We had our Blazeking insert installed about 6 weeks ago. It worked well for about 3 weeks. Now we cannot get a fire started without immense smoke. Now we cannot get it hot enough to maintain. Our house fills up with smoke and fire (we try to restart the fire) but it ultimately goes out. I have to clean glass every day because it gets so black you can’t see the fire at all. Have tried bottom up and top down stacking . Bought a moisture reader and wood dry. Used a small amount of fire starter. Bought kiln dried wood. . Used a blow torch to try and heat flu. Cleaned it out and shop vac’d the inside including catalytic. I have watched so many videos, I cannot count. The insert was installed into our fireplace. They took out flu and used oval vent connector. Fireplace is on outside wall and chimney rises about 6-7 feet above roofline of one story home. I am at a loss. I just want to pull it out except now we would have to fix what they removed. Has anyone had the same issue? Any success in finding solution? I really want to like this again but my life nags and furniture can’t take it anymore.
Problems w/ getting fire/mor smoke with new Blaze King
- Thread starter Frustated
- Start date
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kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Time to clean your chimney, more then likely your cap has crud on it and restricting flow, this happens when burning sub par wood or not letting the unit heat up after closing the bypass and automatically burning low. The cat will glow, but you should on a cold stove once the cat probe is active, close the by-pass and burn close to high setting for at least 15min then turn the T stat down.
Sub par wood - room temp split - resplit and test fresh face you’ll want 20% or lower ideally 14-18%
Sub par wood - room temp split - resplit and test fresh face you’ll want 20% or lower ideally 14-18%
When you say vent connector did they run a full liner the length of the chimney or just a connector through the old damper area?
They ran a full liner the length of the chimney. The installer had to stop first day because they needed to get a different liner to fit. Thank you all for feedback. Installer coming back out tomorrow so wish me luck.
Installer coming to check cat and liner tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I have split the wood then measured inside. We had some cedar, and piñon mainly but also looking to get oak now.
Thank you! Will follow up and report back. I have installer coming back when we started we could get fire hot and burn on active for at least 15 minutes. We had cedar and piñon but are ordering oak. I am hoping it’s a cleaning issue but we had it for such a short time. I need to know how I can avoid it again so fast.
I had split wood to test but did not have at room temp. Thank you for all the insights and suggestions!
Why didn’t it fit? What was different about the new liner vs the old liner? Was it the same size and insulated?
Truly seasoned wood is absolutely necessary for all stoves/inserts. Unfortunately truly seasoned wood, 90% of the time can not be purchased. It has to be split and stacked by you for 2 + years for hardwoods. You'll learn not to believe sellers talking about "seasoned" and "kiln dried" wood.
truly kiln dried wood near me is 680 a cord. YIKES. For that kinda money I would just operate the old oil furnace.
We are new to wood stove about three months If I am reading this right either there is a plug that needs to be cleaned (there is smoke coming out of the cap like a lot) or the Converter needs cleaning is this right?
It could be that. Warm outside temperatures and other meteorological events can cause drafting issues. These things can also be complicated by wet wood.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
So when checking your wood splits, you taking a near room temp piece of wood resplitting and checking the fresh face right?
The bypass is open when starting a fire and the air control is turned wide open also?
The chimney cap isn’t gummed up?
The bypass is open when starting a fire and the air control is turned wide open also?
The chimney cap isn’t gummed up?
It was working great two weeks ago no issues now it is very difficult to light and keep lit and everytime we open the door the house gets filled with smoke
It seems like it is getting starved for air even when air control is wide open
It seems like it is getting starved for air even when air control is wide open
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
BC_Josh
Member
I made a point of re-reading the manual for my BK (Sirroco model) over and over. There are almost "hidden gems" in it, since not every section tells you exactly how to operate it. I'd try phoning the BK office and ask them, too. You might have a negative pressure situation in the house when it gets warmer out. To remedy this, you can open a door or window near your stove when you're lighting it up, then close that window or door when it gets hot enough.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
If the cap has a spark arrestor screen, it has accumulation after 3 weeks or so. You cannot look from the ground! You have to get up close and look and there will be a accumulation. Find a cap without a screen.
BKVP
BKVP
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