Highbeam
Minister of Fire
All this time, everyone says, firebox is under a negative pressure. Can’t be the gasket since any leak would suck air in! Great news that a fix/cause was determined.
2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 3 (Everything BK)
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All this time, everyone says, firebox is under a negative pressure. Can’t be the gasket since any leak would suck air in! Great news that a fix/cause was determined.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Everyone? I don’t think so. Aaronk nailed this one back in January, but only a few of us believed him.
2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 2 (Everything BK)
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...om/talk/index.php?posts/2232216/&share_type=t
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Yes, the combustion chamber is always under a vacuum.
Yes, strange airflows within the chamber can cause smoke smell to leak out.
Yes, the problem has been resolved with a new gasket. Not an "off the shelf " standard rope and installation, though. Not difficult either.
You will not have any smoke smell after the new gasket is installed. Zilch/none.
Precisely how the smoke smell gets out is an interesting investigation, but due to my current smoke smell free circumstance, I can no longer participate.
My opinion:
I now have the world's finest wood heating appliance!
Best looks
Best burn time
Best turn-down
Best ease of operation
Best thermostatic control
Less than 1G/Hr particulates
De-ashing is easy and infrequent
End of season cleaning is a snap
Excellent catalyst lifespan-guaranteed
Excellent factory technical information service
Excellent after the sale factory warrantee service
The stove you purchase will work as advertised or better!
The folks at BK actively care about their product and have a right to be very proud of the BK name.
Yes, strange airflows within the chamber can cause smoke smell to leak out.
Yes, the problem has been resolved with a new gasket. Not an "off the shelf " standard rope and installation, though. Not difficult either.
You will not have any smoke smell after the new gasket is installed. Zilch/none.
Precisely how the smoke smell gets out is an interesting investigation, but due to my current smoke smell free circumstance, I can no longer participate.
My opinion:
I now have the world's finest wood heating appliance!
Best looks
Best burn time
Best turn-down
Best ease of operation
Best thermostatic control
Less than 1G/Hr particulates
De-ashing is easy and infrequent
End of season cleaning is a snap
Excellent catalyst lifespan-guaranteed
Excellent factory technical information service
Excellent after the sale factory warrantee service
The stove you purchase will work as advertised or better!
The folks at BK actively care about their product and have a right to be very proud of the BK name.
Alpine1
Feeling the Heat
Can you share a little more (technical) infos about the new sealing rope and related installation?
Sorry, but I did not get a copy of the installation sheet. It involves placing shims to accommodate the increased gasket size. BK had the local stove company do it. I am sure if you either PM BKVP or call/E-mail the factory they will take care of you. A tube of Permatex copper high-temp sealer was used, supplied with the gasket and shims. It appears the rope is 7/8" in diameter but as it is squished flat I can't be exact on the diameter. It is quite dense too. No sagging at all after nearly one winter of burning. Although a lot of creosote crud (normal buildup) has accumulated in the lower window corners, none of it has creeped through to the other side. Only the combustion side is dark, the knife edge and outer portion is still new looking. It also appears the gasket is graphite impregnated.
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BKVP
Minister of Fire
For the extremely limited number of cases (12-14) in all of North America over a 3 year period, one was not resolved with the kit.
The dealer removed the stove, took it to his showroom and sold the customer a different model/unit. The dealer has been burning the stove for 2 weeks with zero smoke smell.
Chimney? User sensitive to smell? (gaskets can smell like wood smoke when you sniff them)
Alpine, send me a PM if you need more details.
BKVP
Chris
PSWill be in Albany NY and New England next week! Visiting dealers during the days, but can stand by my offer to buy a round if our paths cross.
The dealer removed the stove, took it to his showroom and sold the customer a different model/unit. The dealer has been burning the stove for 2 weeks with zero smoke smell.
Chimney? User sensitive to smell? (gaskets can smell like wood smoke when you sniff them)
Alpine, send me a PM if you need more details.
BKVP
Chris
PSWill be in Albany NY and New England next week! Visiting dealers during the days, but can stand by my offer to buy a round if our paths cross.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
The dog butt theory has merit! My pug will be so happy.
Alpine1
Feeling the Heat
Thanks for the offer BKVP but luckily no smoke smell here, my Ashford works flawlessly: I’m “riding the hole” in this very moment. I was just curious if there was something special (like the shims) to do apart from changing the gasket.
ratsrepus
Minister of Fire
has the issue been taken care of on the new ones from the factory? I sold my Jotul and was planning on an ashford 30 to replace it.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
We're not certain there was an issue. We've sold thousands with zero issue. But we know 10-12 could result in a smoke smell in the room. Note, no one reported seeing smoke. Early issues were mostly resolved with added stack length, adding a full length liner in masonry installs etc.
Still about 6 units had an issue. We decided to build shims for 4 of them and two just added the larger gaskets.
We sort of custom tailored the solution to each application. We are still wondering why in so few instances there was an issue.
Sell your stove and trust we stand behind our products!
Best looks- ha
Best burn time
Best turn-down
Best ease of operation
Best thermostatic control
Less than 1G/Hr particulates
De-ashing is easy and infrequent
End of season cleaning is a snap
Excellent catalyst lifespan-guaranteed
Excellent factory technical information service
Excellent after the sale factory warrantee service
The stove you purchase will work as advertised or better!
Lol
Best burn time
Best turn-down
Best ease of operation
Best thermostatic control
Less than 1G/Hr particulates
De-ashing is easy and infrequent
End of season cleaning is a snap
Excellent catalyst lifespan-guaranteed
Excellent factory technical information service
Excellent after the sale factory warrantee service
The stove you purchase will work as advertised or better!
Lol
Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I was a sailor too, Sailrmike. CVAN65
Diabel
Minister of Fire
I am still on the fence regarding OAK. The stove will sit pretty much on a ground level, so punching a hole to the outside will create issues once the snow comes (and we get lots of it).
Will running the HRV help the stove operation in a super tight house?
Will running the HRV help the stove operation in a super tight house?
It is a wonderful thing to live in a super tight house as far BTUs are needed to heat and cool it. The HRV can help keep the inside/outside air pressure differential near zero if set-up properly. If it has a filter, it will slowly clog causing things to go awry. The stove operates on rather feeble pressures (.0XX WC) only the slightest upset can cause improper stove operation. So what to do?
Easy. Run the stove and if no problems, yer dun.
What to look for?
Smoke in the house (obvious).
Smoke coming out when the kitchen/bathroom exhaust fan are used.
Unavoidable smoke spillage at the reload. Try cracking a window.
Crummy thermostatic control unless a window is cracked.
Did I miss anything?
Some OAK remedies:
If possible take air from under the house, the "crawl space". That is what I did. Works great.
Build a small vented crude doghouse to cover the outside air terminal.
Once the pipe is outside, 90 it up high enough to clear the snow line. Place two 90s at the top to keep the rain and snow out. Remove it on the off season to please the wife/girl-friend/dogs.
Camouflage spray paint can make things "go away".
Easy. Run the stove and if no problems, yer dun.
What to look for?
Smoke in the house (obvious).
Smoke coming out when the kitchen/bathroom exhaust fan are used.
Unavoidable smoke spillage at the reload. Try cracking a window.
Crummy thermostatic control unless a window is cracked.
Did I miss anything?
Some OAK remedies:
If possible take air from under the house, the "crawl space". That is what I did. Works great.
Build a small vented crude doghouse to cover the outside air terminal.
Once the pipe is outside, 90 it up high enough to clear the snow line. Place two 90s at the top to keep the rain and snow out. Remove it on the off season to please the wife/girl-friend/dogs.
Camouflage spray paint can make things "go away".
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Door adjustment on a princess ultra. About a quarter of the door fails the dollar bill test. Fairly new install. It failed from the handle up to the corner and about half way across the top. The rest of it is tight. You can see the gasket isn't being pinched enough in that area.
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Highbeam
Minister of Fire
That's where my ultra's door is loosest too. There is no adjustment other than tightening the latch which you need to do. If that doesn't work then pop in a new gasket.
ratsrepus
Minister of Fire
Today I figured it would be good to remove the stove pipe from my Princess and clean out the top of the stove. First thing i noticed is what a groan it must be to replace the bypass gasket. Then i noticed the cover over the thermostat says do not remove this cover, no user serviceable parts. I'm assuming that's where you would have to go to adjust the thermostat or replace it, lube it whatever. Problem is I took all three screws out before I saw the warning. So thats why there is a sheet metal screw that has a teat in the middle of it on the center screw so you can unscrew it. So was i bad for trying to take it off and did I screw anything up? How do you service the thermostat? I would guess that at some point and time you will need access to it
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Don't touch it. Unless to lubricate. Make certain the blade is horizontal when you reinstall cover. Put all screws back in place before turning the knob. Now, go flying...great time of year....from 30k, Delta!
ratsrepus
Minister of Fire
that's what my intentions were is to lube it, it didn't seem like it wanted to come off very easy. whats the trick?, you say dont touch it, Why? but its OK to touch it to lubricate it?
BKVP
Minister of Fire
There is a bead of silicone holds the therm body under the lid. Once you convince it who's in charge, it will come off. However, as everyone here will attest, I do not encourage removal. Some have gone the way of Tim The Tool Man and lubricated. Yes Highbeam that means YOU!
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
My stickers fell off too! As the boss says, lubricate only. Fully close the thermostat to the cold position before removing or installing the cover once you have been fully certified to perform such in depth maintenance and belong to the appropriate guilds.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Hah! After what... three years(?), I'm finally going to have to lube the 'stat knob on the stove that gets two loads per day. It's been getting real crunchy to turn, the last half of this season. The other stove that only sees one load per day, and thus half the knob turns, is still working like new.
Someone posted a nice how-to a while back (2016?). Been meaning to look that up.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
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