I'm surprised by such seemingly short burn times with such large fireboxes, especially considering the 36 and 44 Elites are catalytic units. I thought the whole advantage of a cat is that you can choke the firebox down (restrict airflow) and let the logs simmer at a slow burn rate while the cat incinerates the smoke and simultaneously generates more heat?? Isn't that basically how the Blaze King King achieves its legendary burn times? I know this is an insert instead of standalone stove, but I don't understand why roughly comparable burn times (~10 hours) aren't possible.
Fireplace Xtraordinair thermostat location for mod
- Thread starter Fahrenheit451
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Last night I got 8 hours with a good hot bed of coals but that was because. I put the effort into getting the fire just right before shutting down the vent. Many nights I am probably too tired to wait for the logs to catch a good flame before shutting it down so I tend to leave the vent open more than normal. Mind you I have been trying to burn hotter fire due to the tstat giving me fits. I think burn times will consistantly increase after I resolve this issue.
Got Wood
Minister of Fire
My experience with burn times.... I usually reload at about the 3 hour mark with variation depending on coal bed, size of splits I loaded up with and wood type. For over night, I plan to get a real good coal bed then load up a large load with larger splits when I'm ready to turn in for the night (usually 10-11 pm). I get it going good with secondaries kicking in. Shut the air down to around 25% open (I use the seem between the doors as a guide to where I put the air lever...put the left side of the lever a little right of the crack which is about 25% closed) and put the fan in lowest position. Doing this I will have enough coals in the morning (6-7am) to restart w/o a match.
I have experimented with shutting the air down further but it seems to really choke out the fire, temps drop and causes glass to blacken. (BTW - all my wood is 2 years c/s/s this year so it isnt a wood seasoning issue).
I have experimented with shutting the air down further but it seems to really choke out the fire, temps drop and causes glass to blacken. (BTW - all my wood is 2 years c/s/s this year so it isnt a wood seasoning issue).
Thanks for the responses. After reading about the all mighty Blaze Kings, it looks like the "secret" to their long burn times is that they have an automatic, thermostatically controlled air inlet system. This automatic system constantly accommodates changes in oxygen demand as the fire burns down. In contrast, I guess with nearly all other stoves and fireplaces (including the Elites) you're stuck with manual air control only (other than a thermoswitch for the blower fan). And since there's a fine line between choking the fire out and burning too hot after you've stuffed the unit at night right before turning in, the air setting stays too high after the fire starts to burn down. This causes it to burn the remaining wood too fast. If its air inlet adjusted to the size of the fire as it changed, burn times could be greatly increased.
What I don't understand is why isn't the thermostatically controlled air inlet system used on many other stoves and high efficiency fireplaces? (instead of just BK's) It's such an obvious asset to the unit's functioning, and it doesn't appear terribly complicated or expensive. The Elites are high quality inserts and they're very beautiful too. I sure wish they could implement this feature so their biggest Achilles heel could be remedied.
What I don't understand is why isn't the thermostatically controlled air inlet system used on many other stoves and high efficiency fireplaces? (instead of just BK's) It's such an obvious asset to the unit's functioning, and it doesn't appear terribly complicated or expensive. The Elites are high quality inserts and they're very beautiful too. I sure wish they could implement this feature so their biggest Achilles heel could be remedied.
Trail_Time
Member
Fahrenheit451 said:
No need to remove the faceplate. Remove the right front firebricks on the side. It is behind one of them, can't remember if first or second one. The plate unbolts and you can pull the sensor plate out. Add the insulation you will like the improvement.
Trail_Time
Member
Got Wood said:
Same for me. Good explanation of where to set the air (25%) any less, or too closing too soon and I get black glass. I allow the wood to get good and charred before closing it down. I think this process has a negative effect on the overall burn time.
Not really an issue for me as I have plenty of wood to burn, and the FPX was chosen for aesthetics, heat output and clean burn. All of which it has delivered.
Got Wood
Minister of Fire
Got Wood
Minister of Fire
Trail_Time
Member
Trail_Time
Member
Got Wood
Minister of Fire
Trail_Time said:
Walnut. We did all the hearth work ourselves. The mantel was a rough piece of walnut that we had cut to size. Then stripped the bark off the "face", hand sanded, the ploy'd.
Got Wood
Minister of Fire
Trail_Time
Member
Got Wood said:
Very nice it goes perfectly with the rest of your decor. I was going to have a piece of walnut or hickory from our property cut for a mantle, but when I found this old barn beam it was a no brainer. Old, distressed.....exactly what we wanted. I could not have added the character of a hundred or so years of service. And thanks for the compliment.
maverick06
Minister of Fire
my FPX took forever to turn on.... so I just bypassed the snap disk and control the blower with a switch. Its great now, I turn it on when want it, I no longer need to wait 2 hours for it to turn on.
I visited the showroom again yesterday to take a closer look at the FPX Elite 36. It's a really nice unit, and I'm getting closer to pulling the trigger on it. But I was concerned by the sliding air valve located at the top of the arch. It seemed very imprecise and rattled around in its sliding track. It wasn't intuitive which way it moved to control airflow and it seemed to have a very limited range of motion. And again, it was very "rattley." Also, I could see the holes inside the lever's track area that the valve uncovered or covered. I assume the way it works is that there is compressed, preheated air coming from the blower channeled through the tube that has the holes? And by covering the holes with the sliding valve it forces more of the air into the firebox making it burn hotter? And by sliding the valve away from the holes, it opens them up and allows the compressed air inside the tube to bleed out into the ambient room instead of into the firebox? (and makes the fire burn slower) Is that right? I'm a little confused about how it all works. Also, from what I could see it was not possible to completely cover the holes. And even if you could, I assume the tube with the holes is vented to the blower. Even if the blower is turned off wont air still be able to get into the firebox? From what I could see it didn't look possible to definitively cut the air supply off to the firebox if desired. Based on what I've read here, in the event of a runaway fire or a chimney fire (which no one plans for), you want to choke the air supply off to as close to zero as possible to quickly get it under control. So I'm wondering with the Elite's air control system if it's possible to choke the fire down to zero (or very close to it) if need be.
FPX Dude
Feeling the Heat
Yup, that's how it works...not much movement in the slider either, maybe 1" East-West. I dunno if it's possible to choke it down completely to zero if an over fire either. I know if I shut it ALL the way to right say for an over nite burn, I'll have blackened window in AM. Once it's up and running, I usually set it to cruise mode by feeling what feels like to set it 1/16" open, so just barely, then I don't touch it.
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