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

[Ashful]

I vote that Woody stover gets to run the bk after bholler is done with it this season.


Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25

You’re wasting your time.

 

[Woody Stover]

HEY, Wait a minitue, don't I have a lil bit of a say here ?? Lol

Aw, c'mon man, you don't need it; You've got the mighty King handling your place. That's an Ashford 30, right?

two separate wings of about 4000 sq.ft. and 2000 sq.ft.

One stove in each of those wings, IIRC?

 

[fhon]

I can't tell you how glad I am that people on this forum talked me into the princess. I can go to work and still have a hot stove when I get home. Not to mention the temperature in the house doesn't swing nearly like it used to. It's usually about 68 in the house when I get up.

The only problem I've had is tons of smoke from the chimney. But I think I've solved that by packing the wood in so there's no airflow between splits. That way it can only burn from the front. It seems like if they're too loosely stacked in there it's burning too much surface area at once. Therefore too much smoke for the cat to handle.

 

[Tar12]

I can't tell you how glad I am that people on this forum talked me into the princess. I can go to work and still have a hot stove when I get home. Not to mention the temperature in the house doesn't swing nearly like it used to. It's usually about 68 in the house when I get up.

The only problem I've had is tons of smoke from the chimney. But I think I've solved that by packing the wood in so there's no airflow between splits. That way it can only burn from the front. It seems like if they're too loosely stacked in there it's burning too much surface area at once. Therefore too much smoke for the cat to handle.

I dont experience excessive smoke at all with "loose" or partial loads once its up to temp and the by pass handle is thrown.

 

[showrguy]

Aw, c'mon man, you don't need it; You've got the mighty King handling your place. That's an Ashford 30, right?
One stove in each of those wings, IIRC?

Nope, the one bholler has right now is a princess..

 

[kf6hap]

The only problem I've had is tons of smoke from the chimney. But I think I've solved that by packing the wood in so there's no airflow between splits. That way it can only burn from the front. It seems like if they're too loosely stacked in there it's burning too much surface area at once. Therefore too much smoke for the cat to handle.

I have noticed this too. Not what I would consider too much smoke though. Sometimes the cat gets overwhelmed but soon catches up for a clear stack, just ripply heat waves.

 

[Highbeam]

During warm up, tons of white smoke/steam. After cat engagement and about a half hour of settling down the color goes blue and then clear I just get the occasional blue stream after that when the stat opens.

Is that the smoke situation you see @fhon ? Or is it nonstop from ignition to the last coal?

My noncat is clear within just a few minutes of ignition and never makes visible smoke. Tons of wasted heat up the flue and tons of dilution air keep it looking good!

The bk is not perfect, this is one part of the design/performance that could be improved. Not saying it’s possible to have a low burn rate and clear exhaust but I sure would like to have both.

 

[fhon]

Is that the smoke situation you see @fhon ? Or is it nonstop from ignition to the last coal

It's pretty much nonstop.

 

[lsucet]

It's pretty much nonstop.

How is your wood MC? Be sure bypass is sealing/closing correctly.

 

[drhiii]

So DRHIII stove for sale or relocate to garage?

Stove to shop. May deal with it next summer.

 

[fhon]

The wood reads 5-6% on the outside and 10-12 inside. All the seals seem great. According to the dollar bill test. Even the bypass passes. I assume the cat is doing it's job because it's brand new and glows easily.

It doesn't seem to be a big deal. The flue seems clean.

 

[Woody Stover]

Nope, the one bholler has right now is a princess..

OK, that would handle this place in any weather, no problem; Has about the same high output rating as the Keystone, and a blower. I think the Ashford would be struggling here when it got cold and windy out. Shows a little less output than the Dutchwest 2460 I had in there with a blower on it.
Of course, I'd have to make a minor alteration so that I could back-vent it into the fireplace. I'm not a pro, but any hacky-looking welds won't be too visible on the back of the stove.

Remember we will need to come up with some kind of ash grate innovation for the BK or he will reject the deal.

webby says the Ashford has a decent ash dump. I was using the ash dump on the Buck 91. Not as easy as stirring 'em through the grate with a poker, but not too bad. The Buck has a flip-up lid over a 3.5" X 5.5" opening. It took longer with the stove door open than to stir 'em through a grate, so if I had many coals in the stove, radiation would start to cook me. I was loading at my MIL's on a strict 12-hr. schedule so I didn't always have the luxury of burning the coals down first, then sweeping the ash and re-loading when the coals were low. The ash pan wasn't huge either; I needed to pull it every few days.
I'm not sure how the Princess ash dump compares to the Ashford, but I think you shovel 'em out so you probably haven't worked with it and developed an efficient technique...? webby might be able to compare the two ash dumps, he may have used both.

the temperature in the house doesn't swing nearly like it used to. It's usually about 68 in the house when I get up.

What was your previous stove?

The only problem I've had is tons of smoke from the chimney. But I think I've solved that by packing the wood in so there's no airflow between splits. That way it can only burn from the front. It seems like if they're too loosely stacked in there it's burning too much surface area at once. Therefore too much smoke for the cat to handle.

Have you experimented with how you position the coals under a re-load? With the Buck 91, before I got better control of the air, I would sometimes drag the coals to the center of the box, running in a line N-S; That way, less wood would get burning and gassing while ramping up to temp. You can also shove the coals to the back, then the fire has to fight its way to the front, upstream against the air flow in the box, and less wood will be gassing on the new load.

 

[lsucet]

, but I think you shovel 'em out so you probably haven't worked with it and developed an efficient technique...?

Noh, I have a very efficient technique. "leave it there for months". Plus a bucket and shovel.

 

[fhon]

What was your previous stove?Have you experimented with how you position the coals under a re-load? With the Buck 91, before I got better control of the air, I would sometimes drag the coals to the center of the box, running in a line N-S; That way, less wood would get burning and gassing while ramping up to temp. You can also shove the coals to the back, then the fire has to fight its way to the front, upstream against the air flow in the box, and less wood will be gassing on the new load.

I had a NC30 from home depot previously.

Wow, that's that's really interesting. I'll have to try positioning the coals like that.

 

[Woody Stover]

I'll have to try positioning the coals like that.

You could also load E-W to limit the amount of wood that gets going, but I don't think many Princess owners do that since they control the burn mainly with the primary air.
What kind of wood are you burning, and how big are the splits? Less-dense woods like Pine or soft Maple will cause more of the load to catch fire and gas quicker, as will smaller splits.

I have a very efficient technique. "leave there for months".

Ya, that's the advantage of the big-bellied Princess...in contrast to your small belly and six-pack abs.
But when you finally get around to shoveling out, it must take you hours...or do you just rapidly dump huge shovels-full into the bucket, and let the old lady clean up the inch-thick layer of dust off everything in the house?

 

[rdust]

@webby3650 @BKVP
Replacing the glass gasket on my Princess, do I need to keep this “padding” type material that is under the glass retainers? Most of its in decent shape but a couple spots have tears.

 

[lsucet]

Ya, that's the advantage of the big-bellied Princess...in contrast to your small belly and six-pack abs.
But when you finally get around to shoveling out, it must take you hours...or do you just rapidly dump huge shovels-full into the bucket, and let the old lady clean up the inch-thick layer of dust off everything in the house?

I do it when she is not there and blame her or somebody else leaving the door open and all that came from outside.

 

[Woody Stover]

I do it when she is not there and blame her or somebody else leaving the door open and all that came from outside.

That would be a plausible explanation; It is dusty out there, especially when the wind comes up.

 

[fhon]

What kind of wood are you burning, and how big are the splits? Less-dense woods like Pine or soft Maple will cause more of the load to catch fire and gas quicker, as will smaller splits.

Recently I've been burning a lot of black walnut. My splits are about 4". What size are people typically burning in these stoves?

 

[Woody Stover]

Recently I've been burning a lot of black walnut. My splits are about 4". What size are people typically burning in these stoves?

Those splits are on the small side, but sometimes you need to split like that to get the wood dry faster. Some guys are burning huge splits but with the air control you have on a cat stove, you should be able to burn smaller splits if you want to.
I've read some stuff about Walnut that leads me to believe that it has some compounds in it that most other woods don't have..maybe it burns smokier as well? But I haven't burned much of it and I'm really just guessing here..

 

[ratsrepus]

I like em 6 inches or maybe even 8. I can usually fit 6 splits of that size in there

 

[bholler]

Those splits are on the small side, but sometimes you need to split like that to get the wood dry faster. Some guys are burning huge splits but with the air control you have on a cat stove, you should be able to burn smaller splits if you want to.
I've read some stuff about Walnut that leads me to believe that it has some compounds in it that most other woods don't have..maybe it burns smokier as well? But I haven't burned much of it and I'm really just guessing here..

I am curious why you are giving advice on how to run a stove you dont know with wood you dont burn.

 

[bholler]

I burn small splits all the time it allows me to fit way more wood in the stove that way.

 

[webby3650]

I burn small splits all the time it allows me to fit way more wood in the stove that way.

That may have something to do with your short burn times then. I find that bigger splits will really drag out the burn times, unless of course I need big output. With a properly sized stove in my climate, running on high just isn’t needed.

 

[bholler]

That may have something to do with your short burn times then. I find that bigger splits will really drag out the burn times, unless of course I need big output. With a properly sized stove in my climate, running on high just isn’t needed.

My burn times are due to my btu load. I can get longer burns if i dont care about heating my house.