2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[Rossco]

Nice to have the BK running. Been steady for a while now, no snow down low but it's in the post.

I work 7000ft up at an open pit coal mine, -10C last night, all outdoor work, spent most of the night putting a track back on a D11T up above the shovel, fixing the subsequent damage.

Came home to 24C in the house and a nominal bed of coals. Lovely.

 

[Padawan Burner]

Nice to have the BK running. Been steady for a while now, no snow down low but it's in the post.

I work 7000ft up at an open pit coal mine, -10C last night, all outdoor work, spent most of the night putting a track back on a D11T up above the shovel, fixing the subsequent damage.

Came home to 24C in the house and a nominal bed of coals. Lovely.

Hi Rossco, I'm feeling a little lame now for whining about my failed ceiling fan install. Thank you for your hard labor - we all love our wood heat, but coal keeps the lights on!

Thanks Poindexter for all the tips.

 

[kennyp2339]

The stove pays for it self the first time you have a rough long day and you come home to a warm house and still have fuel left over.
My 1st time was last December when we had a small blizzard, went to work at a normal time, loaded the stove up with oak before I left, got home 18hrs later and had a warm house, coals left over and an active cat, that was the day the stove paid for itself

 

[RustyShackleford]

Here's my flue thermometer after not using the stove for a few days. Should the needle be a little higher up when completely cold?

Probably, but I wouldn't sweat it. It's well under 100 degrees off, and I wouldn't expect (and you don't need) much better accuracy from a simple coil spring thermometer.

I've tried to loosen the nuts and adjust mine, and ended up messing it up and having to buy a new one. The positioning of the various nuts (which hold the coil spring and the indicator plate) is very critical, and no one seems to know how to do it (as evidenced by the deafening silence in a thread I posted asking for info).

 

[RustyShackleford]

so my thermostat is getting pretty hard to turn. what is everyone lubricating them with and do you need to take off the cover to get to the part to lubricate?

Try this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1JGHPTXJEHA2JKK00KQB

... also probably available from local auto parts store (mine got it overnight for no charge).

This stuff is supposedly safe for catalytic converter (unlike copper stuff) so I also used it to lubricate the mechanism that controls the bypass damper. It's supposedly good to 2400 degrees.

 

[Poindexter]

Well crud. Took me four hours to burn down my coals today, and I shoveled a A30 drawer full of ashes and coals out of it Thursday afternoon.

Last year this was a once a week chore, took about an hour. Last year I was burning 12-16%MC in a 13.5' stack. I added two feet over the summer, this year I am burning 18%MC in a 15.5' stack.

This was four hours into burning down the coals with the tstat at wide open:

13 hours after the last hot reload I stirred up the ash bed and found mostly coals around golf ball to baseball size. Wrangled those up a bit, wrangled again every hour two, I was finally down to 3/4" to 1" sized coals after 4 hours of keeping the house warm.

Sifted the ashes out of those, scraped the ash into the drawer, scraped the coals forward and didn't need a match or kindling to get the reload going.

I got to get my wood drier next year. I can't imagine the extra flue height is hurting me, but even with that extra height going from 14% average to 18% average has turned this weekly chore into a twice weekly pain in my neck.

 

[Woody harrelson]

Try this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1JGHPTXJEHA2JKK00KQB

... also probably available from local auto parts store (mine got it overnight for no charge).

This stuff is supposedly safe for catalytic converter (unlike copper stuff) so I also used it to lubricate the mechanism that controls the bypass damper. It's supposedly good to 2400 degrees.

that's exactly what I used, we use it on turbine engines so I had it at work. It's smooth again, just like when it was new. It's meant for stainless steel hardware. I used a little acid brush so I could work it in between the spring washers good.

 

[RustyShackleford]

I used a little acid brush so I could work it in between the spring washers good.

I'm still a little confused about where it needs to be applied to make the thermostat mechanism work smoother. Do you need to pull the thermostat off the stove so you can get to the gearing mechanism (between the control shaft and the coil) or can you improve things just by what you can access by pulling the thermostat cover ?

 

[blueguy]

You apply it to the shaft where the spring and washers are. No need to pull the stat.

Edit: You apply it to the washers and spring, not the shaft itself [emoji846]

 

[Rossco]

Just did my Thermo spring and it worked good.

 

[Highbeam]

I'm still a little confused about where it needs to be applied to make the thermostat mechanism work smoother. Do you need to pull the thermostat off the stove so you can get to the gearing mechanism (between the control shaft and the coil) or can you improve things just by what you can access by pulling the thermostat cover ?

Just the cover, look at my pictures a little ways back and you can see the copper antisieze.

 

[Poindexter]

Behold "the claw".

I started with a very cheap made in Viet Nam "cultivator" from Lowes, $4.50, had a handle on it about 4" long with the tines bent 90 degree from the axis of the handle. Back by the shovels and rakes and implements of destruction.

I suppose this thing is made of "steel" but it is the closest thing to wrought iron I have bought in a while. I can adjust the spacing of the tines just with leather gloves on. I brought the times back towards flat too, they're now bent about 45 degrees from the axis of the handle. Took the handle up to 20" so I could reach the back of the firebox without actually putting my hand inside the stove.

Good thing it gets the job done, that wood dowel heats up kinda quick. My goal is to lift the larger coals out of the ash bed at reload time so they can keep burning rather than accumulate.

When it was time to reload I got the door opened, whacked on my charcoals some with the wrangling tool from BK to break them up a little bit, then let the tines on the claw down to the floor just inside the door and pushed towards the back. Took three push passes total, right center and left, and then three pulling passes to have all the big coals on top of the ashes and small coals.

I let it run in bypass with the door closed a few minutes in case I burnt some of the paint off the tines with that little stunt. Then I re-opened the door and loaded on a beautiful bed of coals.

Still playing with the angle to bend the tines to, only used it once so far, but while I am making do with my sub-optimal wood between 16 and 22% MC it should make life with the stove quite a bit easier. True test will be Saturday or whenever I have to take the time to burn coals down again.

Once I am happy with it I'll start fresh, burn the paint off the new piece in an outdoor fire pit and do something about the points on the tines so I don't have to buy new brick soon. I guess I'll be finding out if these will have enough carbon in the iron to take a temper here in the next few weeks.

 

[Toiler]

We got our King King installed finally. It as about 6 feet of single wall pipe with two reverse 45 bends to the double wall that goes up another 20 feet or so.

I was away for a couple days so loaded the thing up as family was home and they reported smoke in the house. I believe the cat went under temp overnight at the 1 setting. It is mild here, a few degrees above freezing. The next night I was home, stoked it up around 11 PM and by 5 AM the converter was just bellow the "active" setting.

Does it matter if the catalytic converter goes inactive once bypassed? Or is it to warm to use it? How do you keep the Cat hot while dialed down?

My old stove was useless if nor super cold. This one is much more adjustable. Just got to figure out the back-smoke.

Also, we do not have the fresh air intake yet. House is not well sealed. Might this help?

Thanks.... tried a few google searches, but always wrong answers.

 

[RustyShackleford]

We got our King King installed finally. It as about 6 feet of single wall pipe with two reverse 45 bends to the double wall that goes up another 20 feet or so.

Congrats ! What is "reverse 45" ? BK policy is that the connector should be double-wall, though single-wall works fine for some, including me. But I think it's quite important to have the pipe go straight up, from where it leaves the stove (the flue collar), for at least 2ft before any bends.

The next night I was home, stoked it up around 11 PM and by 5 AM the converter was just bellow the "active" setting.

That's no bueno. I'm thinking maybe your firewood isn't very dry. Most of us can stoke the stove up good, then turn it way down, and the cat is still active 10 hours (or more) later.

Does it matter if the catalytic converter goes inactive once bypassed?

If it goes inactive because your wood isn't good enough, yes, it matters; cat will likely get plugged. If it's because your wood has mostly burned up, including outgassing of coals, then it's fine.

 

[BKVP]

Just because there is a number on the the thermostat number does not indicate you, in your specific application, can run it that low.

You must run it at whatever minimum setting is required to keep the cat active.

Double wall and will improve draft, which in turn will allow users to find both a hotter high burn rate and yes, even a lower low burn rate and still keep the cat active.

 

[Highbeam]

I believe the cat went under temp overnight at the 1 setting.

Your stove is apparently unable to be run at that setting without stalling the cat. You, and I as well, must run a higher setting to prevent this. I suppose this is one of the reasons that BK did away with the numbers. It does not mean you are doing anything wrong, or have wet wood. It just means that your install does not support such a low stat setting.

Here's what you do. Load that stove up fully like you would any other day and select a stat setting above 1. Perhaps 1.25. And monitor the burn to see if the cat remains active. If so, that's a new data point of success where you can run it if everything else remains the same. If the weather is warmer out or your wood larger or wetter then even the 1.25 may be too low. Generally, due to the way the stat reacts to stove temperature, you don't need to worry about slight variations in wood or weather once you find "your" low low setting.

BK recommends double wall but does not require it. They do require two feet of vertical above the stove with no bends. I use double wall on the BK for several reasons including the best possible draft which improves the burning experience.

If I get a cat stall, not good, it is near the end of the burn when the fuel load is small and not quite able to keep the cat hot enough at a super low stat setting used in the warmer season.

 

[BKVP]

Thank you Highbeam. Keep in the mind the minimum setting can also changed due to stack effect....and this warm shoulder season can and well effect it as well.

 

[BKVP]

Poindexter...100% stainless. 6" forks, 1/2" spacing. Radius to cup coals...sides would be great. 30" handle. Made entirely of cut off materials.

 

[Azizzza]

Not sure where to post to ash full. Have a Jotul combifire #6 question

 

[Poindexter]

Poindexter...100% stainless. 6" forks, 1/2" spacing. Radius to cup coals...sides would be great. 30" handle. Made entirely of cut off materials.

I have paid for one of my kids to go to welding college for four years now, and I gave her cat (Felis domesticus) a good home while she was away. She is a certified welding inspector (six G?) and wouldn't weld SS for me for cash money. I'm going to have to make do with maybe cold rolled plain steel when I get my forge running in the summer.

Imma guessing most BK owners don't have the hookup to get custom SS pieces (I sure don't) or a wife (and neighbors) that let them run a smithy in the back yard.

Summer of 2014 my woodpile looked like trailer trash, but I put 9 cords in the shed at 12-16%MC and came up with the coal sorter on the left. I was hot loading every 12 hours, burning down my coals in about two hours every Saturday and keeping coals from lemon seed up to table grape size so I could reload without kindling and matches. The only problem I had last year with the tool on the left was the wires are too wide, the holes are about right.

This year (18%MC average in the woodpile) I am still loading every 12 hours, burning down coals for two hours DAILY and shoveling out ashes twice weekly. I came up with the tool on the right a couple days ago to deal with baseball to golf ball sized coals, the rest go away. I can say my woodpile looked "nicer" over the summer of 2015, but it hasn't proven to be worth it; I have burnt one cord this year, eight to go.

The manual for the A30 specifies 13% MC and I am living the difference.

Only +25dF here tonight, I hope to be free of stack effect pretty soon, looking for -10dF Thursday night.

Looking forward to Black Friday. I issued the "Poindexter Challenge" in last year's BK performance thread for folks to bring a couple days worth of wood into their furnace room, dry it down to 13% and try the difference on Black Friday.

Look y'all, it is all very nice for BKVP Chris to say "anything up to 22%MC is OK" and we all know the EPA test ran on crib wood in that range- so our emissions numbers are believable. But the owners manual for the A30 says 13%MC plain as day - and it makes a difference.
How much of a difference depends on how hard you are running the stove. At nine cords per year in one stove, I am running it hard and this sucks. Last year I was spending maybe 30 minutes daily on the stove and the humidifier and the distiller we got to make distilled water for the humidifier. I am at an hour daily now, 2.5 months into a 9 month burn season. 30 wasted minutes a day x nine months, holy cow, I don't even want to do the math.

 

[BKVP]

Focus on the coal fork issue! I have access to materials in the scrap bin and have welding, cutoff saws and press-brake in my garage here at the house.

I ground the tips down on the bottom edge to minimize brick damage, but the next one I build I think the tines should all be welded to an arched piece, forming a cup of sorts. That way when you shake it the coals stay in the "cup".

Any thoughts from you guys? Send pm to me with thoughts.

 

[Ashful]

Not sure where to post to ash full. Have a Jotul combifire #6 question

Just create a new thread in the Hearth Room. I've never seen a combifire, but I'll bet someone here has owned one at some point.

 

[Dairyman]

Focus on the coal fork issue! I have access to materials in the scrap bin and have welding, cutoff saws and press-brake in my garage here at the house.

I ground the tips down on the bottom edge to minimize brick damage, but the next one I build I think the tines should all be welded to an arched piece, forming a cup of sorts. That way when you shake it the coals stay in the "cup".

Any thoughts from you guys? Send pm to me with thoughts.

There have been several nice ones made by members that I've seen. @BobUrban made these.

 

[chance04]

Like a kitty litter scoop

 

[Rossco]

What exactly are these homemade contraptions for?