Blaze King Ultra arrived today

I can run mine on about 2.5 with the cat engaged & have nice flames with dancing fire fairies
adding to the experience.
I think you & your wife be happy, possible over heated if run on high for while, but you'll be warm.
Keep us informed on the install & first few fires.
Good luck.

I am sure you will like it since it seems like everyone around here who has one loves it. I considered one but my wife said no way it was going in our living room. Hope you install goes well make sure you take some pictures

Forget about burning in bypass to get some flames.

When I bought my Woodstock Keystone, I was obsessed with a smoldering fire, little to no flames and all the rest.

The Keystone has a huge glass across the front and andirons with a look of a fireplace. After a few weeks of the smolder burn, I said the heck with that, I want to see flames and an active fireplace look. Cracked the damper open more, got the great look, more heat and only crank it down for overnight burns.

Good luck with your new stove.

Bill

You can have flames easy with the cat going.
I really want to hear how you like this stove latter.
I been doing 24 hour burns for about a week now..of course you don't see a fire ..but if i want to I just turn it up for awhile.

Enjoy your black glass and slightly glowing splits. ;-)

You might as well warn fido now, that you will be new room mates after the wife sees that thing.
J/K, Congrats, enjoy.

The EPA man is going to come after you for opening that damper a crack LOL

I don't see it as black..I see it as custom tinted! lol.

No, dont run it with the bypass open except when you are first starting it or when you put logs in. You can get amazing fire views with the cat engaged. If you put the thermostat on 2 or higher it will happen. When you first start it open it wide open and get the cat to the maximum temp, then back down the thermostat until comfortable. YOU WILL LOVE THIS STOVE and so will your WIFE!

Seeing that your flame viewing priority is for a couple of hours in the evening, your firebox loading goal should be to load it at the start of that viewing time period every day, as that is when you are going to get the best of the flames. You should be able to present a good flame show for your wife at the start of the burn cycle, but unless you are going to need full output of that stove, the flame show will die down after a while. Turning the stove up after a long slow burn will bring a light show if the load hasn't coaled too much, but it is going to put out the heat. I'm not sure what your heat needs are, but with the large firebox, the thermostatic control and a weather forecast should allow you to develop a schedule to load the stove for maximum fire viewing pleasure, but it will take some planning.

You seem to be going through a lot of stoves. You explained part of why you didn't like the second Quadrafire (not sure you explained it all), but not why you didn't like the new Buck 94. If there are issues with the chimney or firewood, they will not disappear with a new stove, and it appears that one of the most important features your wife wants is not going to be met easily with the flame show on a cat stove (a cat stove is not known for its flame viewing pleasure). What are the other goals this stove has to meet? What's going on here, if you don't mind my asking. Maybe we can help keep this King in your house for a longer time period than the Buck, because it appears that you have not purchased the best stove for fire viewing, you have purchased the best heating stove. imho.

HotCoals said:

I don't see it as black..I see it as custom tinted! lol.

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X2, It's definitely not black, it stays pretty clean down the middle. You will love it.

Sounds like you are doing everything you can right.

I would have thought the Buck would have thrown heat just as good as the Quadrafire without a fan. I sure hope the BK King will work for you.

By having 20 cords of firewood on hand, I would assume you are going through a lot of wood, is that full cords or face cords? How many cord do you burn a season?

If I learned anything from this site & TRIPLE it for the catalytics:
DRY WOOD IS KEY. & DRYER YET, IS BETTER.
If you think it's dry, season it an extra year covered or in a wood shed.
Seems the longer I have wood stacked & covered, the better the burning results I have with my stove.
Haven't found any to be "to dry" (would love to find some to know what "to dry" is) Maybe some day, but probably just a dream.

ohlongarm said:

My Blaze King Ultra arrived today straight from the factory in Washington as there were none to be had at distributors in the northeastern part of the country. The King?and I hope it will be, will be installed Monday. This is my FIRST cat stove and i'm somewhat apprehensive that I made the right choice.If I can't get enough fire in the King wife will be extremely.mad as she likes to watch flames a little in the evening.A question I have is can the stove be run with bypass open with small splits on high for fire watching?Or is that not recommended. Anyway what route can be taken for limited fire viewing.Had two Quadrafires,not happy with them. Traded a Buck 94 in on the King? plus cash,the Buck is less than two months old. Thanks

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NO do not burn for extended times with the bypass open, that is a bad habit to get into. Who told you that you can't see flames with the cat engaged ? It is the most beautiful flames ever. Just heat the cat to max temp with the thermostat Wide open and then back it down to 2 or so and enjoy.

webby3650 said:

X2, It's definitely not black, it stays pretty clean down the middle. You will love it.

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My new BK Chinook puts very little "black" on the glass - just a little on the bottom left and right corners.
I am getting 24 + hour burns with the Tstat set at 1.5
My wood is very well seasoned - so it doesn't deposit much creasote on the glass or in the firebox. there was a little above the firebrick on the back of the stove, but I burned on Hi for awhile after my last reload..now there's just a bit in the back corners (above the firebrick)

nellraq said:

My new BK Chinook puts very little "black" on the glass - just a little on the bottom left and right corners.
I am getting 24 + hour burns with the Tstat set at 1.5
My wood is very well seasoned - so it doesn't deposit much creasote on the glass or in the firebox. there was a little above the firebrick on the back of the stove, but I burned on Hi for awhile after my last reload..now there's just a bit in the back corners (above the firebrick)

Click to expand...

I've been wondering if they have improved the air wash system on their new stoves and it sounds like they have. The middle of my glass is clean but the sides are dirty. I haven't burned very hot yet so it will be interesting to see if it cleans up some.

I have the Sirocco, if you want to see flames just keep the cat engaged and the thermostat up. With the King I would hope that you do this on a cold day or have a big house. My Sirocco will bake me if I leave the thermo up as my house is small. I only enjoy the flames for a short while, then it's glowing coals for the next 12hrs or more.

You guys do realize this thread died back in April of 2011?

rdust--Blaze King fires and coals never go out. The coals stay lit forever. And so do the threads.