HotCoals
Minister of Fire
We just like to act like we maintain and what not..we really don't actually do all that stuff we talk about..lol.
2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)
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I dunooooo.
I won't be removing my CAT anytime in the distant future.
Everything can be cleansed with fire!
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
I am with Rossco, but I don't have a big stack of three year old oak to load into my Ashford 30.
With birch or spruce under 16% MC, split small enough you need 14-16 pieces to fill the stove, light it up, let it rip, get it hot, engage the cat, leave it on three until it burns out. You aren't going to hurt it with anything at or under 22M BTU/ cord that I know of. Daytime high here was +25dF today. If I am going to hurt something I'll still be in warranty ;-)
I do wish I had a stout cord of three year old white oak to try. If you wanna send me some I'll PM my address.
With birch or spruce under 16% MC, split small enough you need 14-16 pieces to fill the stove, light it up, let it rip, get it hot, engage the cat, leave it on three until it burns out. You aren't going to hurt it with anything at or under 22M BTU/ cord that I know of. Daytime high here was +25dF today. If I am going to hurt something I'll still be in warranty ;-)
I do wish I had a stout cord of three year old white oak to try. If you wanna send me some I'll PM my address.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Ah Oak'us Pokus. Couldn't be bothered on with it. Not when my Western Larch is only a point or two behind and drys in 20mins.
Hope no one takes my comments as detrimental to the thread. Not my intention.
I only loaded two large 'Larch' split in it tonight. To be honest its far to warm in here. The newborn is just Heat drunk and we have to wake her for feeds.
The CAT in the active zone. I threw the by-pass and opened the door slowly. Then launched two splits EW in there then closed the door. Left it on 1.5 for 15 mins. Went down and poured the coals to it. The two splits instantly lit up. Once I grilled them a little I dropped it back to 1.5. I can see the CAT reflecting off the floor. Iam not gonna cotton wool this thing. Paid good $$$$ and its gonna do what I want.
BEAUTY! Day 2 of using the Princess.. loaded it at 9pm last night, put it on 1.. woke up at 8am to 72 degree house and it's 35dF with 30mph gusts gusts outside.. and snowing..! And there was even a bunch of coals still burning, tossed on some new stuff and.. FIRE.. This thing is awesome!
Oh, and I see a lot of people saying they 'engaged' the CAT.. Mine doesn't have the engage the CAT switch, what are you referring to, just getting it hot enough for the cat to become active?
Oh, and I see a lot of people saying they 'engaged' the CAT.. Mine doesn't have the engage the CAT switch, what are you referring to, just getting it hot enough for the cat to become active?
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HotCoals
Minister of Fire
Your probably right. Hanging out here with Hot Coals and I guess I took the bait
As of now mine is into hour 52 of its longest burn to date. Will still be a couple weeks before we start 24/7 here.
Ya, my cat doesn't move
Since we're nitpicking, why CAT? Why not 'cat'? Unless we're talking about Caterpillar stock?
Pretty impressive. Longest I've gone is 48 hours.
mfetcho
Member
Ya, my cat doesn't move
Pretty impressive. Longest I've gone is 48 hours.
Sorry, I really should have clarified that. 52 hours is the longest we've ran the stove without letting it go cold.
To date, our longest burn from start to reload was 24 hours. Stove could have easily made it a few more hours with enough coals left to start the new load though.
Stove is so impressive I don't even tell many people about it. I would just get a reputation as a liar.
becasunshine
Minister of Fire
I'm getting ready to make some cornbread in a Lodge skillet on top of our Princess to go with some chili that I'll re-heat on the stove top as well. TAKE THAT, PROPANE DEALER.
Parallax
Minister of Fire
Why do I get smoke sometimes and not at others? Blaze King has a video in which the guy flips the bypass closed and the smoke stops pretty much on a dime. For me, when the smoke stops at all, it's generally over a period of a half hour or more. I notice it if I turn the thermostat up (in addition to right after a reload).
BKVP, I may have run it on high for a couple of hours once. Still no need to worry? You said it can't be run that way with the bypass door open. What if the door still isn't sealing super tight. You walked me through tightening it up, but I'm not sure I tightened it enough. The dollar bill was still pulling through without much resistance. At the end of the season, when I clean the chimney, I'll tighten it again.
BKVP, I may have run it on high for a couple of hours once. Still no need to worry? You said it can't be run that way with the bypass door open. What if the door still isn't sealing super tight. You walked me through tightening it up, but I'm not sure I tightened it enough. The dollar bill was still pulling through without much resistance. At the end of the season, when I clean the chimney, I'll tighten it again.
becasunshine
Minister of Fire
Sorry, I really should have clarified that. 52 hours is the longest we've ran the stove without letting it go cold.
To date, our longest burn from start to reload was 24 hours. Stove could have easily made it a few more hours with enough coals left to start the new load though.
Stove is so impressive I don't even tell many people about it. I would just get a reputation as a liar.
Stove makes me look good!
(and I'm a dog! See Icon.)
becasunshine
Minister of Fire
becasunshine
Minister of Fire
Well, your a cute dog
How's the cornbread?
I don't yet have a trivet, so I have the Lodge pan sitting in my griddle to give a bit of spacing at the bottom of the pan. Hopefully that will keep the bottom of the cornbread from burning. Will let you know how it turns out!
becasunshine
Minister of Fire
Also have reached point where windows are opened and stove is running. It's in the 40's outside, with the wind chill temp in the 30's, so it's not like we don't need heat!
becasunshine
Minister of Fire
Cornbread. I ended up having to take the frying pan off of the griddle and put it directly on the stove top. Once there I had to watch it closely to keep from burning the bottom but it sure cooked up nicely!
HotCoals
Minister of Fire
He says he has to relight his t-6 every night.
So I'm thinking with the BK he should not have to..and that is worth a lot.
Will the BK heat his house any better,I don't know.
But I do know going from a non cat bk to a bk with one I use way less wood..my house temp stays way more even and it's warmer then before by a significant amount.
You went from a non EPA BK to a catalytic BK. Don't know if it's a fair comparison.
Considering six cord in a season, I guess the winters in Spokane are quite a bit harsher than at the coast. A BK could certainly be burned at a rate to leave plenty of coals after twelve hours. Will it be enough? The T6 doesn't appear to be. Not sure if it will really be an upgrade or not, being very similarly sized stoves being burned at high output.
HotCoals
Minister of Fire
Probably not.
Thing is he will get longer burn times with a cat but i don't know if his house will end up warmer or colder with the longer burn times of a few hours with the cat stove till he can get it filled again.
I guess it would be interesting to know some more info.
I'm guessing a lower density softwood is being burned. Ten to eleven hours shouldn't be a problem for a T6 with good hardwood. Is the Quad still being used, or is the PE doing all the work?
In this situation, I'd be looking at a bigger stove, or a second stove.
There ain't no magic in a Blaze King. It evens out the early part of the burn cycle, with a lower peak in stove temps, and stretches that peak out for a proportionally longer time. After the offgassing is over, you are still left with a pile of coals.
I'm guessing a lower density softwood is being burned. Ten to eleven hours shouldn't be a problem for a T6 with good hardwood. Is the Quad still being used, or is the PE doing all the work?
In this situation, I'd be looking at a bigger stove, or a second stove.
There ain't no magic in a Blaze King. It evens out the early part of the burn cycle, with a lower peak in stove temps, and stretches that peak out for a proportionally longer time. After the offgassing is over, you are still left with a pile of coals.
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