2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

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Thanks. I have the princess insert and am not getting anything like those times. Does yours have dots or numbers for your settings? I packed mine about like yours last night at 6:00. Stove was pumping at 600 degrees for a while on 1.75 dots. It was at 400 when I went to bed at 10:00. This morning at 5:30 the stove was at 200 and the heat was on!!! Any suggestions? Wood is silver maple and is dry. I am burning the uglies right now. Would that have anything to do with it?
We won't get the burn times with our insert they get with their free standers but you can do a little better with yours if you pack it good and full with some high BTU wood, let it get nice and hot then turn it down and put he blower on low.
I pack mine before I go to bed and when I get up I turn the stsat up and get a few more hours of good heat, can't turn it up when you're sleeping that's why I time my burns the way I do.
 
Thanks. I have the princess insert and am not getting anything like those times. Does yours have dots or numbers for your settings? I packed mine about like yours last night at 6:00. Stove was pumping at 600 degrees for a while on 1.75 dots. It was at 400 when I went to bed at 10:00. This morning at 5:30 the stove was at 200 and the heat was on!!! Any suggestions? Wood is silver maple and is dry. I am burning the uglies right now. Would that have anything to do with it?

BKVP here...back from a goose hunt this past weekend.

I just spoke with a guy yesterday about burn times in his 13 month old stove. He had NOT read the manual where it mentioned the dollar bill test. So I explained to him the process and today he called to say his burn time had increased by 4 hours on the same size load of wood.

First, please do the dollar bill test. Any air leak around the door will shorten two things...the burn time and the life of the combustor. Your manual and your fellow Blaze King owners can tell you how critical it is to keep a good door seal. You should check it twice a season.

This is not the magic pill to address shorter burn time concerns, but quite often, it is the fix. Hope it helps.

Chris
 
I have a creosote question. I checked my chimney today and I have a definite creosote veneer. I've burned about 1/3 of a cord so far. I've never had this before with other stoves/chimneys. The only soot I saw was loose fluffy stuff, but the veneer of creosote bothers me. This was up at the top of the chimney - last 3' section. Am I doing something wrong? I have had my cat stall on me a couple times, but other than that I'm generally doing 24-30 hour cycles and reloading with the cat low in the active zone or just into the inactive zone.

What do you all think? Do your chimney's look like this? My chimney is a straight 16' shot. 4' of DVL to 12' of DuraPlus.
 
I have a creosote question. I checked my chimney today and I have a definite creosote veneer. I've burned about 1/3 of a cord so far. I've never had this before with other stoves/chimneys. The only soot I saw was loose fluffy stuff, but the veneer of creosote bothers me. This was up at the top of the chimney - last 3' section. Am I doing something wrong? I have had my cat stall on me a couple times, but other than that I'm generally doing 24-30 hour cycles and reloading with the cat low in the active zone or just into the inactive zone.

What do you all think? Do your chimney's look like this? My chimney is a straight 16' shot. 4' of DVL to 12' of DuraPlus.
Well the flue won't stay sparkling clean that's for sure.
If your wood is around 20mc on a fresh split and you bring the stove up to a decent temp before closing it down for cruise you should not have a prob.
When you get into colder weather it will be better..stove will be running a little harder probably.
Does your cat glow pretty good at peak?
The top is defiantly cooler so it will show up there more.
Screened caps can become plugged with it for sure after a few years with no attention..more so on a cat stove with lower stack temps.
 
johnstra Feeling the Heat Joined: Sep 6, 2010 Messages: 253 Loc: Northern Colorado New I have a creosote question. I checked my chimney today and I have a definite creosote veneer
Mine does that also. The Soot-eater does a fair job but it still remains. It hasn't been an issue for me, so far. The cap does crap up though, I keep an eye on that.
 
BKVP here...back from a goose hunt this past weekend.

I just spoke with a guy yesterday about burn times in his 13 month old stove. He had NOT read the manual where it mentioned the dollar bill test. So I explained to him the process and today he called to say his burn time had increased by 4 hours on the same size load of wood.

First, please do the dollar bill test. Any air leak around the door will shorten two things...the burn time and the life of the combustor. Your manual and your fellow Blaze King owners can tell you how critical it is to keep a good door seal. You should check it twice a season.

This is not the magic pill to address shorter burn time concerns, but quite often, it is the fix. Hope it helps.

Chris
Thanks Chris! I did the dollar bill test before I started burning this season and all was good. Tonight I still had coals left from yesterday and I started another fire and loaded it to the gills. I closed the flue when it got in the active zone, turned the dial down to half for another 10 minutes and then down to 1.5 dots. I came back to check it a half hour later and it was almost in the inactive zone. I left it and looked at it again an hour later and it was up to 600 stove top. I just looked at it again and it has only been 25 minutes and it is down 100 degrees to 500. I do have the blower on low and it had been on the whole time. I guess I am wondering if there should be fluctuations like this?

Also, just thinking out loud here but please correct me if I am wrong. If you load up and put it in the active zone and then turn it all the way down, shouldn't it go longer or am I missing something? Just trying to get it all worked out. This will be my first full season and I still feel like I am getting things dialed in.
 
That's what I hoped to hear. I'm going to consider it normal unless it begins to get thicker. I agree it should be less of a problem when it's colder and I'm running the stove harder.

Cat does glow brightly early during each burn cycle and then it gradually goes dark. It will actually glow off and during the latter stages of a cycle too, depending on how much outgassing is going on.
 
Thanks Chris! I did the dollar bill test before I started burning this season and all was good. Tonight I still had coals left from yesterday and I started another fire and loaded it to the gills. I closed the flue when it got in the active zone, turned the dial down to half for another 10 minutes and then down to 1.5 dots. I came back to check it a half hour later and it was almost in the inactive zone. I left it and looked at it again an hour later and it was up to 600 stove top. I just looked at it again and it has only been 25 minutes and it is down 100 degrees to 500. I do have the blower on low and it had been on the whole time. I guess I am wondering if there should be fluctuations like this?

Also, just thinking out loud here but please correct me if I am wrong. If you load up and put it in the active zone and then turn it all the way down, shouldn't it go longer or am I missing something? Just trying to get it all worked out. This will be my first full season and I still feel like I am getting things dialed in.
If I may jump in.
My stove acts like that also at times.
When you first shut down if the cat is not really hot and or the wood is not out gassing sufficiently there will be a lull.
That's normal.
Then if it drops to like 500 like you're saying after peak that's normal for me also.
Blowers should have no effect on the burn..should raise your effecenticy though.
The blowers don't come on till a certain temp and I believe BK took things into considerable consideration when that should happen.
All that said I hardly Use them..I just love the piece and quite!
 
Also, just thinking out loud here but please correct me if I am wrong. If you load up and put it in the active zone and then turn it all the way down, shouldn't it go longer or am I missing something? Just trying to get it all worked out. This will be my first full season and I still feel like I am getting things dialed in.

The extra few minutes it takes to dial it down in a few steps isn't going to use anything that amounts to much. I always turn mine down in steps and getting a 24hr burn this time of year is easy for me with average wood. My final setting on my t-stat is right around 1 3/4 or near the "n" on normal 90% of the time.

As weatherguy posted above the inserts don't seem to burn as long as the freestanding stoves so it's tough to compare the two.
 
Thanks Chris! I did the dollar bill test before I started burning this season and all was good. Tonight I still had coals left from yesterday and I started another fire and loaded it to the gills. I closed the flue when it got in the active zone, turned the dial down to half for another 10 minutes and then down to 1.5 dots. I came back to check it a half hour later and it was almost in the inactive zone. I left it and looked at it again an hour later and it was up to 600 stove top. I just looked at it again and it has only been 25 minutes and it is down 100 degrees to 500. I do have the blower on low and it had been on the whole time. I guess I am wondering if there should be fluctuations like this?

Also, just thinking out loud here but please correct me if I am wrong. If you load up and put it in the active zone and then turn it all the way down, shouldn't it go longer or am I missing something? Just trying to get it all worked out. This will be my first full season and I still feel like I am getting things dialed in.
I don't turn mine down til its way into the active zone, around the 3 o'clock position, after that it does go down some but stays well into active. Maybe don't turn it down until you get the cat hotter.
 
I have a creosote question. I checked my chimney today and I have a definite creosote veneer. I've burned about 1/3 of a cord so far. I've never had this before with other stoves/chimneys. The only soot I saw was loose fluffy stuff, but the veneer of creosote bothers me. This was up at the top of the chimney - last 3' section. Am I doing something wrong? I have had my cat stall on me a couple times, but other than that I'm generally doing 24-30 hour cycles and reloading with the cat low in the active zone or just into the inactive zone.

What do you all think? Do your chimney's look like this? My chimney is a straight 16' shot. 4' of DVL to 12' of DuraPlus.

Your Duraplus chimney pipe is likely a factor...........Duraplus is triple wall with a thinner wall of insulation than the Duratech or similar double wall pipe. Because of that thinner wall of insulation , the smoke cools down faster in its path to the top, which causes the creosote .
 
So to follow in Rdust's foot steps here is a play by play of last night.

Loaded the stove at 4:45 and got it going
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1383149056.336753.jpg

I didn't take a picture but when I went to bed at 10 the car was well into active and the stove top was at 500.

And here is 6:00 am before I left for work

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1383149217.365049.jpg

So I packed it full and had 12 good hours of heat on a dot setting of 1.5 dots. I am going to keep trying different things to get her dialed in.
 

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BKVP here...back from a goose hunt this past weekend.

I just spoke with a guy yesterday about burn times in his 13 month old stove. He had NOT read the manual where it mentioned the dollar bill test. So I explained to him the process and today he called to say his burn time had increased by 4 hours on the same size load of wood.

First, please do the dollar bill test. Any air leak around the door will shorten two things...the burn time and the life of the combustor. Your manual and your fellow Blaze King owners can tell you how critical it is to keep a good door seal. You should check it twice a season.

This is not the magic pill to address shorter burn time concerns, but quite often, it is the fix. Hope it helps.

Chris
I am going to have to do the dollar bill test this weekend, when I have a chance to let it cool down. I have noticed lately that when I check the stove, the wood is burned in the front, but, the back half is still full. I am figuring this may be a door seal leak.
Until then, I have to try to figure out why smoke is coming out the door while reloading, and get that taken care of.
On another note, what is meant when it is said that a "cat stalls"?
Thanks.
 
I am going to have to do the dollar bill test this weekend, when I have a chance to let it cool down. I have noticed lately that when I check the stove, the wood is burned in the front, but, the back half is still full. I am figuring this may be a door seal leak.
Until then, I have to try to figure out why smoke is coming out the door while reloading, and get that taken care of.
On another note, what is meant when it is said that a "cat stalls"?
Thanks.
It should burn front to back, mine always did. It helps to turn it up to high and in the bypass for a few minutes or more before opening the door and loading up. The draft is very minimul by the end of the burn.

A cat stall is when you engage and your thermometer doesn't stay up in the active range or falls sooner than expected when there's still a good fuel load in the box.
 
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Thanks Todd.
 
So to follow in Rdust's foot steps here is a play by play of last night.

Loaded the stove at 4:45 and got it going
View attachment 116229

I didn't take a picture but when I went to bed at 10 the car was well into active and the stove top was at 500.

And here is 6:00 am before I left for work

View attachment 116232

So I packed it full and had 12 good hours of heat on a dot setting of 1.5 dots. I am going to keep trying different things to get her dialed in.

Claybe, that is not a full load. You need to pack your wood tighter. You're only getting a partial load there and your burn times reflect it.
 
Claybe, that is not a full load. You need to pack your wood tighter. You're only getting a partial load there and your burn times reflect it.



+1
 
Claybe, that is not a full load. You need to pack your wood tighter. You're only getting a partial load there and your burn times reflect it.

+1, this is full.....
 

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+1, this is full.....

Your firebox is wider and deeper than his princess. Recomended log size is 16" i beleive, it could take 20" logs after the first layer is put down.
 
Your firebox is wider and deeper than his princess. Recomended log size is 16" i beleive, it could take 20" logs after the first layer is put down.
I don't think he can go over 18" on the second layer, at least I cant on mine, I can just get 1 row of 18" then due to the slope of the door I cant get 18" on a third layer but I agree he can fill it up much better, Claybe you have too much air space in that load, getting a good load in the box takes practice and also different size splits make it easier.
 
Your firebox is wider and deeper than his princess. Recomended log size is 16" i beleive, it could take 20" logs after the first layer is put down.

The problem with claybe's load isn't overall wood weight, it is the % full. You'll never get max burn times if you only fill it halfway. Rdust's photo illustrates how a BK of any size should be filled.
 
The problem with claybe's load isn't overall wood weight, it is the % full. You'll never get max burn times if you only fill it halfway. Rdust's photo illustrates how a BK of any size should be filled.
Thanks guys! As I said earlier I am burning the uglies and miscellaneous stuff so it is tough to pack tight. I will see what I can do tonight. Trying something different each day to see what is most effective.
 
Your firebox is wider and deeper than his princess. Recomended log size is 16" i beleive, it could take 20" logs after the first layer is put down.

I always thought the firebox between the freestanding and insert were the same. I could've swore when I bought mine the BK site had them both listed at 2.85, now the insert is listed at 2.54? I must be losing it! ;lol

I can fit a touch over 17" on the first layer and a little longer once I'm above the bricks. I'd be interested in having a Princess owner measure their firebox, I'd like to know where the difference between the two is at.
 
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