Blaze King T-stat Questions

RustyShackleford said:

Mine does pretty well with single-wall. But I guess I have pretty good draft. YMMV. Just sayin', don't necessarily buy into the expense and more-complicated installation of double-wall, just because BK specifies it (they'll admit not everyone needs it), if you can conveniently try single-wall first.

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True.
Mine worked great with an older non cat BK, but had to upgrade & make a few changes for the new catalytic.
Cooler exhaust temps, chimney cooling in sub zero temps & real cold heavy air conspired to cause draft reversal & CO alarms when the weather got cold.
New double wall stove pipe, shorter horizontal, 2 45° replacing a 90°, tight joints, Now it works well.

Each system is different.
I was glad I was home when the reversal happened. Worked great for Oct & Nov, then it got cold.

So, if you try a less than the code or specified installation, make sure to have working CO alarms.
It may be impossible to test it in all conditions. If you loose draft you want to know right away.
One of those "risk assessment" things. CO in your home is bad.
When in doubt, have having your system inspected & tested by the pros, is prudent

Here, getting a draft started on a -20° day with a cold stove is a challenge.

Which reminds me, time for the thread "New batteries & testing of fire/CO alarms"

Only time I open the air on my stove is when I'm putting more wood and if it's REALLY cold.

-25* ish and colder I have to set it to around 1-1.5. Otherwise I leave the knob at 12:00.

Shoulder season I just make a fire with 2-3 logs in it vs filling the stove.

If I turn off the fan I'll have a 700-800* stove top temp with the air shut all the way down.


Dave I don't really understand... draft started when it's -20 is hard? I have enough draft at -20 that I usually have to close the air down so my matches don't keep getting blown out.

nate379 said:

Dave I don't really understand... draft started when it's -20 is hard? I have enough draft at -20 that I usually have to close the air down so my matches don't keep getting blown out.

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Every system is different.
Cold stove in Dec, mine blows cold air out the door when I open it.
Stove in basement. All my chimney is outside & cold soaked full of heavy cold air.
I go outside, pull the clean out plug, light some newspaper, get the chimney draft started, then go in & start a fire.

bogydave said:

... chimney cooling in sub zero temps & real cold heavy air conspired to cause draft reversal & CO alarms when the weather got cold.

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Ah yes, I'm glad you pointed that out. I never thought of it. It's a key issue, one of which I'm blissfully unaware here in DixieLand. It's major news here if it gets below 10 degrees, and with global warming, under 20 is somewhat rare. Of course, since global warming is really global weirding, I suppose it may just get down to minus-10 one of these days. Glad I have a CO (and two smoke) detectors. Thanks again for the warning !

bogydave said:

View attachment 74287

Every system is different.
Cold stove in Dec, mine blows cold air out the door when I open it.
Stove in basement. All my chimney is outside & cold soaked full of heavy cold air.
I go outside, pull the clean out plug, light some newspaper, get the chimney draft started, then go in & start a fire.

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That can't be fun at -20. Good motivation to keep the stove going, keeping it warm 24/7....I'll be thinking of your hands on those cold days and being thankful we have an interior chimney....

Waulie said:

Shoulder season:

I've been wondering about the BK's and shoulder season. Everyone talks about how great it is to have 20+ (or more) hour burns during shoulder season when not much heat is needed. I'm wondering how much heat the stove is producing on a full load turned all the way down.

It's pretty typical for my shoulder season to have daytime temps in the 60s or even 70s with night time lows in the 30s or 40s. I just build a small fire at night and by the time the stove goes cool, the day is warming up again. I'd be afraid the house would get very hot during the day with a fire still burning (not to mention wasting wood). So, what do folks do? Can you really turn the stove almost "off" during the day and then open it up a bit the next evening?

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In my case I turn the blower off in the morning and turn the tstat all the way down, it still radiates a little heat but not too much, then when temps cool in the evening I still have coals to get it going again, rinse, repeat.

High winds, trees down, power has been out for a while. Rain.
House 72°,
My low stat setting is 1.5 . Just enough air to keep the cat working & enough heat for our 40 to 50° temps.
Loaded yesterday afternoon, still putting out heat, 20 hrs so far.
Even after a few years, I'm still amazed by the stove.

Todd said:

Last couple days burning it seemed if I went down to #1 it was too low and looked like the cat was going to stall. My outside high temps were 50's so maybe that's a little warm to turn it down that far? 1.5 seemed to work fine for a 24+ hour burn. I'm sure as it gets colder the t-stat settings will drop some just like it does on my Woodstock.

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1 has never worked for me either, but with better & drier wood now, i'll drop it down slow & watch it.
Each system set-up & draft strength is different. Different stats can have some variables too.
'Rusty" explains/ed it pretty good. Has some good pics & an "engineer's" perspective on how the "alien technology" works

Todd said:

I also have a 3' horizontal pipe run that may effect my draft.

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According to the stove guru here, horizontal pipe is a draft killer.
I went to 2 45°s, (replacing a 90°). it shortened my horizontal over a foot, it helped. :
Pic of old vs new pipe on my system:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-double-wall-stove-pipe-aint-cheap.67105/

Todd said:

I have 2 ea 45's instead of the 90 then a 12" into the crock. If I reduce the 12" the tstat will be too close to the wall. BKVP said keep it off the wall 8" and that's exactly what I have. At least my horizontal has a good rise so I'm thinking I'll be ok. If not I may try a 6" pipe between the 45's.

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As good as it's working now, I think your set up is fine.

Todd said:

View attachment 73892
Anyone ever get a cat stall at low settings? My t-stat turns way past #1, anyone burn lower than 1?

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Yes, the gasket around the CAT failed.....fell apart!

That is one part You will want to keep as a spare! $12 on Ebay

Nothing too bad here, little bit of rain and 25-30 mph winds at the most. Worked outside most of the day actually.


I haven't touched my stove since I cleaned it out this spring. I'll wait till it's cold before starting to use it... I'd guess another 2-3 weeks.

It's simply much too hard to not overheat the house when it's still 40-50* outside. I have no qualms about using some natural gas right now. My bill will probably go up $10-15 over my normal summer bill.

bogydave said:

High winds, trees down, power has been out for a while. Rain.
House 72°,
My low stat setting is 1.5 . Just enough air to keep the cat working & enough heat for our 40 to 50° temps.
Loaded yesterday afternoon, still putting out heat, 20 hrs so far.
Even after a few years, I'm still amazed by the stove.

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I pulled the cat out this spring after 2 years of burning and it looked nearly brand new. Wasted my time and a gasket.

I pulled the cat out this spring after 2 years of burning and it looked nearly brand new. Wasted my time and a gasket.

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I think if your burning seasoned wood your better off leaving the cat alone except for a light brushing now and then with a soft paint brush.

weatherguy said:

I think if your burning seasoned wood your better off leaving the cat alone except for a light brushing now and then with a soft paint brush.

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A vacuum with a built in soft brush to help pull out the light ash that gets carried down the openings in the convertor is a must. Its the total exposed area that makes it preform most efficient. This is also your
total flue opening area when not by-passed which should be most of its operational time.