2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[tarzan]

It's so sad that dealers are all thought of as worthless on here. That's far from the way it should be, and far from reality. We do as much or more service and parts after the sale, even if there's no money in it. You can't please absolutely everone, but we sure try. Many dealers still offer a much needed service to customers, with a smile. Rather than wish the dealer network away, maybe wish It would be as good as it once was..

I for one would rather build a relationship with a good local dealer whether it be stoves, tractors, guns, cars etc. even to the point I am willing to pay a few dollars more. It's often a give and take relationship where both parties end up benefiting. Honestly, that's just not happening much anymore.

I don't know what to blame it on but you keep up the good work, I think it will pay off for you.

Yeah, I know that last part sounds like one of my smart a$$ comments but it's not.

 

[Ashful]

It's so sad that dealers are all thought of as worthless on here. That's far from the way it should be, and far from reality. We do as much or more service and parts after the sale, even if there's no money in it. You can't please absolutely everone, but we sure try. Many dealers still offer a much needed service to customers, with a smile. Rather than wish the dealer network away, maybe wish It would be as good as it once was..

They're not all bad, as I was explaining in my prior post. Unfortunately, some are.

All the same, I do 90%+ of my shopping on line, since I rarely make time to go to a real store. Even our groceries and produce arrive via Fed Ex.

 

[Highbeam]

Times are changing.

Maybe if the dealer doesn't add value for the customer then they should be cut out. The only value a stove dealership has ever added for me is the physical presence of a stove to look at. Perhaps someday I'll be glad that I supported those dealerships.

 

[Gotrek]

I'm a 99% mail order kind of guy. I work for a living and going shopping on my time off is not going to happen. Its another chore. So yes its time for the stove industry to modernize. I even mail order groceries sometimes now...


But of course on the flip side I'm sure this is a good way to secure dealerships into selling your products (after sales support). So its a tricky thing to implement sometimes...

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[BKVP]

It's so sad that dealers are all thought of as worthless on here. That's far from the way it should be, and far from reality. We do as much or more service and parts after the sale, even if there's no money in it. You can't please absolutely everone, but we sure try. Many dealers still offer a much needed service to customers, with a smile. Rather than wish the dealer network away, maybe wish It would be as good as it once was..

Webby,

Keep in mind, the hearth.com family is pretty small compared to universe of customers that visit hearth shops. We get just a handful of complaints each year about dealer interactions but vastly more compliments. .

Each stove has a warranty registration card that is returned to us after a purchase is made. 97% are pleased with dealer.

Of course 100% would be better!

 

[Ashful]

First sweep completed on both Ashford 30's, last week. I normally do this in spring, but this spring was so cool I was burning all the way thru!

Had the tech from the shop where I purchased do this one, so I could see how he cleans the stoves and chimney on this new stove. Unfortunately, he showed up 3 hours ahead of our appointment time, so he was finished before I got home.

Report from tech, who services a lot of BK, was that both chimneys were pretty clean. Just a bit of brown ash in the lowest part of each. The fireboxes were a mess, tho. One brick literally glued to back of firebox with creo, and a broken brick in rear wall of each box.

The broken bricks are due to me trying to use up the long wood (cut for Jotul Firelight) that I have already CSS'd, so that problem will resolve itself. The creo may just be from the last load, as I do start each load with 20-30 minutes at WOT, to burn off such firebox deposits.

Anyone else having issues with creo build-up between rear bricks and rear wall? Running the blowers 24/7 may be contributing, I suspect, as they likely cool the rear wall.


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[tarzan]

Webby,

Keep in mind, the hearth.com family is pretty small compared to universe of customers that visit hearth shops. We get just a handful of complaints each year about dealer interactions but vastly more compliments. .

Each stove has a warranty registration card that is returned to us after a purchase is made. 97% are pleased with dealer.

Of course 100% would be better!

That's great but what about a year or two down the road? All parties are usually happy at the time the purchase is made, hence the reason a deal could be made. Service after the sale is what sets a good dealer apart from mail order.

Many times a company will contact me only days after I've purchased something to ask questions about my dealer satisfaction. I tell them the same thing. Ofcourse I'm happy now, we were able to make a deal. Contact me in a year or so if you really want to know how your dealer is doing.

 

[tarzan]

First sweep completed on both Ashford 30's, last week. I normally do this in spring, but this spring was so cool I was burning all the way thru!

Had the tech from the shop where I purchased do this one, so I could see how he cleans the stoves and chimney on this new stove. Unfortunately, he showed up 3 hours ahead of our appointment time, so he was finished before I got home.

Report from tech, who services a lot of BK, was that both chimneys were pretty clean. Just a bit of brown ash in the lowest part of each. The fireboxes were a mess, tho. One brick literally glued to back of firebox with creo, and a broken brick in rear wall of each box.

The broken bricks are due to me trying to use up the long wood (cut for Jotul Firelight) that I have already CSS'd, so that problem will resolve itself. The creo may just be from the last load, as I do start each load with 20-30 minutes at WOT, to burn off such firebox deposits.

Anyone else having issues with creo build-up between rear bricks and rear wall? Running the blowers 24/7 may be contributing, I suspect, as they likely cool the rear wall.


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Burning low and slow through the cool spring is the likely culprit for your creo buildup. My stove gets gunked up on everything above the firebricks in the shoulder seasons.

Remember, the cat solves the problems of creosote buildup normally associated with burning low and slow but it can't do anything for the inside of the firebox.

 

[drz1050]

I ended the season last year with a few hot burns. Small splits, turned all the way up. Yeah it overheated the place, but I opened some windows. Took care of all the creo in the box, and cleaned up most of the glass.

 

[jetsam]

OMG, +90dF in the main house and I am afraid to turn the stove down.

Don't do it, stop seasoning your wood at 11%.

When it cools down, check the door for air leaks.

If the stove isn't leaking, in a pinch like that you could cover the air intake with tinfoil.

I would think my magic thermostat would prevent that (the lowest poossible setting will gradually stall the stove), but I've never burned wood that dry either.

 

[Poindexter]

I get peeling sheets of creo on the back wall of my A30 running mostly wide open with spruce at 12-16% mc.

When i get in there to take out ashes i use the BK tool to scrape the sheets onto clean brick and give them another chance to get through the cat.

No sense in wasting perfectly good btus.

 

[kf6hap]

My Ashford 30.1 gunks up with creosote if I cheat and don't do the full 20 minute high burn after cat engagement. It will mostly all crumble off with a long burn at high when it gets below 40. After using the stove for 3/4 of last winter the cat did not need any cleaning. About 2-1/2 cords of mixed 60% soft and 40% oak. This crazy stove does not care if you load it with all soft or hard wood. The thermostat controls the burn rate. I never worry about the thing raging out of control if I close both of my eyes during a sneeze either. Rage anxiety, I used to call it. Can I go outside to do something and come back to a stove that is not cherry red or smoking badly because the damper was shut a smidge too much? Smoky glowing finnicky stoves of the past. I am not a greenie, but .8 grams per hour is a real good thing. We all inhale.

 

[tarzan]

My Ashford 30.1 gunks up with creosote if I cheat and don't do the full 20 minute high burn after cat engagement. It will mostly all crumble off with a long burn at high when it gets below 40. After using the stove for 3/4 of last winter the cat did not need any cleaning. About 2-1/2 cords of mixed 60% soft and 40% oak. This crazy stove does not care if you load it with all soft or hard wood. The thermostat controls the burn rate. I never worry about the thing raging out of control if I close both of my eyes during a sneeze either. Rage anxiety, I used to call it. Can I go outside to do something and come back to a stove that is not cherry red or smoking badly because the damper was shut a smidge too much? Smoky glowing finnicky stoves of the past. I am not a greenie, but .8 grams per hour is a real good thing. We all inhale.

I love that I can sleep through the night knowing the stove will not need fed nor will it overfire at 3:00 in the morning! All of my past stoves were guilty of both. Factoring in weather conditions as well as type and moisture percentage of wood to determine where to set the draft is a thing of the past with the thermostatic controlled Blaze King. Just set it and forget it! Gotta love it!

 

[Mr. Jones]

Question on cat life: I was under the impression that these cats can last 5, 6, or even more years. Then I did some reading on these forums, and it sounds like problems arise after only 2 or three years? I certainly hope they last longer than that, or this could get spendy. After much reading, I think I will also stick with ceramic cats until they can better engineer the metal ones. I've also learned about the bath in vinegar and distilled water.
Also, how does one get accurate temp readings on the cat? A stove top thermometer isn't going to tell me the cat temps.

 

[Poindexter]

@Mr. Jones , please dont count my personal data point as a manufacuter failure. I am _convinced_ mine failed due to lead poisoning, but BK covered it anyway. My dealer told me to stop asking about it, months after they said they were sending my failed cat for factory tech evaluation.

Fwiw mine was working great and then failed in one 12 hour burn. Like it got switched off, no death wail, just dead.

 

[Highbeam]

Question on cat life: I was under the impression that these cats can last 5, 6, or even more years. Then I did some reading on these forums, and it sounds like problems arise after only 2 or three years? I certainly hope they last longer than that, or this could get spendy. After much reading, I think I will also stick with ceramic cats until they can better engineer the metal ones. I've also learned about the bath in vinegar and distilled water.
Also, how does one get accurate temp readings on the cat? A stove top thermometer isn't going to tell me the cat temps.

In my experience, cat activity seems to drop off significantly during the first year. They are hyperactive at first. Then they slowly decline over the next few years until they are not active "enough" for those of us that want to be awesome. The cat companies that manufacture cats (BK does not make cats) rate these things for 10,000 hours of operation which can be less than two years for those of us with 9 month burning seasons. It can be an infinite number of years for somebody who doesn't burn at all. You will be somewhere in the middle.

Thing is, a fresh cat or a relatively new cat will be more efficient than a cat that is barely working so it will save you wood. A new cat costs about the same as a cord of wood in my area so it doesn't take long to "earn" the value of a new cat. They are super easy to replace and in my experience do not clog so there is no reason to remove them for cleaning.

Pay no attention to the temperature of a cat. It is a waste of time and causes more harm than good to try and manage cat temps with the exception of the temperature of cat engagement. You only need to worry about whether the cat is active or not. After that, let the magic of BK do the work.

Very little point in monitoring stove temp either since the cat just creates a hot spot on the stove top. The size of that hot spot is what determines output. When you really get the stove ripping, the sides of the stove will also heat up from the actual fuel combustion.

I started with a ceramic cat and moved to a steel cat. Both work great. Since BK doesn't make cats, you are buying from somebody else and some companies suck and make crap in a box called a cat. BK endorses and purchases from specific manufacturers that make good cats of both materials. If you stick to those manufacturers then you can expect excellent performance during the expected life of the cat.

You're going to love the stove but start by letting it work. Just set the thermostat somewhere in the middle and stand back.

 

[Woody harrelson]

Anyone have issues with the paint coming off their cat thermometer? Last year was the first season with this stove. I will take a picture

 

[Woody harrelson]

1season

 

[Woody harrelson]

Just got done cleaning the stove. Any tricks to getting the creo out from behind the steel plates above the fire bricks? Here's the results of the sweep from 3 1/3 cords.

 

[Highbeam]

View attachment 184173 Just got done cleaning the stove. Any tricks to getting the creo out from behind the steel plates above the fire bricks? Here's the results of the sweep from 3 1/3 cords.

Ha! those welded in steel plates are open on tops and sides and have a large space behind them that loves to fill with tons of debris. I tried cleaning it out once by using the steel pallet strapping to push out the big chunks but you really can't clean it out. We certainly haven't heard of stoves corroding out in that area so I just leave it there.

 

[Woody harrelson]

Ha! those welded in steel plates are open on tops and sides and have a large space behind them that loves to fill with tons of debris. I tried cleaning it out once by using the steel pallet strapping to push out the big chunks but you really can't clean it out. We certainly haven't heard of stoves corroding out in that area so I just leave it there.

I was thinking air was supposed to flow through them. Some part of the burn design of the stove. Why are they there?

 

[Mr. Jones]

I literally just got done cleaning that area out you're talking about behind the steel plates. I used my air compressor, along with my shop vac running to keep the dust down.

 

[Woody harrelson]

I literally just got done cleaning that area out you're talking about behind the steel plates. I used my air compressor, along with my shop vac running to keep the dust down.

Air compressor crossed my mind.

 

[tarzan]

Woody, that's amount of soot is great from 3 1/3 cords, keep doing what your doing!

The thermometer is a new one one me. Did you clean it with some blue wolf. lol!

I reach in behind the side plates and get what I can but everything back there is crunchy peely stuff so probably harmless to the stove.

 

[Woody harrelson]

Woody, that's amount of soot is great from 3 1/3 cords, keep doing what your doing!

The thermometer is a new one one me. Did you clean it with some blue wolf. lol!

I reach in behind the side plates and get what I can but everything back there is crunchy peely stuff so probably harmless to the stove.

Bkvp said condar makes the thermometer for them and they had a batch with the paint issue.