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

[Ashful]

I was cleaning my chimney and stove today and a piece of (I think) my cat gasket fell out, it's about 4" long and must have come from the top because the sides and bottom look well gasketed.

My thought is to order some more and next time I'm that deep in the stove pull the cat and redo the gasket, does that sound good? Or should I order some and do it as soon as it's in? Supposed to be bitter cold next week, I don't want to turn on the electric heat. Or just don't worry about it?

The stove is a one year old Ashford 30.1.

I’d just do it (with gloves), next time the stove is cool. No need to let it go dead cold. You can run with a damaged cat gasket, and some cat resellers foolishly promote running without one at all, but performance will suffer a bit.

 

[Ashful]

Heads up, folks:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/blaze-king-princess-door-trouble.165740/

 

[jetsam]

After 22.5 hours on one load with the tsat set to 1.25 (let the swoosh debate resume).

Not everyone has your stove. For the sake of standardization, we need you to measure the arc from full counterclockwise to the setting in milliradians.

So that your measurement can be taken seriously, we also need a notarized statement from a licensed geometrist.

I know it's a hassle, but until BK finally comes out with a laser projection display that shows the exact thermostat setting in five foot high numbers on the opposite wall, it's what we're stuck with.

 

[Peter638]

Glad to hear maybe you’ve gotten to the root of your problem! Had you tried replacing your door gasket before you got the whole new door? What was the issue with the old door? It’s minus 30 * C here so I’m using the stove. Will tolerate the smell to get the heat. I’m curious to know what replacing the door did for you? Is there something in particular I could inspect on mine?

Just tried to start my wood burning stove. Had it going about a month ago but now it's leaking smoke from everywhere. Had the damper open and getting a draft. Whole family is coming and was hoping to have a fire for Christmas. Any suggestions? Too late to call for help I think.

 

[Peter638]

Can someone point me to the right thread?

 

[webfish]

Probably start a new thread. Here is how.https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/how-to-post-on-the-hearth-com-forums.139782/

What stove brand? and any other details.

 

[Peter638]

Probably start a new thread. Here is how.https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/how-to-post-on-the-hearth-com-forums.139782/

What stove brand? and any other details.

It's a country comfort stove. At least fifteen years old. It's leaking from the glass, from the side, the vents.

 

[webfish]

It's a country comfort stove. At least fifteen years old. It's leaking from the glass, from the side, the vents.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/how-to-post-on-the-hearth-com-forums.139782/

 

[Highbeam]

I was cleaning my chimney and stove today and a piece of (I think) my cat gasket fell out, it's about 4" long and must have come from the top because the sides and bottom look well gasketed.

My thought is to order some more and next time I'm that deep in the stove pull the cat and redo the gasket, does that sound good? Or should I order some and do it as soon as it's in? Supposed to be bitter cold next week, I don't want to turn on the electric heat. Or just don't worry about it?

The stove is a one year old Ashford 30.1.

I would try to stuff it back in the hole if possible. It might not stay forever but all the gasket does is prevent a tiny bit of smoke from flowing around the cat while helping to hold the cat Still. If you can slide it in then maybe it’s fixed. The cat is really easy to remove, wrap with new gasket, tape, and shove back in. Gasket is about 6$. Mine has never failed like that.

 

[Poindexter]

I am calling it a 35 hour burn. I maybe coulda stretched it to 36 hours, but the oil tstat was about to click from overnight to weekend day setting. The temp in the stove room was warmer than overnight but cooler than the looming daytime setting.

My condar is in the chimney 19" above the firebox top.

 

[Nigel459]

Sometimes after an overnight burn with tstat set low, by morning the cat probe has slipped into inactive but there is still some heat and one or two medium quarter log chunks right in the back. Since the house is warm and I don’t need/want to reload fully, or am headed out, I have tried two things:

1. Simply crank the tstat to high. After a few minutes the chunk(s) is/are glowing red and sometimes even goes into the active zone for a while before the coals are totally gone. Just leave bypass closed as (I’ve read) at the coaling stage there’s no more gunk.

2. If I want more heat quicker, I open the bypass, and after a minute or two rake the coals and the chunk(s) up to the front and turn the tstat to high. Pretty instantly I get hot glowing and flame, and can re engage the cat. Even though I know it may not have any more gunk/volatiles to eat.

Is either one a better practice? Is either one better/worse for the cat in the long run or no harm either way? Cheers

Maybe got buried in the frenzy of smoke smell discussion... bump

I figure it’s all good either way just wanted to check.

Mostly, if the cat stalls overnight, is there any harm to just cranking it up with bypass closed in the morn, or if there’s a half a log left should I crank it up and bypass until it’s hot enough to engage the cat?

Cheers

 

[Poindexter]

@Nigel459 , my inclination would be bypass, wide open tstat, wait a few minutes, rake coals, reload, char fresh wood and reheat cat, engage comustor, come back in 12 hours.

You probably could just crank up the tsat and walk away, but running smoke through the inactive cat - i think- is asking for deposits on the catalytic surface

 

[oldbluedeer]

Sometimes after an overnight burn with tstat set low, by morning the cat probe has slipped into inactive but there is still some heat and one or two medium quarter log chunks right in the back. Since the house is warm and I don’t need/want to reload fully, or am headed out, I have tried two things:

1. Simply crank the tstat to high. After a few minutes the chunk(s) is/are glowing red and sometimes even goes into the active zone for a while before the coals are totally gone. Just leave bypass closed as (I’ve read) at the coaling stage there’s no more gunk.

2. If I want more heat quicker, I open the bypass, and after a minute or two rake the coals and the chunk(s) up to the front and turn the tstat to high. Pretty instantly I get hot glowing and flame, and can re engage the cat. Even though I know it may not have any more gunk/volatiles to eat.

Is either one a better practice? Is either one better/worse for the cat in the long run or no harm either way? Cheers

I am not an expert...

If you're seeing full chunks of logs remaining when the cat meter goes inactive, that might mean the tstat was set a little to low the previous evening when you turned it down for the long burn.

It is hard to say without seeing it, but if the only thing that happens when you open the bypass is bright coals and no flames, then I would probably choose that option.

 

[oldbluedeer]

Regarding the smoke smell issue:

I was intending to test with the new stove door for a few weeks, but the smoke smell problem came back on the second fire. This was after the gasket was compressed and not so tight anymore, or so I would presume.

Here's the rule of thumb, not perfect but pretty close: The smoke smell starts to appear when the flames in the firebox start to disappear. The cause seems to be centered on three things:

1. Turning down the tstat immediately reduces inflow into the stove, and flow up the chimney system. We lose some of the Venturi effect of higher velocity gasses keeping smoke/gasses moving out of the firebox and up the chimney. Smoke starts to linger in the firebox.

2. When the flames (burning gasses being emitted by hot logs) start to disappear, due to the reduction of O2 to support burning, the firebox starts to fill with unburnt gasses (prior to turning down the tstat, the gasses in the firebox are at least partially burnt). So the concentration of gasses in the firebox increases.

3. The cooling of the gasses in the chimney, and eventual cooling of the firebox, reduces the draw in the chimney, which reinforces the effects of (1) and (2) above.

It would seem that an impermeable gasket that is able to retain its shape after repeated compressions would be an ideal solution, if such a material could be found.

I may be a rather good guinea pig for further testing, a canary in the coal mine of sorts, as my house/cabin is small at 900 square feet. The smoke smell in my house accumulates in higher concentrations more quickly than some of the other folks. The small size of my house is why bought the smaller Sirocco 2.0.

If anyone needs a short-term solution, try keeping the tstat at a level where you are seeing at least a few flames. For my setup, that is around 4:30pm on the tstat dial. You lose some of the efficiency, but it helps reduce the smoke smell in the room.

I am optimistic that Blaze King will provide us a good solution. BVKP has been very responsive. I would like to continue testing whatever possible solutions that are made available.

 

[Woody Stover]

The new door gasket was darker, perhaps of a different material.

Had you tried replacing your door gasket before you got the whole new door?

Sure does look different..maybe BK has found a different gasket that works better?

After 22.5 hours on one load with the tsat set to 1.25

Don’t tell @Woody Stover, he says it’s just a myth.

Naw, I don't doubt that burn at all. Of course Poiny's Alaska house is air-sealed to the hilt and has so much insulation crammed in that it bears a slight resemblance to one of those inflatable Michelin-man santas, when you round the curve and see his house sitting there making its valiant stand against the elements in the howling winds of the frozen tundra. With that kind of buffering, he can run his BK at a long-burn, low heat output setting and still keep decent room temp. I doubt that you are getting that length of burn unless it's hitting 60*+ outside in the afternoon.
I made my 24-hr. burn yesterday but today's temps, day and night, are 10* cooler, with a breeze. I just opened up the air a little on the remaining coals, and may have to reload at about the 14-hr. mark on this load, in this sieve of a house.
It will be interesting to see what I can do when I get the Absolute in here, with about another cubic foot of firebox to cram. Unfortunately, my setup is gonna look like ass since I'll have to cut the legs off the stove to get the rear-vent to fit under the lintel; It will be a steel box with no legs, sitting directly on the hearth.
I don't know..does anyone recall somebody altering their masonry fireplace to raise the lintel??

I would try to stuff it back in the hole if possible. It might not stay forever but all the gasket does is prevent a tiny bit of smoke from flowing around the cat while helping to hold the cat Still.

The used interam gasket might crumble, but if he as some new, he could maybe cut a small piece to the size of the gap and slip it in there, until he has time to pull the cat and replace the entire gasket. I'm still working on a 25' roll of 2" interam gasket that I got online for under $2 a foot..

 

[Poindexter]

I am going for it. 30 minutes on high, 90 minutes on medium, shazam.

 

[Nigel459]

@Nigel459 , my inclination would be bypass, wide open tstat, wait a few minutes, rake coals, reload, char fresh wood and reheat cat, engage comustor, come back in 12 hours...

I will do this, but without the reload as that was the scenario: when I don’t need/want to reload but there’s still some action in there.

You probably could just crank up the tsat and walk away, but running smoke through the inactive cat - i think- is asking for deposits on the catalytic surface

Ok that’s what I was slightly worried about, i will err on the safe side and bypass, wait, rake and maybe leave bypass open if not hot enough for the cat etc. Thanks!
[QUOTE="oldbluedeer, post: 2222350, member: 57170"]I am not an expert...

If you're seeing full chunks of logs remaining when the cat meter goes inactive, that might mean the tstat was set a little to low the previous evening when you turned it down for the long burn.

It is hard to say without seeing it, but if the only thing that happens when you open the bypass is bright coals and no flames, then I would probably choose that option.[/QUOTE]Yes I think on warmer nights my low setting doesn’t burn every last chunk down. Still getting to know the stove (same one as you, Sirocco 20.1) and loving it. Thanks for the thoughts and I wish you best of luck with that darned smoke smell.

 

[Woody Stover]

is there any harm to just cranking it up with bypass closed in the morn, or if there’s a half a log left should I crank it up and bypass until it’s hot enough to engage the cat?

Yeah I would get that log flaming and get the cat up to temp in case there is smoke that needs to be burned. If it's just coals, I still leave the bypass closed so that the exhaust takes a longer path through the stove, extracting more heat.

 

[Woody Stover]

I am going for it. 30 minutes on high, 90 minutes on medium, shazam.

I must have missed it...exactly what are you "going for?"

 

[begreen]

I am going for it. 30 minutes on high, 90 minutes on medium, shazam.
View attachment 218567

Warm day in Fairbanks?

 

[MissMac]

Regarding the smoke smell issue:

I was intending to test with the new stove door for a few weeks, but the smoke smell problem came back on the second fire. This was after the gasket was compressed and not so tight anymore, or so I would presume.

.

This might sound a bit dense, but did you try tightening the door a bit once the new gasket loosened up?

 

[Blazing]

I am going for it. 30 minutes on high, 90 minutes on medium, shazam.
View attachment 218567

Why does your bk have numbers? Mine doesn't have numbers... I think numbers would be better

 

[MissMac]

It's a country comfort stove. At least fifteen years old. It's leaking from the glass, from the side, the vents.

Yikes! Sorry friend, but I’m not too sure. But there are some knowledgeable folks on here that I’m sure can point you in the right direction. Is there something plugging up your chimney maybe?

 

[Blazing]

Then I could compare my stove with others over the Internet and figure out why mine won't burn on said number. What I great thought wish I would have come up with it lol.

 

[oldbluedeer]

This might sound a bit dense, but did you try tightening the door a bit once the new gasket loosened up?

Yes if it needs it. I could not pass a dollar bill through the old door, at top, bottom, right or left, and the handle shut plenty tight. I haven't tested the new door after just three burns or so, but the handle is still tight. The smoke smell is coming from the hinge side, and that doesn't get tighter by much when the door latch is tightened. But I am keeping an eye on it.