2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 2 (Everything BK)
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
New cats normally come wrapped with the new gasket. And unless you have a very tall flue and/or an undersized stove run on full throttle a lot you shouldn’t need to remove your cat until it’s dead.
I believe I'm having some plugging issues flames die down when I activate cat open thermostat. Vacuum just isnt getting it done trying to do it in place. Plus the cat is loose in there has wobble to it not sure if that's normal
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
Cat should be snug in the opening after the gasket expands, but the gasket is soft enough that you could force a wobble, if you try.
Knock on wood but this is first time I've had a box full of flame with that cat engaged in almost a month and it is cranking out big heat again. Spent 20 minutes running the vacuum over the cat. The other couple time I tried it was just a dozen or so passes over it with no success. Last time I tried I also pulled the pipe to check behind the cat and it seemed like there was a good bit of ash on the back too so I'll get a new gasket and pull it and give it a good clean. 
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Dave K
Burning Hunk
So after a full week I am very pleased with this stove. It was -5 degrees here with whipping winds last Wednesday and today it is 63 degrees outside so I feel like I got a good sample of how this stove will perform in all conditions.
20' masonry chimney with good draft.
No OAK (as I have an older drafty house and didn't feel the need for it)
No blower
I do have a few questions after a full week of letting the stove run and I'd be appreciative if those that know Blaze King can share some knowledge.
1. When it was close to zero degrees for a few days I was running the stove on high almost all of the time. Will this damage the cat or stove if I run it on high for a stretch of a few days? Also, as you can see in the photos, the cat is way up in the active zone, but the stove top is below 400 (it is only above 400 right near the thermometer). The pictures of the stove top temps were taken with the stove on high for a few hours. I have seen people say their stove tops are a lot higher than 400 so I'm wondering why mine won't get up that hot.
2. When I turn the thermostat anywhere between medium and low the catalyst probe thermometer slowly tarts to creep towards the inactive zone and eventually stays in the inactive zone. I didn't know what I should do, so I turned up the thermostat to high and opened the bypass until the thermometer was back in the active zone. Is that what I should be doing? Secondly, why is it going to inactive even when the thermostat is at medium?
Thanks a lot guys, I am grateful for your thoughts.
20' masonry chimney with good draft.
No OAK (as I have an older drafty house and didn't feel the need for it)
No blower
I do have a few questions after a full week of letting the stove run and I'd be appreciative if those that know Blaze King can share some knowledge.
1. When it was close to zero degrees for a few days I was running the stove on high almost all of the time. Will this damage the cat or stove if I run it on high for a stretch of a few days? Also, as you can see in the photos, the cat is way up in the active zone, but the stove top is below 400 (it is only above 400 right near the thermometer). The pictures of the stove top temps were taken with the stove on high for a few hours. I have seen people say their stove tops are a lot higher than 400 so I'm wondering why mine won't get up that hot.
2. When I turn the thermostat anywhere between medium and low the catalyst probe thermometer slowly tarts to creep towards the inactive zone and eventually stays in the inactive zone. I didn't know what I should do, so I turned up the thermostat to high and opened the bypass until the thermometer was back in the active zone. Is that what I should be doing? Secondly, why is it going to inactive even when the thermostat is at medium?
Thanks a lot guys, I am grateful for your thoughts.
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lsucet
Minister of Fire
Dave K
Burning Hunk
Diabel
Minister of Fire
lsucet
Minister of Fire
Dave K
Burning Hunk
its below 20%. Are you asking to answer my stove top temp question or the thermometer going inactive at medium question?
Dave K
Burning Hunk
No, stove was on high (and burning on high for a few hours) when the pics were taken
lsucet
Minister of Fire
For what i am seeing in the first picture you at coal stage. Being jacketed i will think it is ok. They are good convective stoves. At that point I dont know if the surface will be too hot but it suppose to give good heat into the room still. .
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
The cat meter is only to be used for on/off or active/inactive. Don't worry about how high it is going. If your door gasket is in good shape then you may run the stove at maximum high thermostat setting all day every day.
Now on the low end you need to be careful that you don't turn the thermostat too low. What will happen is your cat meter will fall to inactive. That's because you snuffed the fire and the cat starved. Open the bypass and apply full throttle until the cat meter is above the active line. Then you can turn the thermostat down again but not so low this time. You will eventually find that setting that is just barely high enough to keep the cat active. Be sure to stay above that setting so that you don't stall the cat again.
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Oh and don't measure stove top temperatures. It's useless. The cat is usually cruising at 1500 degrees!
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Here is my uneventful 5 days with the Princess. Load at 9:00am, repeat at 9:00 am the next day. 35 pieces of hard maple over the 5 loads. That is less than the VC would eat. Pretty much similar heat output.
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Alpine1
Feeling the Heat
That is similar to my uneventful routine of the last four MONTHS with the exception that I reload at 7 am and 7 pm
Ashful
Minister of Fire
1. No issues with running on high, provided your chimney isn't massively over-powered. At 20 feet of masonry, I doubt that's the case, you should be good to let her rip.
2. I find the lowest setting I can run without stalling is somewhere around 2:30 o'clock on the Ashford 30.1 swoosh. Every install is different, but consider that a reference point, your setup is not out of the norm.
Dave K
Burning Hunk
The thermometer goes inactive well after the wood is charred. Would the all moisture be gone from the wood by that stage? Also, my wood is dry.
Diabel
Minister of Fire
Maybe then you are closing the stat too much for your set up. You must learn to become one with your stove.....(kidding).
Dave K
Burning Hunk
So hypothetically, let’s say the cat thermometer falls to inactive while I’m away from home and the bypass remains closed because no one is there to turn up the stay or open bypass. What happens to the stove/cat? Anything to be concerned about? I’m assuming it wouldn’t have enough air and it will just die out.
Dave K
Burning Hunk
Okay thanks. So I just have to find that sweet spot where it’s the lowest I can go with keeping the cat active.
So far, I can’t go any lower than 5 o’clock. Is that normal for some setups?
Dave K
Burning Hunk
Lol yes. There is definitely a learning curve. So far I’m absolutely in love with this stove (coming from an old smoke dragon)!
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