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

Diabel said:

I also find it more difficult to start. I have been using 1/8 of that starter puck BK provided on cold starts. Using paper it was a mess. The house is extremely tight and that does not help.

Click to expand...

get your hands on some birch bark. best fire starter ever.

The beauty is (as mentioned earlier) you do not start that stove too often.

Highbeam said:

My bk smokes like a freight train during warmup and for about the first 5 minutes after cat engagement. Always has. Same fuel is smoke free within just a few (5?) minutes if ignition in the noncat.

Honestly, I prefer to start bk fires after dark.

Not sure if it’s the direct path to the flue on the bk, the lack of secondary air, lack of insulated baffle, or what.

Click to expand...

that kinda reassure me , i was trying to be gentle with th bk, but freight train analogy seems right.

i will try the top/down method for sure , and the after dark technique also.

on a happier note, it is great to burn a 20. box size full of spruce and fur and get good heat for 12 to 16 hours and have the house just at the right temperature for a new fire the next day

Before last winter I was at the ranch maybe 1-2 days during the week and for sure every weekend. regardless if is the BK or previous stove over the years, the top/down works good with every stove i had/have. Meaning, I have a lot of startups over the years. I have been since last winter 24/7 and with the BKs, of course is easy not to do many startups. But @bholler is right about the wood consumption this time of the year. Everything depends. With other stoves you do 1-2 hot fires and let it go for the rest of the day but the house can drop temp between those fires depending outside temps. BK keeps it steady all day long. I am sure i still saving wood compare to my previous stove. Also the house is in better condition too, but i install the first BK when the house still leaky as hell and started noticing the differences.

bholler said:

Nope the only reason i had to restart a couple times was turning it down to low.

Click to expand...

Sounds like you're catching on .. Finding your "low", is key.. Every install is different, as you already know..
Do you have your Auber hooked up to it ?
Are you running on original cat, or did you put the new one in ?

Keeping your flue above 212F all the way up can avoid gooky creosote.

kf6hap said:

Keeping your flue above 212F all the way up can avoid gooky creosote.

Click to expand...

Hm, I am noticing the probe thermometer (18” above the stovetop) hovering around 200*F for 75% of the burn and I am not liking it. The cat probe will still sit at 1 o’clock however. And the fact that I see some smoke....

I am burning the same wood in the city (in the VC) and the flue hovers around 300 to 375 with no smoke visible.

Mnpellet said:

View attachment 231478

Finally got my ashford in today

Click to expand...

if you don't have a dog enjoying the stove then you have the wrong stove! Nice looking one right there, the dog and the stove.

Diabel said:

Hm, I am noticing the probe thermometer (18” above the stovetop) hovering around 200*F for 75% of the burn and I am not liking it. The cat probe will still sit at 1 o’clock however. And the fact that I see some smoke....

I am burning the same wood in the city (in the VC) and the flue hovers around 300 to 375 with no smoke visible.

Click to expand...

That does'nt make sense ??
Sounds like if you have the proper probe thermo. It might be bad..

I don’t have any stove experience but our BK AF25 catches up fire real fast without using any fire starters but some small oak kindling that I posted the pics of and some papers. Is that the indication of a good draft? I cant fully close the swoosh though needs to be set at least to 3 o’clock. I’ m not sure if it is related though ( good draft = swoosh fully closed?)
Does top to bottom lighting have any other advantage other than helping the smoke?

Im sure everyone has a different method, whatever works. I don't find the stove any harder to start than the other upmteen stoves I have had during my life. But I can confirm that its is the most efficient as far as wood usage of any stove I've had

showrguy said:

That does'nt make sense ??
Sounds like if you have the proper probe thermo. It might be bad..

Click to expand...

Agree, that is why I feel a bit uneasy about it.

Good idea. I will swap the probes.

bholler said:

I can tell you my cap has more black on it from this short time burning with the bk than it got after a full season with the regency. My flue temps when running low hover right about 250. Which i am sure is below 212 by the time it leaves the top of the chimney.

Click to expand...

I am so glad we are discussing this, it worries me.

My cap is pretty black by the end of the year, but my chimney is pretty clean. I never get more then a cup or 2 of crap out of it. Usually takes a few months of no burning before my cap starts to look clean.

chemie said:

Does top to bottom lighting have any other advantage other than helping the smoke?

Click to expand...

It does help with heating up the flue and cat faster plus yes, it minimize the smoke some. starting the fire right at front on top makes the cat get to temp real quick. cat getting to temp also heats the flue and in my opinion the process can be faster. My experience BTW.

Lately i stick a piece of super cedar at the bottom and another piece way up at front under the cat with the small split. it gets the cat to temp quick for me.

Top down, would be..... paper kindling and splits at the bottom. Correct? (Do not feel like going to YouTube).

bholler said:

I am not worried about it personally i will just clean it mid season. But i never had to before

Click to expand...

I cleaned mid season for the first couple seasons. Now I am comfortable cleaning annually but wouldn’t go any longer. Definitely dirtier than a tube stove.