2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 2 (Everything BK)

[kf6hap]

A difference in set-ups.

Honestly, I know everyone's perception is different but I can't detect the smell at all around the door. The only place I smell it is directly above the cat gauge.

I suspect increased flue height will help a lot.

 

[kf6hap]

The next time you have a smoke smell event, get some gloves and remove the cat thermometer. It just pulls out. If you find the smoke smell to be blowing out, your pressure is positive like opening a soda can. It can easily be plugged back in. Use a butane lighter flame to see if you have any cold air leaking into the flue at the joints. Mine was leaking a lot where it connects to the stove so I packed it with stove rope. Small leaks can spoil the draw.

 

[volunbeer]

I don't see how I can get a 25 hour low burn with the ashford 25. I can't even get to 8 hours.

I would be content to get 12 hours which is less than half of the marketed 25 hr low burn capability.

I am on season two with a King and we have been running it for almost two months. I had the same frustration you were expressing last year - did not feel like I was getting the burn times others claim here. However, for what its worth my cat is performing WAY better this year. Last year I was not able to turn the air down below 50% or the stove died and I was really packing it full. I was pretty much on a 12hr cycle. This year I am not packing the stove and we are getting much longer burns. My wife has noticed it also. I felt like my wood was good and dry last year, but I am now wondering if my wood was not quite as dry as I thought. I am in the habit of loading it in the morning and at night so I have "finished" very few loads this season - just disengage cat and open long enough to throw some more splits in and turn up the air for a few minutes to get it all going again and its back to the dirty window and nice heat. It's not the same recipe I usually read on here, but it seems to be working very well for us so hang in there!

P.S. - had the chimney sweep out after first season and he got two cups of flakes out of the 8" pipe. He said to keep doing whatever we were doing and we probably did not need to clean it every year, but I like the peace of mind.

 

[shoot-straight]

Wanted to further pass along the success i am having with the a cheap timer on the fans of my ashford. I like it's ability to stretch my burn times when it's not bitterly cold, and also i can delay the fan from working when i go to bed a few hours. And kick in later on when the outside temps drop further.

 

[SuperJ]

@Poindexter, you seem to be very conservative about closing your bypass. What's the rational? I've been closing mine as soon as I think it will take off, and immediately after closing the door on hot reloads. On a hot reload I haven't been leaving my door cracked either. Am I going to kill my cat early?

Also on mild days I've been tossing only one split in every couple hours and keeping the stat turned up to a medium burn rate. This seems to keep a lower room temp than if I load it right up and try and keep it turned down for hours in end. Are the frequent reloads harder on the cat?

 

[lsucet]

The outlet where the stove fans are connected, always have been controlled by a wall switch.

I replaced the switch with a in line thermostat like a furnace. I set it about 75 to keep the other part of the house at comfortable temp. It works great. Sometimes it just turn the fans on early morning and cause fans are on low it doesn't bother at all. When goes off about mid morning it stays off till temp drops enough or I turn it on manually. I love it.

 

[lsucet]

I try to minimize as much as I can the open door process loading always a full or almost full load. But I think as long you open the bypass and give some time to stabilize draft thru the bypass and put the cat out of the picture, should be ok.

 

[rdust]

Also on mild days I've been tossing only one split in every couple hours and keeping the stat turned up to a medium burn rate. This seems to keep a lower room temp than if I load it right up and try and keep it turned down for hours in end. Are the frequent reloads harder on the cat?

Benefit of a cat stove is less loading hassles! When it's warmer I load at night so if the room gets a little warm for the first few hours I'm upstairs sleeping where it's cooler. 30's and up temps I try to run 24hr load times.

I'd imagine frequent loads could take its toll on the cat. If you want to feed it a stick at a time you should've bought a tube stove.

 

[Poindexter]

@SuperJ , im not sure. I agree with lsucet that it is better for the cat to not get facefulls of cold air splashed on it, so i tend to run in bypass for several minutes before opening the loading door. Like go to bypass, go pee, wash my hands, go to the garage for wood, glance in the window at the coals, check the flue gas temp again. If the flue gas temp indicator isnt moving yet, go get a glass of water and play with the felis domesticus cat a couple minutes.

What i am want is a good firm draft set up before i open the loading door so the combustor is just sitting up there out of the airflow when i do open the loading door.

On the back side, i live in an epa designated nonattainment zone for air quality. A "regulated burner" if you will. So on the one hand i have read the operators manual that came with my stove. On the other hand the air quality police are looking at my stack, my exhaust plume to decide if i am breaking the law or not.

If i (my install, my microclimate, blah, blah) engage the combustor as soon as the needle is in the notch between inactive and active my cat will light right off, but i wont have a clean plume for another six to ten minutes.

I am legally allowed 50% plume opacity for 20 minutes on cold starts and reloads. I am supposed to operate at 20% opacity or less between reloads.

If i stay in bypass until the needle is at that first hash mark about 3/16" up into the active zone, then engage ( who else channels Jean Luc Picard running their BK?), my exhaust plume is clean before i can slip on shoes and run outside to look.

On cold starts my best consistent times from striking a match to clean plume run 28-30 minutes if i engage the combustor asap. If i run in bypass up to that first hash mark my consistent times from match strike to clean plume are in the 21 to 23 minute window.

Who knows which method actually produces less emissions. I dont want a ticket with a $1000 fine on it.

In general i agree with the manual that we should:
Load the box to the absolute gills everytime the loading door is open.
Open the loading door as seldom as possible.
Engage the cat as soon as possible.
Control the temp in the house with the tstat knob.

If i cant turn the tstat down far enough either my stack is too short or elbowy, my wood is too wet or my weather too warm to have lit the stove on the first place.

I have, in shoulder seasons, loaded maybe 2/3 or 5/8 of a box full, just enough wood to heat the 500# stove to active cat, with a 2 hour burn on high to take the chill off, then let it burn out and maybe repeat tomorrow, maybe not.

 

[rdust]

I know those of us who own these stove are "used" to the way these stoves burn but every once in a while I forget how silly they are. On my 7th season with the little lady and we're still in love with her.

When I loaded last night around 7pm, I took my time and filled the stove pretty good since I knew I'd be gone all day(day hunting trip, left at 4:30am). Around 11pm I pulled the edges in so I can load up before bed.

Here are some pictures for potential cult members.

Last night 7pm load

Tonight around 11pm after pulling in the sides.

Temp around 11:30pm

Yep, 30 hour burn times are a real thing but I'm too tired to wait for that. I usually shoot for 12 or 24 since they fit my schedule much better.

 

[rdust]

Update: 11:45 pm, temps climbing. Temps climbing after nearly 29 hours.

 

[Poindexter]

I am having good enough results to get a timer system and measuring points figured out.

This mornings sapsicle was loaded NS with everything else, high in the box close to the middle.

Combustor was just barely in active, but active when the load was charred. When i engaged the front end of the firebox heated right up, including the near end of the sapsicle. I missed the flame thrower show with my camera, but the needle moved from barely active to very active with alacrity and i got the deck fans running.

 

[aaronk25]

So burn some wet wood in the princess yesterday. Bought some good size white oak blocks from a local saw mill, which was supposed to be dry. Middle of the night House was falling in temp and looked first at flue temp (2’ above stove) and it was at 550f, which was about 150 higher than it would normally run at the 3oclock position. I thought that was strange and then saw the stove temp on top was at 400 when it should have been at 550-600. Sure enough got them moisture meter out and some pieces were at 35-40%.

So somthing I think I learned but wanted to confirm with the group here is, with wet wood is a indicator higher flue temp with reduced stove top temps?

I asked this because I have another variable which I moved the stove farther into the room and added 2 90 degree bends yesterday and switched fuel source. Yes I know, 2 variables, not good. Any how my draft is the same at the stove top at .05-.1, above spec. So I don’t think it’s the additional pipe and restrictions as the static pressure drop is the same. I got 21 ft of chimney straight up so I think I could put 10 bends in it and it would still meet a BK spec.

Thoughts on wet wood and higher exhaust temps?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Highbeam]

So burn some wet wood in the princess yesterday. Bought some good size white oak blocks from a local saw mill, which was supposed to be dry. Middle of the night House was falling in temp and looked first at flue temp (2’ above stove) and it was at 550f, which was about 150 higher than it would normally run at the 3oclock position. I thought that was strange and then saw the stove temp on top was at 400 when it should have been at 550-600. Sure enough got them moisture meter out and some pieces were at 35-40%.

So somthing I think I learned but wanted to confirm with the group here is, with wet wood is a indicator higher flue temp with reduced stove top temps?

I asked this because I have another variable which I moved the stove farther into the room and added 2 90 degree bends yesterday and switched fuel source. Yes I know, 2 variables, not good. Any how my draft is the same at the stove top at .05-.1, above spec. So I don’t think it’s the additional pipe and restrictions as the static pressure drop is the same. I got 21 ft of chimney straight up so I think I could put 10 bends in it and it would still meet a BK spec.

Thoughts on wet wood and higher exhaust temps?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

When your fuel sucks the thermostat opens farther than normal to try and get the firebox up to setpoint. That blows heat up the stack.

 

[RandyBoBandy]

Here are the approved, extensive cleaning instructions for combustors.

Is there a typo in the light off temp range on the first page? It says light off occurs between 500 and 7000 degrees

 

[webby3650]

Is there a typo in the light off temp range on the first page? It says light off occurs between 500 and 7000 degrees

Nope, I usually shut the bypass right as it approaches 7,000 degrees. This ensures a clean burn!

 

[RandyBoBandy]

Nope, I usually shut the bypass right as it approaches 7,000 degrees. This ensures a clean burn!

Hahaha. What creosote? Who needs a sweep when you can run your stove up 7000*

 

[tarzan]

Is there a typo in the light off temp range on the first page? It says light off occurs between 500 and 7000 degrees

And that's guaranteed!

Joking aside, remember that the between 500 and 700 numbers are internal temps, not stovetop.

 

[kf6hap]

Condar says 400 for the steel cats.

 

[BKVP]

Is there a typo in the light off temp range on the first page? It says light off occurs between 500 and 7000 degrees

I'll check, but it should be 700F

 

[SuperJ]

Nope, I usually shut the bypass right as it approaches 7,000 degrees. This ensures a clean burn!

Sounds like something @Poindexter would advocate

 

[Poindexter]

Friendly annual reminder. I live in the north half of Alaska. My wife likes to wear summer outfits year round. I like being able to drag my boat one mile to a free public launch and then having three river miles to cover to enter wilderness. Not wildlife refuge, not state park, not national park, actual wilderness.

So i keep my 1980 construction house at +80dF year round so my wife isnt surfing realtor dot com looking at lower 48 real estate, usually with her mom on the phone simultaneously.

I have an Ashford 30 because it was either a slightly too small stove for my needs, or the wife was going to start looking at stoves not made by BK.

A princess, if it was 100% efficient, could provide all the same BTUs as my A30 and has enough excess capacity to generate all the electricity we use as well. My wife doesnt like the looks of the princess.

I know perfectly well that i am pushing the limits of what an A30 can provide. I really should get a bigger stove. But I love my wife. I love, while I am able, getting to absolute wilderness and back home before dark when I have a bad day at work.

I would rather beat on a slightly too small BK than have a right sized stove from anyone else.

Since my A30 was installed in May 2014 my wife has been on the phone with her mom looking at california real estate twice. In thay same time frame i have maintained +80 dF inside the house against -40dF colder outdoors way more than 60 nights.

Chris is absolutely rabid about customer service and i am sure not every A30 to leave the factory is perfect in every way. He will fix those. I have a good one from the factory, I have beat the living snot out of it, and it keeps coming back for more. Other than demolishing a cat every couple seasons, this stove will probably outlast me.

 

[Nigel459]

What were you running before the BK?

Good question, could have specified: in addition to smoke dragons in my shop and cottage, other examples would be a Heritage Cartier and at a family members cabin, a Regency tube stove.

 

[Nigel459]

For the first time in the two weeks we've had our BK, after a couple of days of nice weather, our stove went cold.

While starting it up again this morning, with bypass open, I saw some draw through the cat, pulling some smoke through it while cold. After things heated up a bit it seemed to start drawing through the bypass.

We have a good 16' of double walled inside plus 7' chimney outside. Haven't had any smoke smells, no back puffing, and have enjoyed excellent long low burn times so far.

I guess my question is about the cat: I can't imagine a bit of flow through while cold is bad for it, but what *is* bad for it? I see reference to this or that which "could cause premature failure," such as flames licking it or thermal shock if you open the door without the bypass open but what are the actual physical reasons? Also, is there anything I should watch for regarding keeping the cat healthy with my seemingly strong draft such as on start up?

Thanks for any insight on this

 

[SuperJ]

Totally jealous, I'd be up there in a heartbeat if I could think of a job that would let me and I could convince my wife.
I make do with a week or two in the wilderness per year.

Friendly annual reminder. I live in the north half of Alaska. My wife likes to wear summer outfits year round. I like being able to drag my boat one mile to a free public launch and then having three river miles to cover to enter wilderness. Not wildlife refuge, not state park, not national park, actual wilderness.

So i keep my 1980 construction house at +80dF year round so my wife isnt surfing realtor dot com looking at lower 48 real estate, usually with her mom on the phone simultaneously.

I have an Ashford 30 because it was either a slightly too small stove for my needs, or the wife was going to start looking at stoves not made by BK.

A princess, if it was 100% efficient, could provide all the same BTUs as my A30 and has enough excess capacity to generate all the electricity we use as well. My wife doesnt like the looks of the princess.

I know perfectly well that i am pushing the limits of what an A30 can provide. I really should get a bigger stove. But I love my wife. I love, while I am able, getting to absolute wilderness and back home before dark when I have a bad day at work.

I would rather beat on a slightly too small BK than have a right sized stove from anyone else.

Since my A30 was installed in May 2014 my wife has been on the phone with her mom looking at california real estate twice. In thay same time frame i have maintained +80 dF inside the house against -40dF colder outdoors way more than 60 nights.

Chris is absolutely rabid about customer service and i am sure not every A30 to leave the factory is perfect in every way. He will fix those. I have a good one from the factory, I have beat the living snot out of it, and it keeps coming back for more. Other than demolishing a cat every couple seasons, this stove will probably outlast me.