 mins. This is usually a reload just before bedtime. I typically leave the stove on a very low setting for overnight burns since it provides ample heat and is still going well into the morning the next day. I stay away from high air control setting during reloads since I don’t like seeing lots of smoke even white smoke coming out of the chimney. By using a low setting I see just a wisp of smoke. Don’t want to get a knock on my door from the neighbors because of smoke.
Would your approach in how you start the fire work in this video for other Blaze King wood stoves such as the Boxer (not a fireplace insert, but freestanding)?
The air control on the Princess insert rotates 180 degrees starting from the 12 o’clock position, which is wide open and 6 o’clock which is the lowest setting of the air control. If I run my stove say no lower than 4 o’clock then the glass will stay clean. But at that setting it gets too warm in the room so I will usually run lower to keep the temp in the room at a comfortable level. A clean glass is nice to have but I usually can’t keep it clean for long.
Are you sure you're closing the bypass all the way? You look like you were pretty gentle with the handle when you pulled it down. I have the same stove, and after using it for a while I found that if I press firmly down on the handle I will get a satisfying clunk. I don't think I was closing it all the way for the first few burns, but I now make sure I here or feel the clunk at the bottom of the lever stroke.
Patrick O'Neal hello!!! Yes I’ve checked the bypass door after I close it with a flashlight both with the stove running and when it is not and it is closed. I get really long burns out of it with plenty of heat so I’m sure it is working normally. It was in the single digits yesterday 1/31/2019 in NNJ and I had the stove burning. The heat it puts out is so satisfying and nice. I’m glad I have it.
I do use the air control to control the amount of heat the stove is putting out but usually get to the 4 o’clock position and leave it there until it is time to reload.
I actually don’t use the blower it’s not needed, and the heat is great without it 😁... the only time I will use the blower is when I see very high temperatures on the gauge and this is to cool down the stove and protect the catalyst from extremely high temperatures. It’s great that the blower is not needed to get that nice wood heat cozy feeling in the house.
Yes. it will still heat up nicely. But be careful not to put it too high because I smell plastic when I accidentally leave the fan off. I think the smell is when the stove is too hot and the wiring for the fan is not melting but getting REALLY hot. They make a fan called a "thermal fan" that uses heat induction with NO electricity get that!
Igor Banar it’s about 300 sq feet with a large entryway leading to the other rooms on the first floor and a staircase leading up to the 2nd floor. While this room is really warm the other rooms are 70-72 F. So it works well for me in this space. The bedrooms on the 2nd floor are very comfortable when the stove is running. The only downside is the humidity which can get down really low below 20 %...
@@n121pp67 You want to make a lot of heat in the beginning of the burn for 2 reasons. get rid of the moisture and get the CAT up to temp. much of what is going up the chimney at first is steam.....if your closing the bypass after 5 minutes, the wood is still holding in a lot of h2o. H2o will destroy Your CAT!Just my $.02
Spencer Wood that’s an interesting question and you may be on to something. What I have noticed is that a very small load say 3 normal splits at the bottom and a small amount of kindling two pieces will bring the stove well into the active zone, heat the room up nicely and have little or no smoke. This is with the air control wide open. I’m still evaluating this but it may be the best option for fast startups, just as good heating as the method in this video and very little smoke. The downside is you have to reload more often.
The first two minutes of the video are an abolutely complete waste of time. Could not bear to watch 5 more seconds. Why do people like to hear themselves talk so much. At best, this is a 5 minute video.
During startup and until the air control starts modulating the combustion my bk Princess insert produces rolling flames 🔥. Once the combustion is well underway and the stove is heating the room nicely the air control will begin to modulate the air going into the stove and you get less rolling flames and a nice amber glow from the burn with an lots of secondary combustion flames which are fun to see. I enjoy the rolling flames.
The problem with the smoke relates to the amount of fuel in the firebox. The more fuel, the more moisture content in the fuel and the greater mass. This all works against how the stove is designed to operate. So first, the owners manuals shares users instructions. By starting the fire with some kindling and slowly adding larger pieces of wood, the combustor will go active much quicker and that means clean burning sooner. Also, by having the proper air to fuel ratio when you light the fire (have the thermostat wide open as instructed) firebox temperatures increase more rapidly and help to deal with combustion moisture. Once active, you can load larger and larger pieces. So long as the combustor is active, you can just keep loading all winter longer without having to relight the stove. Of course you may need to clean out ashes more often depending upon the fuel species being burned.
Video is great, but try running the stove per the manual and you should see much faster combustor activity and less smoke.
Yes that makes sense I’ve noticed that with a small load there’s not much of any smoke once the combustor is engaged.
I enjoy your choice in music as well.
I would check the damper setting. The fire seems to be flowing too well. The smoke out the chimney is a typical symptom that maybe the damper is not adjusted to the closed position. Smoke is unburned fuel. The catalytic converter should burn ALL of the smoke.
This is just my opinion. I am not an expert at all. I have a princess Blazeking stove. I have not even fired it up yet. Just an observation.
Thank you so much for your video. God bless and be with you.
Thanks for that tip - I will check
I just fired up my Princess for the 1st time using the manuals instructions of starting a small kindling fire then adding to it. I got no smoke at anytime
That’s good; it never worked for me. Also I’d rather load up the stove for a full burn light it and let it do it’s thing. Starting a small fire and adding to it just seems like extra work.
@@n121pp67 Yea I agree but I'm just learning it. Next I'll try a top load and center under the exhaust port so it drafts right away. the top down is supposed to be smoke free I thought
I’ve always had some smoke during startup and reload, dampening down minimizes it.
@@n121pp67 I have a straight 11 ft insulated pipe from the stove top running out my roof of a one story home.
I have a stainless Steel liner in my masonry chimney in a 2 story house. I’ve always wondered about the insulated pipe and how much of a difference it makes. Based on your results it seems to help quite a bit.
The fire should not be burning like this if it is engaged properly. You should have little to no open flame other than a secondary flame from unburned gas.
I think there are many ways to skin a cat with wood stoves and inserts. I also use the approach of building my fire on top of large fuel splits (wood). It’s the method advocated by the American Chimney Safety Institute primarily because the hottest part of the flame is at the bottom of the flame not the top so there is less particulate and creosote generated during the burn phase. That said, you need to be smart about having small, but not too small, wood above a couple layers of wood…I.e., graduating from smaller tinder to slightly bigger kindling to medium then larger wood…provided you can fit that in your wood stove. My last two stoves was a Jotul and then a Blaze King. The wood should be 10-12% moisture or less…a $100ish moisture gauge is a very good friend. As for making kindling from whole or split logs, I take logs with the fewest knots, split them into eighths and then hand tap the skinny splits so I’m working down to roughly 1 inch pieces of wood. Rather than chopping the kindling (difficult and unproductive) I just tap into a piece of wood (the one-eighth split) and then put my hand on top of the axe head lift it up a bit above the log I’m chopping on, then bring it down just hard enough on the big chopping log to split it. This keeps things safe as you can’t cut yourself in the process…trying to explain that in words is tough…hope that makes sense and maybe it’s how everyone does it. I have been in Yukon for the past 16 years and use a lot of wood to keep warm over winter and if I could buy kindling it would be priced ridiculously expensive so I’ve had to find a way to efficiently make kindling. If anyone is interested in the Chimney Institute’s recommended fire starting method, look here: www.csia.org/top_down_burn.html
Derek
Thanks for the helpful video.
Hello I have a question when you reload your woodstove and the needle is still in the active zone, I assume you open the bypass then put your wood in. But do you close your bypass immediately after reloading as long as the needle is in the active zone or do you let the wood get engolfed with flames with the bypass open for a while then close the bypass. I was told by a friend that everytime I reload my stove I need to leave the bypass open with the air intake dial turned all the way up for 20 minutes. But the problem is that the stove overfires and I get a runaway up the stove pipe. It sounds like a freight train. The only way to stop it is to close the bypass and turn the dial down. I have found that if I'm reloading my stove I tune the air intake dial all the way up and only let it burn hot with the bypass open for about 10 minutes. Then I close the bypass and let the stove burn hot for another 20 minutes with the air intake dial turned all the way up so that the wood gets fully engulfed. The after 30 minutes I set the air intake dial to the disired level. Do you think thats a good way to operate the woodstove, Oh by the way I have a Blaze King Princess. thank for you input.
Hello your method is a good one and would minimize steam induced shock to the combustor. By not closing the bypass immediately even in the active zone you can burn off any water in the wood and ensure that you don’t get a steam induced crack in the combustor. I usually wait for the stove to get to the inactive zone before reloading but if I have to load whilst in the active zone I would keep air control on a very low setting and close the bypass after about 5 mins. This is usually a reload just before bedtime. I typically leave the stove on a very low setting for overnight burns since it provides ample heat and is still going well into the morning the next day. I stay away from high air control setting during reloads since I don’t like seeing lots of smoke even white smoke coming out of the chimney. By using a low setting I see just a wisp of smoke. Don’t want to get a knock on my door from the neighbors because of smoke.
It’s a chimney. What else be coming out?
Wacky Races was one of my favorite cartoons 😀
What size area are you heating? Blaze King seems like an excellent stove.
1500 sq ft 2 story center hall colonial. Basement is another 700 sq ft. The princess insert works well in this house
Would your approach in how you start the fire work in this video for other Blaze King wood stoves such as the Boxer (not a fireplace insert, but freestanding)?
Yes it would work the same as the Blaze King free standing wood catalyst stoves have the same modulating design with the air control.
@@n121pp67 Thanks! very helpful and much appreciated.
How do you keep the window from Turing black?
The air control on the Princess insert rotates 180 degrees starting from the 12 o’clock position, which is wide open and 6 o’clock which is the lowest setting of the air control. If I run my stove say no lower than 4 o’clock then the glass will stay clean. But at that setting it gets too warm in the room so I will usually run lower to keep the temp in the room at a comfortable level. A clean glass is nice to have but I usually can’t keep it clean for long.
Are you sure you're closing the bypass all the way? You look like you were pretty gentle with the handle when you pulled it down. I have the same stove, and after using it for a while I found that if I press firmly down on the handle I will get a satisfying clunk. I don't think I was closing it all the way for the first few burns, but I now make sure I here or feel the clunk at the bottom of the lever stroke.
Patrick O'Neal hello!!! Yes I’ve checked the bypass door after I close it with a flashlight both with the stove running and when it is not and it is closed. I get really long burns out of it with plenty of heat so I’m sure it is working normally. It was in the single digits yesterday 1/31/2019 in NNJ and I had the stove burning. The heat it puts out is so satisfying and nice. I’m glad I have it.
You never close the air down once it’s hot?
I do use the air control to control the amount of heat the stove is putting out but usually get to the 4 o’clock position and leave it there until it is time to reload.
In power outage (no electric blower fan) will it still be able to heat things up?
I actually don’t use the blower it’s not needed, and the heat is great without it 😁... the only time I will use the blower is when I see very high temperatures on the gauge and this is to cool down the stove and protect the catalyst from extremely high temperatures. It’s great that the blower is not needed to get that nice wood heat cozy feeling in the house.
Yes. it will still heat up nicely. But be careful not to put it too high because I smell plastic when I accidentally leave the fan off. I think the smell is when the stove is too hot and the wiring for the fan is not melting but getting REALLY hot. They make a fan called a "thermal fan" that uses heat induction with NO electricity get that!
nice video
how big is your room in order to get it to 80F?
Igor Banar it’s about 300 sq feet with a large entryway leading to the other rooms on the first floor and a staircase leading up to the 2nd floor. While this room is really warm the other rooms are 70-72 F. So it works well for me in this space. The bedrooms on the 2nd floor are very comfortable when the stove is running. The only downside is the humidity which can get down really low below 20 %...
@@n121pp67 You want to make a lot of heat in the beginning of the burn for 2 reasons. get rid of the moisture and get the CAT up to temp. much of what is going up the chimney at first is steam.....if your closing the bypass after 5 minutes, the wood is still holding in a lot of h2o. H2o will destroy Your CAT!Just my $.02
Whats up with the creepy background music?
@8:40 he talks about it
Are you doing startup smoking fires in the fireplace?
Spencer Wood that’s an interesting question and you may be on to something. What I have noticed is that a very small load say 3 normal splits at the bottom and a small amount of kindling two pieces will bring the stove well into the active zone, heat the room up nicely and have little or no smoke. This is with the air control wide open. I’m still evaluating this but it may be the best option for fast startups, just as good heating as the method in this video and very little smoke. The downside is you have to reload more often.
I think you are in danger of over firing your stove.
I’ve definitely run it too high on occasion, I should use the blower more often to keep the temps down.
The first two minutes of the video are an abolutely complete waste of time. Could not bear to watch 5 more seconds. Why do people like to hear themselves talk so much. At best, this is a 5 minute video.