2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 1 (Everything BK)

[showrguy]

So whats the best one to buy If might ask?

He said that a couple of posts back..

 

[Jeff in Maine]

My BK has a flame shield, I did not see it mentioned if your stove should have one and is it in place?

yes it is

 

[Highbeam]

I thought i saw Condor products on Amazon, are they junk?

Firecat combustors sells on amazon through an online store called Midwest hearth? Ack. I bought my last cat from them and it is an applied ceramics cat which is OEM ceramic. I was actually sent there by the firecat people since the firecat customer interface sucked so bad.

Since your 30 series box requires a steel cat, you are falling in to the mysterious rabbit hole of trying to guess which steel cat will be durafoil vs. dieselfoil and the "good" steel cat.

Here you go:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0754P418C/?tag=hearthamazon-20

 

[ratsrepus]

cool, thanks.

 

[ratsrepus]

so I'm sure this is a question for BKVP guy, but what the reason for a ceramic cat in a princess and the steel cat in the Ashford

 

[Newburnerwisconsin]

Houston I have a cat issue.
Hi all I don't post to often because I don have too many issues that is till now. I moved the Princess out some so I can do a real good cleaning before the heating season. I removed the stove pipe and went to vacuum the fine powdery ash from the top near the by-pass plate and saw that my cat is ruined. I posted some pictures last year of some crumbling I notices in back last year well now it is about 30%-40% destroyed. Here are some pictures the stove was bought new by me in 2015 from a dealer in Bangor Maine. I tried calling them but they have either changed their name or been bought out by someone else. I left a message hoping for a call back Monday but I can stop by. Because to be honest I don't even know if the new people sell stoves or flowers? They said formerly "McVettys" so who knows.

The warranty says the original cat is warrantied for 10 years so we will see I guess. To say I am very unimpressed is a huge understatement. I was really hoping to get at least 7-9 years before I had to get into repairing my new stove. Now before I post pictures I know people might ask a bunch of questions. Yes the door gasket is in good shape and I do a dollar bill test a few time during the season and adjust if need be. Yes the by-pass is adjusted as well the dollar bill pulls through but with some real resistance. The wood is seasoned 2 years and split into 1/4s at least and some time 1/6s moisture content between 11% and 14%.
View attachment 229426 View attachment 229427 View attachment 229428 View attachment 229429

I am thinking of buying a Ashford in December. What can I do to avoid this problem? Gotta admit, it makes me a little nervous. What will prevent this? Thanks

 

[Highbeam]

I am thinking of buying a Ashford in December. What can I do to avoid this problem? Gotta admit, it makes me a little nervous. What will prevent this? Thanks

We don’t know since no cause was determined. But, I don’t believe any of us has seen the back of a cat blown out. Also, the cat is being replaced for free as “defective” and even if you had to buy it would only be 200$. Most of us have reduced wood consumption by one cord per year with a cat stove so that one cord savings would pay for a new cat every year.

Most of us get more than 2-3 years per cat.

Let’s hope Jeff’s next cat gets him the full 10,000 hours or more.

 

[begreen]

[

Most of us have reduced wood consumption by one cord per year with a cat stove so that one cord savings would pay for a new cat every year.

Wow, things must have been running pretty poorly before to achieve a 25-33% reduction in fuel consumption. Looking forward to bholler's report this year for comparison.

 

[BKVP]

I thought i saw Condor products on Amazon, are they junk?

Condor is a reseller. They purchase from Applied Ceramics. They may also buy from other suppliers. Applied is firecatcombustors.com

 

[BKVP]

So whats the best one to buy If might ask?

We buy the best. We buy from Applied and another company that does not sell other than OEM.

 

[BKVP]

so I'm sure this is a question for BKVP guy, but what the reason for a ceramic cat in a princess and the steel cat in the Ashford

The Ashford was more recently brought to market. There are tons of blogs in here Iive posted to benefits of each type. But suffice it to say....both work. Both get the 10 year warranty for thermal destruction.

 

[Bullyboy]

[
Wow, things must have been running pretty poorly before to achieve a 25-33% reduction in fuel consumption. Looking forward to bholler's report this year for comparison.

You wanna talk about poor previous performance. How's a savings of 7 cords a year. Not a fair comparison really but we bought a house with an old outdoor boiler. Fairly average winter and 10 cords convinced me to move the fire indoors. Last year was our first full year with an Ashford 30 and we heated full time with a few pieces under 3 cords in a winter that had one of the longest and coldest stretches I can remember. And I should add that the 10 cords would probably have to be 13-15 to keep the house as warm as we kept it last winter. To warm for me sometimes but hey, happy wife happy life they say.

 

[webby3650]

[
Wow, things must have been running pretty poorly before to achieve a 25-33% reduction in fuel consumption. Looking forward to bholler's report this year for comparison.

I’m absolutely certain my BKs use way less wood than any other stoves that have been across my hearths. No doubt in my mind that the average person would save at least 25%.

 

[begreen]

I’m absolutely certain my BKs use way less wood than any other stoves that have been across my hearths. No doubt in my mind that the average person would save at least 25%.

I remain a skeptic based on efficiency testing, but am keeping an open mind.

 

[webby3650]

I remain a skeptic based on efficiency testing, but am keeping an open mind.

Do you mean the default efficiency ratings that the EPA allows non-cat stoves to put on their EPA certification tags and in their literature.The ones that say in fine print under the 82% “not tested for efficiency”?

 

[Bullyboy]

My closest neighbor is roughly the same sq footage but brand new construction. I'm in a big open feild and he's sheltered in the woods but granted less sunshine as well but he used just under 4 cords in a Pacific energy stove.

 

[Bullyboy]

And I should add that there is no way he keeps his house as warm as ours.

 

[begreen]

Do you mean the default efficiency ratings that the EPA allows non-cat stoves to put on their EPA certification tags and in their literature.The ones that say in fine print under the 82% “not tested for efficiency”?

We are working out of that now with new EPA regs, so I was going more with comparables in which the reported difference is more like 72-74% non-cat (Quad Discovery/3100) and 76% BK Ashford 30.2. (Actual Measured Efficiency (CSA B415.1)) Is that a reasonable comparison?

 

[Highbeam]

[
Wow, things must have been running pretty poorly before to achieve a 25-33% reduction in fuel consumption. Looking forward to bholler's report this year for comparison.

5 to 4 cords per year is a 20% reduction and fairly typical when moving from a low efficiency appliance with crude controls to an 80% efficient appliance with thermostatic controls. Even the Woodstock most guys get at least a cord of reduced consumption.

Maybe look to another forum member making the upgrade without so much baggage. There have been many.

 

[Highbeam]

I remain a skeptic based on efficiency testing, but am keeping an open mind.

I wish that an efficient cat stove like a princess would have gone to someone like you. I Know your wife would not like the princess look!

 

[Ashful]

My wood use dropped from 10 cords to 6 cords, by switching from Jotuls to BK's. Even more amazingly, my fuel oil usage dropped noticeably, while using even less wood. However, for full disclosure, I think I'd have seen a big improvement going from those Jotuls to any convective stove. This is why I harp so much on convective vs. radiant, in exposed masonry spaces.

 

[jetsam]

Any measure of wood use is misleading anyway.

I know with my stove, maximum efficiency happens at low burn. You could cut my wood usage drastically by adding a stove and burning them both low, or by burning low all the time and letting the oil burner pick up the slack.

Point being, if a guy switches from a smoke dragon to a BK, his burning habits are not going to be the same the following year- he is no longer blasting out heat, letting the house cool, repeat. He has worked out a 12 or 24 hour loading cycle and is keeping the house at a level temperature- so regardless of the efficiency of the stove, his BTU consumption has also changed.

Stove efficiency testing can't measure that stuff.

 

[webby3650]

I almost always have a non-cat running somewhere in my house as well as a BK. It always amazes me how much more wood the non cats use compared to my BK. Efficiency ratings can say what they want, but when you pass up the BK with arm loads of wood for the other stove 3x a day and haven’t touched the BK all day, to me that’s efficiency in the real world.

 

[tarzan]

[
Wow, things must have been running pretty poorly before to achieve a 25-33% reduction in fuel consumption. Looking forward to bholler's report this year for comparison.

bholler will be heating a different house this season than in seasons past, I believe. If so, I'm afraid he will have nothing to make a direct comparison with.

Anyway, there have been PLENTY of others through here who have a BK or two on the hearth and have also reported similar findings as Highbeams, so if you're still skeptical, one more persons verification probably wouldn't sway you any.

The BK's just perform better in real life than they do on paper and I'm positive bholler will agree with that assessment in the coming months. But it will take having one to convince him.....as it would some others here.

 

[kennyp2339]

bholler will be heating a different house this season than in seasons past, I believe. If so, I'm afraid he will have nothing to make a direct comparison with.

Anyway, there have been PLENTY of others through here who have a BK or two on the hearth and have also reported similar findings as Highbeams, so if you're still skeptical, one more persons verification probably wouldn't sway you any.

The BK's just perform better in real life than they do on paper and I'm positive bholler will agree with that assessment in the coming months. But it will take having one to convince him.....as it would some others here.

Up, I cut approx. 2 cords a season by switching to the bk princess, and I think the stove gives off better heat since I'm not chasing the heat curve dragon.