Blaze king King issues need help

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Ok we took them in town and were told that they both were in good shape so I'm not sure but we will definitely get a new one! We were also told that the flame shield didn't matter?

If they were both used by the original owner in the manner you described (trash, pop cans, diesel) they are probably bad. I doubt anyone could say by simply looking at them. The flame shield also matters. It prevents flame impengment of the cat, also bad.

When your stove cools you can open the bypass. Once it's open you should be able to reach about half way back and stick your hand through a hole in the top of the stove. This is the bypass. You can feel for a gasket surrounding the outer perimeter of the hole. If it is there you can proceed to check it by using the dollar bill test by closing the bypass, press down till you here it latch then try to pull the dollar bill out. Due this all the way around. If there is very little to no resistance then you need to move on to adjusting the tension on the plate.
 
Ok so what does the short stack mean? We will get the 45's instead and change that around. When the stove is Closed should you be able to see the smoke going thru cat or being drawn to the cat? Do you know of any good diagrams of what everything looks like on the inside and where the gasket on the bypass goes?
The gasket for the bypass does it have to be any specific type or brand?
If they were both used by the original owner in the manner you described (trash, pop cans, diesel) they are probably bad. I doubt anyone could say by simply looking at them. The flame shield also matters. It prevents flame impengment of the cat, also bad.

When your stove cools you can open the bypass. Once it's open you should be able to reach about half way back and stick your hand through a hole in the top of the stove. This is the bypass. You can feel for a gasket surrounding the outer perimeter of the hole. If it is there you can proceed to check it by using the dollar bill test by closing the bypass, press down till you here it latch then try to pull the dollar bill out. Due this all the way around. If there is very little to no resistance then you need to move on to adjusting the tension on the plate.
How do i adjust the tension? And is there a certain type of gasket or brand that needs to used? When buying a new cat which kind would you recommend? Do you know if you can call blaze king and order the flame shield parts that are missing?
 
Ok we took them in town and were told that they both were in good shape so I'm not sure but we will definitely get a new one! We were also told that the flame shield didn't matter?

If they were both used by the original owner in the manner you described (trash, pop cans, diesel) they are probably bad. I doubt anyone could say by simply looking at them. The flame shield also matters. It prevents flame impengment of the cat, also bad.

When your stove cools you can open the bypass. Once it's open you should be able to reach about half way back and stick your hand through a hole in the top of the stove. This is the bypass. You can feel for a gasket surrounding the outer perimeter of the hole. If it is there you can proceed to check it by using the dollar bill test by closing the bypass, press down till you here it latch then try to pull the dollar bill out. Due this all the way around. If there is very little to no resistance then you need to move on to adjusting the tension on the plate.
The gasket for the bypass does it have to be any specific type or brand?

How do i adjust the tension? And is there a certain type of gasket or brand that needs to used? When buying a new cat which kind would you recommend? Do you know if you can call blaze king and order the flame shield parts that are missing?

Honestly, there is a bolt on the bypass plate with a locknut I think. You will need to loosen the locknut and tighten the bolt until you have proper tension on the gasket. I have done it but I don't remember if that is exactly the way it's done and if it is somebody else can probably explain the step by step better than I can. You will need to pull the pipe off the stove. You can work the bypass while watching it and actualy get a good idea of what's going on and what needs done from there
 
Do you have a Blaze King dealer in your area that can help you with the parts you may need? If not, I'm sure BKVP could point you in the right direction.

I'm sorry for the repost of my prior post, I'm not sure what happened there. May be my phone I'm using but the other day I had a post that never posted. When I logged back in I had double posted.
 
Do you have a Blaze King dealer in your area that can help you with the parts you may need? If not, I'm sure BKVP could point you in the right direction.

I'm sorry for the repost of my prior post, I'm not sure what happened there. May be my phone I'm using but the other day I had a post that never posted. When I logged back in I had double posted.
That's the place that has been telling us that the cat is fine and that we don't need to have the flame shield. Any idea of difference on the cat? And what type of gasket?
 
Are you burning MPB killed Ponderosa pine? The bypass gasket is 5/8 inch. Also what part of the state are you in?
 
The loading door uses a 7/8 fiberglass gasket. I'm not sure of the thickness or type of gasket for the bypass but hopefully, if you need one, someone will be along that does know..

This is out of my manual,
Test the catalyst in your Blaze King as follows;
Build a fire using the same technique you have in the past. Leave the thermostat knob on a medium (2) setting. When the fire is well established (within 1 to 3 hours) turn the thermostat knob between 1.5 and 1.75. A proper operating catalyst will remain active. And the catalyst thermometer will remain in the "active" zone until the wood load is mostly consumed. A tired or dead catalyst will, with the thermostat on 1.75 or lower, go out completely and the thermometer needle will fall into the "inactive" zone. Repeat this procedure several times over several days. (Remember that the thermometer has a built in lag time of 4 to 8 minutes.) if, after several test burns, the thermometer will not indicate an active catalyst, it may require cleaning or replacement. It is also possible that the thermometer itself may not be reading accurately.

Bare in mind though, if you have leaking gaskets, wet wood or not enough chimney it will scuw your results so those are things that need checked and corrected if need be before testing the cat.

BK recomends 15' minimum chimney I believe and double wall from the stove to the cap.
 
The loading door uses a 7/8 fiberglass gasket. I'm not sure of the thickness or type of gasket for the bypass but hopefully, if you need one, someone will be along that does know..

This is out of my manual,
Test the catalyst in your Blaze King as follows;
Build a fire using the same technique you have in the past. Leave the thermostat knob on a medium (2) setting. When the fire is well established (within 1 to 3 hours) turn the thermostat knob between 1.5 and 1.75. A proper operating catalyst will remain active. And the catalyst thermometer will remain in the "active" zone until the wood load is mostly consumed. A tired or dead catalyst will, with the thermostat on 1.75 or lower, go out completely and the thermometer needle will fall into the "inactive" zone. Repeat this procedure several times over several days. (Remember that the thermometer has a built in lag time of 4 to 8 minutes.) if, after several test burns, the thermometer will not indicate an active catalyst, it may require cleaning or replacement. It is also possible that the thermometer itself may not be reading accurately.

Bare in mind though, if you have leaking gaskets, wet wood or not enough chimney it will scuw your results so those are things that need checked and corrected if need be before testing the cat.

BK recomends 15' minimum chimney I believe and double wall from the stove to the cap.
Thank you we will try all of that as well! :)
 
The gasket for the bypass does it have to be any specific type or brand?
I use OEM gaskets; That way I'm sure I have the correct sizes, densities etc.
 
The loading door uses a 7/8 fiberglass gasket. I'm not sure of the thickness or type of gasket for the bypass but hopefully, if you need one, someone will be along that does know..

This is out of my manual,
Test the catalyst in your Blaze King as follows;
Build a fire using the same technique you have in the past. Leave the thermostat knob on a medium (2) setting. When the fire is well established (within 1 to 3 hours) turn the thermostat knob between 1.5 and 1.75. A proper operating catalyst will remain active. And the catalyst thermometer will remain in the "active" zone until the wood load is mostly consumed. A tired or dead catalyst will, with the thermostat on 1.75 or lower, go out completely and the thermometer needle will fall into the "inactive" zone. Repeat this procedure several times over several days. (Remember that the thermometer has a built in lag time of 4 to 8 minutes.) if, after several test burns, the thermometer will not indicate an active catalyst, it may require cleaning or replacement. It is also possible that the thermometer itself may not be reading accurately.

Bare in mind though, if you have leaking gaskets, wet wood or not enough chimney it will scuw your results so those are things that need checked and corrected if need be before testing the cat.

BK recomends 15' minimum chimney I believe and double wall from the stove to the cap.
So we were gone all day today we put wood in the fire before we left then we turned it down to about 1.5 maybe 1.75 and left just got home and all the wood inside it is there and it smells like afire that had been put out with water in our house. And you can tell some of the wood looks like it is damp and yucky black when I opened everything up to get in back into active it fired back up within a few minutes??
 
I know the cat isn't leaking because we just redid it and the door is good as well nice tight shut now the bypass is what I'm concerned about it seems like it is just hitting metal when you shut the bypass not sure if it is suppose to be or not.

I don't have a King, but mine does a muted thump, not a clang. You should be hearing metal hit gasket, not metal hit metal.

See page 39 of the manual for detailed instructions on how to inspect and replace that gasket.

If I put a new load in and let it run hot with the cat engaged, my cat is glowing red within 15-30 minutes. If you've never seen your cat glow, either it's dead or the air is going around it. (I burn wet wood, so I'm the one guy who's not gonna tell you it's the fuel! :) )
 
So we were gone all day today we put wood in the fire before we left then we turned it down to about 1.5 maybe 1.75 and left just got home and all the wood inside it is there and it smells like afire that had been put out with water in our house. And you can tell some of the wood looks like it is damp and yucky black when I opened everything up to get in back into active it fired back up within a few minutes??

THAT sounds like your stove is haunted. Are there any water pipes connected to it? :p

Seriously though, the wood was damp partway through the burn cycle? Is it raining outside?
 
I don't have a King, but mine does a muted thump, not a clang. You should be hearing metal hit gasket, not metal hit metal.

See page 39 of the manual for detailed instructions on how to inspect and replace that gasket.

If I put a new load in and let it run hot with the cat engaged, my cat is glowing red within 15-30 minutes. If you've never seen your cat glow, either it's dead or the air is going around it. (I burn wet wood, so I'm the one guy who's not gonna tell you it's the fuel! :) )
I do not think we have ever seen it burn red!?! I didn't even know it would do that, I'm betting from the beginning it has been that gasket which will have to wait till tomorrow since my fire is again going now! :)
 
In your first post you described smoke coming out of the pipe AND the back of the stove. Can you further pinpoint where the smoke is coming from? This would be only when you try to run the stove lower than "2"?

Once you turn the thermostat/draft up, load the stove, you get flames, thermometer reaches "active" you then dis-engage the bypass by turning lever on the side clockwise until it is shut. You should be able to push the lever down a little more and here a thunk as the rod cams over the bypass plate sealing the bypass shut if things are working correct. After that leave the thermostat on "3" until the stove gets hot. Cat thermometer at 1:00 or above. After that turn it down to the setting you desire in two steps giving the stove about ten minutes between step one and two.

If your wood is not optimal this would help to burn some moisture out.

BK recomends at least 15' of double wall but as you know, with the two ninetys and a horizontal run you may need to add chimney or at the least replace the 90's with 45's
 
THAT sounds like your stove is haunted. Are there any water pipes connected to it? :p

Seriously though, the wood was damp partway through the burn cycle? Is it raining outside?
I was told when this first happened about a year ago that it was a condensation problem, because we don't have a box around or chimney just the double wall stove pipe going up, not sure if that is true or not but that is what we had been told and it does it when there is a temperature change. Any ideas? It used to leave a nasty black puddle on the floor from dripping out of the 90 when we first used it.
 
I was told when this first happened about a year ago that it was a condensation problem, because we don't have a box around or chimney just the double wall stove pipe going up, not sure if that is true or not but that is what we had been told and it does it when there is a temperature change. Any ideas? It used to leave a nasty black puddle on the floor from dripping out of the 90 when we first used it.

Black puddle dripping out of the pipe seams = Wet (unseasoned) wood.

Likely draft issues also.
 
In your first post you described smoke coming out of the pipe AND the back of the stove. Can you further pinpoint where the smoke is coming from? This would be only when you try to run the stove lower than "2"?

Once you turn the thermostat/draft up, load the stove, you get flames, thermometer reaches "active" you then dis-engage the bypass by turning lever on the side clockwise until it is shut. You should be able to push the lever down a little more and here a thunk as the rod cams over the bypass plate sealing the bypass shut if things are working correct. After that leave the thermostat on "3" until the stove gets hot. Cat thermometer at 1:00 or above. After that turn it down to the setting you desire in two steps giving the stove about ten minutes between step one and two.

If your wood is not optimal this would help to burn some moisture out.

BK recomends at least 15' of double wall but as you know, with the two ninetys and a horizontal run you may need to add chimney or at the least replace the 90's with 45's
Ya if it gets hot in the house and I turn it down below two it will randomly not always leak out of the thermostat flap in the back of the stove. When the stove dies down we will redo the 90 in side into a 45. And next time we get to town we will buy more of the double wall to put inside I did not know it was needed on the inside of the house as well, so we will have to get the money together and get all the pieces bought to do that as well. Can anyone explain what the double wall inside the house does? I do not think we have a cat thermometer that has the 1:00 ours only had inactive and active.
 
Black puddle dripping out of the pipe seams = Wet (unseasoned) wood.

Likely draft issues also.
When we first started I know it was definitely bad draft because the issue chimney didn't even go up past the side of the house it no longer drips on the floor just some how puts moisture back in our stove when we turn it down low for long periods. Sometimes at night we will fill it up and then go to bed and wake up with hardly any word burnt and it be damp and the door inside the stove has word run marks down the glass as well.
 
If I put a new load in and let it run hot with the cat engaged, my cat is glowing red within 15-30 minutes.
Aren't you supposed to run the stove with the bypass open until the cat probe is in the 'active' zone? When I have my stoves up to temp and close the bypass, the cat is glowing in 30 seconds, not 30 minutes. I want as little un-burned smoke going through my cats as possible...
 
Aren't you supposed to run the stove with the bypass open until the cat probe is in the 'active' zone? When I have my stoves up to temp and close the bypass, the cat is glowing in 30 seconds, not 30 minutes. I want as little un-burned smoke going through my cats as possible...
So I just looked and one little corner of our catalyst is glowing and it has been closed in burning hot for 20-30 minutes
 
the cat is glowing in 30 seconds, not 30 minutes. I want as little un-burned smoke going through my cats as possible...

I guess I've never looked at it that soon? I don't think mine lights up that fast, but I have to get down on the floor and look up at it to see it, so I don't look at it very often. I am about to reload before bed though, so I'll look at it tonight. Stove's hot so the cat will only be bypassed for a few minutes.

It looks like the King's cat is a little more visible from the drawings in the manual.
 
So I just looked and one little corner of our catalyst is glowing and it has been closed in burning hot for 20-30 minutes

So you have some air flow through the cat. I've never seen one corner of mine glow. This still sounds like maybe the bypass has issues.

If that's true you should see and smell smoke coming from the flue outside when the stove's burning... do you?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Woody Stover
So you have some air flow through the cat. I've never seen one corner of mine glow. This still sounds like maybe the bypass has issues.

If that's true you should see and smell smoke coming from the flue outside when the stove's burning... do you?
What's the flue?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.