2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

Beetle-Kill said:

A different direction-
Who here has changed the by-pass gasket ?
If so, why? and how much of a bugger was it to change out?

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I replaced my by-pass door gasket a couple weeks ago. The hardest part was removing the old gasket cement in the gasket channel. Cleaning the channel and installing the new gasket was made easier by removing the cat combustor, removing the retaining "clips" on the side of the opening, and then totally removing the by-pass door through the cat opening. With the old gasket removed, used a flat bladed screw driver and a pitty knife to scrape out the cement in the channel. Once the channel was clean, I replaced the 5/8 inch gasket, replaced the by-pass door and got it in place, re-installed the side retainer "clips" on the side of the cat opening, put new wrap on the combustor (held in place with masking tape), and re-installed the combustor.
I replaced the by-pass door gasket because it failed the dollar bill test when I checked it while I had the connector pipe off to clean it. I couldn't tighten the door pressure enough that it would pass the dollar bill test (the gasket was compressed flat.) My stove is eight years old and this is the first time I have replaced this gasket. During this process is when I learned about "high density" gasket. I couldn't find any high density gasket locally, and as noted in another thread, I used what was represented to me to be high density, but in fact was latter told it was not. So now the by-pass door has "low density" gasket, but appears to be working fine at this time. I suspect I will have to replace it sooner than if it were high density. LESSON LEARNED: I have ordered enough high density gasket, for both the by-pass door and the loading door, for two change, through the nearest Blaze King retailer whohas ordered it directly from Blaze King, so I will get the stuff they originally use in their stoves.

Does the local dealer install the original door gasket or is it done at the factory?

BKInsert said:

Nice! How cold did the house get down to and how long did it take to come back to temperature?

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Not even noticeable to be honest but it was like 35-40* outside when I did it. This thing holds the heat really well. The heat fan we have on top of it was still spinning when it was barely embers.

It's been cold here and I've been doing 12 hour burns. Warming up now...

I was reloading early...could have gone longer but I have a schedule. Darn work.

aansorge said:

It's been cold here and I've been doing 12 hour burns. Warming up now...

I was reloading early...could have gone longer but I have a schedule. Darn work.

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I've noticed that too, burning full time works really well with 24 or 12 hour cycles. Anything else gets you all buggered up.

I can't wait for the cold, it's only been down to the 40s regularly so far.

I've been running 2 weeks straight after finishing up my install and a couple test burns.

I love this thing. Came from an old heatalator-ish prefab fireplace, to the King Parlor (installed elsewhere in the house).

Went with the king on the advice of this forum. Probably a bit oversize for my house 2000sq, well insulated, open floor plan.....but looking foward to staying warm this winter!

Currently buring red cedar, (junk according to other wood burners I know), 12hr partial reloads. Just trying to get use to operations before I pack in the higher btu stuff for a 24hr burn! Amazing that a plastic tote of cedar limbs can keep my house warm for 12hrs! That same size load woudn't even heat the flu on the old fireplace!


Jim

Nothing wrong with western red cedar. It's a decent wood with plenty of desirable characteristics. I've burned many cords.

I like to shoot for 20 hour loads. Get home for work, throw in a 3-4 splits and crank her up to get the house to 74, the load her up before bed and turn down low.

Burning punky pine, poplar, and silver maple right now. Not that cold out so I often over shoot and get 24.

How much smoke do you guys see out of your chimney on a low burn? I'm about 14 hours into a load burning at about 1.5 on the dial. The cat has a dull glow and the cat thermometer is at about 1:00 and I still see white smoke out of my chimney. It's not much but it's definitely smoke.

johnstra said:

How much smoke do you guys see out of your chimney on a low burn? I'm about 14 hours into a load burning at about 1.5 on the dial. The cat has a dull glow and the cat thermometer is at about 1:00 and I still see white smoke out of my chimney. It's not much but it's definitely smoke.

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How cold is it? I usually don't see any unless it's cold then I'll see smoke.

weatherguy said:

How cold is it? I usually don't see any unless it's cold then I'll see smoke.

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These things are not clean burning in my experience. With very dry wood, a glowing cat well into the active range, and at any outside temperature I will usually get a blue smoke at low burn. Sometimes no smoke at all but usually a bit. When it is bitter cold out, I also get a bit of steam showing up.

High 40s here. I checked it again just now and don't see any smoke at all. I don't spend too much time checking because the stove is burning perfectly, but I'll look up now and then to see what it's doing. Seems about half the time I'll see just a little bit of white smoke and the rest of the time I see nothing.

johnstra said:

High 40s here. I checked it again just now and don't see any smoke at all. I don't spend too much time checking because the stove is burning perfectly, but I'll look up now and then to see what it's doing. Seems about half the time I'll see just a little bit of white smoke and the rest of the time I see nothing.

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That's been

johnstra said:

High 40s here. I checked it again just now and don't see any smoke at all. I don't spend too much time checking because the stove is burning perfectly, but I'll look up now and then to see what it's doing. Seems about half the time I'll see just a little bit of white smoke and the rest of the time I see nothing.

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That's been my experience for the brief time I've been burning mine. I'll see quite a bit when I'm warming up the cat with a fresh load, but that's expected. It is still surprising to me that I don't see nothing at all a lot of the time.

I find myself looking at everybody's stack smoke as I drive around wondering what kind of stoves are pumping out all the black smoke

Quentin2 said:

That's been

That's been my experience for the brief time I've been burning mine. I'll see quite a bit when I'm warming up the cat with a fresh load, but that's expected. It is still surprising to me that I don't see nothing at all a lot of the time.

I find myself looking at everybody's stack smoke as I drive around wondering what kind of stoves are pumping out all the black smoke

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LOL glad that isnt just me. Lots of smoke in these parts and mine has just a wisp if any.

johnstra said:

High 40s here. I checked it again just now and don't see any smoke at all. I don't spend too much time checking because the stove is burning perfectly, but I'll look up now and then to see what it's doing. Seems about half the time I'll see just a little bit of white smoke and the rest of the time I see nothing.

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Sounds like its burning great, maybe mine has a little wisp of smoke but I don't check it that often. The only time I started checking was when I got a new cat, I got a little obsessive for a while but that's worn off. They all have smoke until they're settled in and cruising.

well, I reload every day between 6 and 8 pm. What the heck else am I going to do but watch the stack every now and then. 24 hour reloads and the house is always 74-78 (maybe 80 on the too warm days). Typical front-range November weather - 20s/30s at night and anywhere between 40 and 65 during the day.

johnstra said:

well, I reload every day between 6 and 8 pm. What the heck else am I going to do but watch the stack every now and then. 24 hour reloads and the house is always 74-78 (maybe 80 on the too warm days). Typical front-range November weather - 20s/30s at night and anywhere between 40 and 65 during the day.

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Winter finally hit here this last week, we got snow on the ground and there calling for low single digit highs and below zero lows. On the bright side I get to see what this baby will do when tested.

johnstra said:

well, I reload every day between 6 and 8 pm

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Same here, whenever I get home. If the weather gets to at least 40 during the day, I don't mess with the stove in the morning, just count on solar gain. That won't be the case for long though.

So windy here last night, I almost couldn't snuff it out. After I did, I have never seen the cat that bright, and the probe was beyond active. I cracked the bypass for a few minutes, and gave it a little more air so I had just a bit of active flame. That left a little less smoke for the cat so it wasn't as hot, but made for a hotter stove overall.

The control of this stove is still amazing to me. My chimney pulls really hard in high winds, and I probably wouldn't have been burning last night in anything else.

So how hot is too hot on the cat?

The instructions don't give much information on this potential problem and need for action. Heck, the gauge doesn't even have numbers. I've been burning 100% doug fir which has nearly zero ash so lots of coals are exposed to air, this makes a pretty good blast of fuel for the cat after the firebox flame snuffs out so I've been seeing pretty high cat probe temps. The manual just says that air settings from 1-3 are fine and I am almost always right at the bottom edge of the gold normal range.

Is this cat overtemp thing just an optional thing? 10 year warranty on the cat.

Really don't know what is 'too' hot, I just know that is the hottest I've ever had it. It was glowing bright enough to see the smoke rolling around in the stove, and it lit up the tile on the hearth with a purty orange light. Hard to say with a gauge that just says active and inactive.

Three years on my cat, by the way.

Personally I like to see numbers on my cat probes. Temps over 1800 can damage the cat, 1400-1600 are common and 1200-1400 are recommended according to Applied Ceramic. But I'm not too sure about the accuracy of these Condar cat probes and I bet Blaze King feels the same way thus the inactive/active zones.

I always burn mine at 1400 on my condor, seems that it went a little further in the BK thermometer, not sure if its burning at a difference but its seems to be in the safe zone, I only got it up to 1800 once or twice when I got distracted here on hearth.com, turned it all the way down and the blower on high.

weatherguy said:

I always burn mine at 1400 on my condor, seems that it went a little further in the BK thermometer, not sure if its burning at a difference but its seems to be in the safe zone, I only got it up to 1800 once or twice when I got distracted here on hearth.com, turned it all the way down and the blower on high.

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The cat thermometer on my king came with numbers, so far 1650 maybe 17 is highest I've seen

Quentin2 said:

The cat thermometer on my king came with numbers, so far 1650 maybe 17 is highest I've seen

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I assume this was a brandy new king from BK? Good that they are shipping new stoves with numbers on the cat meter. A change though.