2012-2013 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

rdust, very good idea for a thread. jeff_t, kick some of that popcorn my way.

Good idea rdust, I love hearing this BK stuff. So far my new Princess has impressed the crap out of me. Consistant 24+ hour burns and nice even house temps. Can't wait to see how she does come cold weather.

I was a little concerned about filling it up with the wind like it is. I wasn't sure if I would be able to snuff out the firebox and let the cat do it's thing, but I burned a small load of chunks this morning and I can. Still amazes me. Pretty wide open here, and I can use a little extra heat, but knowing I have the control is comforting.

I was also a little worried about loading it up but figured I'd give it a shot. She's loaded full and dialed down, the wind hasn't caused any issues yet. The control of these stoves is hard to beat.

Careful there - I just was told that burning pine will burn your house down

As soon as it gets through that pesky metal box you've trapped it in, Pine will end you.
Warning Signs:- Rapid hair loss, sticky palms, reduced eyesight.... red flags, right there.
Your house is next, Pine shows no mercy.

Here are some pictures of tonight's load. The glass is nasty, I haven't cleaned it once this season and can still see through it so all is good in my world.

rdust- when you have to re-load next week, I want to see a pic. of the glass then. Just say'un.

about the glass - if you burn a BK on #2 or more does the glass stay clean - or clean itself?
Im kind of a glassaphile and get OCD when it smokes up. If BKs smoke the glass at all burn levels
that would slightly tarnish my warm and fuzzy admiration for this stove.

Only time my glass is "clean" is the few times I forgot about the fire I started in the stove and got it HOT

Can't expect creosote to not collect on the glass with minimal airflow in essentially a smoldering fire, which is what the Blaze King is designed to do.

Way to go. I've only burned mine once, with 1 re-load, and it just has not been cool enough to burn again. That said, if the window on my old BK gets smokey, I'll never know it.

x2

Had that stove for years!

I know what your saying, I use to be pretty anal about clean glass. Now, not so much, the function over form rule has taken over. My glass does stay pretty clean at settings of 2 and above. After a low burn last night I was a little surprised how clean my glass was this morning. Just some left side build up where most of the leftover wood is.

It's nice to wake up this morning and have enough fuel left over to just turn up the t-stat from 1.5 to 2 to take the chill off for a bit then turn it back down and not have to worry about reloading til this afternoonish.

Looks like I'm only going to get about 13-14 hrs out of a FULL load of ash and mulberry. That's wouldn't be so bad, except the overnight low was 35

I'm not sure what year mine is, but it looks similar to this. It's an insert though, with the jet air, so the ceramics on the side have diamond shaped holes. It doesn't have the fan exhaust under the top of the stove with blaze king on it. It just has a crack above the stove top about an inch high, where the air is blown from the back of it, inside the fireplace, and across the very top of stove. Wondering what year it is. I'm thinking it's like an 81 or 82.

Strong winds increasing draft?

Strong winds sucking the heat out of my house. Been on 2-2.25 and the blowers on a med/high setting since last night. Stove top been 650ish until the last couple of hours, now down to 500 or so. That's 650 with the blowers on, so we've been making some BTUs.

Little Dog seems pretty happy, though. That's not flame through the glass, that's how bright the coal bed is.

x2. Cold and VERY wet outside right now, but 78 in my living room and the whole house feels toasty. Loaded at 9:30 last night. This morning I keep looking at it to see if it needs to be reloaded. Still nope, lots of big pieces in there. Will probably roll on another 4-5 hours before I reload it. Just incredible how even the heat is. I've owned a lot of stoves, but this one is hands-down my favorite.

That glass was after a 25 hour burn, my glass stays pretty clean compared to some of the ones I've seen on here.

All you BK guys have illegal installs and your insurance won't pay off, so be careful. Those wooden handles are violating the "clearance to combustibles" specs for the stove.

I love 'em, though...

That is a thing of beauty. I could never get any where near that much wood in my little stove. I will get the BK King as soon as my Financial Adviser agrees.