Possible BK youtube channel updates?

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Poindexter

Minister of Fire
Jun 28, 2014
3,161
Fairbanks, Alaska
Ugg. My younger daughter is home this winter, lit a fire in my cold A30 and uhh, BK's you tube channel is not setup to deal with, ahem, millenial generation burners in the home of OCD GenX (parental) BK owners.

I could possibly write, film, edit and post to youtube by AD2030 or so. Is anyone prepared to start with a cold BK, fuel at 15%MC, and walk a n00b through a cold start, in six minutes or less?

It would be perfectly fine to skip over, or attribute to "Dad" cleaning the flue and running the dollar bill tests and taking care of the ashes. Must cover subjects would be locating and operating correctly the "high" setting on the air control, what the bypass does, how to "cam" it over and why it is mission fooking critical, and not leaving the loading door open too gosh darn long. Bonus points for getting from cold stove to engaged combustor within EPA mandated 20 minutes.

Thanks. She did her best and honestly youtube would not have helped much if she had looked.
 
If it would help I could (many of you could) write the screenplay. Ass/u/me there are no useful coals in the ashes.

Millennial pulls her blanket up to her neck on the couch in the stove room.

Millennial wanders over to the woodstove. She sees the air control is on "high", the combustor is cammed over in the engaged position, and the combustor probe indicator is in the inactive zone.

Millennial moves the bypass lever to the open position and heads to the garage with the canvas firewood tote without any whining or sighs...

Top down or R-> L ignition doesn't matter, either can be done in the EPA mandated 20 minute window. The main thing is to get the loading door shut as soon as the flue gas temp needle starts moving with an adequate amount of kindling and smalls to keep the fire burning while the stove heats back up.

Maybe someone with a camera and time to edit wants to come over to film at my house?
 
Too funny. Just perused a recently uploaded BK Ashford YT review vid. "A Star is Born" did not come to mind afterward. It was painful. Its apparent that many have trouble following written procedure. Even remotely close. Ouch.
Do the vid;lol
 
Start with an outline of steps. This would be similar to a cue card that might be posted next to the stove for guests or family members starting the stove for the first time. Use that to develop and flesh out the screenplay. Rather than making it all top-down directions, have the youth ask some relevant (scripted) questions along the way. Engage your daughter and ask her what questions or problems she thought of when starting the fire. Get this while the memory is fresh.
 
A good example of a scripted, teaching video on fire starting in a stove is here:
 
There is a very similar video on the official BK channel using a catalytic stove, with the same two talented actors also about 12 minutes.

It is too long by half for my daughter. My child is still not clear on the role or purpose of the catalytic combustor, and the importance of camming over the bypass lever was not explicated.

Not without trepidation I will make time today to let my stove go cold and answer my child's questions during a cold start.

I will make a point to not reference my flue gas probe. If I can come up with steps, FAQ and perhaps a few stills, hopefully someone else can handle the filming and editing, and then send it in to Chris for possible inclusion on their channel.

My local BK dealer does still have a cutaway stove in the showroom, I dunno how common those are in other showrooms, but I have permission to take some still photos of it.
 
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My recommendation is to follow KISS design with this if the intent is to differentiate it from existing videos. Keep it simple. Don't try to cover all conditions and bases. Avoid deep dives into combustion theory. Only mention the flue gas temp if it is essential to note the temp at a required step. Otherwise, skip it. Set a length limit based on the realistic attention span of the target audience. Maybe 3 minutes? Point to other videos for more information rather than trying to cover all bases. Find some good music for the background track. If she's willing, consider having your daughter as the instructor in the video, showing a young friend the ropes.
 
Anyone else care to share their pet peeves, things to NOT do?

1. Wood too long or not fully inserted-> broken glass.
2. Not camming over the bypass level when closing bypass door -> reduced burn times and so on.
3. Running with both loading and bypass doors open too long -> warped firebox.
4. Turning the air control valve down too soon -> obstructed combustor.
5. Not enough kindling -> prolonged cold start.

I am sure there are more.

My child does not need to be an 'expert', I just want her to be able to light the stove and warm the house without damaging the stove or burning the house down.

Thanks
 
My recommendation is to follow KISS design with this if the intent is to differentiate it from existing videos. Keep it simple. Don't try to cover all conditions and bases. Avoid deep dives into combustion theory. Only mention the flue gas temp if it is essential to note the temp at a required step. Otherwise, skip it. Set a length limit based on the realistic attention span of the target audience. Maybe 3 minutes? Point to other videos for more information rather than trying to cover all bases. Find some good music for the background track. If she's willing, consider having your daughter as the instructor in the video, showing a young friend the ropes.
yes, yes, and no.

KISS yes.

Flue gas temp probe not required. If closing the loading door makes the visible flame go away, not enough kindling in use. I use the FGTP a lot, but I can teach cold starts and operate the stove without it.

Filming and editing at my house in a timely manner is not available.

I could probably fit what to do in three minutes, but I find better adherence when the subject understands why to do each thing.
 
Ha yeah i'd do it for u but i have a jotul f400 non cat.
U would then of course have to teach my wife that Full Blast On gas burner cook top is not always the best setting!
 
Anyone else care to share their pet peeves, things to NOT do?

1. Wood too long or not fully inserted-> broken glass.
2. Not camming over the bypass level when closing bypass door -> reduced burn times and so on.
3. Running with both loading and bypass doors open too long -> warped firebox.
4. Turning the air control valve down too soon -> obstructed combustor.
5. Not enough kindling -> prolonged cold start.

I am sure there are more.

My child does not need to be an 'expert', I just want her to be able to light the stove and warm the house without damaging the stove or burning the house down.

Thanks

I was thinking of all of my preferences and reasons but even my eyes started glazing over so I'm sure a millenial's would too.

Imagine you are selling this stove to a noncat operator. Convincing him it is not complicated.

1) This goes without saying.
2) Yes, part of the sentence when telling them to close it. Close it all the way until it clicks.
3) Just shut the loading door ASAP to not kill the fire, and close the bypass as soon as the cat meter tells you to. They don't need to know why.
4) Meh, Too much info. Leave it on high until the fire is established and then spin it down to your chosen setting. You did mark it for them right? Maybe close to 50% as a safe setting for all.
5) This goes without saying but won't hurt anything if the operator does it wrong.

Most important is to shut that dang bypass when the meter says so. Those bypass gasket retainers are fragile.

This is not supposed to be complicated and doesn't have to be. Always open the bypass before opening the loading door. It's okay if the flame goes out as long as the cat meter stays in the active zone.
 
So I visited my local BK dealer today. A millennial appearing staff member was able to explain how (and why) to do a cold start on a BK stove in under 6 minutes, while moving the levers and knobs on the cutaway stove on the showroom floor.

I have instructed my child to go to the dealership and ask for whatshername.

We probably don't need to reinvent the wheel here. I suspect one reason Chris travels so much is so all the floor staff all over the world can do exactly this.
 
Poindexter,

Headed your way Sunday (red eye) so technically Monday. Warm it up for me! Send her to the dealership and we'll train her there. Some young ladies that she may be able to relate to.......

Chris