2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[Highbeam]

No OAK. I didn't know that it helped with negative pressure? I was ok with using warm air for combustion and I didn't really like idea of drilling hole through wall.

I think I will try to add more pipe, if that doesn't work, I will explore the OAK. Thanks guys.

If you're willing to add more pipe, that seems to help most folks. To replicate the effect of oak on draft open an outside door near the stove. That will defeat any negative pressure inside the house.

 

[Highbeam]

1. For some reason, I am now able to run on lower stat settings! This is great since we are in a weird warm spell. I am happy to run on the very bottom edge of normal with zero emissions visible.

 

[tarzan]

1. For some reason, I am now able to run on lower stat settings! This is great since we are in a weird warm spell. I am happy to run on the very bottom edge of normal with zero emissions visible.

Any ideas on what may have changed, different?

 

[Shane Collins]

I've only ever had spillage if I open the door too fast. If I open it slowly as the manual says I never get any.

 

[Ashful]

So glad we let this BK thread run every year. 900 posts would be a Mods nightmare in individual threads,

Just clicked into this one, and landed here. Note at bottom of page says "324 more posts in this thread." Lol

 

[BrotherBart]

Fascinating isn't it? We maintain a site to help people with problems with their heaters, and what thread is the longest in the history of the joint. By orders of magnitude.

 

[rdust]

I am getting spillage from my princess during every reload that I need to restart the fire or attempt to do a 'burn off'

Even when getting smaller logs and kindling super hot with a lot of flames, I am getting spillage while loading the big stuff.

I have 15 foot from top of stove to the chimney cap, straight.

Would putting more footage on top of the chimney do anything to help this? It is becoming unbearable with the lingering smell. I do not want a cabin.

I am doing everything right. Bypass open, t-stat on 3, opening door slowly, getting a HOT burn going before reloading fully.

Thanks for any help!

Are you having issues reloading on coals or reloading when you have active flames? Loading on coals should reduce the amount of smoke spillage.

I used to have issues with my Princess until I swapped out a 90* elbow for 2 45's. What helped me was to open the bypass, turn the t-stat up for a bit to warm the chimney, when I opened the door I closed the t-stat to the 12 o'clock position. This way when you open the door most of the air is getting pulled into the stove through the door. I found with the door open and the t-stat on 3 the air when it entered the stove(enters top front) it would actually push the smoke into the room. Having the t-stat closed greatly reduced any spillage I was getting. Also try opening a window or door near the stove.

 

[Highbeam]

Any ideas on what may have changed, different?

It could be anything from a door leak to a dry pocket in the stacks. Only slightly lower than before, my old low setting was the o in normal. A small victory but I'll take it.

 

[Rossco]

No OAK. I didn't know that it helped with negative pressure? I was ok with using warm air for combustion and I didn't really like idea of drilling hole through wall.

I think I will try to add more pipe, if that doesn't work, I will explore the OAK. Thanks guys.

More pipe will probably do the trick.

The OAK helps if you have a tight house. The stove will suck interior air in and expell it up the chimney. I get out gas/smoke if I don't open a window during reload.

I also get cold air infiltration in the living area because of the pressure difference outside.

Next thing on my list is to hook the OAK up. I have it but the dealer said it didn't matter on a leaky house so i dry walled over it, Well my house ain't that leaky.

 

[Siray13]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for awhile. Replaced my Whitfield pellet insert with a BK Ultra. I've had it burning for about 10 days now and absolutely love it. This is my first wood stove so I don't have anything to compare it to. My furnace has not had to start once and have not had to start a second fire! Love this stove! Feel like I finally have some control over my heat bill. I have been in the house for 6 years and every winter I have wanted to move because the house is so drafty. Scrounged up 6 cords on craigslist over the summer so it feels good to finally have it pay off.

Only question I have is that the manual does not seem to indicate if you need to "push" the bypass down. I know when to open and close, but I have also been pushing it down the last inch to secure it. I would assume this is the proper way to operate the bypass?

 

[BKVP]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for awhile. Replaced my Whitfield pellet insert with a BK Ultra. I've had it burning for about 10 days now and absolutely love it. This is my first wood stove so I don't have anything to compare it to. My furnace has not had to start once and have not had to start a second fire! Love this stove! Feel like I finally have some control over my heat bill. I have been in the house for 6 years and every winter I have wanted to move because the house is so drafty. Scrounged up 6 cords on craigslist over the summer so it feels good to finally have it pay off.

Only question I have is that the manual does not seem to indicate if you need to "push" the bypass down. I know when to open and close, but I have also been pushing it down the last inch to secure it. I would assume this is the proper way to operate the bypass?

yes and enjoy the savings!

 

[Quentin2]

Welcome siray, I like your ominous black glass bk pic. No need to be ashamed of the black glass. As for the bypass lever mine just kinda clunks shut when I wheel the handle over, there's a little more slop to the handle but I don't think anything more is done past the initial clunk sound. Maybe someone else has a different opinion.

A lot of wood geeks around here gonna want to know how big your house, pipe and chimney stats, what type of wood you scrounged, burn times and of course pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Poindexter]

Is spring in the air? I am sure the sun was out a little longer today.

We finally got to -20dF (briefly) for the first time this season in the last couple days.

My Ashford30 is just about boringly dependable, though I am chewing through some wood. I'm into "average random" out of the shed and into the stove, about 75% birch and 25% spruce. I brought the last of my third cord into the garage Satruday afternoon, about a face cord into my indoor ready rack in the garage. The garage rack is about half empty already in 48, maybe 55 hours. I am pretty much running on 3/3, wide open Tstat for an hour or two and then dropping back to 1.5-2ish for the rest of the burn. I am sticking with 12 hour reloads (I got a job and I have to sleep at night), using a bit of kindling to help the coals on the reloads.
I am keeping a little spruce for the spring shoulder and except for two experimental burns I haven't touched my three year old big birch splits yet.

Enough coals left that I am not splitting kindling, just pulling loose pieces off the splits I am about to load into the stove anyway.

This time, when I finish the third cord I am not going to let the stove get cold to clean the flue, I am just going to tear on through a fourth cord. After four cords I'll peek without even getting my chimney brush out and think about brushing the chimney again after cord number five or number six. Looking like a seven to eight cord winter again, but the wife is in shorts and a Tshirt.

Winter solstice, it's astern. Yay!! Any of y'all going trekking somewhere new this summer? I want to take a shot at the Little Delta river in my river boat, ASAP after the ice goes out.

 

[kennyp2339]

I love the winter solstice, not because of the winter itself, but because it the signal that the days loosing day light have hit rock bottom and now we are on the upward trend of getting more day light back. Certainly nothing like what you guys experience in Alaska but those extra couple hours I get in NJ make a huge difference after work.

 

[turbojoe]

As for cats, they have a mind of their own. (Yes gas flow/release can generate some amazing temps even when there is little or no fuel in the stove.)

I have had temps in excess of 1400F with as little as 1lb of fuel...it was heavily charred, about the size of a softball and the cat was hovering around 575, tail end of long burn. I opened the door, whacked the chunk of wood and closed the door. The cat just took off and it was amazing how fast it climbed to 1400F.

Run your stove where the cat stays active (with the fans off as air movement can give a false reading on ALL THE CONDAR thermometers as the spring under them gets hit by the fan air movement) and also keeps you comfortable.

Merry Christmas!

Crazy Cats
Notice the 25C drop in cat temp when presented with a rich condition.
A very small amount of air is injected pre cat for .4 seconds to acheve a 100C temp spike in the cat bed. This all happened in less than 1/2 a second.... Cool stuff

Merry Christmas Chris

 

[BKVP]

View attachment 148513

Crazy Cats
Notice the 25C drop in cat temp when presented with a rich condition.
A very small amount of air is injected pre cat for .4 seconds to acheve a 100C temp spike in the cat bed. This all happened in less than 1/2 a second.... Cool stuff

Merry Christmas Chris

Lots of folks think performance profiles in cats are predictable and repeatable application to application. Simply change the thickness of the cat, increase residence time and you'll find yet another surprise!

Merry Christmas.

 

[Rich2343]

OAK? That is a good question, Rossco.

I've heard blaze kings like some pipe. 15 ft is on the short end of acceptable. I'd add three more feet and I bet that will help a lot. I have 25 ft on my King and can only get a little smoke if I whip the door open super quick.

I agree 2 or 4 ft more should solve your smoke issue.

 

[turbojoe]

Sorry to butt in, this caught my eye. I am at 12' with my Princess. Is 15' the min. ?? Could have swore the dealer said 12'... I would imagine elevation and what not makes this different.

 

[Rich2343]

Sorry to butt in, this caught my eye. I am at 12' with my Princess. Is 15' the min. ?? Could have swore the dealer said 12'... I would imagine elevation and what not makes this different.

My dealer told me 12 also somewhere they changed it. However I'm thinking on adding more. Just have to play..

 

[turbojoe]

My dealer told me 12 also somewhere they changed it. However I'm thinking on adding more. Just have to play..

Let us know how that works out.
Mine has been fine at 12' so far. I do get a slight amount of spillage if i open the door too fast. If i take my time it's fine.

 

[Rich2343]

Let us know how that works out.
Mine has been fine at 12' so far. I do get a slight amount of spillage if i open the door too fast. If i take my time it's fine.

Sure will Turbojoe . Chris ( BKVP) suggested to me to add 2 ft or so to my 13 ft. He also says it will help the low burns Well I added 4 ft and noticed a higher heat output at the same settings. So my thinking is if 4 is good 2 or 4 for more will be better. I'm looking to get solid 15 hrs of burn time at 500*[/quote]

 

[BKVP]

Sure will Turbojoe . Chris ( BKVP) suggested to me to add 2 ft or so to my 13 ft. He also says it will help the low burns Well I added 4 ft and noticed a higher heat output at the same settings. So my thinking is if 4 is good 2 or 4 for more will be better. I'm looking to get solid 15 hrs of burn time at 500*

[/quote]
There is a point of diminishing return....on your length investment. Glad it worked!

 

[turbojoe]

Going to stick with 12' for now. Mine is in a Manufactured home. It's already 8' above the roof...lol, The park manager already sent us a notice as to why our stack is twice as high as everyone elses :0 I typed a nice reply stating high efficency stoves require a 12' stack. He stopped by to tell me BS, take down 4ft. This is going to be fun.
They have no idea i am moving it to my lake lot in the spring...hehe, now i have the rest of winter to mess with them.
If the wife would let me, i would add another 4' to pi$$ em off

 

[BKVP]

Now that's investment worthy. Actually, we probably do not need people to think of us wood burners as bad people. So tell him you work in a secret program for the US Government and it's not a chimney but rather a missile silo to protect all of you.

 

[turbojoe]

I agree 100% about sending out a positive image as a wood burner. I'm the only one in the park that doesn't belch out smoke. I'll tell em it's the extra 4'
Missle silo is a dam good comeback though...lol