How do you know when to replace catalyst or just clean it?

Glad I was able to help. I use KZfaq for all my tutorials, so I'm happy to add one when I can.

Galensgab Thanks, glad you enjoyed! the new catalyst is working phenomenal again, and I absolutely love the stove. If I hang to replace the catalyst again, I'm going to buy the SteelCat. All these catalysts are made by Condor and they have replacement part numbers. Let me know how you like your stove!

Same stove. 12-14 hour burns at minus 20 outside. Wood needs to be dry, but not necessarily obsessively dry. I know guys who have moisture meters and dry their wood for years. I cut mine in the spring, let it sit out in the sun and wind all summer and burn it come fall. I burn pine exclusively (it's all we have around here). No problem. No clogged catalyst. Catalyst lasts about a decade of five months of burning each year. We get about 1-2 cups of flaky soot out of the chimney when we clean it each summer. No tarry creosote at all. Love this stove.

You did a real nice job with your video. I am facing the same thing very soon and wondered how big a deal it was going to be. Glad to see your dog is taking an interest in stove maintenance as well !

I know this late, but it might help someone else. We have a Princess and replaced the catalyst for the first time after about ten years. Turned out, they had never installed a catalyst gasket at the factory. There was no sign of it. No remnants at all. I talked with the guy at the dealership and he said there definitely should have been bits and pieces of gasket material when I pulled out the catalyst, but that the catalyst fits snugly enough that burning it without the gasket is no big deal. Evidently he was right because we never had any problems for ten years. Of course, I put a gasket in when I replaced it (it came with the catalyst). When I recently replaced it again (after almost another decade) the gasket was quite visable and crumbled when I pulled the catalyst out. Bottom line. I don't think this particular gasket is that important. The catalyst fits snugly with or without it. I very much doubt there is much leakage. So in a case like this I would pick one up when you get a chance, but not fret about it.

Yes. You should check the cat each season and clean it up. You will have to replace the gasket each time as it just falls apart when you take the cat out.

We het solely with our BK King model average 3 bush cords per year, going on 14 years now, same cat

@@Ian-yw4ir how much space are you heating? I have the princess and it’s rated for 1300 square feet and the house is 1300 square feet. I’m in alaska and I’ve seen -41 a few times this year. The house has 2x6 walls and it seems insulated pretty good but -40 is cold and you have to burn some wood to get the house warm when it’s really cold outside. I’m not exactly sure how much I’ve burned yet but winter isn’t over yet

@@mountainman78629 Hi Bob, We sell Blaze Kings, 20-40 per year in Northern Ontario, wood burning country. We have learned to always tell people that that we sell too that wood quality, home insulation value and atmospheric conditions will always dictate how high the stove will need to be set. For optimal results those bases must be covered. Inside chimneys are also superior to outside chimneys. In truth, 2x6 construction is not really enough insulation for your weather conditions. 2x8'' is minimum Code for our area and R40-50 for ceilings. And don't forget window quality. Blaze Kings excel and BTU's released over time. In a well insulated space they achieve their highest potential. Our place is 2,000Sq ft., but very well insulated.

Ron Sagmuller It's a bit of a long story, but yes, it was fully warrantied. The trouble was not the fault of Blaze King, but their local distributor. They didn't know what to do, screwed around for 7 weeks until I got upset, I escalated to BK and had a new one in 2 days.

I'm glad to hear they took care of you. Thanks for responding to my question.

"Escalated". Heh heh. 😉

This is a very good question about the BK catalytic 10 year warranty. I am just about to replace my second cat in five years, don’t know why they fail, I burn only seasoned birch. Anyway, the point of my comment is to say that only the first cat. is warranted for 10 years, if something happens to the second one in the 10 years, you are on your own, to the tune of about $300.00 or more. I would suggest that if you need a second cat. you try to get a stainless steel replacement as I have not heard of any problems with them. Some of the other models of BK stoves come with the stainless cats as original parts.

@@Chris4 But why did it start to fail after only 3 seasons? Blaze King docs say temps between 700F and 1400F are recommended, 1400F to 1600F common, above 1800F ruinous. Nothing said for 1600F to 1800F.

+Matt Hope you choose something that works for you. I can't say enough great things about this stove. I think the catalyst damage was partially my fault in how I used it for the first 3 years. If you religiously follow the rules to avoid shocking the catalyst, I strongly believe that it'll last many years. You can also replace the ceramic catalyst with a steel one which should last forever. Let us know what you ended up with! Thanks!

What do you mean by shocking the Catalyst?

@@jackdouglas7986 Allowing it to come in contact with air that is coming from outside of the stove not through the combustion system. IE... Opening the door shocks the combustor. it is not a problem to do it occasionally. but doing it every couple hours by burning partial loads of wood creates too much air on the combuster. this can also be created by a leaky door gasket.

MrJaypaq thanks for your comment. The stove really is incredible, as are the runtimes. If I fill the stove as much as I can, I will get about 33 hours of heat out of it before it drops off. My stove is in the basement, down a long hallway, and I have a front/back split level home. The stove keeps the house heated down to -20c, but after that, my furnace will kick in. I think it would easily heat colder than that, but the layout of my house is not ideal. I've had the stove for 4 seasons, and I run it as my primary heat source. So, in winter, it runs from October to Mid-April, non stop. I've only replaced the catalyst this one time, but it was caused by a few things. leaving the door open to get the fire going quicker causes thermal shock in the catalyst.... bad. burning wet wood costs the catalyst in debris.... not good. The catalyst does have a 10 year warranty, but keep in mind that the life is based on "normal" usage. someone who burns for 5 months of the year will need to replace the catalyst more often than someone who burns only when it's very cold etc... Even if I had to replace the catalyst every year, I easily save that cost in wood. heating my 1500sqft home all winter, I use between 5 and 8 face cords (2+ bush cords). My neighbor with a very similar host and a conventional stove burns 12-15 face cords. Shop around for your price... retail when I bought mine here in Ontario was $2900. By shopping around, I paid $1800. hope that helps!

Thanks for such a quick response - great feedback and appreciated We actually just moved from Ontario back to NS...wood will once again be a heat source in our home, burn months typically are Nov-April and since we work from home some days the stove burns around the clock...4 full cords of wood for the season at a cost of $600 vs $1500 for oil heat. Our place is 1800sq feet all open concept up and down stairs. Previous stove is at the end of the long basement so the heat shoots right upstairs so were fortunate the floor place is somewhat ideal. Blaze King stoves locally are not cheap, one retailer has them for $3300-$4000 so we'll see how things go as I shop around, considering soap stone stoves as well. Either way, alternative stoves are 8-12 hour burn time so different ballgame altogether.

Hey I'm in the market for a BK stove at the moment and wondering where you picked yours up? I'm east of the GTA. Thanks!

Andrew Dolan Morning, I bought the stove off of a company in temiscaming. i can't recall the name, but they dealt in HVAC if I recall correctly. that might be a bit of a drive for you, but you could always ask your local dealer if they'd price match. I paid $1800 including the door and everything, just tax on top.

Chris S thanks! I will look into that

Yes