2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK) Part 2

[Tar12]

Well, that's a nice story, and all....

But, how many Crows did ya get ?? Lol.

lol 27....we hit a new place along a fly way this morning.I didn't add this info as I was trying to stay on track with the BK Performance thread....

 

[rdust]

Never ever! I fill the stove completely, then set a sliver of Super Cedar in a crack and let er rip!

Same here...

 

[moresnow]

What kind of temps to do you get? Do you run a magnetic temp gauge?

170 -275 is regular on the I.R. Cheapy mag. reads less.

 

[Ashful]

So bk owners.... from a cold start, do you all start a small kindling fire, let it burn down, and then load full for the main event? The manual tells us to do this but I don't use this method.

Never. I put a small hole in the ashes with my ash hoe, drop a quarter Super Cedar into the hole. I light the Super Cedar, put a few smaller cedar splits of framing scraps over it, and then immediately load the box with oak. It's ready to close the bypass damper in 10 minutes, going this route, so why bother with the recommended procedure?

 

[Highbeam]

Never. I put a small hole in the ashes with my ash hoe, drop a quarter Super Cedar into the hole. I light the Super Cedar, put a few smaller cedar splits of framing scraps over it, and then immediately load the box with oak. It's ready to close the bypass damper in 10 minutes, going this route, so why bother with the recommended procedure?

I never have either but wanted company.

 

[huauqui]

Very sad day today,

I sit idly upstairs mourning what was, what could have been, and what truly is. My poor, poor, lonely princess sits cold in the basement all alone. My princess and I are afraid winter may be over. She wants nothing more then to heat the house and make mamma happy and has done such a wonderful job since she arrived in our home 7 weeks ago. Alas all hope left us today as it was proven, that, for the first time in years, the weather man was right! Now it appears, much to our dismay, that he may be right all week long. The cold winter wind has died down, the temperature has climbed almost double what it should, and then the dreaded glowing orb in the bright blue sky has broken forth in all its glory. All this heat when it should be cold outside! What ever will my princess' cat do? Without smoke to eat she may starve to death.

I, the poor wood burning enthusiast, am resigned to the fact that spring is closer then I would like and the wood shed is fuller then it should be this time of year. The stack of wood yet to split is now large enough to carry me for at least five years and my son needs splitting to keep him busy. The saw is cleaned it's bar is freshly oiled and her chain is hair whittling sharp. She is filled with fresh fuel but without reason to pull the cord and hear the mighty testosterone inducing roar all I am left with is the desire to burn. But at 76 degrees upstairs even the wife is asking "why would you want a fire?"

My life is empty and sad. I may need another hobby soon if this keeps up

huauqui

 

[Woody Stover]

The manual tells us to do this but I don't use this method.

Ahhh, manual, shmanual.

 

[Highbeam]

Ahhh, manual, shmanual.

The manual has lots of information and most of it is good. This is one of those recommendation vs. requirement issues. Also, maybe I didn't know what I was missing.

One other reason I was considering the two step method (kindling fire, then main event) is to minimize smoke during startup when we are not supposed to be burning due to pollution levels. Maybe I will get to a clean plume sooner. One thing is for sure, stuffing the firebox full on top of coals allows me to load way more fuel than when I have to fill the firebox on top of the kindling/starter. I use a propane torch these days for startups with great success but I still need some small kindling.

I've had this steel durafoil cat for almost two years now which in my application of 9 month burn seasons means I am likely well over 50% of the 12000 hour expected cat life consumed. I have noticed slower light off and more steam/smoke/emissions especially during the first few hours. The flame shield has an accumulation of very hard scale on the back and I wonder if this scale has also accumated inside and masked some of the cat? Is the vinegar boil supposed to remove that scale and expose more catalyst?

 

[Ashful]

Very sad day today,

I sit idly upstairs mourning what was, what could have been, and what truly is. My poor, poor, lonely princess sits cold in the basement all alone. My princess and I are afraid winter may be over. She wants nothing more then to heat the house and make mamma happy and has done such a wonderful job since she arrived in our home 7 weeks ago. Alas all hope left us today as it was proven, that, for the first time in years, the weather man was right! Now it appears, much to our dismay, that he may be right all week long. The cold winter wind has died down, the temperature has climbed almost double what it should, and then the dreaded glowing orb in the bright blue sky has broken forth in all its glory. All this heat when it should be cold outside! What ever will my princess' cat do? Without smoke to eat she may starve to death.

I, the poor wood burning enthusiast, am resigned to the fact that spring is closer then I would like and the wood shed is fuller then it should be this time of year. The stack of wood yet to split is now large enough to carry me for at least five years and my son needs splitting to keep him busy. The saw is cleaned it's bar is freshly oiled and her chain is hair whittling sharp. She is filled with fresh fuel but without reason to pull the cord and hear the mighty testosterone inducing roar all I am left with is the desire to burn. But at 76 degrees upstairs even the wife is asking "why would you want a fire?"

My life is empty and sad. I may need another hobby soon if this keeps up

huauqui

Trust me when I tell you there will be future years, when you're ready to throw in the towel on this whole woodburning thing, by the time February rolls around. Running two stoves, I anxiously await the start of burning season each October, but I'm just about fed up with it by March. My need for heat lasts into June, but I usually let the stoves go cold long before that, most years.

 

[lsucet]

The manual has lots of information and most of it is good. This is one of those recommendation vs. requirement issues. Also, maybe I didn't know what I was missing.

One other reason I was considering the two step method (kindling fire, then main event) is to minimize smoke during startup when we are not supposed to be burning due to pollution levels. Maybe I will get to a clean plume sooner. One thing is for sure, stuffing the firebox full on top of coals allows me to load way more fuel than when I have to fill the firebox on top of the kindling/starter. I use a propane torch these days for startups with great success but I still need some small kindling.

I've had this steel durafoil cat for almost two years now which in my application of 9 month burn seasons means I am likely well over 50% of the 12000 hour expected cat life consumed. I have noticed slower light off and more steam/smoke/emissions especially during the first few hours. The flame shield has an accumulation of very hard scale on the back and I wonder if this scale has also accumated inside and masked some of the cat? Is the vinegar boil supposed to remove that scale and expose more catalyst?

I really like a good kindling/starter with few medium size splits cause of the quick light up and to start feeling the heat quicker and yes, lot less smoke and everything settle faster. for some of us that stay away for minimum a week or so, and find the house after all that time between 38-45 df sometimes, a quick fire is a most. Including the pellet stove give error codes when the house is that cold cause it doesn't reach the threshold temperature in the time frame programmed. Sometimes i have to push the on button again and have another delay before start getting heat from the pellet stoves.

Like mentioned before, when reload on coals, everything catch quick and spike temp again in a short period of time. I found that is a lot of help for my situation..

 

[Woody Stover]

One other reason I was considering the two step method (kindling fire, then main event) is to minimize smoke during startup when we are not supposed to be burning due to pollution levels. Maybe I will get to a clean plume sooner. One thing is for sure, stuffing the firebox full on top of coals allows me to load way more fuel than when I have to fill the firebox on top of the kindling/starter.

Well, we don't have burn bans here, but if I build a load right and start a top-down fire, there is almost no smoke, right from the start. Also, with the fire burning on top of the load, heat and flame can get to the top unobstructed, getting you up to light-off temp quicker. If I wait until the coals are pretty low, I can shove them to the back and they will be starved for air, and won't start smoldering the wood on the bottom. Then I can still do a clean top-down start. I have a side-loader so sometimes I will shove the coals to the back, build up the front row part way, then put a few of the larger coals on top, and kindling on top of that. I really don't have much room to do that kind of messing around in my small firebox, though.
I wonder if what I used to do in the Buck 91 (N-S loader) would give you a cleaner start? I pulled the coals into a row in the center, N-S, then the splits on the sides wouldn't catch because they had no coals under them. On top of the coals I loaded smaller splits loosely, and fire would quickly get to the top of the box, heating up the top of the stove (and cat) quicker. The fire stayed in the center, and got less wood involved early. That might burn cleaner than just putting everything on top of coals, I don't know....never watched that phase of the fire much.

I've had this steel durafoil cat for almost two years now which in my application of 9 month burn seasons means I am likely well over 50% of the 12000 hour expected cat life consumed. I have noticed slower light off and more steam/smoke/emissions especially during the first few hours. The flame shield has an accumulation of very hard scale on the back and I wonder if this scale has also accumated inside and masked some of the cat? Is the vinegar boil supposed to remove that scale and expose more catalyst?

Is the cat shield stainless? If not, you might just be seeing the steel flaking from the heat. I doubt there is any "scale" inside of the cat, but it can accumulate fly ash that is stuck and won't blow out, as well as (I've read) combustion by-products such as potassium, etc, that keep the smoke from being able to get to the catalyst metals (what they call "masking".) I think a thorough simmering will remove that stuff. I have seen dark, granular remnants in the bottom of the pan when simmering out a diesel-foil cat...that could have been some king of "flaking" of the wash coat or steel substrate, I'm not sure. But like I said, it was grains, not flakes as such.
I'll be interested to hear your results. I didn't notice all that much difference when I boiled the cat out, but then again, I hadn't noticed much of a decline in performance when I did it. http://www.condar.com/combustorcleaningmanual.pdf

 

[tarzan]

My manual states step by step how too do the vinegar bath although I remember BKVP stating not to do it but I don't remember if there was a reason given.

 

[Highbeam]

The flame shield is stainless and the back of mine has an accumulation of baked on stuff that is very hard and can't be brushed off.

I wonder why BKVP doesn't like the vinegar bath if it is true that he doesn't. I know it will be a pain to do since I need to buy gasket material.

The cat manufacturer says 12000 hours of life total and at 2 years I am well over 12000. I would think this cat "service" at 50% of life or more should be due.

 

[Ashful]

The cat manufacturer says 12000 hours of life total and at 2 years I am well over 12000. I would think this cat "service" at 50% of life or more should be due.

Wow... you're burning 250 days per year? I'm maybe 5 months full time + 3 months half time, for a total of maybe 4750 hours per year.

 

[Highbeam]

Wow... you're burning 250 days per year? I'm maybe 5 months full time + 3 months half time, for a total of maybe 4750 hours per year.

Yep, mid September to mid june. 9 months. We don't get as cold as some of you inland guys but we are "cool" for a long long time.

 

[jatoxico]

Yep, mid September to mid june. 9 months. We don't get as cold as some of you inland guys but we are "cool" for a long long time.

What's that, like 3 loads for the BK?

 

[Aranyic]

I just got a used princess (3 seasons burned is what I was told). I'm running the stove right around 1.75 (right at the low end of normal) and the stove top is around 260-275 most places with the IR. Is that correct or is that running a little low? It's about 40-45 outside and 74 inside currently.

 

[lsucet]

I just got a used princess (3 seasons burned is what I was told). I'm running the stove right around 1.75 (right at the low end of normal) and the stove top is around 260-275 most places with the IR. Is that correct or is that running a little low? It's about 40-45 outside and 74 inside currently.

How much wood left? What with the cat probe? Is into the active zone?

 

[Aranyic]

Cat is still active. Maybe 11oclock; load is starting to get lowish it's been going around 10 hours at this point just tossed 3 decent sized splits in since that's what I had on hand in the house and didn't want to go to the shed this morning. Knew it was going to be warmer out today.

 

[Woody Stover]

Wow... you're burning 250 days per year? I'm maybe 5 months full time + 3 months half time, for a total of maybe 4750 hours per year.

Yeah, I don't get it. Out there they may want to get a stove with a shorter burn time, so they won't burn out the expensive cat by keeping it active so long. Seriously, how hard can it be to heat a house out there? I just looked at the Seattle forecast; When I have highs in the mid-50s, it's one load a day. On my little stove, the cat probably goes out after 6-8 hrs. and the stove holds at 250 the rest of the way. Then, it's the middle of the day, 55*, and I don't need heat until well into the evening. And my house doesn't hold heat well at all. Maybe because @Highbeam has more elevation, it stays cooler? Or maybe a lot of folks like it warmer than 70*.

 

[Woody Stover]

load is starting to get lowish it's been going around 10 hours

What kind of wood are you burning there in the "US?"

 

[lsucet]

Cat is still active. Maybe 11oclock; load is starting to get lowish it's been going around 10 hours at this point just tossed 3 decent sized splits in since that's what I had on hand in the house and didn't want to go to the shed this morning. Knew it was going to be warmer out today.

Well it can be normal and is ok if the cat still in the active zone. you can open the tstat just a little more if you need more heat but you said that inside is 74. That is good. you can rake the coals to the front with tstat 3/4 to full open, and you will get good heat for 2-3 hrs more.

 

[Aranyic]

What kind of wood are you burning there in the "US?"

Forgot I had something generic in there; I'm in ohio and this particular wood was some ash CSS 18 months ago. Was around 22% when it went into the shed in September.

 

[Highbeam]

Yeah, I don't get it. Out there they may want to get a stove with a shorter burn time, so they won't burn out the expensive cat by keeping it active so long. Seriously, how hard can it be to heat a house out there? I just looked at the Seattle forecast; When I have highs in the mid-50s, it's one load a day. On my little stove, the cat probably goes out after 6-8 hrs. and the stove holds at 250 the rest of the way. Then, it's the middle of the day, 55*, and I don't need heat until well into the evening. And my house doesn't hold heat well at all. Maybe because @Highbeam has more elevation, it stays cooler? Or maybe a lot of folks like it warmer than 70*.

It was 22 degrees this morning, I do not live in Seattle. We are in a warm spell though with highs up near 50 all week. You might notice that 50 is still way less than 70 so it takes heat added to the house to maintain 70. I add heat with wood and am not shy about burning when it gets cold.

With a 10 year warranty from BK perhaps these cats are good for way more than the manufacturer rated 12000. Who knows? I suppose I'll just run it.

 

[jetsam]

It was 22 degrees this morning, I do not live in Seattle. We are in a warm spell though with highs up near 50 all week. You might notice that 50 is still way less than 70 so it takes heat added to the house to maintain 70. I add heat with wood and am not shy about burning when it gets cold.

With a 10 year warranty from BK perhaps these cats are good for way more than the manufacturer rated 12000. Who knows? I suppose I'll just run it.

I have a similar weather profile to you then... I burn anytime the house goes below 70, which means I burn through plenty of 60 degree days. I go mid-September to mid-May.

My stock ceramic cat is still going strong at the tail end of year #2. I reckon it's at around 9300 hours. It has burned 24/7 from the middle of May to now with two brief outages for chimney sweeping.

I don't know how to count the hours accurately though. In cold weather, I do 12 hour burns while I'm at work. The cat is in the active zone for all 12 hours, but is it really burning anything towards the end? I don't know.