2012-2013 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Status
Not open for further replies.
Nope! Maybe 300 at the most. They pretty much just turn to chracoal and go out with some coals on the top still glowing. Its hard to explain. Iv empited out big hunks of unburn coals that were 10- 12% moisture content when they entered as firewood. The temp seems to drop in a hurry and they go out. I asked that maybe becuase of the fan but was told it wouldnt cause this.
 
My stove is in the basement. If i set it at 2 the stove never reaches temp for the thermostat to shut

What is the stove top temp when the inferno is happening and where are you taking the reading from and with what? Also how are you reading the temp on the flue? I have a hard time understanding the stove being an inferno and the t-stat not closing down on two even if it's sending gobs of heat up the flue.

I don't think I seen you answer HotCoals does the pipe have a barometric damper in it?(if so remove it)
 
No damper in the stove pipe. And when i have an infirno my flue is 750- 850deg depending on wind outside and how cold it is. I can watch the flames lick up the glass every time a big wind gust hits. And the readings i take are with my infared thermo gun, right in front if the Cat gauge. And no the t stat will NOT close if i run it hotter than 1.5, iv left the cover off many times now to monitor. Iv let it burn at 2 all night long and it never reaches temp for it to close. While its flaming away my Cat stops glowing, and wont start again till i turn it back to 1.5 when the thermo closes down. Then it gases off nice and works ok, flue still over 650deg for a while tho.
 
And the readings i take are with my infared thermo gun, right in front if the Cat gauge. .

What kind of readings are you getting here during the burn? I'm usually 500-600 in that spot when I get it dialed down.
 
These stoves seem to work best and emit the most heat when they're turned down low. When I first got mine I figured when it got really cold I could turn the stat up and get more heat, didnt work, one reason my wood wasnt great my first year but after burning 4 years Ive learned to set it low and let it go. If I want a hotter fire I use oak, I cant even keep my hand a foot in front of the stove for 5 seconds with a load of oak.
 
These stoves seem to work best and emit the most heat when they're turned down low. When I first got mine I figured when it got really cold I could turn the stat up and get more heat, didnt work, one reason my wood wasnt great my first year but after burning 4 years Ive learned to set it low and let it go. If I want a hotter fire I use oak, I cant even keep my hand a foot in front of the stove for 5 seconds with a load of oak.

I find that I can run at the same setting almost all the time unless it's 40+ or so. The colder it gets the better the draft so I get more heat. I can usually regulate the heat output to the room by running the blower or not.
 
How low are you guys running? Between the blower and tstat settings, I run a huge range depending on how much heat I need to put in the house.
 
How low are you guys running? Between the blower and tstat settings, I run a huge range depending on how much heat I need to put in the house.

Im almost always on the second dot, like rdust says the colder temp will pull more draft and you regulate with the blower too, I use my blower 80% of the time since its an insert but days like today I turned it off a while because it was getting too warm.
 
Gotcha. Are you guys doing full loads every time? I run from 1 no blower to 3.25 full blower as required with varying density of wood to get the load times right, always full loads whether it is September or January.
 
When 24 burns are not possible and I have to drop to 12s then I don't load fully. 5 or 6 splits insteat of 8 or 9. This stove is a smoke spiller if I try and reload when the firebox still has fuel in it so I need to reduce the fuel load in order to be sure that it is consumed in 12 hours. The stove makes the most heat for those first few hours with a fresh load and then settles in for a long and low burn.
 
Seems like the tighter you get it packed, the longer that initial plateau lasts.
 
I load full when I can get 24 hour burns, when it's too cold for that 3/4 loads seem to do the trick. On the weekends I load full when my loads don't have to be timed.
 
I load full when I can get 24 hour burns, when it's too cold for that 3/4 loads seem to do the trick.

My wood pile has everything from Pine to Locust and chunks to full length in it. I can always find the right load for the length burn and amount of heat I want:cool: It is interesting to hear how everyone works these steel boxes.
 
I find packing it tight, even up the sides around the air tubes really helps make it last. Do you guys find 16" or 18" length wood better? Im mostly 15- 16 right now but thinking of cutting next years supply longer.
rdust- I checked my stove top temps today, hovering aroung 550F 4 hours in, at 8 hours was 430F. Im still set at 1.5 becuse its 35 deg F outside, and im actually keeping the place warm burning low and slow. Flue was 550deg F at 4hrs, then down to 450 after 8. I checked my stove temp this morn when i got home, it was just under 300deg F. Thats after a 14 hr hardwood burn on 1.5, blowers on low.
Ordered my flue damper today, plan to install it tomorrw night or this weekend if its late being delivered. Comes as a 5" pipe section with the damper installed, should be a simple job im hoping.
 
I find packing it tight, even up the sides around the air tubes really helps make it last. Do you guys find 16" or 18" length wood better? Im mostly 15- 16 right now but thinking of cutting next years supply longer.
rdust- I checked my stove top temps today, hovering aroung 550F 4 hours in, at 8 hours was 430F. Im still set at 1.5 becuse its 35 deg F outside, and im actually keeping the place warm burning low and slow. Flue was 550deg F at 4hrs, then down to 450 after 8. I checked my stove temp this morn when i got home, it was just under 300deg F. Thats after a 14 hr hardwood burn on 1.5, blowers on low.
Ordered my flue damper today, plan to install it tomorrw night or this weekend if its late being delivered. Comes as a 5" pipe section with the damper installed, should be a simple job im hoping.

Those temps don't seem too far off, mine stays at 300 for a long time o 1.5. How many coals were left after 14 hours? Sometimes I wish I had a probe in the flue but figure it's just one more thing to fixate on that I don't need. ;lol Right now it would be helpful to compare some numbers though.
 
Do you guys find 16" or 18" length wood better? Im mostly 15- 16 right now but thinking of cutting next years supply longer.

Don't do it. Big mistake. The bricks are 16" apart at the bottom so if you cut longer than 16 you'll have to load E/W and that is not the way to go. I have some leftover 17 and 18 inchers that need to be loaded high in the firebox because they will not fall down to the firebox floor.

I just cut about 13 cords of wood at 15" long so that I can easily load the stove N/S as god intended.
 
I find packing it tight, even up the sides around the air tubes really helps make it last. Do you guys find 16" or 18" length wood better? Im mostly 15- 16 right now but thinking of cutting next years supply longer.

I aim to cut everything 17 inches this allows me to load n/s without any trouble. If it's longer it just gets tossed on the second layer.

Don't do it. Big mistake. The bricks are 16" apart at the bottom so if you cut longer than 16 you'll have to load E/W and that is not the way to go.

Do you really only have 16 inches between the bricks n/s? I have 18 inches but the steel holding the bricks takes a half inch off that number. I can easily lay a 17 inch split on the first layer above the bricks you gain an inch on the back and the front side.
 
Do you really only have 16 inches between the bricks n/s? I have 18 inches but the steel holding the bricks takes a half inch off that number. I can easily lay a 17 inch split on the first layer above the bricks you gain an inch on the back and the front side.

That could be, the metal brackets stick out and the bricks are tilted so that they are closer together at the bottom. I have had to twist and wiggle splits to get them down to the bottom and this wedging action would put undo stress on the bricks and maybe crack them. I have a fully loaded stove right now so I can't measure but the specs for this stove recommend a 16" max log length. If you are cutting wood, you really need to be sure to leave yourself some margin for crooked cuts and imperfections.

No way would I cut wood at 18" for a stove with exactly 18" between the bricks.
 
No way would I cut wood at 18" for a stove with exactly 18" between the bricks.

I agree, 18 doesn't work. I'm working through a bunch of them right now and they get put on the top row. When I'm in the garage getting a load for the stove I have to make sure I grab enough for the first layer that will fit. 18's on the upper layers are fine.
 
I cut mine 17 inches when I process my own wood, 18" doesnt work but I find 17" leaves 1/2" of space. My box is perfectly square and I always go N/S but this year I started putting a split or two E/W in the back, for this I use a 2" round of oak or oak slabs that are a couple inches thick.
 
I don't have a damper but I'm thinking of putting one in. My pipe is about 20 feet of single-wall. Every time I start a new load of wood, it will "take off" and burn out of control until I move the thermostat down below 1.75. Even at 2, the stove will run far too hot and burn through wood at a rapid clip. I see a lot of smoke coming out the stack until I get the firebox under control. Smoke = unburned fuel and means you aren't getting as much heat from your wood as you should be. Others on this board have theorized that the smoke happens during overdraft because the gases fly through the cat too fast to fully burn up. This seems logical, and I've observed that my cat doesn't glow full orange until I get the draft under control.

My BK Princess manual recommends a draft of 0.05" wc *operated on high*. You said you measured 0.07" on the lowest setting.The draft is not a constant value, it depends on the average flue temperature which obviously depends on the rate you are burning fuel in the firebox. So in your case it definitely sounds like an overdraft situation to me. There's a chart at this link that shows how draft related to chimney height and gas temperature.

My theory for my stovepipe situation is that it overdrafts when the fire is hot, and actually underdrafts when the fire is low (due to my single wall pipe that bleeds off a lot of heat from the flue gases). I installed a manometer to check this. It reads as high as 0.09" when when I'm starting up a new load. When I throttle down the thermostat to get things under control, it settles in around 0.05". If I set the thermostat to #1 and let it go, in the morning it's often down to 0.02". Theory seems to check out. In my case I think I need a shorter double-wall pipe, or a damper (damper seems like the more cost effective option!).

It sounds to me like you have the same problem but to a greater degree since your pipe is double-wall and will thus generate even more draft per foot of rise.

Here's what I've been doing to cope with my non-ideal draft situation and get decent burn times without too much smoke:

1. Thermostat to #3 (highest) for kindling the new fire, and close the bypass as soon as the load is burning well.
2. As soon as the cat is into the "active" zone, I slowly turn the thermostat knob down until the flames go from a fast flicker to a slower licking/rolling. This is usually somewhere around 1.5 depending on the load of wood.
3. Let it run at that setting for 30-60 minutes until the cat temp is maxed out. Check that the draft is about 0.05-0.06"
4. Turn down to the "slow burn" setting I want, typically 1.0-1.25

I was originally following BK's procedure of running on high for the first 30-60 and then turning down by .5's to the desired setting. This worked, but I was wasting a lot of fuel during the first hour or two as the stove was overdrafting and spewing unburned smoke out the chimney. Stovetop never got much over 600F but it would probably overfire if left to run on 3.0 or even 2.0.

If anyone else is having similar draft problems, I'd like to know how you solved it and/or if this procedure works for you too. The main downside to my procedure is that it smokes the glass up pretty bad. All four corners are blacked out.

Does anyone run their princess with a damper in the flue? I remember seeing pics of one being removed from a twin princess to mine and would like some info on how well it worked. I have a 7 inch dia. pipe by 20- 25 feet double wall insulated selkirk thru the middle of the house. Then necked down to 6 inch leading to 2 x 45s spaced out for max flow down into my stove. My problem is i cant run this thing past 1.5 or it trys to overfire and overheat my flue. Like i can only run it with the damper completely shut or it takes off and il have an infirno. Tonight i set the thermo just under '2', and after half hour/ hour my Cat was at 5oclock closing in on 6, and my flu was at 800deg plus and not coming down with a roaring fire. Thats with the blowers not running. And it will stay this way all night long. And when i go down in the AM i find a pile of dormant coals 2 inches high above the door and a lukewarm stovetop. After only 8 hrs or so... Iv been told its drawing too hard but with the thermo shut its pulling .07 at a very low setting. As soon as it opens she takes off on me, making me think its overdrafting thus the damper. Iv already tightened my door and bypass.
Im having no luck with BK service in BC (Canada) and my dealer is being a knob. I would really really appreciate some info and HELP as im ready to pull the plug and put my ol Smoke dragon back into servie. Thanks
 
Just an update about my short burn times with the Princess Classic. I have been burning nonstop since Nov 1 and never got a 24 hour burn so I settled on a 12 hour cycle. I knew I wasn't loading the stove completely since I am lazy about emptying ashes (only done it once) and not that great at packing the wood in. At this point I have about 70 days on the stove and have gone through about one cord of wood; 1/3 cord of oak and 2/3 cord of pine/cedar. I estimate that's about 40-50 lbs/day going into the stove. BK says the stove capacity is 40lbs of pine or 60lbs of oak, so I guess I am getting "24 hours from a full load of wood" after all...!

Early on I was having trouble even getting 12 hour burns, but I discovered the problem was that my stovepipe overdrafts if I run over 2.0 on the thermostat. So following the recommended startup procedure (3.0, then 2.5, then 2.0, ... in half hour increments) I was smoking out a good deal of my load during startup. I modified the procedure so that I only run 3.0 to get things started and then immediately drop to about 1.75 or lower, and ratchet down from there over time. Doing this I am able to easily get 12 hours from each burn and have enough coals left to start the next load by just setting 3.0 and throwing wood in (no kindling). See post #547.

Last night I put as much oak in as I could fit, probably 40 lbs or so (really need to clean out those ashes--almost up to the door now!) at 9pm. I turned it up to 2.0 at 9am, t's 11:30am now, and there's probably a few hours left in this load. If I had set it to 1.0 and just left it there then I might have got near 24 hours with the load...Next time I clean out the ashes I'll do a full load and see how long I can make it go.
 
phatline, having a hard time understanding your chimney setup. You sig says 3' of 6" and 15' of 8", all single wall. Your first post says 20' of 7". ?
 
Sorry Jeff. The signature was wrong and I'm just estimating the lengths. I have 3 feet of single-wall 6", then two 45's to line up with the original stovepipe in the house that is about 15 more feet (second story loft to roof) of 7" single-wall. I suppose the last few feet of that are double-wall since it penetrates the roof.

This setup is just generating too much draft whenever the stove is hot. It's just about right when I'm running low and slow, but I have to trick the stove to get there with the aforementioned procedure. The only way I can run on 2.0 is to use my procedure to get the stove stable at a cooler temp (and lower draft), then go back up to 2.0.

FWIW I have the manometer hooked up above the 45's, so about 5 feet above the stovetop, because the heat is too great close to the stove. So my draft measurement is an underestimate.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.