2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[mwhitnee]

I am turning it with a servo driven by a RC servo tester.
The servo set up was part of an automated system i tried last year. After i gave up on the automated controller i stuck a Servo tester i had laying around on it just for the heck of it. It worked out so well it's still hanging on the wall... Each click is a very small adjustment to the stove.
I know how most feel about electronics on a stove :0 It runs on 110 volts or will run on a RC Servo battery for over a month.

Very creative!

 

[HarvestMan]

I am turning it with a servo driven by a RC servo tester.
The servo set up was part of an automated system i tried last year. After i gave up on the automated controller i stuck a Servo tester i had laying around on it just for the heck of it. It worked out so well it's still hanging on the wall... Each click is a very small adjustment to the stove.
I know how most feel about electronics on a stove :0 It runs on 110 volts or will run on a RC Servo battery for over a month.

Interesting! Perhaps you have posted this elsewhere, but I have not seen it. Are you doing this because the t-stat does not give you the control you want or are you just a tinkerer by nature?
How does your setup compare to the t-stat. I'm really interested in your results ... is there another thread where you may have posted them?
Thanks.

 

[Woody harrelson]

Interesting! Perhaps you have posted this elsewhere, but I have not seen it. Are you doing this because the t-stat does not give you the control you want or are you just a tinkerer by nature?
How does your setup compare to the t-stat. I'm really interested in your results ... is there another thread where you may have posted them?
Thanks.

He is remotely turning the Tstat knob with the servo because it's too hard to reach it/ see it for him

 

[HarvestMan]

He is remotely turning the Tstat knob with the servo because it's too hard to reach it/ see it for him

D@mn, you BK owners have some interesting t-stat issues ... and solutions. I'm beginning to think you guys are just bored from only having to load your stoves every 24 hours.

 

[turbojoe]

Interesting! Perhaps you have posted this elsewhere, but I have not seen it. Are you doing this because the t-stat does not give you the control you want or are you just a tinkerer by nature?
How does your setup compare to the t-stat. I'm really interested in your results ... is there another thread where you may have posted them?
Thanks.

This started it all ( https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/smart-stove-controller-on-blaze-king.139761/ )

D@mn, you BK owners have some interesting t-stat issues ... and solutions. I'm beginning to think you guys are just bored from only having to load your stoves every 24 hours.

No T stat issues other than placement of stove. And yes on the bored BK owners putting crazy electronic stuff on a perfectly great stove...

 

[HarvestMan]

No T stat issues other than placement of stove.

I know this isn't nearly as sexy as your solution, but did you contemplate mounting a mirror so you could see the t-stat setting?

 

[turbojoe]

I know this isn't nearly as sexy as your solution, but did you contemplate mounting a mirror so you could see the t-stat setting?

That would work too... It really isn't a problem. was able to run the stove as it came no problem.
The reason i did this originally was to test the stove with the Smart Controller. Once i got tired of no support on software changes to better suit a cat stove i threw a servo checker on it and made it a 10 set point set up.
The main feature i miss is that the air would slowly open to 100% near end of burn to burn down coals and extend the burn a bit longer if i wasn't there to do so. The add wood timer was handy also.
Fill stove, hit the add wood button, the draft goes to 100% for a user set amount of time and then goes into draft temp controll. No worring about forgetting to turn it down.
The draft adjust to hold a set temp sounded better than it worked. Wrong PID loop for a Cat stove and these stove don't like the draft being constantly adjusted.
BK did there homework on there t stat This stove needs nothing. I'm just a tinkerer...lol

 

[turbojoe]

I did verify that a 100 cell Catalyst needs alot of draft to work...lol. the one i used was a heavly loaded test cat. Once she lite off nothing but how air came out the stack It just couldn't overcome the extra restriction after half a load was burnt off.

PS... don't do this, Chris will come to your house and slap you... lmao

 

[Isaiah53]

Has anyone had one of the Durafoil cats fail? I've run the stove two nights this fall and the cat probe won't go above the 12 o'clock position with the bypass closed and the stat set on 3. Both the cat probe and flue probe have a black glaze on them. Using hardwood that has been css for over 2 years.

The face of the cat has a brown soot on it, and was clean prior to the first burn. I cleaned it with a soft brush attachment on a shop vac and there was no sign of the coating coming off or anything out of order.

Stove was purchased in Feb 2013. Nearest dealer is a couple hours away.

Thoughts?

Edit: added in the stat setting.

I am certainly no expert on this, but it appears to me that somehow creosote has formed in the area of the cat. I would check your wood moisture content. Any possibility you have been running with the cat engaged at low temperatures? Maybe a leaking by-pass of some sort that allows gas to flow through the cat even when by-passed.

 

[Poindexter]

I should mention for 24 hour burns with my local spruces and birches i have to leave the fan kit on my A30 turned off.

Once it is cold enough out versus my pretty good insulation envelope I will have to turn the fan kit on, i wont be getting 24 hour burns again until the back side of winter coming into spring when i can turn the fan kit back off.

I think Ashful has a shot at 24 hour burns with the tsat at 1 oclock and the fan kit on slow, but only because he has access to magnifixent east coast harwoods that i cant get.

 

[Poindexter]

I should mention for 24 hour burns with my local spruces and birches i have to leave the fan kit on my A30 turned off.

Once it is cold enough out versus my pretty good insulation envelope I will have to turn the fan kit on, i wont be getting 24 hour burns again until the back side of winter coming into spring when i can turn the fan kit back off.

I think Ashful has a shot at 24 hour burns with the tsat at 1 oclock and the fan kit on slow, but only because he has access to magnifixent east coast harwoods that i cant get.

 

[Highbeam]

I think the manual states that a lower tstat setting will result in a higher cat temp because it will be eating more smoke which raises the temp. I'm sure one of the experienced blaze king burners will give you some suggestions.

Yes, strange things happen when you try to turn down a cat stove. Don't open the bypass when things get too hot, you'll just warp the bypass frame and ruin the stove. Trust the engineering, set your stat at the desired output and leave it alone unless the cat meter drops to inactive, then you need to bump it up.

Some wood offgasses really fast and the cat goes wild on the fuel.

 

[claybe]

Sorry, back to the sticker issue...I just wish they were all the same so all of us can just get along! I have dots, you have numbers, you have o'clock, I have the sweep of range, etc. I can't talk to Kings because I only have a princess....personally I like the numbers and it took me about 2 years to figure out how my dots lined up with numbers. Only then did I really figure out how to use the stove (only based on me figuring out how my dots measures put to the numbers of everyone else). Just my 2 cents.

 

[mwhitnee]

BK owners what does your glass look like when it gets black? Just wondering if this is normal.

 

[blueguy]

Normal

 

[jeff_t]

That's nuthin'.

 

[mwhitnee]

So i just continued burning since yesterday. I am very happy that my draft is not an issue, as my stove venting into the chimney is less than ideal.

Super easy to operate. Started with a smaller load for a break in fire then added wood later. I couldn't believe how much wood was left in the morning (7:30am).

My wood seems to be burning fine. I have thrown in an Envi block with each load.

The thermostat is more sensitive than i anticipated. Almost over fired it last night but caught it in time. I know about the lag time involved with the t stat, I was just being impatient.

Can I trust the cat thermometer at this point? I only have a stove top thermometer right now. I'm assuming I can run the cat needle near the end of the range on the dial?

 

[Niko]

Got a question for my fellow blaze buddies. So i loaded up my King Ultra to the brim with a bunch of mixed dry oak, did the usually starting procedure. Turned down the thermostat to 1.5 from fully open when i saw the active meter around the 3/4 range. Ok so she went beaultiful all morning, afternoon and night. 24 hrs later the box has roughly 40 percemt wood left maybe more, but the cat is in the non active range. Turned the thermostat back all the way up till she got nack up into the active rang, then back down to 1.5.

Question is threw out the long burn times are you guys messing the the thermostats at all so that you can keep cat in active range?

I am planning adding another 4 feet of chimney as im at 16 feet now.

By know means im I complaining. Just want to make something even better!

 

[Highbeam]

So i just continued burning since yesterday. I am very happy that my draft is not an issue, as my stove venting into the chimney is less than ideal.

Super easy to operate. Started with a smaller load for a break in fire then added wood later. I couldn't believe how much wood was left in the morning (7:30am).

My wood seems to be burning fine. I have thrown in an Envi block with each load.

The thermostat is more sensitive than i anticipated. Almost over fired it last night but caught it in time. I know about the lag time involved with the t stat, I was just being impatient.

Can I trust the cat thermometer at this point? I only have a stove top thermometer right now. I'm assuming I can run the cat needle near the end of the range on the dial?

You can trust the cat dial. The only information of value from that cat dial is whether the cat is active or inactive. Use it as an idiot light. On or off. The cat dial often will point past the end of the range, especially with a fresh cat. Do not be tempted to try and fiddle with the thermostat to try to keep the cat dial in a particular place. The stat operates on stove temp and the cat dial indicates cat temp. Set the stat, sit back, and let it work.

 

[Highbeam]

Got a question for my fellow blaze buddies. So i loaded up my King Ultra to the brim with a bunch of mixed dry oak, did the usually starting procedure. Turned down the thermostat to 1.5 from fully open when i saw the active meter around the 3/4 range. Ok so she went beaultiful all morning, afternoon and night. 24 hrs later the box has roughly 40 percemt wood left maybe more, but the cat is in the non active range. Turned the thermostat back all the way up till she got nack up into the active rang, then back down to 1.5.

Question is threw out the long burn times are you guys messing the the thermostats at all so that you can keep cat in active range?

I am planning adding another 4 feet of chimney as im at 16 feet now.

By know means im I complaining. Just want to make something even better!

Your cat stalled. Your particular installation has shown that the 1.5 setting is too low. Once you find that low setting that maintains an active cat, you can set it there and walk away. No messing with the stat until reload.

 

[mwhitnee]

Thank you. It's just been cruising at 500 stove top temp all morning and putting out a lot of heat. Have fan on medium and ceiling fans in the room (big room) and it's starting to disperse the heat nicely throughout the house. In the 40s here in mass and rainy/windy.

Chimney has some smoke coming out of it but not too bad, kinda wispy smoke. I would imagine i would see more smoke given the weather?

I did the first break in and cooled it down but just kept running the stove in the morning, bringing it back to temp. Didn't really feel I have to shut the stove down.

 

[Woody harrelson]

Thank you. It's just been cruising at 500 stove top temp all morning and putting out a lot of heat. Have fan on medium and ceiling fans in the room (big room) and it's starting to disperse the heat nicely throughout the house. In the 40s here in mass and rainy/windy.

Chimney has some smoke coming out of it but not too bad, kinda wispy smoke. I would imagine i would see more smoke given the weather?

I did the first break in and cooled it down but just kept running the stove in the morning, bringing it back to temp. Didn't really feel I have to shut the stove down.

I never shut mine down either.

 

[Niko]

Your cat stalled. Your particular installation has shown that the 1.5 setting is too low. Once you find that low setting that maintains an active cat, you can set it there and walk away. No messing with the stat until reload.

I plan on putting another 4 feet pf pipe to maybe help with the stalling. why do you think it is stalling after 24 hrs tho with a good amount of wood left? If i put the temp higher on the thermostar then obviosuly id get much hotter in the room which would be way too hot.

 

[Woody harrelson]

I have my tstat turned all the way down. stove top temp is at 400 and the cat thermometer is at 12oclock. I have no smoke at all coming from chimney. If someone looked at chimney outside they would have no Idea I have a smoldering fire going on

 

[Woody harrelson]

I plan on putting another 4 feet pf pipe to maybe help with the stalling. why do you think it is stalling after 24 hrs tho with a good amount of wood left? If i put the temp higher on the thermostar then obviosuly id get much hotter in the room which would be way too hot.

from what I have read a better draft will allow you to run a lower thermostat setting, but like I said, it's only what I have read