Just checked again, cat thermometer is at 12 oclock. Stove top temp is 280 *f so it's dropping. Cat is active, no smoke coming out the chimney it's just not staying as hot as others seem to be getting theirs at similar settings.
2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)
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Shane, My thermometer is above the cat on the steel body of the stove. Keep in mind the Princess and King wear no shroud. Well, other than side and rear shields on some.
Chimney length and materials used affect draft. Draft effects stove opeating temps. Thermostats and settings will vary as much as the Temps themselves die to many variations (draft, fuel type, moisture content..etc)
I read that in the manual too. I took it to mean laying splits (N/S) starting on the left and side by side to the right but slid back so that the butt ends of the splits hit the back of the stove.
That makes sense then. I did ask in my previous post if it was on the shroud or not. Didn't realize the king and princess had no shroud. Anyway I shouldn't read into it too much. I know everyone has a different situation and I'm heating my house fine on 2.5 and on average a full load is lasting about 24 hours before a reload.
Does anyone here have a stove top thermometer on an Ashford? and if so what temps are you averaging?
I run north south too and on occasion have been guilty of trying to get a split that is just a little too long to fit pounded in to the point where it just doesn't touch the glass. I've thought about it expanding and nervously sat by the stove watching it burn down with out any issue. I don't recommend it... But I don't think they expand much either.
I don't have a Stovetop Thermo, but I do use an IR point and shoot..
My Ashford has been cooking the current load (mixed midwest hardwoods) since 6:30PM EST today. Filled it, not quite to the gills, but quite full. Thermostat has been on 2.5 (2 out of 3) since the load charred. Catalyst probe indicating 1 o'clock. Stovetop, just south of the probe face: ~300F. Stovetop, behind stove adapter, ~415F. I'm jealous of your 24hr burns. I'm in the 8-10hr neighborhood and I'm reading everything I can on here about solving that.
An interesting note regarding the front casting. There is a notched spacer, approximately 2" x 1" x 1/2" thick, that goes between the bolt head and the steel body of the stove. I heard a clunk the other day, and could never find what it was. I heard another clunk today so I took the top off again to investigate, and found the two upper spacers had fallen off. Had to take the sides off to retrieve them. One of the side castings only had one bolt tightened, the other was loose by 1/4" or so. Maybe that is why my stove has been sounding like being in a tin shed during a hail storm.
I'm here if ya need any more Ashford temp readings.
BTW. I have a Matte Black Ashford side shelf that just won't work for us. Anyone care to make a deal? Perhaps trade for fans and I throw in an extra DVL stovepipe adapter(hint Webby3650) ?
Ok that makes me feel like mine is running normal. I only have an IR gun which reads no higher than 300. I should've read the description on amazon better! Anyway, with that IR gun I'm seeing similar temps to yours. I just ordered a stove top thermometer so I'll see the range a little better now. Thanks for your readings.
The stove really is amazing. I just have to fix the leaks in my house now. New windows planned next summer, that should help.
The stove really is amazing. I just have to fix the leaks in my house now. New windows planned next summer, that should help.
On which way to lay the splits.. I asked two guys at work what "Lay the wood left to right, as far to the back of the stove as possible" meant to them and they said N/S.. I guess I must be an abstract thinker or something, maybe a picture would help in the manual for twisted visual learners 
I think if I were telling someone how to put wood in a fireplace, I'd also say "Lay the wood left to right, as far to the back as possible"..
In short.. I'll start loading N/S now that I've been turned around..
I think if I were telling someone how to put wood in a fireplace, I'd also say "Lay the wood left to right, as far to the back as possible".. In short.. I'll start loading N/S now that I've been turned around..
We installed our BK Princess Ultra Saturday 11/15, it has been running 24/7 since then. Our house is a 1700 sq ft 2 story farm house built in 1900 that is well insulated and has new windows (27x72 lots of them!) with 9ft ceilings down stairs. I have opened the transoms above the doors to other rooms and it has done wonders to warm them up. We burn mainly white oak (we get cut offs and scraps for free), some cherry, and whatever else is free. We have been loading our stove 2-3 times a day on a setting of 1.5-2, this keeps the main level 74-80. My stove top temps range from 475-550 with the cat glowing a dull red and occasionally some secondary flames coming out of it. The chimney produces more of a vapor than smoke except when we reload the stove. My question is am I doing this right ? Are my stove top temps ok with the relative heat setting ? I think this thing is better than sliced bread and pockets but I'm willing to learn anything I can to improve it. Thank you in advance for your help.
You're right, Tarzan. I didn't realize the king and princess had no shroud so when I was seeing much higher temps at lower settings I was worried something may be wrong. Thanks for clearing that up. And thanks to BK for making such a great stove!
I wonder how many people read north/south on here and stand the splits up on end in their firebox
Have you tested the moisture content of the wood with a moisture meter? How dry is it? And how full and tight are you loading the stove with your firewood?
I have only tested the outside of the wood with a moisture meter and it reads about %10. We just moved in and I can't find my axe to split a piece of wood right now, my nephew borrowed my splitter and it's not back yet. We load the stove pretty tight at bed time and have always had a bed of coals to work with in the morning. The stove has truly had one fire, the first one and it's still going. I have played with E/W & N/S loading. I get better burn times with N/S if I have enough short wood, our last house had an add on wood furnace that took long wood but most of the oak I get is short anyway. I will dig for my axe or go buy a new one and post the results. 80% of what we burn is the white oak. There is a company that makes the slats for whiskey barrels by a friend of mines house. I take my dump trailer there and the scraps are free for the taking. I tip the loader drivers $20 to load my trailer from the scrap bins, that way everything I get has the bark removed.
Sorry I guess I need to clarify. We only load it as full as we can for an overnight burn. In the morning I will pull the unburned pieces of wood to the center with the coals and add some to the top of that. I've just noticed that towards the end of a full load of wood the stove top gage is towards the "inactive" range. I try to keep it a fingers width to half way above that mark. I loaded in a few splits of wood this morning and my gage is at about the 10 o clock position with a 550 surface temp. I did not load it full though, just a few pieces to bring the gage back up. Will it shorten the life of the cat if it goes into the inactive range ?
Once the stove begins to naturally cool toward the end of the burn cycle it is fine to let the cat go inactive. Just flip the bypass and reload when needed.
Is it possible for you to take a few pics of the wood you're burning and your stove after you've loaded it full for an overnight burn? I imagine the wood is plenty dry enough. Pictures should help.
Also should add that you don't have to keep the cat glowing. As long as it is in the active zone it is fine.
When you load the stove in the morning it wood be fine (desirable in fact) to fill it full and take advantage of the stoves long burn times. If you don't need as much heat through the day you can just turn the thermostat down.
When it's cold I load my king twice a day to keep my house at 70 I'm not surprised with gregs results
Here's a question about the reloads. Often I come home to find the box all but empty but the stove still just in the active range. If I reload and immediately close the bypass door, it takes a heck of a long time for the needle to begin climbing (with the t-stat set to max). Should I be keeping the bypass open for a while as if the stove had gone inactive? Though it says it's active, the cat doesn't seem to light off right away. Usually after five or so minutes, it begins to climb.
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