2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[Dieselhead]

I think it depends on the setup, I can get to over 700 stt, with the thermo not even close to wide open, I'd play it by ear not every setup is the same.

 

[mwhitnee]

I've seen the stovetop at 500+ over the cat at low burn, with the front of the stove under 350. I've also seen the same 500-550 at high burn with the front of the stove over 750.

Sounds like i should put the stove top meter on the front? 750 is high.

 

[BKVP]

I've seen the stovetop at 500+ over the cat at low burn, with the front of the stove under 350. I've also seen the same 500-550 at high burn with the front of the stove over 750.

I have posted to this anomaly before, but, it is possible for the cat to get much hotter on low than on high settings. This has to do with residence, the amount of time the smoke takes to pass through the combustor. While the model may be rated at .88 gr/hr., it actually is burning much cleaner than that about 80% of the time due to the tendency to burn low and medium low burns.

 

[Poindexter]

No elbows. One advantage to buyinh a house with a prefab fireplace installed by the builder is after demolition the ceiling joists and rafters line up real nice.

 

[Ashful]

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.

Yahbut... the BK Alien Technology (actually, just a bi-metal coil spring) already does this for you, when you find the right t'stat setting. You just can't turn it down much past where you hear it click shut, at your desired burn rate. As the burn wanes, it will cool and open the air control. If you turn the knob down way past where it's just closed at your desired burn rate, then you're defeating this feature.

BTW... RC servos do some unpredictable things as they're losing power, in a power failure situation. Is your controller designed to be fail-safe?

 

[mwhitnee]

Yesterday first full load ever in my new King. 24.5 hours later I woke up to find nothing in the firebox. Not one leftover coal and barely any ash. Stove was still warm to the touch, house was still 70 degrees downstairs AND upstairs. All on one load of cherry. Amazing.

I can't even really give a good estimate at this point on how much wood I will save this year compared to last year.

 

[Ashful]

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.

You have a better memory than me! I ran a half dozen loads thru one of them in June (it was a cold June, for us!). All partial loads on a mix of oak and 250 year old structural timber (cutoffs from re-configuring my barn). I can't remember now what settings I used, or burn times I achieved. This summer was a blur!

 

[Ashful]

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.

I'm seeing a shortcoming in the BK design, which I think could be very easily resolved. The cat probe gives a false reading with the fan running, sometimes showing the cat as inactive when it is not, even at relatively low fan settings.

I think this could be very easily improved by sliding an insulating sleeve onto the exposed portion of the cat probe shaft, where it's exposed in the convection deck. I'm wondering why BK didn't just do this, as the hole in the top deck is easily large enough to permit this.

 

[Ashful]

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.

The literature states it is impossible to overfire a BK when operating with front door and bypass closed. Not true?

 

[mwhitnee]

The literature states it is impossible to overfire a BK when operating with front door and bypass closed. Not true?

True just learned that from this forum. I'm going to look over the manual again this morning. I need to learn the best way to wash the glass as well.

 

[webby3650]

I'm seeing a shortcoming in the BK design, which I think could be very easily resolved. The cat probe gives a false reading with the fan running, sometimes showing the cat as inactive when it is not, even at relatively low fan settings.

I think this could be very easily improved by sliding an insulating sleeve onto the exposed portion of the cat probe shaft, where it's exposed in the convection deck. I'm wondering why BK didn't just do this, as the hole in the top deck is easily large enough to permit this.

I placed a brass gas flare fitting between my inner and outer top. This helped make the cat probe reading more accurate by protecting it from the moving air. If it was insulated somehow it would be even better.

 

[Ashful]

At 12' mine doesn't like to be run much under 1.5.... I would imagine there are slight differences from stat to stat and wood is also a factor.
Not that it won't operate on 1. it will just stall eventually.

Correlate to "o'clock", please, for those of us with newer BKs. I'm running a short pipe on one of mine, although not quite as short as yours.

 

[Woody harrelson]

i'm at 15 hours since I loaded it yesterday. cat is at about the twelve oclock position. stove top is about 350. there's still a decent amount of wood left but I don't see it making it another 9 hours. time will tell! I will call it quits when the cat drops out of the active zone. I'm using well seasoned oak, about 15% moisture content. I could run the stove at the lowest setting without the cat stalling. I think I need to start making my splits larger

 

[Scoutin Wyo]

True just learned that from this forum. I'm going to look over the manual again this morning. I need to learn the best way to wash the glass as well.

With my king, I used to put in 4-6 splits and run it on high with the bypass closed while we watched TV. It would clean the glass real nice and give us a flame show. Then pack it full and dial down in 15 minute increments to a slow over night burn. We shall see how the princess runs in the new house this winter.

 

[BKVP]

I'm seeing a shortcoming in the BK design, which I think could be very easily resolved. The cat probe gives a false reading with the fan running, sometimes showing the cat as inactive when it is not, even at relatively low fan settings.

I think this could be very easily improved by sliding an insulating sleeve onto the exposed portion of the cat probe shaft, where it's exposed in the convection deck. I'm wondering why BK didn't just do this, as the hole in the top deck is easily large enough to permit this.

The manual describes that all catalytic thermometer readings should be observed after the fans have been turned off for a few minutes. When the fan air moves across or near the bimetallic spring under the thermometer, that air changes the reading. Especially on certain models more than others. But I will mention the probe shielding to the guys in the lab.

 

[BKVP]

i'm at 15 hours since I loaded it yesterday. cat is at about the twelve oclock position. stove top is about 350. there's still a decent amount of wood left but I don't see it making it another 9 hours. time will tell! I will call it quits when the cat drops out of the active zone. I'm using well seasoned oak, about 15% moisture content. I could run the stove at the lowest setting without the cat stalling. I think I need to start making my splits larger

Burn times are heavily influenced by the amount of surface area exposed to combustion. 50lbs in one piece burns much longer than 50lbs comprised of 5 pieces.

 

[Highbeam]

Correlate to "o'clock", please, for those of us with newer BKs. I'm running a short pipe on one of mine, although not quite as short as yours.

You're going to be fighting this label thing until you find a way to mimic the old label. O'clock estimations are not near specific enough. Even then, the thermostat on each model is different so you can only compare settings with other Ashfords.

How long before somebody prints a photo from a labeled thermostat, cuts, and tapes it onto their 30.1 stat dial?

 

[Woody harrelson]

Burn times are heavily influenced by the amount of surface area exposed to combustion. 50lbs in one piece burns much longer than 50lbs comprised of 5 pieces.

Did you ever burn that 50lb chunk of walnut or whatever it was?

 

[Niko]

After letting the stove settle from a reload and the thermostat setting of 1.5 I have a temp of roughly 300 degrees.

Burn times are heavily influenced by the amount of surface area exposed to combustion. 50lbs in one piece burns much longer than 50lbs comprised of 5 pieces.

Good to know. I thought more splits, you get more smoke.

 

[begreen]

Burn times are heavily influenced by the amount of surface area exposed to combustion. 50lbs in one piece burns much longer than 50lbs comprised of 5 pieces.

What is the setup that BK has used to achieve maximum recorded burn times?

 

[Woody harrelson]

What is the setup that BK has used to achieve maximum recorded burn times?

and what do you consider an active burn? when does the clock stop?

 

[Woody harrelson]

20 hrs and it's still going. some chunks of burnt wood left, they look like if you poked them they would fall apart into coals. decent amount of coals in there too. cat temp is at about 11 oclock. stove top temp is at 300. I might make it to 24hrs.

 

[begreen]

That's awesome. Looks like it's time to add your stove to your signature.

 

[goldenheart]

I ran 13'6" of pipe all year last year. It was enough in cold weather, but the stove was really tempermental at low tstat settings, I seem to recall it settled down below freezing and ran great below 0dF, when I wasn't really using low settings anyway.

We have 12-13ft of liner and pipe, and usually wait until +10F to burn (unless there's a power outage). Its only heating 1200 sq ft, so even a small fire is plenty warm. We don't turn it all the way down, because I need at least a finger of fire for entertainment. The niels are usually good for the blue zigzag flame.

 

[BKVP]

You're going to be fighting this label thing until you find a way to mimic the old label. O'clock estimations are not near specific enough. Even then, the thermostat on each model is different so you can only compare settings with other Ashfords.

How long before somebody prints a photo from a labeled thermostat, cuts, and tapes it onto their 30.1 stat dial?

Not true....other Ashford's may have diffrent chimney and draft making any comparison not accurate.