Am I a traitor?
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OhioBurner©
Minister of Fire
There should be no question the Ashford will perform well here, you're talking about one of the best stoves on the market. And it is definitely nicely finished with coated cast iron, if you like that look. But you pay for that difference, well at least around here the Ashford was considerably more, about double the price actually iirc. My big house could probably even use the King, but I wanted to utilize the existing hearth which meant horizontal only vent. The ISH does great but my house is just not designed well for heating with a single stove, I have to run 2 stoves for a good portion of winter. The paint on my ISH already has some rusting after just a year, wish I could have got it porcelain coated.
That is too bad the sig feature is neglected. Most of us put what stoves we have and stuff like that in our sig to help prevent those kind of common questions. Is that why all your posts have that extra line talked on about what your posting with? I had a phone that did that once, shut that feature off right quick.
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I had a legit installer do it top to bottom for my mother conscience. I ask him twice and so did my mother about that very question. He assured us that it is fine and showed us in the Ashford manual that minimum corner clearance is 4" and we are at 6"
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So after my 1st burn I can't really give a accurate review, I'm still working out the kinks. For example the damper has a light dimmer type knob, picture 12 o'clock is low and 5 o'clock is high. Except the knob will turn back way pass the skinnist low strip of ribbon (12 o'clock) to 7 o'clock. So when I was trying to get the longest burn with 5 average hard maple splits at 17% moister, fire went out around midnight. Now I was very impressed with 10hrs on five split (better than my WSH) but when I finished work and went to fire her up again, I see that there was a still alot of wood to burn, and ithe fire had just gone... out or so I thought after getting some air there was a glow. So technically the fire was still going, on the 30th hr.
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drz1050
Minister of Fire
Coals can last forever in a bed of ash... I wouldn't consider that the fire still going.. once it drops out of the active range, that's when I consider the burn over.
But yes, the thermostat can turn far past close. Find out where yours closes on a cold stove- for me, that's right around the 1 o'clock mark. Anything past that doesn't change a thing. If you run it at this level or below, you'll have fuel left over at the end of the burn unless you have exceptional draft.
But yes, the thermostat can turn far past close. Find out where yours closes on a cold stove- for me, that's right around the 1 o'clock mark. Anything past that doesn't change a thing. If you run it at this level or below, you'll have fuel left over at the end of the burn unless you have exceptional draft.
bfitz3
Feeling the Heat
Coke. Red Sox. Toyota.Because out of all of the great rivalries -- Coke vs. Pepsi, Red Sox vs. Yankees, Chevy vs. Ford, etc. . . . no one ever has Nissan vs. any body.
Ok. So I've been having alot of problems with this stove backpuffing. I know it maybe due to draft but this is ridiculous, the Cat disengaged and danper 90% open and its still back puffing. So far everytime I try and run with the Cat engaged it will drop out of the active Zone and the stove with start emitting smoke from everywhere. Any advice is welcome
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However I just tried something and it may be working. I think I needed wait alot longer to engage. Longer than my PH that's for sure.
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Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
For every cat stove there seems to be temp minimums that you have to attain before you can reliably light off, weather the temps are stove-top, cat probe or flue meter.
Can you describe the chimney setup from the stove up? What is the total height? From what I've read, the BKs wouldn't run on a 13' stack like the Fireview is doing at my BIL's house, even when it's barely cool outside. Not sure what the Woodstock hybrids' capabilities are in regard to short chimneys and warmer outside temps. It should be plenty cold up there now, so I'm guessing you have a short stack on the Ashford?
Yeah. It's 12'6" straight up only about 4 feet exterior. I know that the manual says 15" min but the it would look like he'll and we (me and installer) felt that the draft seemed good. Temperatures have been mild for the area 40's during the day low 30's at night.
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Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Never had a back-puff from either of my BK's, but my Jotul catalytics used to back-puff like crazy on my shorter (15 feet) chimney. Never on the taller chimney.
Can't blame the stove, if your chimney is 17% shorter than their listed bare minimum.
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Can't blame the stove, if your chimney is 17% shorter than their listed bare minimum.
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Highbeam
Minister of Fire
My 2012 BK was delivered with a manual requiring 12' minimum chimney height and that's what I gave it. Also with only 4' above the roof. I've never had anything that I would call a back puff. Only the firebox flame bursts that happen when you snuff a raging fire and the gasses occasionally burst into flames for a few cycles until it settles down. More operator error than draft related. If you are getting backpuffs then try turning the intake down in stages.
15' is a new requirement for the new stoves (Ashford, Chinook, scirroco) and then they changed the old manuals for the princess to be consistent whether they needed it or not. I would prefer 15' because I believe that it would allow a wider range of outputs (a lower low) but I can say that it would look dumb having another section of chimey plus braces on the roof and would not gain wife acceptance either!
AFAIK, the Sirocco and Ashford have a different firebox than the Princess. They were tested with 15' flues and have always had that requirement.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Yes, that is correct. Maybe I wasn't clear enough.The princess had a 12' requirement that was changed to 15' around the same time of the release of the new models which always had the 15' requirement. Thought the princess stove was unchanged. Also, not certain, but the king likely had the same 12' requirement and now is 15'.
JA600L
Minister of Fire
Well. So far the Ashford is a really nice and efficient stove, does anything as advertised. I had some trouble with finding the absolute lowest setting on the damper. Turns if I set to as low as it could go, the fire would go out. I think it is lack of draft, we went with the absolute minimum stack height for the overall look of the exterior of the house. Also I don't like the ashtray system when comparing it to mine. Now I know ppl don't like a gasket seal ashtray but the convenience of cleaning is second to none. One last thing the glass gets dirty quick on the Bk, compared to my airwash glass on the PH which I haven't cleaned in over a yr. Granted my glass is due but that is more ash causing a blurry view as apposed to black sediment constantly on the BK. So after a 6 weeks or so BK and PH are about neck and neck heating and doing what a woodstove is supposed to do. Bk with the longer burn times, not by alot 15-20 percent longer. But the PH with the better Heat output and solid burn times. But where I found the PH out does the BK is smaller day to day stuff. I like drinking my coffee before work and watching morming reload burn up, and that airwash is there to make that happen. Cleaning out the ash is a breeze. And like putting Gas in her van, putting wood in the stove is something my wife just seems to forget! But no problem, the PH will pump out the btu's to heat the house warm real quick.
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
The Ashford ash system sucks. I'll give you that. In fact, I've recently given up on using it altogether, and switched over to a metal bucket with a shovel. It's a shame BK did not give better consideration to this.
On the glass and airwash, it's hard to follow your complaint here, but are you saying your glass is black? You must be burning wet wood, or failing to follow the instructions for burning on high 20 - 30 minutes after cat active engagement, if you're having trouble with black glass. I have two Ashfords, on chimneys of 15 and 29 feet, and both have clean glass. It only gets black in the lower corners on long burns, but cleans right up, when run on high with each reload.
On the glass and airwash, it's hard to follow your complaint here, but are you saying your glass is black? You must be burning wet wood, or failing to follow the instructions for burning on high 20 - 30 minutes after cat active engagement, if you're having trouble with black glass. I have two Ashfords, on chimneys of 15 and 29 feet, and both have clean glass. It only gets black in the lower corners on long burns, but cleans right up, when run on high with each reload.
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kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Don't you use wood from the same stack in both stoves?
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JA600L
Minister of Fire
I have no experience with Blaze King's ash removal system but the setup in the Ideal Steel is fantastic. I used to shovel ashes out of my Quadra Fire and that makes a big mess. The pan has a lid you slide on while you pull the pan out. It doesn't get any easier.
Attachments
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Yup. The wood is from the same stack. I will say maybe I'm burning at too low, which is causing the black window. But that is because I'm having trouble with the damper. Which I could be another complaint. On my PH if I'm looking for "low" I just turn the damper all the way down. On the Ashford I had to find low on my own. If turned it all the way down the fire would go out. But hey it's still early in the competition, maybe by February I'll be loving it. Sorry if you couldn't follow my last post too well. Been busy with the holidays, and that post was hastily written in the mall tied the hitchin post with the rest of the husband's.
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
Yeah, it's weird we have the ability to turn way down past any useful setting, as I guess a lot of people probably run into a similar problem, but it actually works very well. Try a setting around 3 o'clock on the dial (middle of normal range) and do a full burn. Make small adjustments from there, to dial in on your desired burn time. I suspect there aren't many burning with a knob setting below 2 o'clock without stalling, but someone will surely chime in here soon, to disagree.
