2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

[rdust]

Daleeper,
I was instructed to open the bypass for about an hour and burn the fire before closing it after making sure the cat probe is in the active zone.
I do not really turn down the thermostat. If I do it is only to about 2.5 out of the maximum of 3.
The moisture meter i purchased indicates all wood sources at or below 14% and I did try the compressed logs which did not make much difference.

The cat probe thermometer raises up and then starts to decline if I do not add more wood. It is only stable for a relatively short period of time.

Is that 14% on a fresh split? What type of stove top temps are you getting during the burn? Take us through your load process from start up or fill up, pictures are a plus. On a cold stove you should be able to get the cat active in less than a half hour.

 

[Highbeam]

Running fans.

I guess I am confused about the cat temp. Your assessment is different from what I am reading. I thought the cat is what produces most of the heat on this stove. And its associated hotspot, and the fans directed at it are what really puts out the heat. So there is a huge difference in the top end on the cat thermometer and the mid point, at least in terms of available heat.

Ignore the cat temp meter after engagement. Your fans further damage the data from that gauge by blowing on the coil which lowers the reading.

Yes, the cat produces the heat and you are mostly doing things right. How high are you running the fans? You are supposed to match your stat setting with the fan setting. Since you are near 50% on the stat then run the fans at 50%.

Bump up your stat until you see a flame and then let it ride for awhile. Keep a small flame in the firebox for good output during this test phase. The tight alcove installation is not in compliance with the manufacturer so things like the stat may not work right.

 

[Highbeam]

I was instructed to open the bypass for about an hour and burn the fire before closing it after making sure the cat probe is in the active zone.

That was bad advice, you did get an owner's manual didn't you? Follow the manual. These stoves are quite simple to run if you stick to the basics.

 

[Patapsco Mike]

So shoot-straigt and Zanimal both have new Ashfords and both are seeing declines in cat temp after 2 hours. Coincidence, or something with the Ashford? I know shoot-straight, he knows plenty about how to run a stove.

 

[Zanimal]

Stove top temp at the highest are 650. I have read that it is not the best indicator of heat output. I have thermometers which record the drop in room temp.
Waiting for stove to cool down completely right now so I can try from zero again.
Load with 3 or 4 big chunks. Then I play tetris with the medium and smaller pieces to fill up the stove as much as possible.
There are usually plentiful hot coals which start the fire very quickly.

I have been trying to use it as our main source of heat so it has only been cold a couple times.
I got some of those funky super cedar starters that it came with and I agree that the cat gets into the active zone very quickly. I was told to keep the bypass open longer to help keep the chimney clean.

 

[Zanimal]

That was bad advice, you did get an owner's manual didn't you? Follow the manual. These stoves are quite simple to run if you stick to the basics.

I have the manual. There is really not a whole lot of detailed information about operation.
Such as the lack of documentation that you are suppose to push the lever down firmly to lock the bypass into place. That did help make more heat. Just not enough.

Never used a cat stove so I was just going with what I was told.

 

[shoot-straight]

Ignore the cat temp meter after engagement. Your fans further damage the data from that gauge by blowing on the coil which lowers the reading.

Yes, the cat produces the heat and you are mostly doing things right. How high are you running the fans? You are supposed to match your stat setting with the fan setting. Since you are near 50% on the stat then run the fans at 50%.

Bump up your stat until you see a flame and then let it ride for awhile. Keep a small flame in the firebox for good output during this test phase. The tight alcove installation is not in compliance with the manufacturer so things like the stat may not work right.

We just reloaded

Ignore the cat temp meter after engagement. Your fans further damage the data from that gauge by blowing on the coil which lowers the reading.

Yes, the cat produces the heat and you are mostly doing things right. How high are you running the fans? You are supposed to match your stat setting with the fan setting. Since you are near 50% on the stat then run the fans at 50%.

Bump up your stat until you see a flame and then let it ride for awhile. Keep a small flame in the firebox for good output during this test phase. The tight alcove installation is not in compliance with the manufacturer so things like the stat may not work right.

Running fan on low.

Put son fresh splits on, let it burn for a bit and then gradually turned it down to about 2. Its cruising nicely at the present time. Not super hot, but doing well. I actually witnessed the stat opening back up when it dipped a bit. Now its back up. Basically I want it to do this, just at a bit higher temp.

 

[shoot-straight]

So shoot-straigt and Zanimal both have new Ashfords and both are seeing declines in cat temp after 2 hours. Coincidence, or something with the Ashford? I know shoot-straight, he knows plenty about how to run a stove.

Thanks for the vote of confidence and your help.

 

[daleeper]

Zanimal, an hour with the bypass open does seem to be a long time. On my older bk stove, 15 minutes with dry wood is all I want, as the flue temp gets pretty hot. That usually does not allow the cat to get as hot as it should from a cold start, so I go ahead and shut the bypass, but keep the air control open till the cat gets into the active level, then start to shut it down slowly till it stabilizes where I want it. That is not per the book, but the stove would get too hot per the instructions, so some modification may be necessary, but the manual is pretty accurate. Usually takes about 30 minutes from cold stove to final setting. Then it cruses along pretty good. I would think the newer stoves should act similar with dry wood.

Rdust asked if the moisture was checked on freshly split wood, as that is most accurate way of checking. the outside of a piece of wood will be dryer than the inside, thus you need to check the inside of the wood. It can be worlds apart.

I am wondering the same as Mike. There was also a Sirocco or Chinook thread that recently that had the same problems. I'm wondering about the thermostat or the cat being a problem right out of the factory. Get the dealer involved.

 

[Zanimal]

I did not know that about the splitting. I have just hacked in half a mondo chunck and it was higher than the outside but was still in the acceptable range.
I was told that the cheap moisture meter I purchased was not really very good.
Blaze King and dealer are involved it was suggested I come to hearth.com in the mean time to get your help.

 

[johnstra]

and the acceptable range is what? If it's higher than 20% you're not going to get great results.

 

[Zanimal]

I started a new fire and here are some photos.
I loaded with mostly chunks and did not fill all the spaces with kindling.
1/4 of a super cedar fire starter did the job of ignition.
I latched the door after a small fire had been started and waited until the cat thermometer was just barely in the active zone before closing the bypass.
Currently burning although its already a good temperature in here because I have the 40 year old Vermont Castings Defiant going in the basement. Guess I will try a low burn to see what happens.

 

[Zanimal]

Blaze King told me anything under 18% was good.
I do not really have a lot of faith in this moisture meter though.
I have tried the ultra dry compressed sawdust logs from tractor supply and it did not make the stove function any better.

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks for the vote of confidence and your help.

Shooter, thanks for sticking with us, I don't recall your setup.... describe your chimney setup. Length, material, bends, etc. It almost sounds like a weak draft.

This may be a factor with Zanimal's stove too. I see single wall.

 

[shoot-straight]

Over 30 ft of insulated, ss liner inside brick chimney. I assure you, too little draft is not the issue....

Its 17 and blowing 30. Again too little draft itsnt the issue. If anything its the other.

 

[Highbeam]

Over 30 ft of insulated, ss liner inside brick chimney. I assure you, too little draft is not the issue....

Its 17 and blowing 30. Again too little draft itsnt the issue. If anything its the other.

Holy smokes, that could suck the seagulls off of a landfill. Just as there are minimums with draft there are also maximums.

 

[rdust]

Currently burning although its already a good temperature in here because I have the 40 year old Vermont Castings Defiant going in the basement. Guess I will try a low burn to see what happens.

My neighbor has an old Defiant in his home, he heats the house from the basement with it. When I walked into his basement it's throwing take your breath away type of heat, 10' from the stove I thought my face was going to melt. I couldn't imagine having that stove in my living space.

How much area are you heating with the Ashford?

 

[rdust]

Holy smokes, that could suck the seagulls off of a landfill. Just as there are minimums with draft there are also maximums.

I have 27' of liner with 3' of double wall give or take a little in the house. These stoves have good enough control to handle the draft,(I assume the Ashford runs similar to the Princess) if he can snuff the flames out when it's dialed down I'd say it's fine.

 

[Zanimal]

When I walked into his basement it's throwing take your breath away type of heat, 10' from the stove I thought my face was going to melt

Agreed!
Mine is also in the basement. We do not exist in the basement. It's a waste of resources otherwise I would just use it.
Would like to heat 1,300 sq ft with the Ashford.
Currently it's in a 200 sq ft room leading into a room approx 400 sq ft. It is struggling to heat this area.

Also, my pipe is double walled.

 

[hack]

OK. Fiddling with my new Ashford. Read so many bk posts/threads my mind is jelly. I know my wood isnt perfect. It burned great in my tube stove. Breaking out super dry oak for this coming cold spell. Gonna buy a few wood bricks as well and throw a few in with my loads. Should help my wood some. Questions...

Near end of the burn on a lower setting cat probe sits right at the active/inactive line. No visible glow from cat. No smoke in chimney. Is that OK?

There will be more coming I'm sure.

My stove is the same way. I really need to run it at two different settings. During the first half of the burn I need to run it lower than the last half. If I leave it at the lower setting the cat will eventually begin to cool as the off gassing decreases half way through the burn cycle. The themostat is nice and greatly simplifies the stove's operation, but still requires human input for optimum performance. If I were you I'd just turn the thermostat up and run it where you need to. Don't worry too much about comparing specific thermostat settings with other operators as there are too many variables.

You mentioned that near the end of the burn, the cat was barely active. How was the performance earlier in the burn? Was it enough heat? What was your burn time?

As for the thermostat, I know that the blade can come with or without a hole in it to determine the minimum burn setting. I also know that BK has installed the wrong one which could also affect the stoves performance on the low end (just happend to me). AFIK, on the current models the Princess has a hole in the blade and the King doesn't. Not sure about the Ashford.

 

[rdust]

Agreed!
Mine is also in the basement. We do not exist in the basement. It's a waste of resources otherwise I would just use it.
Would like to heat 1,300 sq ft with the Ashford.
Currently it's in a 200 sq ft room leading into a room approx 400 sq ft. It is struggling to heat this area.

Also, my pipe is double walled.

Something isn't right, 1300 sq' should be a breeze. What are the room temps you're seeing?

I'm heating nearly 2k the Princess which is similar to the Ashford in size. Today was a tough day for the stove, loaded at 7:30am, got home at 8:30pm and the stove room was 71 with the rest of the lower level around 63-64, bedroom upstairs were 60 give or take a little. Our highs were single digits today and we're already -7. The stove top was still 300* but that isn't gonna cut it with these temps. I should've closed the doors to my living room before leaving for work which saves me nearly 300 sq' of terribly insulated space. The living room just eats heat when it's single digit cold.

 

[Zanimal]

What are the room temps you're seeing?

It is currently 64 in the stove room.
The thermostat has been set on about 2.5 for the last 2 ish hours. But that Defiant in the basement is still face melting hot.
The temp here is not terrible. 6 outside currently.

 

[shoot-straight]

I have 27' of liner with 3' of double wall give or take a little in the house. These stoves have good enough control to handle the draft,(I assume the Ashford runs similar to the Princess) if he can snuff the flames out when it's dialed down I'd say it's fine.

Yes, bkvp even said it would likely be able to handle the draft.

Also. I measured my stove is about 5" from the back wall. Manual wants 6". Again, everything is not really hot back there.

Just threw a bunch of nice dry oak in it. We'll see how things go tonight.

 

[rdust]

It is currently 64 in the stove room.
The thermostat has been set on about 2.5 for the last 2 ish hours. But that Defiant in the basement is still face melting hot.
The temp here is not terrible. 6 outside currently.

Something isn't adding up! I wish some of the BK people having issues lived somewhat close to me! I'd love to be able to drive over and go over the stove with them.

 

[shoot-straight]

Something isn't adding up! I wish some of the BK people having issues lived somewhat close to me! I'd love to be able to drive over and go over the stove with them.

I totally agree with this.