2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

RustyShackleford said:

Amen. And you know what else, he's SMART. It's amazing how many companies (most) in this modern internet age, where people discuss most every product in detail on forums like these, completely ignore what's going on in those forums (or at least don't acknowledge it). That's just dumb.

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Like when I mentioned issues being discussed on Hearth.com with certain stoves to the Lopi factory Rep. He literally laughed in my face! He brushed this site off as a bunch of people that just wanted to complain.

That attitude lost them my purchase. Look at how Blaze King, by contrast, is selling stoves as fast as they can roll them off the line.

Parallax said:

That attitude lost them my purchase. Look at how Blaze King, by contrast, is selling stoves as fast as they can roll them off the line.

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Tis true, when I got mine I got their (unfired) floor demo unit. Guy at the stove shop said if I didn't want the demo and wanted a new one, I probably wouldn't be getting it will half way threw heating season due to demand.

Okay, I have a problem. I am on my 3rd season with my princess insert. I just don't feel like it has been working correctly since I got it. Maybe I am wrong or my expectations are off. My wife thinks I don't know how to work it. Here's what I do.
Load it up and light it.
Everything is open.
Let it go until it is in the cat zone.
Close it down and turn the air down to half 4 out of 8 dots
Temp climbs and then I drop the air down to 2 out of 8 dots.
Smoke comes out of the chimney at all stages
Wife is upset that there are not flames. I explained that there will not be flames.
Anyway I don't think I am getting the burn times should and there definitely should not be the smoke as heavy as it is out the chimney.
Wood is pine and hardwood mix and is seasoned.
I'm confused.

What are you getting for burn times, and is the cat staying active?

Depends on how I load it. If I stuff it I can get 8 to 10 hours but it goes all the way to coals and the house is cold. The cat stays in the active zone throughout until it doesn't. If that makes sense. I am more concerned about the heavy smoke making it out of the pipe. That seems to me that something is not working right.

Ricky8443 said:

Can anyone elaborate on the Blazeking Princess's Insert's ability to heat without a working fan during a power outage? I have a backup generator, but still curious to know what percentage of its ability to heat will be compromised during an outage. thx

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I lost power for a week and didn't have a generator at the time. It did a pretty good job heating the house, the family room was in the low 70's, upstairs bedrooms were cooler around 60-62 with overnight temps in the 20's. I ended up sleeping in the family room that week since I have sleep apnea and couldn't run my machine, I slept in the recliner.

claybe said:

Depends on how I load it. If I stuff it I can get 8 to 10 hours but it goes all the way to coals and the house is cold. The cat stays in the active zone throughout until it doesn't. If that makes sense. I am more concerned about the heavy smoke making it out of the pipe. That seems to me that something is not working right.

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How sure are you the wood is dry? Do you have a moisture meter to test with? I'm sure there are some much more knowledgeable people on here that can help more than me, I just started burning myself. When I first got the stove I did do some testing though, burned a load of dry then a load of wet and switched back and forth a few times.I did that so I got a feel for how the stove will react to wet wood and can identify it in the future by the stoves response. I noticed the wet wood did tend to smoke, where the dry really had no smoke at all. Are you also getting a lot of crud built up on the glass after a single day of running it? I noticed the wet wood put a lot more creosote all over the inside of the firebox vs the dry.

Thanks for the reminder ninja. I do have a moisture meter and just checked to find 12% moisture on wood I just bought as seasoned. I bet that is too much and always forget to check. I wish I had time to season and find my own wood but it is a little difficult here. I guess that is it and admire your tenacity to check both wet and dry. What a great idea

claybe said:

Okay, I have a problem. I am on my 3rd season with my princess insert. I just don't feel like it has been working correctly since I got it. Maybe I am wrong or my expectations are off. My wife thinks I don't know how to work it. Here's what I do.
Load it up and light it.
Everything is open.
Let it go until it is in the cat zone.
Close it down and turn the air down to half 4 out of 8 dots
Temp climbs and then I drop the air down to 2 out of 8 dots.
Smoke comes out of the chimney at all stages
Wife is upset that there are not flames. I explained that there will not be flames.
Anyway I don't think I am getting the burn times should and there definitely should not be the smoke as heavy as it is out the chimney.
Wood is pine and hardwood mix and is seasoned.
I'm confused.

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Ok

Cat is in the stove right?
When you engage the by pass you feel the by pass closing right?

Yes to both.

claybe said:

Thanks for the reminder ninja. I do have a moisture meter and just checked to find 12% moisture on wood I just bought as seasoned. I bet that is too much and always forget to check. I wish I had time to season and find my own wood but it is a little difficult here. I guess that is it and admire your tenacity to check both wet and dry. What a great idea

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If your at 12 percent your fine on the wood. Did you split a piece and test the middle, or just the outside? If you didn't split it, take a nice big piece, split in down the middle and test the inside.

All the wood is split already. I tested the outside and the inside. 10-12% on each side multiple pieces.

claybe said:

All the wood is split already. I tested the outside and the inside. 10-12% on each side multiple pieces.

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Take one of those splits, and split it again, like your making kindling. Test the inside of that. Since its been exposed to air, a test on it right now may show deceptively low. You want to go for the middle of the wood to test. More accurate.

claybe said:

Yes to both.

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Well it does not sound like your cat is working. Can you see it glow when in cruise or whenever?

This post grew since I last posted!

The temps here aren't too bad yet so I've not yet really tested the Ashford but so far I really love it, as does my wife. We had a good 24 hours below 32 outside the other night. I loaded my Ashford 3/4 full at night and got her going. Turned it down to about 2 and 1/4 and went to bed. Woke up and it was 70 in the living room (where the stove is) and only a few degrees different in the surrounding rooms. After 24 hours from loading I had to reload. I reloaded when the cat was still in the active zone and a smallish bed of embers was all that was left. The house had dropped to 68. I know things will change when it's much colder outside but so far I'm loving this. 3/4 full firebox and got a good 24 hours out of it. I could have left it for a couple more hours. Temp would have dropped a little but it would have still been plenty comfortable in here.

My house isn't very tight so I can't ever see it getting too hot in here. The thermometer I'm using for temps is in my living room but about 20 feet from the stove.

The glass seems to be staying pretty clean now I'm doing fuller loads. Next week I should be able to pack it full and give it a real test. Temps are supposed to be a high of 32 and low of 20. I look forward to my first full load.

Also I notice the stove really does seem to regulate it's temperature. This morning when I checked the cat thermometer was between 10 and 11 o'clock. Now it's just past 12. Mine seems to go up and down staying in the same range for most of the burn. Obviously after most of the gasses and wood have burned I have to adjust the thermostat a little to keep the temps I want. But it seems to run itself with very little help needed from me.

Last year every morning I was waking up to a cold start and 50-55 degrees in the house. My wife is so happy waking up to a house in the high 60's. Happy wife happy home!

Thank you all for some great help and advice. And for guiding me to the BK Ashford.

Well it's time to forget all this 'Shoulder season' nonsense!

Currently -20C up high. Around -17C at home. We will see if the BK Hype is really 'All That' or if the forced air poluted my living space last night.

HotCoals said:

Well it does not sound like your cat is working. Can you see it glow when in cruise or whenever?

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It only glows sometimes. Is it supposed to glow all the time? If so it surely does not.

Also, the thermostat does not move smoothly at all. I watched some do the blaze king you tube videos and it looks like the thermostats move very effortlessly. That is not the case with my princess. Any ideas on that one???

I also will split the split and check the moisture again.

claybe said:

It only glows sometimes. Is it supposed to glow all the time? If so it surely does not.

Also, the thermostat does not move smoothly at all. I watched some do the blaze king you tube videos and it looks like the thermostats move very effortlessly. That is not the case with my princess. Any ideas on that one???

I also will split the split and check the moisture again.

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The cat is not supposed to glow all time. No glow, partial glow, full glow, all okay from an active cat. What you do know is that if it glows the cat is active.

Rossco said:

Well it's time to forget all this 'Shoulder season' nonsense!

Currently -20C up high. Around -17C at home. We will see if the BK Hype is really 'All That' or if the forced air poluted my living space last night.

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What the neck is a C? Is that like Kelvin?

Highbeam said:

The cat is not supposed to glow all time. No glow, partial glow, full glow, all okay from an active cat. What you do know is that if it glows the cat is active.

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Thanks highbeam! That's what I thought and judge the cat being active by the condar cat temp gauge I put in. Am still wondering about the thermo air flow knob though....

Mm well. It was 20.5C in the house when I arrived home. Not bad for 2200sft with the stove in the basement. Stove still active and warm, No forced air activation either.

I loaded her back up and it's now firing on all cylinders. Left her on 2.5. We will see if she catches back up.

Highbeam said:

What the neck is a C? Is that like Kelvin?

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'C' means Cold

Rossco said:

Mm well. It was 20.5C in the house when I arrived home. Not bad for 2200sft with the stove in the basement. Stove still active and warm, No forced air activation either.

I loaded her back up and it's now firing on all cylinders. Left her on 2.5. We will see if she catches back up.



'C' means Cold

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All I know is 0°C is 32°F oh and boiling point. It's 72 in my house, way warmer than 20.

Highbeam said:

All I know is 0°C is 32°F oh and boiling point. It's 72 in my house, way warmer than 20.

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Yeah. All i know is the the F stands for Fair weather Fairies where I come from.