2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[jetsam]

Was a bit cooler last night so got to run the stove. Getting close to no-stove weather and in sad about that. What a fun winter it has been.

I am still burning 24/7 but it is getting close to the edge (a couple 50 degree days have tested how low I can burn this thing).

Nights are still mostly 20s and 30s though, so that's good stove time.

I'll have to settle for outdoor cookfires and brush fires soon!

 

[tarzan]

Was a bit cooler last night so got to run the stove. Getting close to no-stove weather and in sad about that. What a fun winter it has been.

A month or so of burning left here. I love the BK as it has made winter that much easier but I'm ready to say good riddance to winter myself!

 

[Highbeam]

I enjoy a moderate climate in my location which means it doesn't get too cold but it is a LONG winter. We are burning most days between mid September and Mid June. Yes, 9 months.

I will burn smaller fires for shorter duration, or skip days and let the house temps slowly fall and then cycle, the BK doesn't mind. 90% of the time it runs on low temp anyway so I can't turn the stat down to reduce output.

 

[claybe]

So I added an insulation kit and a block off plate this past summer. I just cleaned my chimney for the first time as it is about half way though the season. What a difference! Hardly any creosote at all. I feel like the stove has also been running better.

I also just added 3 feet of single walled stainless pipe to the chimney. I realize this should increase draft but what else can I expect from adding this pipe?

 

[jetsam]

I also just added 3 feet of single walled stainless pipe to the chimney. I realize this should increase draft but what else can I expect from adding this pipe?

A taller chimney!

Field tests have shown that you can expect something in the area of 36 inches of additional height.

Thank you, thank you. I'll see myself out.

 

[moresnow]

Need some advice. Heading out to look at a '12 Princess. This would be a corner setup replacing my current stove. Century S244E. The BK has 2 years of use under its belt and looks very nice. 1st ? is. Will I be cooked out on a 700 sq ft main floor? Old place with zero insulation so far. Remodeling little by little. One half of main floor will be entirely open (kitchen/living room). House is a story and a half with bed/bath on upper floor. Old style floor grate transfers heat to the upper bedroom as well as leaving the door going upstairs open. Current stove manages decently but requires lots of restocking. Love my little stove but am tired of maintaining it. 2nd ? What would a decent used price be? Gotta leave soon so the quicker the better on your thoughts! Thanks ahead of time.

 

[begreen]

It may be ok if there is a second floor of 700 sq ft. for a total of 1400 sq ft.. Price at maybe 50% new? The stove could be coming due for a new cat and gaskets so factor that in.

 

[Scoutin Wyo]

You will be able to turn down the princess with no problems. I paid $450 for my 5 year old princess last summer. I do believe it was way under market.

 

[Highbeam]

Need some advice. Heading out to look at a '12 Princess. This would be a corner setup replacing my current stove. Century S244E. The BK has 2 years of use under its belt and looks very nice. 1st ? is. Will I be cooked out on a 700 sq ft main floor? Old place with zero insulation so far. Remodeling little by little. One half of main floor will be entirely open (kitchen/living room). House is a story and a half with bed/bath on upper floor. Old style floor grate transfers heat to the upper bedroom as well as leaving the door going upstairs open. Current stove manages decently but requires lots of restocking. Love my little stove but am tired of maintaining it. 2nd ? What would a decent used price be? Gotta leave soon so the quicker the better on your thoughts! Thanks ahead of time.

There are very few stoves on the market, maybe none?, that can be turned down as far as a BK for the lowest possible burn rate. If your Century didn't cook you out then the BK won't either.

Used stoves are like many things, if it is in like new condition with no repairs or damage then 50% of new is appropriate. In my market, that is a 1500$ stove.

 

[jetsam]

I burn my Princess Insert when it's 50+ degrees out. Assuming normal draft, you can go extremely low on BK stoves.

I did get a little frisky last nighy and had to open a window when it was 35 out, but that was my fault, not the stove's! (Plus it's sometimes nice to crank it up and let some fresh air in in the winter... just means I have to cut that much more wood!)

 

[showrguy]

For you guys getting 12-24 hr. burns with an active CAT, can you explain what your procedure is ??
Last night I loaded with oak at 8;30, set stat to 2;45 oclock, this morning at 8;30 I still had 40% fuel load left (burnt out in center) but an inactive CAT...
It was 30 deg. F this morning..
I'm trying different things, maybe I'm missing something...
I'm not complaining either, this stove is awesome !!
King Ultra

 

[jetsam]

For you guys getting 12-24 hr. burns with an active CAT, can you explain what your procedure is ??
Last night I loaded with oak at 8;30, set stat to 2;45 oclock, this morning at 8;30 I still had 40% fuel load left (burnt out in center) but an inactive CAT...
It was 30 deg. F this morning..
I'm trying different things, maybe I'm missing something...
I'm not complaining either, this stove is awesome !!
King Ultra

Wet wood or bad draft. Get a moisture meter, put a fresh split on a couple pieces of that oak, bring it in and let it come up to room temp, and test it.

If the wood's not wet, post all the gory details about your chimney setup.

(@tarzan: See!)

 

[showrguy]

What are the symptoms of too much draft ??
Reason I ask is, yesterday it got pretty warm here, 62 deg. F......Loaded the stove at 12 noon with oak, set t-stat at 3 oclock position..
Checked the stove @ 8 Pm last night and CAT was inactive, had plenty of coals/charcoal....Raked coals around, filled with Oak again...
This morning at 8;30, checked stove, pretty full of coals, CAT just under the line to inactive, open up, rake coals/charcoal around, (sparks flyin everywhere) close door. 10 min. later Cat happy again..reset t-stat to 3 oclock.
BK King Ultra, 30+ ft. 8" double wall+class A, straight run chimney...
Thoughts ??????

Deffinately not wet wood, last I checked with MM this stuff was about 12%.. It's been cut, split, stacked for several years ..
Above post describes my chimney, I'll go take a couple of pictures........hold on, be right back.........

Ok, I'm back, excuse the messy house, wife and kid just got back from Florida

 

[tarzan]

For you guys getting 12-24 hr. burns with an active CAT, can you explain what your procedure is ??
Last night I loaded with oak at 8;30, set stat to 2;45 oclock, this morning at 8;30 I still had 40% fuel load left (burnt out in center) but an inactive CAT...
It was 30 deg. F this morning..
I'm trying different things, maybe I'm missing something...
I'm not complaining either, this stove is awesome !!
King Ultra

If not wood then draft. I would check and or clean the cat and cap to eliminate the normal suspects.

At that setting I think most people would have active flames and no trouble keeping the cat in the active zone until most of the wood was gone.

 

[OhioBurner©]

Did a price check today on a new BK and just wondering if you guys think this is normal price or if my local dealer is expensive. I'm thinking about replacing my pellet stove, I'm not very happy with it plus it's eating through burn pots. And with propane coming back down the pellets aren't really saving me much anyhow. Plus I think it would be neat to put what I think are the two competing best long burning stoves together, a BK and my Woodstock. But anyhow after I finally got a hold of my local dealer there prices seemed higher than I expected. First choice is the nice looking Ashford 30.1 and the lowest priced black paint version was $3295 base price. And with brown enamel $3895. $315 for fan. That is a bit too spendy for me for a second stove, but knowing the Princess would be cheaper I went ahead and got a quote too... $2411 for the firebox which they said did not include door (is that right?) which would be another $320. That was for Parlor version, I didn't ask about any more. Anyhow with local tax that'd be about 3k. Seems a little steep maybe? Been watching craigslist but nothing BK period on the local + closest 8 craigslists to me.

 

[showrguy]

Followup to my earlier posts..
My damper clicks shut right about the 3;15 oclock position ?????????????
Or does this change with stove temp ??

 

[Aranyic]

Did a price check today on a new BK and just wondering if you guys think this is normal price or if my local dealer is expensive. I'm thinking about replacing my pellet stove, I'm not very happy with it plus it's eating through burn pots. And with propane coming back down the pellets aren't really saving me much anyhow. Plus I think it would be neat to put what I think are the two competing best long burning stoves together, a BK and my Woodstock. But anyhow after I finally got a hold of my local dealer there prices seemed higher than I expected. First choice is the nice looking Ashford 30.1 and the lowest priced black paint version was $3295 base price. And with brown enamel $3895. $315 for fan. That is a bit too spendy for me for a second stove, but knowing the Princess would be cheaper I went ahead and got a quote too... $2411 for the firebox which they said did not include door (is that right?) which would be another $320. That was for Parlor version, I didn't ask about any more. Anyhow with local tax that'd be about 3k. Seems a little steep maybe? Been watching craigslist but nothing BK period on the local + closest 8 craigslists to me.

I've got 2 quotes here in Ohio (Richmond, IN and Degraff, OH) and both were $3050-$3100 for a princess ultra w/ fans kit and convection deck not including any delivery or installation. I think when I'm actually ready to buy I could maybe get a little better price rather than the stock quote but I won't be there until sometime this summer probably.

 

[Heftiger]

Followup to my earlier posts..
My damper clicks shut right about the 3;15 oclock position ?????????????
Or does this change with stove temp ??

It changes with stove temp.

 

[rdust]

Did a price check today on a new BK and just wondering if you guys think this is normal price or if my local dealer is expensive. I'm thinking about replacing my pellet stove, I'm not very happy with it plus it's eating through burn pots. And with propane coming back down the pellets aren't really saving me much anyhow. Plus I think it would be neat to put what I think are the two competing best long burning stoves together, a BK and my Woodstock. But anyhow after I finally got a hold of my local dealer there prices seemed higher than I expected. First choice is the nice looking Ashford 30.1 and the lowest priced black paint version was $3295 base price. And with brown enamel $3895. $315 for fan. That is a bit too spendy for me for a second stove, but knowing the Princess would be cheaper I went ahead and got a quote too... $2411 for the firebox which they said did not include door (is that right?) which would be another $320. That was for Parlor version, I didn't ask about any more. Anyhow with local tax that'd be about 3k. Seems a little steep maybe? Been watching craigslist but nothing BK period on the local + closest 8 craigslists to me.

Price for this area is about right. Stove doesn't come with the door. My Lopi Endeavor was the same way, door and legs were "extra".

 

[Gotrek]

Will it even function sans door? Seems weird. I was quited the same prices on scirocco ~3200$ and princess ~2950$) but in Canadian $ so way less in USD

 

[Highbeam]

Deffinately not wet wood, last I checked with MM this stuff was about 12%.. It's been cut, split, stacked for several years ..
Above post describes my chimney, I'll go take a couple of pictures........hold on, be right back.........

Ok, I'm back, excuse the messy house, wife and kid just got back from Florida
View attachment 175570 View attachment 175571 View attachment 175572 View attachment 175573

So you snuffed the cat. Anytime that excellent wood stops burning (or cat goes inactive) with 40% of the fuel left it means that not enough air is passing through the stove.

It could be that your stat setting is too low but 3 o'clock is right in the middle and quite high. It could be that your stat knob is spinning on the shaft, verify a hard stop full open and the stat pointer pointing straight at 6 o'clock. It could be a clogged screen on the cap, yuk. It could be a clogged cat element but that is very rare. Or it could be that the temperatures were so warm outside that draft is reduced but I just don't see that being an issue with such a tall stack and such a high stat setting. It seems everybody wants to thinks their wood is dry, you seem convinced so we must trust you.

First order of business, verify hard stop full open with stat pointing at 6 o'clock.

Second, clean the screen in the cap. Easy to check.

 

[Highbeam]

Did a price check today on a new BK and just wondering if you guys think this is normal price or if my local dealer is expensive. I'm thinking about replacing my pellet stove, I'm not very happy with it plus it's eating through burn pots. And with propane coming back down the pellets aren't really saving me much anyhow. Plus I think it would be neat to put what I think are the two competing best long burning stoves together, a BK and my Woodstock. But anyhow after I finally got a hold of my local dealer there prices seemed higher than I expected. First choice is the nice looking Ashford 30.1 and the lowest priced black paint version was $3295 base price. And with brown enamel $3895. $315 for fan. That is a bit too spendy for me for a second stove, but knowing the Princess would be cheaper I went ahead and got a quote too... $2411 for the firebox which they said did not include door (is that right?) which would be another $320. That was for Parlor version, I didn't ask about any more. Anyhow with local tax that'd be about 3k. Seems a little steep maybe? Been watching craigslist but nothing BK period on the local + closest 8 craigslists to me.

Prices for the BKs vary a LOT across the country. My fully loaded ultra princess with everything was under 3000$ including 10% sales tax.

 

[drz1050]

For you guys getting 12-24 hr. burns with an active CAT, can you explain what your procedure is ??
Last night I loaded with oak at 8;30, set stat to 2;45 oclock, this morning at 8;30 I still had 40% fuel load left (burnt out in center) but an inactive CAT...
It was 30 deg. F this morning..
I'm trying different things, maybe I'm missing something...
I'm not complaining either, this stove is awesome !!
King Ultra

Did you let all the wood catch and char before turning it down, or just load the wood then instantly turn the stat down?
Happened to me a few times in the beginning as well.. now I let everything catch really well to heat up the stove & flue, THEN dial the stat down. If anything is left when the cat goes inactive, it's just coals now.

 

[Scoutin Wyo]

Did you let all the wood catch and char before turning it down, or just load the wood then instantly turn the stat down?
Happened to me a few times in the beginning as well.. now I let everything catch really well to heat up the stove & flue, THEN dial the stat down. If anything is left when the cat goes inactive, it's just coals now.

What drz said! I had problems with my king if I didn't let it burn good and hot before dialing it down. With my princess on a hot reload I let it burn a few minutes with door closed bypass open, then close bypass and leave the t-stat on high for a timed 10 minutes. I set my phone timer so I don't forget. Then I dial down to 3 o'clock and wait 10 minutes, then dial down to desired 2 o'clock for overnight burn. Have faith, you will get it figured out.

 

[Turbinetodd]

Hi everyone i am new to the forum and new to wood stoves. Installed a new Blaze King Ultra 3 weeks ago and i am amazed at how well it works. Burning poplar and spruce i have had a few 40 plus hr. burn times and usually all are at least 28 hrs. Have a 19.5 ft 8 in. Excel chimney straight up with out side air kit.
I have one question i get a slight smoke smell inside the house when the Cat. temps on the thermometer are between 3 and 5 oclock. The smell appears to be coming from the CAT. thermometer when the CAT is glowing a bright orange. I called the Blaze King factory and they said it is impossible cause there is a low pressure in the stove and smoke cannot escape . They suggested adding another 4 ft of chimney which i did and still have the same issue. The wood i burn has a 15 % or less moisture content .
Any ideas out there how i can cure this issue if i can this will be a dream wood stove.
Thanks Todd