2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

Lanningjw said:

Ok, does serial #1120 tell you what year it was made?

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Yes, she can tell you when it was built.

Dieselhead said:

allright my wife is in charge of the stove for the first time as im away for the next 40hrs. lets see how those 2 reloads go for her. this afternoon I showed her the ropes, was gone for about 10 min came back in and gave her a pop quiz and she passed! Its gonna be 10° tonight, so either she gets it right or she shivers under the comforters lol

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Oh she will figure it out. Beware she might like the heat too much, with that big firebox she might empty the wood shed before you get home Ha Ha Ha.

Extreme weather warning here. Watching it through my living room window. Looks like the Arctic Tundra at moment which is nice.

Plenty warm in here as the wife is also cooking.

Pretty nippy now @ 16-19C out side with gusts. Looks to be 12" of snow as its burried the firepit in the back garden.

BK cruising with a nice load of Tamarack Rounds.

Being experimenting with heat distribution. I have a fan on the basment stairs pushing air through the stair rungs. You can Feel the hot air being pushed up the stairs and into the main living area. Nice.

Parallax said:

For the last few weeks I've been burning Douglas fir that's not all that dry. Most splits test at around 22%.

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You should have no issue with 22% wood. I've run plenty in that range thru my stove. 20% plus or minus a bit is fine.

What issues are you having?

rdust said:

You should have no issue with 22% wood. I've run plenty in that range thru my stove. 20% plus or minus a bit is fine.

What issues are you having?

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Was kinda thinking the same thing.

My kids were playing outside a few days ago and I told them to bring in an arm load of wood with them. Long story short, they brought in Silver Maple that was cut in late spring of this year and should be over 20% mc. I used it anyhow and was surprised at how well it burned and heated.

Yes, the Blaze King seems to do well with wood that's not fully dry. For the most part it's running well. I didn't go into the other part of the story. Last summer I had this amazing, beautiful, huge woodshed built. It holds more than 10 cords -- which were cut, split and stacked around the same time. I began using that wood around a month ago when a tarped stack of older wood was used up.

Now that I'm into that wood pile, I see that the guy I hired to do much of the job (about 80% of it) hid a bunch of rounds behind the first row. Getting them out, and finding a place to store them, is just a lot of schlepping. When I split the rounds, they read around 24%. But if I insert the prongs more deeply, the readings will jump up to around 30%. I don't know why I get this shift. It doesn't occur with the previously split pieces.

Alas, it's just a lot of schlepping and tracking to segregate the rounds while keeping them under cover. Besides, I'm using more wood because even the splits aren't optimally dried. So I figured I'd go grab some pressed wood logs, and just let the wood sit for another year. That far out, I might not have to bother splitting the rounds. They're all fairly small. Anything larger than 8 inches diameter, he split.

Since I last wrote, I discovered Homefire logs are made up in Ferndale which is just 30 minutes from my home (rather than 2 hours to Tacoma). They've got seconds that they sell cheap. This time of year, $150 gets you 1500 pounds of them. Those Tacoma logs were 2000 pounds for $225. I've read good things about the Homefires and the smaller load will fit more easily into my Nissan Hardbody pickup. So I'm gonna try a load of them.

BKVP said:

There is a nut and bolt on the bypass plate. LOOSEN THE 7/16" NUT FIRST AS IT IS A KEEPER NUT. Then rotate the head of the bolt 1/4 turn, rescuer the keeper nut. Remember the metals expand when heated so do a small incremental adjustment.

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I looked on the bypass plate and I did not see this nut and bolt. I have the princess insert. Is this some other place?

No 24 hour reload today. Fighting a -21*f windchill. Will see if it will go 12 hours.

claybe said:

I looked on the bypass plate and I did not see this nut and bolt. I have the princess insert. Is this some other place?

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You have to pull the pipe, you can't miss it!

I have burnt a second cord so far this season and cleaned my flue again.

The first cord lasted from 08-29-2014 to 10-20-2014, I was running on high, 3/3, for at least the first hour of every load and then turning the thermostat down. I was also careful on cold starts to use the second thermometer on my stack for when to close the door.

I got about two tablespoons of mostly brown powder with a few scattered flecks of shiny black, pics and longer version back on page five, post 104, linky: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...read-everything-bk.132071/page-5#post-1787193

So now I have burnt two cords and cleaned the flue again this morning. It is a bit cooler now of course, the first cord lasted 50 days featuring 1252 (base 65) heating degree days. Second cord lasted 39 days, 2096 heating degree days total. The average for the first cord is real close to Indianapolis in March, the second period works out to 1572HDD per 30 day month, about like Minneapolis in January, only Minneapolis averages 1432 HDD in January, so already colder than that here in November.

I have been observing but not relying on my spare thermometer on my stack. I have been making all my decisions based soley on the cat probe in the top of my Ashford. Been a little concerned as my observed stack temps are pretty low, but my combustor has been hot enough to be active probably 75% of all the minutes since I cleaned the flue last.

For this most recent cord I go to bypass, open the door slowly, fill the box to the brim, close the door, double check the cat probe and almost always immediately flip the lever from bypass back to engaged. A few times (less than a dozen) I have had to wait a few minutes for the cat probe to climb back up to active before I can re-engage.

Very pleasantly surprised with my sweepings, about 1 tablespoon, mostly crumbly brown with just a little bit more shiny black than I saw with the first cord. I am going to burn two more cords before I even look up the stack again, never mind sweep it.

claybe said:

I looked on the bypass plate and I did not see this nut and bolt. I have the princess insert. Is this some other place?

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It's there but you won't see it with the stove pipe connected, I saw mine when I had pulled it out.

My Blaze King stove is more talented than your Blaze King stove.

Dinner: Chicken, onions and mushrooms in a Marsala wine reduction sauce, home made rolls (reheated) and baked potatoes being reheated for garlic smashed potatoes. (Salad on the side, not seen on the stove.)

So what is YOUR Blaze King stove doing right now?

becasunshine said:

So what is YOUR Blaze King stove doing right now?

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Mine is turning a piece of last year's Christmas tree into CO2 and H2O while my wife decorates this year's Christmas tree in shorts and a tee-shirt.

rdust said:

You have to pull the pipe, you can't miss it!

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Okay thanks. I ain't pulling the pipe so it will have to be okay. I am wishing I had the free stander! And I am contemplating how to remove the fireplace to put a king in Now to save enough money and convince the wife!

Poindexter said:

Mine is turning a piece of last year's Christmas tree into CO2 and H2O while my wife decorates this year's Christmas tree in shorts and a tee-shirt.

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'
LMAO! I just saw my wifes family and reminded them that when they come over for christmas to wear t-shirt and shorts. Its not cold in my house....

Well. It's a sober -30C here. Or -22F.

BK Is running good. Got her turned up a little and the forced air is on stand by.

I've noticed a steady stream of discharge from the stack. Condensation I imagine, also some rather larger Ice-sickles hanging off the bottom flange of the cap. The storm yesterday was blowing real good.

Anyhow, stay warm, have fun, smile, be lucky and god bless.

Picked up a pallet of Homefire logs today, direct from the manufacturer. Actually, they're rejects and they come in a big box strapped to a pallet. The cost was $150. In the summer, the same box is $100. The weight pushed by old Nissan pickup down almost onto its axle but we (the box and I) managed to get home.

Now I'm burning those little sons of a gun and I must say I'm impressed. The temperature outside tonight dropped to 16 degrees. That's about as cold as I've ever seen it here in Bellingham. Yet the stove is pounding out heat. It's a big house and I wouldn't say it's toasty. But it's alright. Certainly much better than when we were running full loads of Doug fir in the 22% range. These "logs" are burning low and strong over many hours. I didn't load that many into the box since I'd never run them before and had heard they might expand. Started off with two together with the wood that was already burning. Then I added some broken pieces a few hours later. Finally, before bed, threw in another two logs. Now it's after 5 am and it's still pumping away.

It's going to take time to figure out the optimal load (unless someone whose used these things can give me pointers). I can see how a big load could potentially overdo it. Also, even a full pallet of these little suckers isn't going to last forever. I'd like to string it out as long as I can. Of course it wouldn't be that big a deal to run over there and grab another. Unloading the truck was a pain but not when one compares it to the amount of work that goes into cutting, splitting and stacking an equivalent amount of wood. Really, it was only a pain because it was so cold outside and the threat of moisture meant I had to get the whole thing unloaded before the sun went down.

Parallax said:

Picked up a pallet of Homefire logs today, direct from the manufacturer. Actually, they're rejects and they come in a big box strapped to a pallet. The cost was $150. In the summer, the same box is $100. The weight pushed by old Nissan pickup down almost onto its axle but we (the box and I) managed to get home.

Now I'm burning those little sons of a gun and I must say I'm impressed. The temperature outside tonight dropped to 16 degrees. That's about as cold as I've ever seen it here in Bellingham. Yet the stove is pounding out heat. It's a big house and I wouldn't say it's toasty. But it's alright. Certainly much better than when we were running full loads of Doug fir in the 22% range. These "logs" are burning low and strong over many hours. I didn't load that many into the box since I'd never run them before and had heard they might expand. Started off with two together with the wood that was already burning. Then I added some broken pieces a few hours later. Finally, before bed, threw in another two logs. Now it's after 5 am and it's still pumping away.

It's going to take time to figure out the optimal load (unless someone whose used these things can give me pointers). I can see how a big load could potentially overdo it. Also, even a full pallet of these little suckers isn't going to last forever. I'd like to string it out as long as I can. Of course it wouldn't be that big a deal to run over there and grab another. Unloading the truck was a pain but not when one compares it to the amount of work that goes into cutting, splitting and stacking an equivalent amount of wood. Really, it was only a pain because it was so cold outside and the threat of moisture meant I had to get the whole thing unloaded before the sun went down.

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Do you plan to burn the Homefire logs exclusively for now or mixing them in with the Doug Fir you have on hand?

You should have no problem filling it up, especially if you can pack them tightly. Your stove will be able to control it just fine.

This is 126 pounds of Eco-Bricks in my stove.

Parallax said:

Picked up a pallet of Homefire logs today, direct from the manufacturer. Actually, they're rejects and they come in a big box strapped to a pallet. The cost was $150. In the summer, the same box is $100. The weight pushed by old Nissan pickup down almost onto its axle but we (the box and I) managed to get home.

Now I'm burning those little sons of a gun and I must say I'm impressed. The temperature outside tonight dropped to 16 degrees. That's about as cold as I've ever seen it here in Bellingham. Yet the stove is pounding out heat. It's a big house and I wouldn't say it's toasty. But it's alright. Certainly much better than when we were running full loads of Doug fir in the 22% range. These "logs" are burning low and strong over many hours. I didn't load that many into the box since I'd never run them before and had heard they might expand. Started off with two together with the wood that was already burning. Then I added some broken pieces a few hours later. Finally, before bed, threw in another two logs. Now it's after 5 am and it's still pumping away.

It's going to take time to figure out the optimal load (unless someone whose used these things can give me pointers). I can see how a big load could potentially overdo it. Also, even a full pallet of these little suckers isn't going to last forever. I'd like to string it out as long as I can. Of course it wouldn't be that big a deal to run over there and grab another. Unloading the truck was a pain but not when one compares it to the amount of work that goes into cutting, splitting and stacking an equivalent amount of wood. Really, it was only a pain because it was so cold outside and the threat of moisture meant I had to get the whole thing unloaded before the sun went down.

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Let us know how it goes Parallax. Hopefully you'll get some nice long burns now!

Parallax said:

Picked up a pallet of Homefire logs today, direct from the manufacturer. Actually, they're rejects and they come in a big box strapped to a pallet. The cost was $150. In the summer, the same box is $100. The weight pushed by old Nissan pickup down almost onto its axle but we (the box and I) managed to get home.

Now I'm burning those little sons of a gun and I must say I'm impressed. The temperature outside tonight dropped to 16 degrees. That's about as cold as I've ever seen it here in Bellingham. Yet the stove is pounding out heat. It's a big house and I wouldn't say it's toasty. But it's alright. Certainly much better than when we were running full loads of Doug fir in the 22% range. These "logs" are burning low and strong over many hours. I didn't load that many into the box since I'd never run them before and had heard they might expand. Started off with two together with the wood that was already burning. Then I added some broken pieces a few hours later. Finally, before bed, threw in another two logs. Now it's after 5 am and it's still pumping away.

It's going to take time to figure out the optimal load (unless someone whose used these things can give me pointers). I can see how a big load could potentially overdo it. Also, even a full pallet of these little suckers isn't going to last forever. I'd like to string it out as long as I can. Of course it wouldn't be that big a deal to run over there and grab another. Unloading the truck was a pain but not when one compares it to the amount of work that goes into cutting, splitting and stacking an equivalent amount of wood. Really, it was only a pain because it was so cold outside and the threat of moisture meant I had to get the whole thing unloaded before the sun went down.

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I've seen the ad for those on cl. The photo showed a box of broken up logs, aka shorts. Good price though. They should burn like niels.

Thanks fellas. At this point, I figured I'd save the cord wood until it's good and dry. If there's a reason to mix the two, let me know. The pressed logs are firing up nicely when the sit on a hot coal bed, just the same as before. Maybe even faster. They are putting out way more heat. The thing I don't know is how long the pallet will last. By measure, it was about half a cord (4 X 4 X 4). But the pressed logs were packed much tighter than cord wood and they pack a lot of energy per pound.

The biggest difference I've noticed so far is it was much less fun handing the stuff. There's something about working with real wood that's rewarding. Unloading the pickup last night was a chore; something I've not experienced until now in my short time with this new way of life.

jeff_t said:

You should have no problem filling it up, especially if you can pack them tightly. Your stove will be able to control it just fine.

This is 126 pounds of Eco-Bricks in my stove.

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Is there an advantage to loading the stove so much? It doesn't need that many to make a good strong fire. Which way is likely to be most efficient? I'd like to get these things to last as long as possible.