Hang on now, are we assuming that the stat settings on the ashford are the same as other BK stoves? On my princess, the #2 setting is exactly in the middle of the normal range which is 50% "throttle".
2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)
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Hang on now, are we assuming that the stat settings on the ashford are the same as other BK stoves? On my princess, the #2 setting is exactly in the middle of the normal range which is 50% "throttle".
Dog hair = those pecker poles somebody sold you from a thinning operation. If you get them bucked up and stacked out of the rain with plenty of ventilation they will be ready for next fall.
This is a doug fir log from my front yard. All wood is good wood though so it's nice to see somebody use the waste.
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I replaced mine this season, it's 3rd. I probably wouldn't have even needed to do that but the stove was a floor model so the gasket was pretty compressed when I bought it. I think as long as the dollar bill has some resistance on it you should be fine, I don't think it needs to be so tight it would rip the dollar bill.
I still can't get over those temps being so low, at what height are you talking those temps? I know my floor level temps are cooler than sitting level.
Woke up this morning to -6ish, we got into the mid 20's today currently hovering around 1. I loaded the stove at 7:30 am, it's almost 8 pm right now and the stove is at 33x*. The stove room temp is 78 measured at shoulder height about 10' from the stove which is the same temp the room was when I loaded the stove this morning. By the time I get the kids to bed tonight and load the stove the house will be cooling off but it'll bounce back quick enough. My bedrooms upstairs stay cooler but there is no way around that when it's cooler outside unless I make the rest of the house uncomfortably hot. This morning my bedroom was 64, right now it's 62. Not a bad swing over 12+ hours.
Parallax
Minister of Fire
They are the same,1-4. The stovetop temps differ greatly though, because of the convection top.
Quentin2
Burning Hunk
On a brand new stove the dollar bill would not pull through, after two months of burning it would barely pull out on top of door close to handle. I fluffed/centered the gasket on about 4 inches. Its back to the dollar bill not pulling anywhere.
I think maybe you guys are being overly reliant on specific thermostat settings.
The knob was loose on mine when I got it, and the plate with "123" on it was missing (something about the side panels being removed for painting a different color, and I got such a good deal I wasn't complaining). So I just put the knob on at what seemed like a reasonable spot, and I actually think of the thermostat setting in terms of "o'clock" now (iow, just the position with respect to vertical).
Anyhow, my point is that the positioning of the knob on different units may not be that consistent.
On my Princess, 16" is about perfect - that's what I aim for when sawing wood, using my chainsaw bar as a length gauge.
An inch, or possibly two, more is ok, if it's not going at the very bottom of the firebox (slightly less deep than right at the bottom of the door).
16" might just barely drop into the bottom which is why i cut to 15". I really hate pulling wood back out when a too long split wont fit. I'm fighting through my current stack cut at16-18 for the heritage a few years ago.
It doesn't say 4, your right. But it has another dot past 3, and the dial travels way beyond 3.
Mine does. If they are the same design, there should be a collar with a set screw on the same shaft as the knob. The set screw is extra long and acts as a stop. The knob should rotate almost the full 360°, minus the diameter of the set screw. Not that that matters much, as it should be wide open when pointing at the floor and closed somewhere around the 130-200 o'clock position. If everything is tight and set correctly.
I do not understand why the thermostat is such a highly touted feature on the Blaze King stoves.
Why does the thermostat let the cat go inactive when there is plenty of fuel left in the stove?
I put in a load of compressed sawdust logs and set it to 1.5 after a raging fire and a stop somewhere in between. A couple hours later the cat is inactive. I turn it back up to 3 and the stove gets hot again without the addition of more fuel.
People keep telling me that this is because my wood is wet. I do not see how the wood makes any difference at all here. The stove does not let in enough air to keep the cat active and the stove temperature drops. If the thermostat is responding to the stove temperature then why does the stove not let more air in to make the stove hotter?
Why does the thermostat let the cat go inactive when there is plenty of fuel left in the stove?
I put in a load of compressed sawdust logs and set it to 1.5 after a raging fire and a stop somewhere in between. A couple hours later the cat is inactive. I turn it back up to 3 and the stove gets hot again without the addition of more fuel.
People keep telling me that this is because my wood is wet. I do not see how the wood makes any difference at all here. The stove does not let in enough air to keep the cat active and the stove temperature drops. If the thermostat is responding to the stove temperature then why does the stove not let more air in to make the stove hotter?
alforit
Feeling the Heat
Why has this not been taken care of yet?
Has your dealer come out to your house and advised you on what to do ? And if so have you taken the steps they're asking of you ?
Does your dealer have experience with BK stoves. ?
Dealer has to come out and see this happening and make that call to BK to take the action.
I think it's your T stat............Period.
Smaller chance it could be draft or a bad cat.
P.S.......Dude if I could come over to your house and check this out I would.............Sheeesh
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Of course you don't understand. You have a defective stove, wood, technique, or flue setup. We don't know which yet but we do know that once it gets fixed you will understand all of the reasons that the BKs are highly touted.
I do know that a properly operating princess, mine, will snuff the cat if I set the stat at 1.5. That is below the "normal" range and I can't understand why you would even try to set it so low when your house is like 50 degrees. Stick that stat control at 50% and let it eat.
If you want the stove hotter and the flame goes out, turn up the stat a bit. You don't have to go all the way to 3. Learn to appreciate the #2 setting.
The t-stat isn't all that, it's a simple bi-metallic t-stat. When the stove cools the t-stat has no way to open past your set point. If you set the t-stat at 1.5 it is not made to open past 1.5 to allow more air in as the stove cools. It is made to close when the stove reaches its 1.5 setting, as the stove cools it will open back up to the 1.5. If the 1.5 setting isn't enough air to keep the load going there is nothing it can do. What it does a good job imo is regulating the overall burn and keeping the burn flat. On a low setting my stove will carry a 3xx* STT for a long time, not enough to heat the house right now but great during the warmer weather. When it's cold these stoves are more inline with a tube type stove, it's the shoulder season that makes them shine.
When my stove is warmed up(600* range) I set the t-stat to the point where it closes with the stove at that temp. The flames will go out at this point, if I'm around to watch the stove for hours I can watch the flames come back as the stove cools and go back out as it warms back up.
I may have missed it, have you checked where the t-stat closes on a stone cold stove? For example if that's 1.5 and you set the t-stat to that point it's never going to open up. Mine closes at just a touch over 1 when cold, if I set the t-stat that low I know it's not going to open. I've never had the cat stall though even when I set it that low. I think the key for a low air setting is a good draft and a good coal bed before turning down to the close point.
I'm curious if the proper t-stat was used in your stove. I know my Princess t-stat has a hole in the flapper that still lets some air in even when it's closed, this is enough to keep the cat active. I'm wondering if they have different t-stats and maybe someone used the wrong one when building your stove.
Thanks for explaining that.
I am going to let the stove go cold tonight and check
The manual clearly sates that any setting between 1 and 3 on the thermostat will keep the cat active.
I'm trying to get the whole picture so I can tell the dealer and blaze king what is wrong.
My first major complaint was no heat. Now I have expanded to no heat, pathetic burn times, inability to use the stove in the acceptable range, etcetera.
Some people report that they can keep their cat active with settings way down close to 1. I cannot. Below 1.5 my cat will stall. I think this is mostly a function of draft. I have 16' of stack and the stove burns great, but I think if I had 2 or 3 more feet I could burn it at a lower setting during warm weather.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
All....
Both the dealer and myself are keenly involved. The thermostats vary greatly between models. Some models have holes an others do not. They all have different springs.
As I write this from 30k' on my way to the East my luggage has a spare thermostat.
However, Zanny at my direction, flipped over his thermostat and reported back the stove burned super hot.
It is my opinion that a few of you realize that optimal draft is necessary in order to take advantage of the lower burn rates.
The more draft that is present in a particular install, the stove will burn hotter. That facilitates the ability to then run on lowering burn rates. And yes too much draft is also possible.
Also, the indexes on the thermostat labels are for a particular reference to a particular install. Not all 1.5 or 2's are equal.
There are far too many variables involved in combustion to create a one scenario fits all.
Zanny does not have a fuel issue. His combustor is fine as well. I am 90% certain his thermostat is also fine, but acknowledge there is a possibility it's not working correctly. However he has control over combustion air otherwise he would not be able to stall the stove.
Zanny has been very patient, great to work with and most willing to try various experiments. I will be very interested is getting some updates when the chimney is extended.
Thank you all for trying to help.
Chris
Both the dealer and myself are keenly involved. The thermostats vary greatly between models. Some models have holes an others do not. They all have different springs.
As I write this from 30k' on my way to the East my luggage has a spare thermostat.
However, Zanny at my direction, flipped over his thermostat and reported back the stove burned super hot.
It is my opinion that a few of you realize that optimal draft is necessary in order to take advantage of the lower burn rates.
The more draft that is present in a particular install, the stove will burn hotter. That facilitates the ability to then run on lowering burn rates. And yes too much draft is also possible.
Also, the indexes on the thermostat labels are for a particular reference to a particular install. Not all 1.5 or 2's are equal.
There are far too many variables involved in combustion to create a one scenario fits all.
Zanny does not have a fuel issue. His combustor is fine as well. I am 90% certain his thermostat is also fine, but acknowledge there is a possibility it's not working correctly. However he has control over combustion air otherwise he would not be able to stall the stove.
Zanny has been very patient, great to work with and most willing to try various experiments. I will be very interested is getting some updates when the chimney is extended.
Thank you all for trying to help.
Chris
Look again at your manual. It says that,
"Any position between 1 and 3 will produce the desired clean burning characteristics. HOWEVER, since each installation is different, you may find it necessary to operate the thermostat to suit your situation."
Your situation requires a higher setting if you are stalling the cat.
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The ashford requires a minimum vertical chimney "system height" of 12 feet measured from the top of stove to bottom of cap as well as 13% maximum moisture content wood is recommended. That's dry but is measurable and you can check it off the list.
I wonder if the cap is plugged. Do you have a spark arrestor screen zanny? Wouldn't that be a hoot if the cap was clogged as is very typical. Maybe a dead animal up in there? I would expect your dealer could spot a clogged chimney a mile away.
The concept of draft is not a mystery. The stove manual provides min and max values along with methods to measure. If you verify sufficient draft then we can knock that off the list too.
I wonder if the cap is plugged. Do you have a spark arrestor screen zanny? Wouldn't that be a hoot if the cap was clogged as is very typical. Maybe a dead animal up in there? I would expect your dealer could spot a clogged chimney a mile away.
The concept of draft is not a mystery. The stove manual provides min and max values along with methods to measure. If you verify sufficient draft then we can knock that off the list too.
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