We deal with it every single day this time of year. I know what you mean, sometimes you wish they would have never bought a stove. They buy a Cadillac, run it like a chevette, and expect corvette results using 87 octane.
2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)#2
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Yes, a lot of these issues are not cat stove related, just compounded by another order of complexity.
Quentin2
Burning Hunk
To me a big benefit is not having to worry about over firing. Doesn't matter if my wife loads it hot with dry pine, soon as that bypass is closed and stat is set it will settle down. I read a review somewhere where someone jokingly said they could smolder a load of cardboard if needed.
I would be a little nervous if I had to instruct her to make sure she turned it down quick enough or the box of pine could take off.
drz1050
Minister of Fire
Yeah, I know the Ashford comes stock with a steel cat.. was checking out that one and the Princess side by side in the showroom a couple days ago. I took measurements of the fireboxes, but stupid me I didn't think to measure the cat as well while I was there..
If that works for Parallax or not, either way I'd like to have both cats on hand once I get my stove in.. can't help it, I'm a tinkerer by nature! I'd like to spend a couple days logging the differences between the two and whatnot.
Perhaps BKVP will chime in with some help here..
JA600L
Minister of Fire
Stainless steel cats have a quicker light off probably because of less mass and I believe most of them can handle higher temperatures.
Condar has them listed as the same cat for the Ashford or Princess. http://www.woodstovecombustors.com/blazeking.html "
Model PEJ1006, Ashford, Chinook, and Sirocco"
alforit
Feeling the Heat
I have used both the steel and ceramic cats in my Ashford . Didn't notice much on draft difference but did notice the ceramic cat burns a little hotter. Got a longer burn time with the steel cat.
drz1050
Minister of Fire
Interesting.. did you notice a significantly longer light-off time to get the cat active on ceramic vs steel?
How much hotter are we talking? Ballpark.. 100? 300?
alforit
Feeling the Heat
Light off time was slightly noticeable .It took a little longer for the ceramic cat to light off. But the difference was small and nothing that mattered.
It seemed like the ceramic cat glowed a bit brighter than the steel . But as far as temp goes , I didn't measure it. Just noticed that it was hotter. Probably by about 20% .
drz1050
Minister of Fire
Good info, thanks! I was wondering if the longer light off time for the ceramic was the potential cause of the shorter burns, but it doesn't seem like this was the case.
Which one are you using now, steel because of the longer burns?
alforit
Feeling the Heat
I went back to the steel cat and noticed longer burn times with it.......Will probably try the ceramic cat again since I only tried it once......Would probably get a better and more fair comparison by switching them a few times at different times of the season. Will post my findings when I do.
I did notice that throughout the burn , the steel cat transitioned more smoothly with the up swings and down swings of temp change. Whereas the ceramic cat seemed a little clunky in comparison........hope that made sense.......heh.
Good point about the longer light off times of the ceramic cat affecting burn times........Could be. It does burn hotter and could be part of the reason for the shorter burns
Are you able to use the top of the Blaze King stoves, specificlly the Siracco 30 and Ashford 30 as a cook surface? Anyone done this? Im thinking like perk coffee or cook with a dutch over or cast iron skillet if needed when power goes out or just for fun from time to time.
I can't speak for the cast bracketed stoves but we do cook on the Princess out of necessity when the power is out. When you have no power and bored, hungry kids you'll find a way
We don't put anything in the stove cause of the cat but plenty of things you can do on top of the stove or with the coals you can take out.
Looks like the princess was made to be cooked on. A flat top with a raised edge at the rear and rails on the sides so your junk doesn't slide off during an earthquake or when the seas get rough.
Supposed to be -10*f hear tonight and I believe the BK can handle it! It's already been close enough that I feel I can safely say that.
Still hard to believe this stove can heat our house comfortably at 45*f AND take care of -10* just as well. Can't put enough emphasis on how great it is to have a wood stove with such a wide power band.
Still hard to believe this stove can heat our house comfortably at 45*f AND take care of -10* just as well. Can't put enough emphasis on how great it is to have a wood stove with such a wide power band.
You are able to lift off the castiron top on the Ashford to have direct exposure to the steel stove top.
alforit
Feeling the Heat
Begreen is right. You can lift the cast iron top off of the Ashford 30. I have not tried to cook on it yet. I have no doubt that it would work out just fine .
Just as long as you don't get liquid down the cat probe hole.....heheh.
JA600L
Minister of Fire
Just curious. Is it illegal to modify the emissions system on a woodstove?
For example, swapping out a steel cat with ceramic? Or is it OK since it has a "cat" installed?
Not that it really matters to me. ..
For example, swapping out a steel cat with ceramic? Or is it OK since it has a "cat" installed?
Not that it really matters to me. ..
NinjaTech
Burning Hunk
Yep, as long as it has a cat designed for the stove it should be fine. I know Condor makes both ceramic and steel cats that fit most modern BK stoves, they market the steel ones as upgrades for stoves that came with ceramics already. You can get away with the same thing on cars, most older ones came with ceramic substrate cats, but many aftermarket exhaust manufacturers that sell high performance exhaust for them now use steel substrates in their cats and they are still legal to install.
Another question!
Loaded the stove at 8 with the t-stat set on 1.5. Came home from work at 7 and she was still running, but with cat probe on lower 1/3, cat not glowing at all and stove top at 300 F. The stove looked relatively full though.
I went outside to bring in some more wood and when I came back, the cat probe was upper 2/3, stove top 500 F, and the cat glowing like the sun!
What would have caused this fluctuation? Would it have happened throughout the day on a low burn like this? I also noticed a faint smell of "old" smoke when I came back inside and I figured the firebox must have released a lot of smoke and smoke leaked out through the intake.
Would an OAK prevent that smell? Thanks!
Loaded the stove at 8 with the t-stat set on 1.5. Came home from work at 7 and she was still running, but with cat probe on lower 1/3, cat not glowing at all and stove top at 300 F. The stove looked relatively full though.
I went outside to bring in some more wood and when I came back, the cat probe was upper 2/3, stove top 500 F, and the cat glowing like the sun!
What would have caused this fluctuation? Would it have happened throughout the day on a low burn like this? I also noticed a faint smell of "old" smoke when I came back inside and I figured the firebox must have released a lot of smoke and smoke leaked out through the intake.
Would an OAK prevent that smell? Thanks!
bobdog2o02
Minister of Fire
You have witnessed the miracle of the stat. No glow does NOT mean not active. You should dedicate 1-1/2 to 2 hours to just watch. Its cool to see.
blueguy
Feeling the Heat
The temp fluctuation is caused by the t stat working. The current theory of the smoke smell is weak draft.
I think you just need to run a slightly higher setting on the T stat. These stoves aren't necessarily a set it and forget it stove, closer than any other stove out there though. If you smell that smoke smell, give it a little more air and it will go away. The range that says "normal", tends to be just that. I find that if I run in this range I never have to fiddle with it or smell any odors.
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