2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK) Part 2

Ashful said:

ignore all of Woody's advice, he has never even seen a Blaze King, let alone owned one.

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Wow, you having a bad hair day, or what? Yes, flue temp will rise eventually if you leave the air wide open for 30 min. after closing the bypass, and yes, that didn't occur to me initially. That's why I asked "What?" at the beginning of my reply. You chose to attack me, even though it's implied in the post you quoted that not everyone always does the 30 min. burn every time. Apparently you didn't make the connection, but instead jumped my chit even though my question had already been answered...in the post you quoted. Sheesh.
BTW @webby3650 has also posted the same, so you can't assume everyone's flue temp is rising after they close the bypass.

Woody Stover said:

What? Flue temp should drop after you close the bypass.

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lsucet said:

If after you closed the bypass you let it burn for the 20 -30 minutes recommended, yes it can get there and a little more sometimes. it is normal. Now, if you dial down the draft/stat, yes it should drop, but all depend how hot you are burning.

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webby3650 said:

Running on high for 20-30 minutes on each reload is not a necessity...I only run on high for an hour or so once a week, on occasion.

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Highbeam said:

You're wrong Woody.....wrong here and a detriment to the thread....this thread is the BK PERFORMANCE thread.

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That's rich! Way to follow Ashful's lead and jump on the bandwagon...."Yeah, let's get Woody!"
Let's go back a couple pages in this thread, shall we? You started asking about different re-load methods, with the intent being to minimize smoke on your start-ups. Then I mentioned how I was getting very little smoke when using the top-down start. Shortly thenafter, you posted this stunning breakthrough:

Highbeam said:

Guys, I tried a new thing and it really improves BK performance...Top down method with a torch....Rather than 1 to 1.5 hours of puking smoke waiting for the cat probe to read active, I am engaging that cat in 15 minutes.

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I'm really happy that I was able to help you achieve this quantum leap in "BK performance!" Glad to be of service!

Highbeam said:

1 to 1.5 hours of puking smoke waiting for the cat probe to read active

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Clearly, you've always been a BK expert, and one of the select few that are truly qualified to post in this thread. Funny stuff, Hb....this thread never fails to entertain!
I like to think (when I'm not questioning the BK mystique,) that I contribute some useful info along the way, that comes from many years of operating various cat stoves. A BK is not that different, all the same cat principles apply. Heck, I even pick up a "like" once in a while.
Here, I'll throw you guys a bone: Owing to its construction, the BK may well be the quickest stove to achieve cat light-off. I'm not gettin' the stone Ws cat lit in 15 min, I'll tellya that. Maybe the hybrids are quicker.

So in addition to being the longest burning, the BKs just might be the fastest in the area of light-off. A very very welcomed feature for me as my last stove was a "downdraft" unit where the flames went up, then down through a long labyrinth before it got to the cat making light off a lengthy and iffy process. BK stoves are very easy to start and, as we all know, are the easiest to run thanks to the bimetallic proportional thermostatic combustion firing rate governor-controller. I forgot-magik too.

kf6hap said:

So in addition to being the longest burning, the BKs just might be the fastest in the area of light-off. A very very welcomed feature for me as my last stove was a "downdraft" unit where the flames went up, then down through a long labyrinth before it got to the cat making light off a lengthy and iffy process. BK stoves are very easy to start and, as we all know, are the easiest to run thanks to the bimetallic proportional thermostatic combustion firing rate governor-controller. I forgot-magik too.

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It's not magic, it's "alien technology", proclaimed by this site!

kf6hap said:

So in addition to being the longest burning, the BKs just might be the fastest in the area of light-off. A very very welcomed feature for me as my last stove was a "downdraft" unit where the flames went up, then down through a long labyrinth before it got to the cat making light off a lengthy and iffy process. BK stoves are very easy to start and, as we all know, are the easiest to run thanks to the bimetallic proportional thermostatic combustion firing rate governor-controller. I forgot-magik too.

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I also had a few downdraft cat stoves, before my BK's, and your supposition is correct. It took a long time before I was getting consistent and predictable cat light-off in my old downdraft Jotul cats, but the BK's are a breeze. I drop in a SuperCedar fire starter, put a few small cedar splits atop, light, load the stove with oak, close and latch the door, and set a timer for 10 minutes. It is very rare that it's not ready for me to close the damper when the timer goes off, ten minutes after lighting. I also like that I can see the combustor, so I know if it's lighting off by watching it, long before the probe thermometer can ever react.

Yes! Being able to see the combustor is an excellent "feature". At rollover one can instantly ascertain if "light-off" has been achieved and neglect the cat 'stat reading. Yes, I do know the cat need not be glowing to be working but if it is red at rollover one can be absolutely certain his (or her) stove is underway. In addition to being a fiddle-free stove a huge amount of operational uncertainty has been deliberately engineered out. One final excellent quality of the BKs is they are extremely resistant to the phenomenon known as thermal runaway. As the flue gets hotter and hotter so the draw strength does too. Some stoves will rage out of control as the combustion air will flood the combustion chamber uncontrolled. Manual intervention, in this case, is required to prevent some very bad things from happening. The BK will modulate the combustion air to achieve setpoint and prevent runaway without any operator intervention. That is wonderful.

I don't look at my combuster because it requires me to get on my knees and I don't want to do that in my work clothes. Lol

I get in my knees on reloading time sometimes.lol. The way i know if light-off is turning the lights off and enjoying the free nightlight for hrs.

I keep a mirror handy next to the indoor wood pile.

kf6hap said:

I keep a mirror handy next to the indoor wood pile.

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iphone selfie camera... hi tech handheld mirror.

I can get my cat glowing in a minute or so from loading, while the cat probe still reads icy cold.

Not that I ever do, because my cat only goes inactive once a month or so anyway.

(My secret trick it to put a little 1"-3" of dry pine e/w on top of the load in front of the stove... On the PI, it is burning right in front of and below the cat there. Not sure this is a good idea due to the risk of flame impingement, but it sure does get the cat going RIGHT NOW, if that's what you need.)

I think I remember BKVP saying that the cat probe thermometer shows cat temperatures as of 7-8 minutes prior to the time that the reading is taken.

tarzan said:

I don't look at my combuster because it requires me to get on my knees and I don't want to do that in my work clothes. Lol

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I thought you threw entire trees across rivers for a living? They make you dress up for that?

jetsam said:

I thought you threw entire trees across rivers for a living? They make you dress up for that?

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LOL. Actually I made my living as an electrician in an underground coal mine so in reality my wife wouldn't even let me in the front door wearing my work clothes.

Cat glowing within 15 minutes of ignition in a cold stove tonight! Cold fuel from outside too.

BKVP said:

It's not magic, it's "alien technology", proclaimed by this site!

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You're just like the government....holding out on us with the alien tech. C'mon, spill the beans! We should all have free energy by now, and not have to work stupid jobs any more!

tarzan said:

I don't look at my combuster because it requires me to get on my knees and I don't want to do that in my work clothes. Lol

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I had to do that with the Dw and Fv. The Buck, I had to peek through the bypass rod hole in the front of the stove. My Ks, I can see when sitting on the couch. If I get an Absolute, I don't think I could see it unless I lift the lid, which would stink. I may have to go on the noises the stove is making to know if the cat is getting hotter, which I could do on the Ks now if I needed to.

Woody Stover said:

You're just like the government....holding out on us with the alien tech.

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It's 60 degrees outside, 72 inside, and I am burning 24/7 on a 24 hour reloading schedule. BK's not holding out on me!

Maybe you should switch brands....

We do have free energy. Solar, in the form of cellulose. Just cut, split and stack it. Completely renewable and carbon neutral too.

jetsam said:

It's 60 degrees outside, 72 inside, and I am burning 24/7 on a 24 hour reloading schedule. BK's not holding out on me!

Maybe you should switch brands....

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Ditto, but here it's 69F outside. Still burning oak and ash, on 24 and 36 hour reload cycles. Yes, 36 hour "reloads", not "re-starts".

Highbeam said:

You're wrong Woody. Might be right about how your Woodstock works but wrong here and a detriment to the thread.

This is why this thread is the BK PERFORMANCE thread and not the "lets mislead people by comparing everything to my woodstock" thread. If you don't have a BK, no experience with a BK, then start your own thread about whatever it is that you have.

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I have been following this BK thread for over 1 year because I want all the info i can get on BK stoves. As it will be the brand I choose for a new house build, happening in the next few years. Love hearing from all BK owners and installers, their experiences (good and bad).

After reading so many comments from some "non BK owners". I now know which ones to skip right over. I don't want to know anything they have to say.

If I had researched stoves more, I could have avoided the purchase of my precious stove. A very costly mistake. It is not by accident that I ended up with a BK. I stand by every word of this one year old post:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/ratings.php?do=viewrating&ratingid=3995

This is my second year with the BK, and I still open the door in shoulder season and go "No WAY" when I see how much wood is left in the back of the firebox.

BoilerBob said:

I have been following this BK thread for over 1 year because I want all the info i can get on BK stoves. As it will be the brand I choose for a new house build, happening in the next few years. Love hearing from all BK owners and installers, their experiences (good and bad).

After reading so many comments from some "non BK owners". I now know which ones to skip right over. I don't want to know anything they have to say.

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Good products usually have a loyal following, superior products seem too have an equal following of haters. So in a strange way, BK should be happy too see so many folks that have never even lit a fire in one of there stoves becoming so quick to bash them.

I think most folks, like BoilerBob, catch on real quick to what's going on.

Every stove has a minimum firing rate that, in the shoulder season, will be too high making the the dogs pant and the goldfish sweat so much the aquarium spills out onto the floor. Small loads that are expended by the time the sun takes over are the way to go in such cases.

kf6hap said:

Every stove has a minimum firing rate that, in the shoulder season, will be too high making the the dogs pant and the goldfish sweat so much the aquarium spills out onto the floor. Small loads that are expended by the time the sun takes over are the way to go in such cases.

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I agree and live this way. In some cases I even live with a wider range of acceptable house temps and burn a fire every other day.

The furnace people just turn the knob. Lots of part time burners on this site that go back to their furnaces in the shoulder season. If more stoves had lower burn rates like the BK then I would hope that people might continue to utilize their wood burners. I suppose it really depends on why you burn wood. Fun, to save money, environmental reasons, non-central heat source comfort, etc. I burn 9 out of 12 months each year and I do it because I like it.

I don't think many prospective stove buyers understand the most important quality of a wood stove is NOT (though important) the maximum BTUs out but the minimum firing rate while operating efficiently, cleanly and without a lot of fiddling with dampers. Most stoves will spend 80% of the time at medium fire and lower.

Highbeam said:

I agree and live this way. In some cases I even live with a wider range of acceptable house temps and burn a fire every other day.

The furnace people just turn the knob. Lots of part time burners on this site that go back to their furnaces in the shoulder season. If more stoves had lower burn rates like the BK then I would hope that people might continue to utilize their wood burners. I suppose it really depends on why you burn wood. Fun, to save money, environmental reasons, non-central heat source comfort, etc. I burn 9 out of 12 months each year and I do it because I like it.

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I've been using my gas fireplace to heat the place up here and there. It does a good job. Haven't been burning the stove this week.. It's turning out to be a good spring this winter!