2012-2013 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

[regalflyer]

Yes. I have been known to run the stove a little hotter just to look at the flames and to boost the temp in the stove room quickly but then to set the stove output back so that I don't overheat the room but also so that I can get the full 24 hour burntime. The cat stays active and burns clean so long as it lights off in the beginning.

These stoves have such a low output in the lower temp ranges that you can set it and forget it. Really, if you are overheating on the low settings, it is probably too warm outside for a fire. You can then resort to the "pulse and glide" style of burning where you let the stove cool between fires like you would with a non-cat except the glide periods will be a day or two since it will be so warm outside.

I must always run mine on zero, it cranks out so much heat I have to open windows in the house. The cat just goes nuts with a full load of wood, I don't get down to lower output until about 2/3 the burn time. I cannot lower the output by lowering the thermostat until most of the wood is gone -

I almost always get 24 hours of burn time, but I wish I could lower the heat output - just will not happen.

Cat is always clean, and brushing the chimney after 3 or 4 full cords yields about 2 cups of creosote in the chimney -

 

[weatherguy]

Apparently, mushrooms don't matter . That oak has been thru four summers in the stack. The big round and the huge split next to it were way dead ash that I put up last fall.

I may have overdone it, actually. I hope I can load it before midnight.

Mushrooms burn great , the in laws were over today and they commented on the fungus and mushrooms on my oak in the wood rack, mines been out there for 3 years, my BIL sarcastically asked me if my wood was dry enough . Actually after watching my BK burn hardly any wood from 11-6 and the heat it was throwing out he was thinking of getting one, I told him his wood better be dry or it wont perform like mine was, I may have converted him today, then again it could have been the Jack Daniels

 

[jeff_t]

The shrooms popped up last summer, which was really wet at the end. They shriveled up this summer. That wood was near the top of the stack, too.

I'm at my sister's house right now. She's still on last night's load. Plenty warm in here, low 70s. That was after an overnight low of 20, and a partly sunny low 30s today. I looked at the wood she has left from the first load I brought and shook my head. This 2600+ sq ft is pretty easy to heat.

 

[PapaDave]

Kickin' myself again, Jeff.
Nice to hear the stove is doing well. Love it when a plan comes together.

 

[Machria]

The load tonight went together so well I figured I'd take a picture.

That is an amazing load! How long do you guys burn these large loads like that one with the air opened up to char the wood and get the fire going a bit before you shut it down...?

 

[jeff_t]

Kickin' myself again, Jeff.
Nice to hear the stove is doing well. Love it when a plan comes together.

Don't worry, there was a bit of work went into it. I would have rather had the Princess you found a few weeks later. Looked to be in better shape, and would be perfect for that house, I think.

I burned that load in earlier for about 30 minutes. There were some pretty big hunks of wood in there. Normal splits don't take as long.

 

[Skidooer]

What are some common flue temps when running just under 2 on the stat? After running the stove for an hour I'm still over 720* and the cat is over max. The princess is roaring and chewing up wood like its going outta style. Even worse when it's windy out, seems like it never gets a chance to calm down. Any ideas?

 

[weatherguy]

What are some common flue temps when running just under 2 on the stat? After running the stove for an hour I'm still over 720* and the cat is over max. The princess is roaring and chewing up wood like its going outta style. Even worse when it's windy out, seems like it never gets a chance to calm down. Any ideas?

You have it set at 2? I turn mine down low all the time or else it'll run hot like yours is, once the cat temp is in the 12 oclock position I start turning it down. I let it cruise on low once the cat temp tops out at 1400

 

[rdust]

That is an amazing load! How long do you guys burn these large loads like that one with the air opened up to char the wood and get the fire going a bit before you shut it down...?

Usually 5-10 minutes depending on if I brought any surface moisture in on the wood or the size of the coal bed.

 

[Highbeam]

What are some common flue temps when running just under 2 on the stat? After running the stove for an hour I'm still over 720* and the cat is over max. The princess is roaring and chewing up wood like its going outta style. Even worse when it's windy out, seems like it never gets a chance to calm down. Any ideas?

Under 2 is where I usually run the stove. I like the 1.75 setting most of the time for long burns and an hour or two after engaging the cat I am between 400 and 500 in the flue measured with a real probe meter installed per the directions 18" above the stove in double wall pipe. I have run this probe meter past 1250 with my non-cat stove but have never gotten past 600 with the BK. If you're at 720 and ripping through wood at your "low" setting then perhaps you need to go even lower. Do you need the heat you are getting? If you need the heat then you gotta spend the fuel, otherwise turn it down .

 

[RustyShackleford]

I must always run mine on zero, it cranks out so much heat I have to open windows in the house. The cat just goes nuts with a full load of wood, I don't get down to lower output until about 2/3 the burn time. I cannot lower the output by lowering the thermostat until most of the wood is gone -

I almost always get 24 hours of burn time, but I wish I could lower the heat output - just will not happen.

Cat is always clean, and brushing the chimney after 3 or 4 full cords yields about 2 cups of creosote in the chimney -

Maybe you have a reverse-wound thermostat coil ?

 

[Patapsco Mike]

Just take the left side panel off, you need the square driver (#1?) and it'll be right there, I clean mine every year, when I had the labs it was always filled with hair, cleaned it mid winter and end of year, now its not too bad so I'll just clean it in the spring.

Thanks! It worked, I got a LOT of dust and hair out of both, and the fan is sooooo much more quiet now. I should have taken off the control knob first. I thought I could wiggle past it, but the plastic part broke off cleanly and now I can't adjust my fan. Guess I need to look up the part number and place an order...

 

[Todd]

What are some common flue temps when running just under 2 on the stat? After running the stove for an hour I'm still over 720* and the cat is over max. The princess is roaring and chewing up wood like its going outta style. Even worse when it's windy out, seems like it never gets a chance to calm down. Any ideas?

720 sounds high for a stat setting of under 2. When I burn right at #2 she settles in at about 550. When I turn her down to 1.5 the flue drops down to 400. I have had higher temps with colder windy weather and have to adjust down a bit. 720 is pushing a lot of wasted heat up your chimney, I think the stove is more efficient with either a slow lazy flame or no flame at all.

 

[HotCoals]

You guys really need to pull the cover off the t-stat and observe if you have not yet done it.
If you don't want to do that move the dial back and forth so that you can hear it click shut ..when it clicks shut leave it there..should be around 2 if the stove is warm-hot.
Won't do any thing more if you lower it even more..it will just take a cooler stove to open it some then if you leave it just where it closes.
The t-stat on a king is very slow to react..at east on mine.
With the cover off you can watch it.

Ski dooer you are running way to hot ...no need to..your t-stat is wound backwards or you're just leaving it up to high..listen for the click when you turn it back and forth...adjust from there.
For sure if you turn it to 1 you should have no flames or very little.

 

[jeff_t]

I don't know about y'all, but I pretty much got it all on the table right now. Been cranking all afternoon, with the wind straight out of the north 25-30 mph, and about 25° at the moment. If the temps were cold, I'd have a fire in the furnace, too. Still have a ways to go tightening this house up.

 

[nate379]

Sounds like it. That is about what the weather is here as well, just a bit more wind.

This type of weather is tough to heat for me because it's almost too warm to run the stove. It's nice in a way when it's -20* cause I can fill the stove all the way full and not worry too much about overheating the house.

I don't know about y'all, but I pretty much got it all on the table right now. Been cranking all afternoon, with the wind straight out of the north 25-30 mph, and about 25° at the moment. If the temps were cold, I'd have a fire in the furnace, too. Still have a ways to go tightening this house up.

I took the cover off my T Stat a few weeks ago to take a look. Generally I don't get a "full burn" where the stove is empty. Instead there will be chucks of wood and some coals... Turn the damper all the way up and it's burning again, often for several hrs.

I realized that the coil has VERY little effect on the damper. If I set it to exactly where it's barely fully closed with a hot fire going (right around 1.5) and let it run till it's cold the damper is open maybe 1/4" more at the most.

Is that normal?

 

[claybe]

New BK owner here and I am a little frustrated and could use some advice. I had the stove installed 3 days ago and have been burning ever since it was installed. It is definitely not heating like I expected and I am loading it like a non-cat stove. So, I must be doing something wrong. Here's what the last 24 hours have looked like:
3 pm yesterday loaded it up set it on 4th dot and had the blower on medium
10 pm yesterday loaded it up set it on 2nd dot for overnight put the blower on low
7 am stove is at 150 degrees and house is freezing, I load it up and get back in active zone and leave it on 4th dot to get the house warm. Stove gets to 600 so i dial it down to 2nd dot turn the blower to high. The room the stove is in is at 60 degrees at this point.
Noon I have to load again can only get 3 splits in because there are so many coals. Read on here the controversy about blowers cooling the stove and burning wood faster so turn the blower off. I keep the tstat at 3.5 and get the stove back to 600. The room the stove is in is now at 70 degrees.
3 pm. I add 2 more splits stove is at 400 at reload room is only at 71 degrees. It's not gotten above 27 degrees today outside. It's 4:30 now and the stove is at 450 degrees the dial is at 2.5 dots and the room is at 70 degrees.

Based on the above, what am I doing wrong? My wood is dry and I think it is pine. Any suggestions? It is a princess insert.

 

[hotprinter]

Are you engaging the cat fully ?

 

[claybe]

Also, I just looked at the cat again and it is not "glowing" and in fact I have only seen it glowing once?!? If it is in the active zone should it be glowing all the time???

 

[claybe]

By engaging do you mean getting it into the active zone?

 

[hotprinter]

How do you engage the cat on an insert? Do you feel it "click" when it is locked into place?

 

[hotprinter]

No. You can get it active without engaging the cat. On a free standing there is a bypass / cat lever on the side. When you are starting the fire you want to bypass the cat which sends the smoke directly up the stack. Once it is in the active zone you pull the handle to force the smoke the ought cat and close off the bypass. I think that may be your problem.

 

[jeff_t]

Are you getting the bypass damper closed all the way? I think that's what he means. It might take a little extra effort with a new stove. Then again, it might need to be adjusted after it is used a little bit.

Tell us about your fuel. How dry is it? When was it split and stacked? Standing dead? Do you have a moisture meter?

How about the chimney? Insulated liner? How tall?

With good draft and dry wood, you shouldn't have the issues you are describing.

 

[nate379]

For sure something isn't working right if you can't hold the house at temp when it's that warm out.

 

[tobaccogrower]

my cat dosnt glow all the time. saturday will be week 3 with the princess. however, with a stove top temp at or above 500* the cat probe is pointing at the 12-4 oclock position. i've been getting good 12 hour burns with the tstat set to around 2 burning 4 year c/s/s sugar maple.

you definatly have a problem claybe!