2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

New princess insert owner here. I purchased the stove at the beginning of the season and have been pretty pleased. When packing the stove tight and running it on low we get 10 hour burns.

I was disappointed in the fan though. I was shocked that it was missing an automatic setting that turns on and off automatically. I setup a z wave switch so I can turn it on and off with my harmony tv remote. The fan also puts out very little heat and only blows out the left side. Has anyone seen this issue?

tgs30 said:

New princess insert owner here. I purchased the stove at the beginning of the season and have been pretty pleased. When packing the stove tight and running it on low we get 10 hour burns.

I was disappointed in the fan though. I was shocked that it was missing an automatic setting that turns on and off automatically. I setup a z wave switch so I can turn it on and off with my harmony tv remote. The fan also puts out very little heat and only blows out the left side. Has anyone seen this issue?

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You should be getting much longer burns on low. Are you sure it's being packed full and ran on low? Do you have active flames during your burn?

The fan takes its air in on the left side and blows it out the top, maybe you should have it looked at by the hearth store that installed it. Sounds like something is messed up.

They removed the thermostat for the blower because it was pointless 99% of the time. The deep belly full of coals kept the stat hot so long that blower would still run well after the fire was "out".

webby3650 said:

They removed the thermostat for the blower because it was pointless 99% of the time. The deep belly full of coals kept the stat hot so long that blower would still run well after the fire was "out".

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I have the thermostat snapdisc for my blowers and all they do for me is prevent me from using the fans in the beginning of a cold start for way too long. Cat stoves take a long time to heat up the bottom of the firebox when the cat, the heatmaker, is up top.

If my snapdisc ever fails, I will most likely bypass it. Bk was right to remove it.

tgs30 said:

When packing the stove tight and running it on low we get 10 hour burns.

The fan also puts out very little heat and only blows out the left side. Has anyone seen this issue?

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I have the same stove and that does not sound normal. I never noticed that the air came out unevenly, even though the fan is on the left.

When the stove is burning hot, the air comes out uncomfortably warm; you can't stand right in front of it for long.

Burn times are a little low. With pine of marginal moisture content and a terrible install, I get more than 10 hours.

Running with the fans on will cut into burn times considerably. I can never get 24 hour burns with the fan on but ran low with the fan on I usually get over 12.

My typical 10 hour burn would be, fan on and flickering, active flames through the majority of the burn.

Thanks everyone. Sounds like something is definitely off with our fan. I'll call the dealer on Monday.

We have been burning 12-20% oak. Unfortunately we have a lot of long splits so it's not always packed real tight but I have loaded up nothing but perfect splits a few times and only get 10-12 hours on low.

I installed the stove myself and just adapted to the existing 8" liner. I made sure everything fit snug but I wasn't able to get much furnace cement between the connections.

Also, did blaze king change the left side of the stove or shroud this year? The dealer originally forgot to order the shroud. They ordered it later when they received the stove but I had to trim the peace on the left side to get it to work. I'll try to post a picture later.

Mine is off. Burn times have decreased and heat output seems less. I'll be doing a chimney cleaning and cat brush tomorrow.

So you're going 6" flue to an 8"? Maybe not enough draft

Gotrek said:

So you're going 6" flue to an 8"? Maybe not enough draft

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Bingo

Gotrek said:

So you're going 6" flue to an 8"? Maybe not enough draft

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BKVP said:

Bingo

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Burning through wood quicker than expected caused by not enough draft?

Please educate me on this.

claybe said:

Adjusting the latch should take care of it. I wouldn't think you would need to replace the gasket. In fact, I thought it was part of the set up of the stove to check and adjust the door? Loosen the stop nut and adjust away! Let us know if that fixes it.

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Adjusted the door latch 1 turn yesterday morning and still getting smoke smell from stove around hinges maybe not as bad.will try 1 more turn .This leak is not effecting the burn times of this stove getting 34 to 40 hrs,. temps outside are just above freezing mark . I am burning old 2 x4 and 2x6 from a building that was dismantled and moved and these are left over pieces., i think they are fir. I stack the wood like lego inside so it is almost like a solid block of wood probably weighs 60 - 75 lbs.

tarzan said:

Burning through wood quicker than expected caused by not enough draft?

Please educate me on this.

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My cousin has the same issue he is running a King Ultra on a 6 in. chimney and is only getting 10 to 12 hr. burns and i have the same stove on a 19.5 ft 8in. Excel chimney and i get 3 to 4 times longer burn times . Why the big difference i would have thought smaller chimney less air slower burn.

tarzan said:

Burning through wood quicker than expected caused by not enough draft?

Please educate me on this.

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When there is insufficient draft to keep the cat active, users must then run the stove hotter than normal to sustain cat activity. If a stove has insufficient draft and it is corrected, often the paint cures once again because the stove never got as hot as it could have. Then, a more full range of operation is possible, including low burn times because cat can stay active. Verify cat is not falling apart visually, adjust door gasket, make certain glass is snug in door frame. If these all check out good, more draft or look over fuel quality/moisture.

Appreciate the feedback. Makes sense except he stated that he was packing his stove tight and running it on "low" for a 10 hour burn.

Granted, we don't know for sure what he calls low. Not trying to argue but from what we can deduce from this particular situation I still can't see weak draft causing it.

tarzan said:

Appreciate the feedback. Makes sense except he stated that he was packing his stove tight and running it on "low" for a 10 hour burn.

Granted, we don't know for sure what he calls low. Not trying to argue but from what we can deduce from this particular situation I still can't see weak draft causing it.

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I went over to his place this morning and tightened the door latch for him. Took over a barrel of my 2x6 wood pieces and loaded the stove for him. I would say i probably got 40% more wood in the stove than he did so we will see how long it burns on the same setting as mine.
We had a tough time loading the stove cause every time we opened the door all the way smoke would roll out into the room . I am going to check his cold air duct to make sure it is not crushed or plugged . He finally agrees the chimney dia. is too small and is looking to replace it soon.
Even though he only gets 10 -12 hr. burns still loves the stove cause its twice the burn time as his old one and can make it all the way through the night.

Turbinetodd said:

I went over to his place this morning and tightened the door latch for him. Took over a barrel of my 2x6 wood pieces and loaded the stove for him. I would say i probably got 40% more wood in the stove than he did so we will see how long it burns on the same setting as mine.
We had a tough time loading the stove cause every time we opened the door all the way smoke would roll out into the room . I am going to check his cold air duct to make sure it is not crushed or plugged . He finally agrees the chimney dia. is too small and is looking to replace it soon.
Even though he only gets 10 -12 hr. burns still loves the stove cause its twice the burn time as his old one and can make it all the way through the night.

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Hell, I get all night burns out of free non-cat stove I haul off! He really needs to figure out what's going on. This is a king running on a 6" flue? Just to clarify.

webby3650 said:

Hell, I get all night burns out of free non-cat stove I haul off! He really needs to figure out what's going on. This is a king running on a 6" flue? Just to clarify.

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For sure. It's no secret that I forgot to close my bypass one night. With the stove on a medium burn and the thermostat controlling the heat output I would have still gotten better than a ten hour burn with no cat involved if I hadn't noticed my ignorance the next morning and shut the bypass. That was in a smaller Princess FWIW.

webby3650 said:

Hell, I get all night burns out of free non-cat stove I haul off! He really needs to figure out what's going on. This is a king running on a 6" flue? Just to clarify.

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No a princess on an 8" flue.

Gotrek said:

No a princess on an 8" flue.

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Ok, I wasn't sure which stove you were reffering to. Even still, I can get 10 hours on full blast with mine. I know the inserts don't do as well, but still they are comparable.

webby3650 said:

Ok, I wasn't sure which stove you were reffering to. Even still, I can get 10 hours on full blast with mine. I know the inserts don't do as well, but still they are comparable.

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Webby, by full blast, where is your stat knob pointed? 6:00? ( down at the floor? Is that your Ashford or a princess?

Turbinetodd said:

I went over to his place this morning and tightened the door latch for him. Took over a barrel of my 2x6 wood pieces and loaded the stove for him. I would say i probably got 40% more wood in the stove than he did so we will see how long it burns on the same setting as mine.
We had a tough time loading the stove cause every time we opened the door all the way smoke would roll out into the room . I am going to check his cold air duct to make sure it is not crushed or plugged . He finally agrees the chimney dia. is too small and is looking to replace it soon.
Even though he only gets 10 -12 hr. burns still loves the stove cause its twice the burn time as his old one and can make it all the way through the night.

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Spilling smoke is a strong indicator of insufficient draft, plugged cap etc.

webby3650 said:

Hell, I get all night burns out of free non-cat stove I haul off! He really needs to figure out what's going on. This is a king running on a 6" flue? Just to clarify.

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Yes it is a King Ultra running on a 6 in flue that necks down at the stove then continues up on a 6 in. chimney for another 12 ft. He thought he would try it on a 6 in. chimney but it is not working out.

There may be some 8" stoves that work on 6" chimneys, ours is not one.

shoot-straight said:

Webby, by full blast, where is your stat knob pointed? 6:00? ( down at the floor? Is that your Ashford or a princess?

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Yes, pointed straight down is full blast. For the record, I've never stuffed my stove full and left it on high for the whole burn. Although as long as the bypass is closed its supposed to be fine. I was just trying to make a point.