2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[Dieselhead]

well folks here it is, another burning season upon us and hey, nobody else started one of the more popular threads so I figure I might as well.

I've read along for the last 2 seasons about all the hocus pocus, Tom foolery, etc. and now have become part of the pack. I installed my BKK ultra over the summer and woke her up for the first time this morning and now will see what all the voodoo magic is about. I loaded about 30 lbs of wood to do my break in fire, cats engaged, cruising right along around 500 stovetop right above the cat, 300-400 elsewhere.

I got the windows open, letting the first burn stank out. Smell reminds me of well done pancakes on the griddle 44 degrees overnight last night, about the same for tonight. I'm gonna attach a few pics, let's have some good chatter over a nice warm catylictic fire. Stay warm folks, DH

 

[Dieselhead]

Cat having its breakfast, nothing visible from the stack at all. Wife liked the visible show from the old stove with secondary tubes we had, she doesn't really know all she will see is the glow. I think she associated the flames with warmth, I know I'm over it already. Old stove was great but I had a shift change and am not home for 24hrs at a time so I needed a cat stove to plug along while I'm away.

 

[05ramctd]

This was the start of last night

 

[05ramctd]

The king runs good around 2 in the normal zone with wood that has been in there for 8 to 12 hours. Woke up for work at 5 this morning and nice and toasty down stairs. Just right up stairs for me but the wife wants more heat up any ideas.

 

[R'Lee]

Old fashion type floor vent (?).
I have a BKK Ultra with 1500 Sq ft ranch. We keep our bedroom doors CLOSED wait a few years (*the bride will put out enough heat!) Ha!

 

[Parallax]

well folks here it is, another burning season upon us and hey, nobody else started one of the more popular threads so I figure I might as well.

I've read along for the last 2 seasons about all the hocus pocus, Tom foolery, etc. and now have become part of the pack. I installed my BKK ultra over the summer and woke her up for the first time this morning and now will see what all the voodoo magic is about. I loaded about 30 lbs of wood to do my break in fire, cats engaged, cruising right along around 500 stovetop right above the cat, 300-400 elsewhere.

View attachment 140372 I got the windows open, letting the first burn stank out. Smell reminds me of well done pancakes on the griddle 44 degrees overnight last night, about the same for tonight. I'm gonna attach a few pics, let's have some good chatter over a nice warm catylictic fire. Stay warm folks, DH

Nice looking install. I don't generally like the King but in your house it looks great. Goes really well with the stone, tile and simple (almost Craftsman style) wood work.

 

[tigger]

Does the cat glow the entire time it's in the active range? I'm about half way into the active range but it's not glowing.

 

[R'Lee]

Does the cat glow the entire time it's in the active range? I'm about half way into the active range but it's not glowing.

Not always obvious or apparent; if it says it in range and, she putting out heat; your good. As far as asthetics, to me at about real performance. Last year's propane bill after a decade of going to the dark side (*left wood for simplicity) coasted me back into the fold... The fire i started Friday evening just now started to die out... added more wood

 

[Rossco]

Well we have a newborn in the house (What a ride) so I decided to switch the stove on.

Basement Princess.



Just cruising at 308C or 586F.



Cat.



Mix of Larch / Pine 40/60.

 

[Dieselhead]

My cat stopped glowing after a couple hrs also. Still stays plenty into the active range and maybe a whisp of smoke out of the stack once and a while. This mornings small load kept it in the active range for about 10 hrs.

 

[Dieselhead]

Nice looking install. I don't generally like the King but in your house it looks great. Goes really well with the stone, tile and simple (almost Craftsman style) wood work.

Thanks for the compliment parallax!

 

[Parallax]

On my Ashford, I can't see the cat. At least I've not found it yet.

 

[HotCoals]

The cat will be active as long as there is enough smoke for her to eat.
Always remember that the cat probe will always pick up the stove top temp. That means the qauge could be in the active zone but doesn't always mean the cat is active. Depends on if there is enough food(smoke) for the cat...lol.


Just like with the tube stove guys..they get great secondary's for the first 3 or 4 hours i guess...plenty of smoke(gas).
I think our cats go a little longer then the tubes because of the lower ignition point needed to burn the smoke with the cat.
Something like that anyways...lol.

I started a fire with 20# of the Redstone bricks at 1:00 pm today.

Took awhile to get er going good but I just now reloaded again with another 20 lbs.
So far I'm not all that impressed with the first 20 lbs but I did start with a cold stove.
So now that I have some coals and a nice warm stove we shall see.
44f here.

 

[Ricky8443]

Started a new cold princess insert tonight in a cold house after being away all weekend. Wow, Im impressed, entire house is very warm. 40 outside, 73 inside. Wife loves the warmth. Its nice to keep that oil burner quiet, bring on winter.

 

[05ramctd]

So if the dial is near or in the inactive zone should I flip the lever to the bypass mode. Will it hurt the CAT if I do not.

 

[HotCoals]

So if the dial is near or in the inactive zone should I flip the lever to the bypass mode. Will it hurt the CAT if I do not.

No ,you're fine.
At the end of a burn there just isn't enough smoke.

Now if it drops big time just into the burn after a 1/2 hour or so then maybe the cat stalled from lack of smoke. Then yes open the air/t-stat back up get her going good again then shut it back down in stages till you find the sweet spot.
I think most can shut the t-stat right down to the lowest setting and be ok. I know I get away with it. But In have stalled the cat a few times by not charring the wood enough before doing that.

 

[05ramctd]

Thanks again.

 

[Parallax]

This time of year, I can only shut it down to 2 or maybe 1 1/2. We'll see what it's like once the weather gets cold. Right now, we're dropping into the 50s at night. Cold for us is dropping into the 30s, though occasionally we'll get a cold snap. I think the low I've seen so far (in my three winters here) was 15 degrees (or thereabout).

 

[Rossco]

Yeah am running mine on 1.5 - 2 as it don't draft like it does @ -30.

I run the Pi55 out of mine. But not in a way that wastes energy up the flue.

I could run it dead'ish but I want heat not extreme longevity.

 

[Seanm]

Well we have a newborn in the house (What a ride)

Thats great! Congratulations on the baby! Its such an exciting time and very, very magical. Hope mom is doing ok and getting a bit of sleep!

 

[Rossco]

Thats great! Congratulations on the baby! Its such an exciting time and very, very magical. Hope mom is doing ok and getting a bit of sleep!

Thank you very much. We spent the last 4 days in Vancouver NICU.

Everything and everyone is 'A' Ok.

"Dedicated to the glory of god and the sanctity of the family"

 

[Parallax]

Congrats Rossco. My wife and I have a two month old so we're in the same club. Only probable difference is I'm 51 and also have two older kids, ages 28 and 23. My wife didn't have children of her own so this one was for her. But now that he's here, it's amazingly wonderful. I'd forgotten how much one's heart opens to a baby.

Is this your first or are you an old hand?

 

[Dieselhead]

36 outside this am, started up the stove cold and she's up and running smelling like pancakes again. Making me hungry I'm gonna go eat some breakfast now that I have fed the cat

 

[Ricky8443]

Quick few questions. 1) Late night while burning in active zone on setting '1', I saw a lot of smoke inside the firebox, could hardly see the wood. Is that normal for the princess insert? 2) Is the smell of curing paint harmless? Woke up with a headache and that is unusual for me. 3) When I turned a flashlight on in the house there was a 'haze' in front of the beam. Was that the paint curing smoke? thx.

 

[jeff_t]

1. yes
2. you should ventilate. The fumes while actually applying the Stove Brite (OEM) paint are really nasty and can hurt you. The paint curing is probably not as bad, but still not good.
3. probably