2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)
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alforit
Feeling the Heat
Brag time!
-13 last night. -30 windchill. I loaded the "princess of fire" yesterday at 7am with a full load of 2 year Hedge. I burned it in then set it on 1.5 to cruise. As of 7am this morning the stove still has a few pieces of wood and a nice bed of coals! although, the room temp did fall as low as 68 by reload.stick that in your reburn tube and smoke it. These stoves are the cat's PJ's.
Nice !....That hedge sounds like some pretty good chit
PapaDave
Minister of Fire
Uh, yeah.Thanks! I'm pretty stoked
So, we need pics of the whole thing.
You will be home to do this, right?
Just priced one out yesterday.
blueguy
Feeling the Heat
Already part of my plan. Full pictorial as it's installed. One of the beefs with all the research I did on this stove was the lack of Sirocco-specific close up pics. Although, my Googlefu is probably more to blame....
What price were you quoted? Mine (pedestal, blowers, convection deck and plain door) is $3991CAD delivered, including 13% sales tax. The King ultra was only $500 more, excluding 8" connector pipe from the stove to the thimble, but I wasn't sure how well it would work on my 6" flue. And to meet code here, the draft needs to be tested on install and be above a specific point otherwise it's a no-go. Too many unknowns right now that could have resulted in having to sell it and go with the Sirocco anyways.
As much as I really wanted to go with the King, the 1450 heated our place well, we just needed something with a similarly sized firebox that produced steady heat, so the Sirocco should fit the bill
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Missouri Frontier
Feeling the Heat
Nice !....That hedge sounds like some pretty good chit
Don't know of any better. After you process it, you look like you've been in a fight with an angry tom cat. But, the fight just makes it all the better when you stick it in the BK incinerator, as final revenge.
The problem is that this is a small room. The rest of the rooms in the house are being heated with electric heaters because if I push the air around it makes the stove room too cold.
This Blaze King Ashford 30 is suppose to heat a house up to 2,400 sq ft. This room is 1/8th that size.
PapaDave
Minister of Fire
Roughly $3000, blower, deck, plain legs and door, no ash pan. I think he added tax, and shipping.Already part of my plan. Full pictorial as it's installed. One of the beefs with all the research I did on this stove was the lack of Sirocco-specific close up pics. Although, my Googlefu is probably more to blame....
What price were you quoted? Mine (pedestal, blowers, convection deck and plain door) is $3991CAD delivered, including 13% sales tax. The King ultra was only $500 more, excluding 8" connector pipe from the stove to the thimble, but I wasn't sure how well it would work on my 6" flue. And to meet code here, the draft needs to be tested on install and be above a specific point otherwise it's a no-go. Too many unknowns right now that could have resulted in having to sell it and go with the Sirocco anyways.
As much as I really wanted to go with the King, the 1450 heated our place well, we just needed something with a similarly sized firebox that produced steady heat, so the Sirocco should fit the bill
A little higher than the last quote I got elsewhere.
Tony D
Member
I have a couple of questions for anyone with a princess insert...How happy are you with your inserts? When its really cold out (below 0) does it put out enough heat with decent burn times? I'm in the process of trying to pick out an insert and the princess is at the top of the list, but ive heard a couple people complain on here about not getting enough heat out of them. I live in Wisconsin and will be heating a 1900 sqft tri level so heat output is a big concern.
Thanks for any input!
Thanks for any input!
HotCoals
Minister of Fire
A insert is not going to give you what a free stander will. Truth is any wood stove will start to struggle at 0..for sure if there is some wind chill working.
My thought for you is to put the biggest insert in that you can fit.
A cat stove is great for the shoulders which is usually the biggest part of winter.
If your house heats hard you might just as well get a tube burner and have at it.
But if it's not hard to heat you can't beat a cat stove for shoulders...just my opinion. Cheers!
My thought for you is to put the biggest insert in that you can fit.
A cat stove is great for the shoulders which is usually the biggest part of winter.
If your house heats hard you might just as well get a tube burner and have at it.
But if it's not hard to heat you can't beat a cat stove for shoulders...just my opinion. Cheers!
I don't own the insert but you will have to work it pretty hard with the Wisconsin type winters. It will probably heat fine but it won't have long burn times in the heart of the winter, it will be in line with a tube stove of similar size. Only so many BTU's in a stick of wood, when it's below 0 you need heat so the stove won't be on dialed down for slow and low.
Add in the twist of it being a tri-level adds to the difficulties. I assume the stove will be in the lowest level? .
Tony D
Member
Yes its in the lowest level and it is a pretty open tri level so i am optimistic that the heat will go up to the other levels. During a normal winter the number of days that go below zero is fairly small so maybe i shouldn't worry about it that much. I do like the idea of being able to throttle it back when its not so damn cold which like you said is most of the winter.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
My Princess throws out a ton of heat, my house is about 2800 sf so it can't heat the whole house when its gets too cold but it keeps the main floor in the 70's even when it's 0. The upper rooms can be cooler, 60's or so but it's not the stoves fault, the house really needs a bigger stove to heat 100%. That said if you can do a free stander you'll get more heat and the box is a bit bigger so longer burn times. I do 3 loads a day in the frigid weather, 2 loads when its milder out so it's a good burn time but again not as long as the free stander.
I'm sure you know by now but I'll mention it anyway, they need dry seasoned wood to operate properly.
Tony D
Member
Yes, lack of dry wood(and money) is why i didn't pull the trigger on the insert this past fall. I have been cutting a lot of standing dead ash and have accumulated next years stash already. Its been two years since i burned wood for heat and it is killing me. I had an older model VC defiant encore and that thing was a beast. In the 6 years i heated with it it never got so cold it couldnt keep the house in the upper 70's.
I was also wondering how durable the cats have been for you? How many years do you usually get out of one?
I was also wondering how durable the cats have been for you? How many years do you usually get out of one?
RustyShackleford
Minister of Fire
I've looked at the two suggestions, Hechler's and WoodmansPartsPlus. I found the website of WPP to be difficult, whereas Hechler's was very nice. I called Hechler and was helped by an extremely helpful and knowledgeable gentleman.
I did have one question. They don't list a gasket for the bypass damper (the door that directs smoke through the cat or straight out the chimney). He said he thought it was generic 1/2" rope gasket; does that sound right to anyone who's actually replaced this gasket ?
Regular 1/2" rope will be way too small. I believe it is high density 5/8". I couldn't find any, and stuffed regular 7/8 or 1" in the channel. That was the beginning of me figuring out how difficult it is to find.
That was my sister's stove, and I'll be replacing it before next winter.
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Skidooer
Member
I was outside loading up the trailer with wood thursday and noticed bluish smoke swiring out the chimney from my King Ultra... it was burning pretty high but not full out. Does this sound normal?? Cat was at 3 oclock on the probe and orange hot. Flue was at 750, 800 Deg
HotCoals
Minister of Fire
Could be normal with really dry wood off gassing fast. How long into the burn?
The only other thing could be by-pass gasket.
Skidooer
Member
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Skidooer
Member
Thats exactly how it looked! Really windy and cold, high draft that day. Wasnt sure if that was normal
Skidooer
Member
Anyone notice if the honeycomb blocks in your combustor are moving? The centre block out of the 3 all held together, is pushed in at the bottom on mine. Its getting sucked in like 3/16 of an inch or more. But just on the bottom. The outside blocks seem fine, and i know it was all flat and straight across when i cleaned it out in December...
Hechlers is great! I got my stove from them for a great price and the guy who runs it is super nice and easy to deal with. He even let me put a small amount down to hold onto a sale price for a couple months till I was in a better financial position. They are about 2 hours from me but I will go through them for any of my needs.
HotCoals
Minister of Fire
Happens to be I just pulled the flame guard to blow some some air through my cat for chits and giggles a few mins ago and my cats are all in a line. I do noitce the cells are not as white as they used to be.
Skidooer
Member
Interesting, when i called the rep at BK in Vancouver and told him about the centre cell, he sluffed it off as no big deal and said it probably moved during transit. When i told him it was straight a month before, he went silent. And it has moved more in the last 2 weeks. He never got back to me about it, or my door seal thats leaked since new. You would think these things would be built better for the price you pay! I am curious, anyone else with a BK could you have a look at your combustor sometime and just see if it has moved. Then i can have some backup info for Dennis at BK when i tell em to send me a new combustor!
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Can you tell me how long you have had your Blaze King?
Dennis works in our Penticton BC plant. I am the VP of the company and read with interest your comments. You might also PM a picture of your door gasket so that I might take a look.
Chris
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