2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 2 (Everything BK)

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Unlike yours, the pipe added onto my telescoping unit is attached to the outer wall and does not sit on the stove. It is sitting (resting) on the inner pipe and has a 1/4" gap I stuffed with stove rope for a complete seal. I would say either way works. Check for leakage with an incense stick from a pot shop. With all my stoves, this connection was never secured with screws-just gravity. An imperfect mechanical connection but it works. Easy disassembly too.
 
It’s 24 MBTU per cord for oak vs 13 MBTU per cord for eastern white pine. The Lodgepole you get out west 15 MBTU. Oak takes no longer to process than pine, so it makes zero sense to even touch the pine, unless it’s really your only option, or you’re looking for an excuse to spend more time outdoors processing wood. It would take a metric buttload if pine each year, to generate even an average 100-150 MBTU, let alone what I’m using.

When processing time is something you value, the best answer is always the wood with highest BTU per cord. That’s all I was saying. If you’re buying, and in a location where hardwoods are less plentiful, then I see your point.
You burn what is available. There are a lot of areas in the west where pine is the only option. In many others the option is another higher btu softwood like fir or tamarack. Other areas only have spruce. Where we live alder and soft maple are also common, but I prefer doug fir. I have a stash of locust, madorna and wild cherry hardwood, but it's not easy to comeby so it is saved for the coldest part of winter. This area is very shy of oak trees, so not an option. Any big hickory or oak is likely to be in a park or standing in someone's lawn and not going to be firewood.
 
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Unlike yours, the pipe added onto my telescoping unit is attached to the outer wall and does not sit on the stove. It is sitting (resting) on the inner pipe and has a 1/4" gap I stuffed with stove rope for a complete seal. I would say either way works. Check for leakage with an incense stick from a pot shop. With all my stoves, this connection was never secured with screws-just gravity. An imperfect mechanical connection but it works. Easy disassembly too.

As long as the smoke inside the pipe does not escape into the space between the inner and outer wall, it should be okay. Given the bad seal on my Sirocco, there's a good possibility that some of the stove exhaust might be getting into the space between the two walls of the double wall pipe, and working its way out into the room. Anyways, this is all in theory. I'll have a look in more detail next week. Got a cold and company coming, so can't take it on right now. The odor is tolerable if I manage the stove carefully, and don't turn down the damper too quickly - that seems to be when the odor is the worst, when there is a lot of smoke in the fireplace, perhaps overwhelming the cat's ability to burn it.
 
Unlike yours, the pipe added onto my telescoping unit is attached to the outer wall and does not sit on the stove. It is sitting (resting) on the inner pipe and has a 1/4" gap I stuffed with stove rope for a complete seal. I would say either way works. Check for leakage with an incense stick from a pot shop. With all my stoves, this connection was never secured with screws-just gravity. An imperfect mechanical connection but it works. Easy disassembly too.
I’d rather have a positive connection that’s secured with screws any day of the week! Each joint is required to have 3 screws to secure it, but somehow the stovetop connection gets overlooked? Using this Amerivent adaptor solves the problem and makes a positive connection that eliminates leakage. All credit must go to @sticks He’s worked in this industry for most of his life, and found a solution to this issue. It works very well
 
This weekend I finished up my BK temp monitor, some may remember I had a flue and stove top
monitor/controller on my Regency, It was 2 separate boxes.

For the BK I wanted to have flue, cat and stove top monitor, all in one box, so that is what I did.
The top is flue, middle is cat and bottom is stove top.
The flue probe is inserted in the double wall pipe about 18" above the stove collar.
The cat probe replaces the standard cat thermo and the stove top TC is bonded to the steel top
with furnace cement under the cast iron jacket.

Each controller has a high temp alarm, the flue is set for 875::F the cat for 360::F (the active mark on the original thermo)
the stove top controller will turn the blower on at 675::F.

It is nice to have a audible signal to remind you to close the bypass, as soon as the cat is up to temp.
Makes it much less likely to forget and leave it open all night (someone did this on another thread).


This stove is so much better than the Regency it replaced, the amount of heat it puts out is amazing.
The living room temp is usually somewhere between 70::F 80::F. I have a couple of small fans on the floor
blowing towards the stove to circulate the heat, that pretty much keeps the whole house warm.
The long and consistent burn time keeps the house warm all day and night. I my not need run the oil burner at all;lol.

IMG_20171203_202905899 (Medium).jpg IMG_20171203_202458262 (Medium).jpg
 
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As long as the smoke inside the pipe does not escape into the space between the inner and outer wall, it should be okay. Given the bad seal on my Sirocco, there's a good possibility that some of the stove exhaust might be getting into the space between the two walls of the double wall pipe, and working its way out into the room.
A properly drafting flue will always be at lower pressure than the room. Any leak in a stove pipe system will cause room air to be sucked in, not the other way around. The only time this can reverse is during a back-puff or chimney fire, not during normal operation.

That's not to say fresh air sucking into the chimney isn't a problem, it can cause cooling and creosote condensation, but it should not cause smoke to leak into the room.
 
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That's not to say fresh air sucking into the chimney isn't a problem, it can cause cooling and creosote condensation, but it should not cause smoke to leak into the room.

Also, the room air, being hundreds of degrees lower, can cool and weaken the draft. In marginal systems this can be quite important with respect to temperature control, cat stalling and smoke small.
 
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Coldest weather of the season is going to strike our area starting tonight, so before I left for work I threw in some cotton wood and left the t-stat turned all the way up, hoping for a full ash bed, no coals when I get home so I can do a full clean out, going to need that full fire box space the next couple of days.
On a positive note, I have been burning 24/7 for a month now, I only used about a 1/2 cord so far.
 
On a positive note, I have been burning 24/7 for a month now, I only used about a 1/2 cord so far.

Wow, how big is your house? That not much wood for a month of burning.
 
On 12 hr cycles, my ashford is about a cord a month.

I am burning the same amount of wood as with my hearthstone, which had a smaller box and shorter burn times. Heat pump is running less though.
 
On a positive note, I have been burning 24/7 for a month now, I only used about a 1/2 cord so far.
At that level, this whole wood burning thing might be almost enjoyable. I’m ripping thru about 1/2 cord per week, whether it’s 0F or hitting a high of 60F (like today). The only difference is how much the boiler has to run to make up the difference, as my loading schedule doesn’t really change much, Monday-Friday.

This week’s forecast is freakish. A high of 59F today, then the next several days have lows close to 20F, some of them with highs in the mid-30’s. I’m sure that’s nothing for a mid-westerner, but that’s quite a swing for us so close to the coast. The stoves will be running their respective 1 and 2 loads per day thru it all, despite any swings in outdoor temps. What I bank away today in those stone walls will put me a little ahead for tomorrow’s cold night, minus what’s lost to outside.
 
Coldest weather of the season is going to strike our area starting tonight, so before I left for work I threw in some cotton wood and left the t-stat turned all the way up, hoping for a full ash bed, no coals when I get home so I can do a full clean out, going to need that full fire box space the next couple of days.
On a positive note, I have been burning 24/7 for a month now, I only used about a 1/2 cord so far.

I ran into the same problem today. Loaded up maybe half a load about 7 yesterday evening and left it set high because I wanted to run the soot eater up the chimney today. Well after scooping hot coals out and losing some hair on my arms it was cooling down lol. Cleaned the chimney quick rods did get warm but nothing I'd worry about. Now I'm ready for the cold with a clean pipe.
 
A properly drafting flue will always be at lower pressure than the room. Any leak in a stove pipe system will cause room air to be sucked in, not the other way around. The only time this can reverse is during a back-puff or chimney fire, not during normal operation.

That's not to say fresh air sucking into the chimney isn't a problem, it can cause cooling and creosote condensation, but it should not cause smoke to leak into the room.

I agree with you are saying in theory. But the fact still remains that there is smoke smell getting into the room, at times. As others have said, switching out the Duratech adapter resolved the problem for them. If the gap between adapter and flange is big enough, it could be that there is enough turbulence created that it causes an eddy, which forces a little bit of smoke to get into the double wall portion of the pipe, where there is no draft, and it slowly filters into the room. Having caught this darn cold, with company coming, I opted to stuff the crack between the adapter and flange with stove rope as temporary improvement. That served to mostly eliminate the smell of smoke in the room, but I still need to redo it after I am well and not inconveniencing people by having the stove torn apart.
 
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So confusing. There is no flange anywhere. The outer wall of the double wall usually does not set on the stove top. The inner wall of double wall pipe is the tapered snout that is supposed to make a tight fit.
 
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My Lopi stove had a nice one piece stove collar(well casing iirc) and the DVL adapter fit it perfect. Not sure why BK doesn't use something like that instead of them making their own and welding the seam. I cleaned the welds up on mine, I wasn't impressed with them.

I would think the stove manufacturers would say if you're using xxx pipe then you should use xxx stove adapter. :confused:
 
So confusing. There is no flange anywhere. The outer wall of the double wall usually does not set on the stove top. The inner wall of double wall pipe is the tapered snout that is supposed to make a tight fit.

When I said flange, I was speaking of the 3" tall stub at the top of the BK stove, where the stovepipe adapter fits. Based upon what many here have said, and is true in my case too, that top part of the stove does not fit well with a Duratech doublewall adapter. It is not a tight fit, and hence the problem of a smoke smell escaping into the room. Since several others on this forum have had the same problem, and fixed it by replacing the Duratech adapter with something else, I will assume that is true unless it turns out otherwise.
 
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My Lopi stove had a nice one piece stove collar(well casing iirc) and the DVL adapter fit it perfect. Not sure why BK doesn't use something like that instead of them making their own and welding the seam. I cleaned the welds up on mine, I wasn't impressed with them.

I would think the stove manufacturers would say if you're using xxx pipe then you should use xxx stove adapter. :confused:

I noticed the welds on the inner side of the seam were rough too. I need to get in there with a file or Dremel and clean those up when I swap out the Duratech adapter.
 
Next time I install one I can post detailed pics if anyone is interested. Could have done that today if I had thought of it...
 
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Hey all - I see some of you are talking about a char smell coming from the top of your BK stove, and i'm having a similar issue. Wonder if anyone has any advice? Still figuring out me new BK wood stove, and I've noticed that when I try to dial down the t-stat, i can smell a char smell coming from the top of the stove, around where the active/inactive thermometer sits. has anybody ever had this issue? Pretty much the only way i can avoid this smell is on a wide-open max T-stat setting, which doesn't really bode well for me getting long burn times or using the stove as it's intended. I've only been burning for a couple of weeks now, and i'm not sure what could be the issue? Draft? Any suggestions or similar stories out there?
 
I’m assuming you have 30 degree elbows, not 45’s? That’s not an overly tall flue run. You may not be able to run the stove really low. How’s the moisture content of the firewood?
 
The smell of smoke from the t-stat gauge area is possibly the gauge itself where it sets on top of the stove.Pull the gauge out then put gauge back in could be not setting level in the stove. My stove does same thing though of a dab of RTV never did
 
Hey all - I see some of you are talking about a char smell coming from the top of your BK stove, and i'm having a similar issue. Wonder if anyone has any advice? Still figuring out me new BK wood stove, and I've noticed that when I try to dial down the t-stat, i can smell a char smell coming from the top of the stove, around where the active/inactive thermometer sits. has anybody ever had this issue? Pretty much the only way i can avoid this smell is on a wide-open max T-stat setting, which doesn't really bode well for me getting long burn times or using the stove as it's intended. I've only been burning for a couple of weeks now, and i'm not sure what could be the issue? Draft? Any suggestions or similar stories out there?


What does your chimney consist of? Straight up? Any 45's or 90's? What's the height? I had the exact same issue. Some of it is the wood, I'm roughly 20 to 25mc now. Teens are more ideal. I just added a 2ft piece to the chimney and I thought I had the problem solved. It made a major improvement to the odor. We've been hovering around 0 Celsius the last little while and it's been perfect but yesterday the temp climbed a bit outside and I noticed a faint smell again, but nothing like before. I'm roughly 14ft with 2 45's.
 
Why does everyone talk about elbows lengths ect? Isn’t the real problem that draft is to low which can easily be checked with a manometer for about $20 bucks?

The smell I believe on the blaze kings is when turned down with wood, especially wet wood (buy a moisture meter for $45 bucks and find out) the stinky creosote smell seeps though the stove gaskets as there air consumption is so low there just isn’t enough volume of air to keep all the smoke off the gaskets despite the airwash.

It evident by the black creosote on the front door. When this stuff smolders it stinks worse than anything.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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