2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 1 (Everything BK)

[bholler]

I think bholler is justified in his opinion(s). Many of us have owned other wood heaters and liked them. They did the job. I hope that he finds our products to his liking and decides the technology is "right for him". If not, no one should be offended, I won't be. Remember, bholler has provided super tech advise and support to many members of this group and certainly thousands more that read these posts and have a better experience from these forums.

Let's not dwell on this.

Now back to the most important issue, where did all the big bucks go?

Thankyou very much. And i really have no doubt i will like the stove. There is a good possibility when the time comes to replace my regency that is will be with a chinook. We will see

 

[bholler]

Oh, c’mon bholler! We are just having some fun with you. No one believes you’re actually anti-BK.

If that came off as me being offended i am sorry. I really wasnt. And i know most of you guys dont think that but there are some who have sent me really nasty messages because i "attack bk" most of them are gone now though.

 

[Diabel]

Anti-VC......I would say yes

 

[MissMac]

The weather is messed up. 35*C with humidity here yesterday, 32 today and calling for flurries on Sat!!

Ya, typical Canadian weather right there. I woke up this morning to 20cm of snow on the ground. Had to cut the laneway out again - at least a dozen saplings all bent over beyond saving making a hobit-sized snow tunnel out of my driveway. And it begins. On the plus side, stove is chuggin away, and the cats/wife are happy!

 

[MissMac]

Did it last year MissM... ok it wasn’t jack pine vs birch but Norway spruce vs beech. At the same t-stat setting, I got 30 hrs burn instead of 24. Awesome, but useless for my reloading schedule. I load once a day in shoulder season, and every 12 hrs in full winter. 30 or 15/16 hrs simply don’t work. I occasionally throw in a split or two of whatever hardwood I have in my stack, and find a few more hot coals at reload, that’s all.

What were the weather conditions at the time that you did that?

 

[MissMac]

If I had more hardwood available, I’d try your method Highbeam, but my stacks are 90% pine and spruce. I did that test to see if it was worth to buy a truckload of hardwood, but found it was unnecessary. As a side note, I get even longer burn times this year, since I got bigger splits (and better knowledge of my stove)

how big are the splits you're running now, and what is are the things that you've learnt better about your stove out of curiosity?

 

[bholler]

Anti-VC......I would say yes

Yeah i wont argue that one. Also pretty anti us stove company. Not because all of their products are bad. But any company willing to sell some of the absolute crap they sell wont get my support.

 

[Ashful]

...there are some who have sent me really nasty messages because i "attack bk" most of them are gone now though.

Sheesh! People need to get a life. Mine is too short to actually spend much time worrying about whether bholler likes my stove. [emoji14]

 

[lsucet]

Building my shop very soon ( following weeks) if everything goes well i will be installing one of my Englanders. I will try the Madison first, if is not enough i will put the big brother. it will be 20x30. i think the madison is ok. BKs in the house and non cat in the shop. will be nice.

 

[chemie]

Some more general questions : Can you put a pot containing water with a few drops of essential oils with on the top surface of BK insert (Ashford 25) to add humidity to the room?
Would top of the insert get so hot to roast chestnut from the tree across my house ?( I admit that is a bit odd to ask)
Does anyone use heat operated stove top fans on top of an insert when they want a break from the insert’s own fan’s noise?
Speaking of the insert fan, do you run insert fan at max when you run your stove at high and insert fan at low when stove is running low? Or is there any correlation? I assume fan is not thermostatically controlled.
I was at a meeting when I started typing the questions above and now in a subway and keep getting notifications. So excuse me if the conversation diverted into something else.

Anyone has any comments or insight?
Thanks.

 

[Ashful]

Can you put a pot containing water with a few drops of essential oils with on the top surface of BK insert (Ashford 25) to add humidity to the room?

I don’t own an Ashford 25, and wasn’t even aware that the top was accessible, but the top on the Ashford 30 doesn’t get all that hot in my normal mode of operation. I can easily touch it, most of the time. I would not think it’s hot enough to boil water, but due to these stoves not needing a stovetop thermometer, I can’t say what temperature mine actually run.

Would top of the insert get so hot to roast chestnut from the tree across my house ?( I admit that is a bit odd to ask)

Back before I admitted that no one in my house likes chestnuts (including myself), I used to put them in a chestnut roaster, and just bed that in the coals of an open stove before a reload. Again, the top of the convection deck on the Ashford 30 runs fairly cool.

Does anyone use heat operated stove top fans on top of an insert when they want a break from the insert’s own fan’s noise?

Many here have reported using those TEC-powered fans, but very few have concluded they’re worth using. They’re generally reported as being under-powered for the application.

Speaking of the insert fan, do you run insert fan at max when you run your stove at high and insert fan at low when stove is running low?

I don’t have an insert, but I have two stoves tucked way back inside fireplaces... so for all practical purposes, a very similar situation. I just keep the fans on low all the time, I turn them on in October and turn them off in May. Even on a very low setting, they do a pretty good job of moving the heat off of my stoves. I might turn the fans on one stove up to a medium/low setting when I run that stove wide-open on an occasional Saturday, but that’s an exception.

Or is there any correlation? I assume fan is not thermostatically controlled.

Fan is manually controlled, via rheostat.

 

[Skidooer]

Hey guys I was at my dealer today in Ontario, I ordered a Steel Cat for my KEJ-1107 King Ultra but all they could get was a ceramic. I currently have a SS Cat in my stove from BK, now they say they don’t sell them...?? The dealer called her supplier who is going to talk to BK in British Columbia.
Anyone have insight on this?
Possibly Blaze King VP could explain this for me? I’d like to get a SS Cat again if possible.
Thanks!

 

[BKVP]

When the new EPA NSPS was published on March 16, 2015, it made it a Federal violation to sell a combustor other than the one used during the stoves certification. There is no such restriction on aftermarket providers...such as www.firecatcombustors.com

Hope this clarifies the matter.

 

[Tar12]

Ya, I don’t have time for that. Never been a problem. I let it rip when I’m around the house, I don’t babysit it during the week though, it’s not necessary.

I do the same here...I just cleaned the pipe yesterday for the start of the season and had less than a cup for my effort...I have had no problems with excessive build up in the pipe or stove.

 

[lsucet]

I do the same here...I just cleaned the pipe yesterday for the start of the season and had less than a cup for my effort...I have had no problems with excessive build up in the pipe or stove.

How you or @webby3650 do it? Will be good to know. I burn hot on reloads and I have to accept that not always I go for those 30 minutes. I go sometimes for visual of how I see the fire and the stove probe temperature plus flue temperature. Of course not always is those 30 minutes, can be a lot less for sure depending on those reasons mentioned before plus burning softwood and dry that catch quick.

 

[Alpine1]

What were the weather conditions at the time that you did that?

It was mid November, outside temps -4/5 by night and +5/6 C at midday. T-stat setting was at 3 o’clock. Fairly warm for the Alps at 1.200 meters asl

how big are the splits you're running now, and what is are the things that you've learnt better about your stove out of curiosity?

Last year wood was cut for the fireplace insert I had in another home, splits were 10 x 10 cm (obviously, some a bit bigger, others a wee smaller... that’s firewood after all)
This year splits are no less than 20x20 cm, and many are bigger than that.
What I learned:
-the less you play with the t stat setting, the better (I have a piece of masking tape with “24-18-12 over the swoosh, but only use the 12 and 24 marks)
-a good charring (30 mins on high) is fundamental (last year I thought that the char phase would burn much of the load thus reducing burn time: not so)
-cat can be engaged as soon as the indicator is approaching “active” no need to be well in the active zone to have a glowing red cat
-every effort to keep the glass clean is deemed to failure
-it is easier to shovel out the ashes than using the ash pan
Hope this helps. And let us know the “pine vs birch” burn results!

 

[Skidooer]

Thank you BK VP! So that is why they only can sell me the ceramic.
Are the FireCat combustors as good as the OEMs? I would like to go with a SteelCat as it lights of quicker. If they will only sell me ceramic should I just buy the FireCat? It’s the same price when I convert to CAD and I work 5 min for NY border so that’s not an issue.
Any of you fellow BK guys running the Firecat? Thanks guys for your input I want the best cat for my baby

 

[Highbeam]

Thank you BK VP! So that is why they only can sell me the ceramic.
Are the FireCat combustors as good as the OEMs? I would like to go with a SteelCat as it lights of quicker. If they will only sell me ceramic should I just buy the FireCat? It’s the same price when I convert to CAD and I work 5 min for NY border so that’s not an issue.
Any of you fellow BK guys running the Firecat? Thanks guys for your input I want the best cat for my baby

Firecat sells cats made by applied ceramics. The oem for bk. Firecat has a website but also sells via amazon and their store is called Midwest hearth. Firecat sent me to Midwest on amazon to order online because their website sucks. Same price. I am very happy with the applied ceramics/firecat/Midwest hearth ceramic cat in my princess. It was 186$ Usd shipped.

If you want steel then you’re on your own. There is a lot of mysterious shenanigans going on with getting the “right” steel cat made of a particular foil.

 

[webby3650]

I do the same here...I just cleaned the pipe yesterday for the start of the season and had less than a cup for my effort...I have had no problems with excessive build up in the pipe or stove.

On a single story flue, I end up with less than 2 cups of light fluffy stuff. I’ll clean mine here in the next week or so. I’ll post what I find.

 

[Ashful]

I would like to go with a SteelCat as it lights of quicker.

I've been running OEM BK steelcats (durafoil) in my Ashfords for 3 or 4 years, because that's what the Ashford 30.1's came with. They work great, but I'm sure ceramic could, too. One particularly frustrating problem I had with the steelcats was plugging after running the stove on a very high burn rate (i.e. wide open).

There have been debates whether this is an issue unique to the 30's, or even the Ashford 30's, but I think that's just the result of more folks running Steelcats in Ashford 30's than any other BK model. I suspect it's issue of having a very tall chimney (strong draft), as I can plug the cat on my 30 foot chimney in one weekend of hard burning, and I've only plugged the cat on my 15 foot chimney once or twice in three or four years. Also, putting a key damper on the tall chimney to dial down the draft seems to have resolved the problem.

Bottom line, there are pros and cons to both types of cat, I'm not sure there is one best solution for all situations.

 

[Skidooer]

Good info on here thanks guys! I also seen Condar makes them as well. Their brand name for the SS is STEEL CAT. I’m sure their are pros and cons, I figure if I’m replacing I’d rather pay extra for the better unit. Still debating

 

[Highbeam]

Good info on here thanks guys! I also seen Condar makes them as well. Their brand name for the SS is STEEL CAT. I’m sure their are pros and cons, I figure if I’m replacing I’d rather pay extra for the better unit. Still debating

Hehe, this is where the shenanigans start. Condar doesn’t make cats, they sell somebody else’s cat. They make some awesome thermometers but not cats.

 

[Ashful]

Good info on here thanks guys! I also seen Condar makes them as well. Their brand name for the SS is STEEL CAT. I’m sure their are pros and cons, I figure if I’m replacing I’d rather pay extra for the better unit. Still debating

The Condar SteelCats I bought for my Jotul 12’s were diesel foil garbage. They disintegrated within a year, so I just replaced them each year under warranty. I’m not sure what Condar uses for their BK SteelCats, but suspect diesel foil is what they do.

BK specifies Durafoil only, for SteelCats. I’d avoid Condar for this.

 

[BKVP]

I have been advised the supplier of diesel foil combustors when out of business last year. By now that inventory should be exhausted nationally. Most stainless cats you see now are DuraFoil and are made by two OEM suppliers here in the US. They in turn sell them to other resellers.

Started burning the King last night...first fire. The much better half loves the radiant hear and it cooled off. Of course today it will be 60+F and we won't need the heat.

Everyone have a great weekend.

 

[MissMac]

It was mid November, outside temps -4/5 by night and +5/6 C at midday. T-stat setting was at 3 o’clock. Fairly warm for the Alps at 1.200 meters asl


Last year wood was cut for the fireplace insert I had in another home, splits were 10 x 10 cm (obviously, some a bit bigger, others a wee smaller... that’s firewood after all)
This year splits are no less than 20x20 cm, and many are bigger than that.
What I learned:
-the less you play with the t stat setting, the better (I have a piece of masking tape with “24-18-12 over the swoosh, but only use the 12 and 24 marks)
-a good charring (30 mins on high) is fundamental (last year I thought that the char phase would burn much of the load thus reducing burn time: not so)
-cat can be engaged as soon as the indicator is approaching “active” no need to be well in the active zone to have a glowing red cat
-every effort to keep the glass clean is deemed to failure
-it is easier to shovel out the ashes than using the ash pan
Hope this helps. And let us know the “pine vs birch” burn results!

20x20cm are some big splits! I imagine you can only get a couple of those in your stove? The majority of what i'm burning right now is small half-rounds of black spruce, which around here is pretty skinny (i'd say closer to your 10x10cm size). After burning last winter, i've started splitting everything into bigger pieces, so that i can have the big hunks available and then cut some down to stuff the gaps as required. Since my shed holds 3 years worth of wood, seasoning time really isn't an issue. How long are your splits on average? 16cm? 18cm? One of the biggest changes i've made is rather than bucking a piece that was too long in half (e.g. 24" split in half), now i cut off an 18" piece, and then have a pile of ugly off-cuts that i use during start ups etc. i found it challenging to fill the box properly with all these dicky little 12-14" pieces last year. Looking forward to getting into my full size pieces next winter! I will keep you posted on how the birch run goes. Brought a bunch inside last night, and will split a couple tomorrow for a MC reading, then plan on running a load of it assuming the MC is good.