2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 3 (Everything BK)

One more i wanted to put in there may cause stove to quicly cool down...

Mabe put a bypass damper on the intake if you want the best of both worlds... lol u could use a 4" electric exhast cutout from say qtp.. hooked to a thermostat on the stove as the stove warms the butterfly valve goes from using room air, to both room air and outside air to strickly outside air and once the temps start coming down back to room air. In all seriousness a insulated oak with bypass would be could for testing purposes.

Good thoughts, Blazing. But these OAKs have been standard hardware for years, if some of these concerns you highlight were of substantial merit, they’d have likely addressed them by now.

On room air dryness, yes... my house runs 15% - 25% RH all winter long. I have convinced myself that running two stoves 24/7 is contributing to that, by constantly expelling my humidified (via our bodies, showering, and cooking) air and bringing in fresh air to be heated and dried, but I have not made any measurements that actually prove this.

Ashful said:

I really would like to have OAKs, but having seen the extreme trouble the Verizon crews (yes, plural... they had to send out multiple crews over the course of one very long day) had with drilling a simple 1” hole thru my wall for a fiber, I don’t see it happening. Rubble-filled mud stacked stone walls are best left as they were built, I suspect.

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Core drill. Stick a pipe in it so the rubble doesn't collapse, done.

This is wandering a bit from the BK subject, but the excursion is likely short enough to slide. I assume you’d drill from inside to out at the desired center line with a 1/2” hammer drill, so you have a reference point, and then drill from outside to in with the core drill? I couldn’t imagine the mess of running a core drill inside the house.

Also, the core bits I’ve seen are usually very shallow, and I’m going thru 24’ish inches of stone. Can they be purchased in that depth, such that you can core drill thru, and then push back out with the pipe to be inserted? If withdrawing a core drill without a pipe follower, rubble will likely instantly begin shifting.

Ashful said:

This is wandering a bit from the BK subject, but the excursion is likely short enough to slide. I assume you’d drill from inside to out at the desired center line with a 1/2” hammer drill, so you have a reference point, and then drill from outside to in with the core drill? I couldn’t imagine the mess of running a core drill inside the house.

Also, the core bits I’ve seen are usually very shallow, and I’m going thru 24’ish inches of stone. Can they be purchased in that depth, such that you can core drill thru, and then push back out with the pipe to be inserted? If withdrawing a core drill without a pipe follower, rubble will likely instantly begin shifting.

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I just talked to a guy at ProCut about your situation, he said it'd be no problem to drill that foundation, but it's out of their area, and they mostly do commercial work..
So it answers the question, "can it be done". Yes

Thanks guys, esp. for the call, showrguy.

@bholler, are you in favor or against the idea of an OAK in my situation? If on the fence, what would you do to evaluate the merit of having one? I have no problem with draft, even running both stoves + dryer + range hood + bathroom vents. My sole interest is improving overall efficiency and humidity situation.

bholler said:

If it was easier to do i would absolutly say try it. If it was me i would try to find an easier way to hook up a temp oak to see if it helps any.

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A very Wise Man once spoke about this>..>........... See post #1421..

showrguy said:

A very Wise Man once spoke about this>..>........... See post #1421..

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Hah... and we've come full circle. This will not be fun, building sealed adaptors for two windows and running flex duct from each stove, out of the fireplace, across the room, and to the closest window. One will cross my daughter's play area, the other my wife's desk, on the way to their respective windows. But I'll do it!

I assume BK sells an adaptor for the stove connection?

Ashful said:

Hah... and we've come full circle. This will not be fun, building sealed adaptors for two windows and running flex duct from each stove, out of the fireplace, across the room, and to the closest window. One will cross my daughter's play area, the other my wife's desk, on the way to their respective windows. But I'll do it!

I assume BK sells an adaptor for the stove connection?

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Yes they sell an adaptor that positively attaches to the stove.
With a beautiful house like yours, I don’t see a flexible pipe running across the place and taped to a window... not to mention leaving a window partially open and trying to seal that up. Seems pretty counter productive.

Thanks, webby. We’re talking about a 1 week experiment, here. I have to admit, like showrguy, I’ve been wondering for a long time if I’d have better heat retention running an oak. Bedrooms on the second floor can run pretty cool, when it gets cold out.

Ashful said:

, I’ve been wondering for a long time if I’d have better heat retention running an oak

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I wouldn't use heat as the measurement, I would use relative humidity as the measurement to see if its working, you should have more humidity in the house since the stoves make up air is now dedicated with the oak.

169$ + tax for the air kit in Montreal Canada... All I need is the Ashford air intake plate and 2 feet of flexible STainless steel pipe

coutufr said:

169$ + tax for the air kit in Montreal Canada... All I need is the Ashford air intake plate and 2 feet of flexible STainless steel pipe

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Just use metal dryer vent. It’s usually aluminum and semi rigid.

Aluminum vent should do the trick I agree. For the plate I either find a dealer who’s ready to order me one or I will figure out something

coutufr said:

Aluminum vent should do the trick I agree. For the plate I either find a dealer who’s ready to order me one or I will figure out something

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Pretty sure I can custom fab one for mine this summer for quite a bit less than $170 quid.

Ashful said:

Bedrooms on the second floor can run pretty cool, when it gets cold out.

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Get a blanket, down comforter,....or a warm buddy.

Ashful said:

This is wandering a bit from the BK subject, but the excursion is likely short enough to slide. I assume you’d drill from inside to out at the desired center line with a 1/2” hammer drill, so you have a reference point, and then drill from outside to in with the core drill? I couldn’t imagine the mess of running a core drill inside the house.

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What we used to do: If the floor is tiled, you pull the floor moulding, fill the crack with putty, and build a putty dam to stop water running away from the suction area. (If not, add a plastic sheet and a bit more work building the dam). The mess isn't bad (no dust, a couple square feet of wet floor)- though we did once completely flood a motor pool office building because it had hydronic baseboards that were not on the blueprints!

Ashful said:

Also, the core bits I’ve seen are usually very shallow, and I’m going thru 24’ish inches of stone. Can they be purchased in that depth, such that you can core drill thru, and then push back out with the pipe to be inserted? If withdrawing a core drill without a pipe follower, rubble will likely instantly begin shifting.

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You'd want to make sure the hole exits above grade, and push the bit back inside with the new conduit that will hold your electrical/plumbing/whatever. Might want one guy to stay inside and hold the bit straight so it doesn't go crooked in the rubble halfway out.

I would expect that Hilti makes 24" core bits, but expect the drillbit (not includingthe drill) cost as much as a chainsaw! =) Might be a lot cheaper to hire someone who already has the drill and the bit. The labor is really minimal if you have the right tools.

they have dry core bits too with dust extraction. This should not be difficult for anyone with the right tools.

Thanks, guys. These fireplaces are 4 to six feet above grade, so no issues there. First, gotta run showrguy’s experiment. Jetsam, hiring it out might make sense, if I can find someone with the tooling. Might also be able to rent.

My pups alerted me to a squatter taking up residence in the king. They heard it fluttering around and tapping on the glass and were sniffing around all sides seeing what the hubbub was about. I got it and released it outside with him giving me a nice tweet as I released him. A day or 2 later one very similar looking or the same was flying against the window in the living room I think this bird may not be too smart.

finally a couple of mandatory days off from fire season. playing hard this summer - we're having quite the fire season in ontario so far. managed to time it right and got the chimney sweep here on my day off to get me all dialled in for this coming stove season - wanted someone with stove experience to "read my chimney" so to speak. all fine ash, no hard creo at all he said - could have kept burning no problem. a couple of dust pans worth of fine ash was all that came out. put a new cat gasket on, and all ready for the fall! I had him look at the bypass plate tension, to see if he thought it needed to be tightened. interestingly, we discovered that the plate puts more tension on a piece of paper if it's not cam-d down until it clicks into place. it seems that with it closed but not clicked, there's more resistance on the paper than once it clicks all the way down. i think partly because the bar rolls back when you click it in? he suggested that i not click it down, since that seems to create the best seal. however, I'm leary of doing this. anyone have any thoughts about this? perhaps could this mean that the bypass tension is too tight? or just keep rocking it the way it is?

either way, i'm starting to look forward to the wind-down of forest fire season, and the wind-up of wood stove season. getting things all tuned up has got my toes wiggling. glad i got all my wood into the driveway before things took off at work - otherwise i'd a been scrambling for 20-21's wood in the fall...

hope you all are enjoying your summer, and i'd be curious to know your thoughts on the bypass tension.