2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 2 (Everything BK)

[rdust]

With current wind and temp I am getting about 8 hours with a princess.

I’ve often wondered if I could burn a full load in 8 hours! 21* right now with crazy winds. Morning load went 15 hours but house was cooling fast.

Tonight’s load

 

[Dave K]

So is the stove not large enough to heat your home or is there something else going on? 12 hours between reloads, with coals left, should be easily doable with the grandma bear.

How often do you reload on days that you are home?

My short burn times most likely happen because I don’t have a baffle or damper. I’m burning very hot all of the time.

 

[BKVP]

Because of tapering on the both sides of the stoves, is it ok to place one or two splits right in front of the cat in east to west position to increase the load volume?(View attachment 237855Excuse my bad pic)
I usually load north south but tapering on both sides make it difficult to load it fully. So I place one or two splits in the front of the cat.

Yes...careful it does not roll and strike the glass!

 

[BKVP]

I use that space too.

BK probably isn't going to recommend that you do so, just because when someone cranks up the thermostat you have guaranteed flame impingement on the cat, which is not good for it.

My original ceramic cat was still in good structural shape at the end of its service life (~13,000 hours, 2.5 years). Maybe the washcoat would have been less flattened if I had been kinder to it, but I didn't subject it to microscopic analysis after I retired it. (If someone would like to do that, I still have the cat and that would be awesome.)

Edit: It occurs to me that someone here might already HAVE before and after microscopic photos showing a new washcoat and a flattened washcoat. @BKVP?

Yes. I don't know if an typical microscopic exam of ours has been done, but I think I can dig up some cool data. The same lab that test manufactured fuel (logs & bricks) use electron microscopes and I'll reach out to them. Great idea...thanks...sending me down another rabbit hole. I do enjoy such journeys .

 

[BKVP]

Is insert mechanism any different ? Any similar video you can recommend?

Yes from a entry point of combustion air. Being an insert, thermostat location is up front. Early testing showed heat radiating of inner fireplace refractory caused all sorts of issues to bimetallic designs. So the entry point is different, but essentially same processes.

 

[MTY]

You guys amaze me with the way you pack the wood in. I just open the door and throw the biggest chunk I can stuff through the door in. When that turns to coals, I pitch another one in. I split some smaller pieces to be used when I am not home, but even those dwarf the splits i see here.

If I am going to be gone for the day, I roll the first one as far to the back as I can and drop whatever will fit in front of it. I doubt half the volume is taken up by wood. The real fun times are when the piece will not quite fit and has already caught on fire.

The stove has been burning since September. I cleaned it out just before Christmas.

 

[tarzan]

My short burn times most likely happen because I don’t have a baffle or damper. I’m burning very hot all of the time.

Wow! After running an old Fisher with no baffle for the last 5 seasons, I predict you will quickly fall in love with your new Ashford 30!

All that’s left is making sure you have dry wood and a proper flue.

 

[aaronk25]

Guys take a look at the 2 damper positions as both are nearing closed completely. This is how much damper position it takes to keep a princess at .05” of draft at 1,200ft above sea level, 7’ of single wall black pipe connected to 21’ of supervent class a chimney.

The results of not dampered .17” and if the thermostat on the stove it’s turned down lower to compensate for the extra draft all being equal I loose about 35% of the burn time to maintain the same room temp under the same conditions. Also the thermostat isn’t nearly as effective under high draft conditions.

Another byproduct of high draft is excessive coaling. I’ve heard many (including myself) have issue with coals taking to long to burn down and taking up valuable firebox space when the stove is being run hard during cold snaps. When draft is right I get oak at 20% moisture burn down to near zero coals. If draft is high in 2 days of running high I’m shoveling out coals to make room for more wood (coals don’t make enough heat for my needs).

When the draft is to high, under any thermostat setting, air to the floor of the stove is reduced. Glass also gets dirtier and in a more pronounced “V” pattern on the door. Correct draft glass stays pretty clean.

Just a heads up I think a lot of people are way outside draft specs and don’t even know it.

I’m not using the baro damper currently. What is nice is to open up the dampers to start the fire (.10) draft engage the cat let it run on high for 15mins (draft creeeps to .17) then damper it back to .03-.05. Its amazing how efficient the stove is at putting btus into the room instead of up the chimney when the stove is dialed back to .03” but left on high. The whole fire box glows as oxygen fully circulates though the entire box.

I’d encourage everyone to go buy a $30 manometer and depending on chimney height and type one or 2 inline $7.00 dampers.

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[bholler]

Guys take a look at the 2 damper positions as both are nearing closed completely. This is how much damper position it takes to keep a princess at .05” of draft at 1,200ft above sea level, 7’ of single wall black pipe connected to 21’ of supervent class a chimney.

The results of not dampered .17” and if the thermostat on the stove it’s turned down lower to compensate for the extra draft all being equal I loose about 35% of the burn time to maintain the same room temp under the same conditions. Also the thermostat isn’t nearly as effective under high draft conditions.

Another byproduct of high draft is excessive coaling. I’ve heard many (including myself) have issue with coals taking to long to burn down and taking up valuable firebox space when the stove is being run hard during cold snaps. When draft is right I get oak at 20% moisture burn down to near zero coals. If draft is high in 2 days of running high I’m shoveling out coals to make room for more wood (coals don’t make enough heat for my needs).

When the draft is to high, under any thermostat setting, air to the floor of the stove is reduced. Glass also gets dirtier and in a more pronounced “V” pattern on the door. Correct draft glass stays pretty clean.

Just a heads up I think a lot of people are way outside draft specs and don’t even know it.

I’m not using the baro damper currently. What is nice is to open up the dampers to start the fire (.10) draft engage the cat let it run on high for 15mins (draft creeeps to .17) then damper it back to .03-.05. Its amazing how efficient the stove is at putting btus into the room instead of up the chimney when the stove is dialed back to .03” but left on high. The whole fire box glows as oxygen fully circulates though the entire box.

I’d encourage everyone to go buy a $30 manometer and depending on chimney height and type one or 2 inline $7.00 dampers.
View attachment 237869View attachment 237870


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Is that a barometric damper in the tee on the bottom?

 

[jetsam]

If I am going to be gone for the day, I roll the first one as far to the back as I can and drop whatever will fit in front of it. I doubt half the volume is taken up by wood. The real fun times are when the piece will not quite fit and has already caught on fire.
.

You can pick up a burning split with your hands using welding gloves, which are pretty cheap.

I suggest splitting some stuff smaller so you don't have to, and so you can use your whole gas tank!

 

[aaronk25]

Is that a barometric damper in the tee on the bottom?

Yes, unused, the quality of this one was junk. Got Really good one that’s calibrated coming. Currently this ones is closed full time.




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[chemie]

Yes...careful it does not roll and strike the glass!

I try to be careful about that but after some burning they eventually do fall down and touch to the glass.

 

[Dieselhead]

How high is a damper supposed to be above the top of stove I see you have them high up?

 

[maple1]

How high is a damper supposed to be above the top of stove I see you have them high up?

Shouldn't matter, I don't think.

 

[MTASH]

Wow! After running an old Fisher with no baffle for the last 5 seasons, I predict you will quickly fall in love with your new Ashford 30!

This is where I was at with my Schrader. The Ashford is a whole different program for sure.

The last couple days I've actually been putting too much wood in to coincide with 12-hour loads. Yesterday morning's load was still going on strong at 8:00 last night when I got home (14 hours). So I said 'eff it and turned up to high to try to burn it down some and clean up the glass. At 10:00 (16 hours) the house was 77F and I needed to go to bed, so I threw 4 more splits in and turned it down. Quite a bit of that was left this morning and the house was still 75F. So I only put 4 more in this morning. We are getting into a warm spell with highs in the upper 30's so if this continues I may end up trying 24 hour loads.

Despite the fact it's not burning enough wood and the house is too hot, I still like this stove.

 

[aaronk25]

Shouldn't matter, I don't think.

I don’t think it matters either, in this case I wants to have the option of using the dampers in conjunction with a barometric meter, if I chose to.

As we know dampers are static and chimney temps and other conditions require adjustment to maintain a set draft, so my thought was to take the draft from .17 to around .7 then have the barometric meter bleed off the rest of the draft to get it to .04.

If the baro has to do all the work without the aid of the dampers the thing would be wide open cooling off the chimney to much.


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[maple1]

I used to run both on my old wood boiler. I set it so that the baro only opened when the wind was blowing - it handled the spikes. Key damper set the baseline.

 

[showrguy]

I don’t think it matters either, in this case I wants to have the option of using the dampers in conjunction with a barometric meter, if I chose to.

As we know dampers are static and chimney temps and other conditions require adjustment to maintain a set draft, so my thought was to take the draft from .17 to around .7 then have the barometric meter bleed off the rest of the draft to get it to .04.

If the baro has to do all the work without the aid of the dampers the thing would be wide open cooling off the chimney to much.


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I'd get rid of that baro, for many reasons..

 

[aaronk25]

I'd get rid of that baro, for many reasons..

Nope. The benefits our weigh the draw backs and in 30 days I’ll offer a creosote update at the next cleaning. If you have some knowledge I’m not aware of how to precisely compensate draft for changing weather conditions, by all means please share......


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[tarzan]

This is where I was at with my Schrader. The Ashford is a whole different program for sure.

The last couple days I've actually been putting too much wood in to coincide with 12-hour loads. Yesterday morning's load was still going on strong at 8:00 last night when I got home (14 hours). So I said 'eff it and turned up to high to try to burn it down some and clean up the glass. At 10:00 (16 hours) the house was 77F and I needed to go to bed, so I threw 4 more splits in and turned it down. Quite a bit of that was left this morning and the house was still 75F. So I only put 4 more in this morning. We are getting into a warm spell with highs in the upper 30's so if this continues I may end up trying 24 hour loads.

Despite the fact it's not burning enough wood and the house is too hot, I still like this stove.

I treat my stove capacity like the gas tank in my car. Whether it’s on empty or 1/2 tank, if I’m going to bother with it I’ll fill it up.

You may know this already but there’s no need to wait on the cat probe to read inactive to reload.

 

[MTASH]

I treat my stove capacity like the gas tank in my car. Whether it’s on empty or 1/2 tank, if I’m going to bother with it I’ll fill it up.

You may know this already but there’s no need to wait on the cat probe to read inactive to reload.

Yeah I know. I'm very much a routine oriented type of guy, so the twice-a-day loads with a (more or less) set amount of wood seemed like a good idea.

Cat has been active since day 1, with the exception of one night I mentioned previously when I goofed and accidentally let the stove go out.

 

[Ashful]

You guys amaze me with the way you pack the wood in. I just open the door and throw the biggest chunk I can stuff through the door in. When that turns to coals, I pitch another one in. I split some smaller pieces to be used when I am not home, but even those dwarf the splits i see here.

If I am going to be gone for the day, I roll the first one as far to the back as I can and drop whatever will fit in front of it. I doubt half the volume is taken up by wood. The real fun times are when the piece will not quite fit and has already caught on fire.

The stove has been burning since September. I cleaned it out just before Christmas.

I suspect I’m like many here, in that I am always “gone for the day”, except when I have the flu. The stove gets loaded once or twice per day, usually to the gills, unless it’s expected to be very warm.

 

[Ashful]

How high is a damper supposed to be above the top of stove I see you have them high up?

In an ideal world, you’d measure internal flow pressure far enough from the stove or damper to be unaffected by any localized eddy currents. That might mean a manometer penetration at 18” above stove collar, and another 18” up to the damper, which is why you see most of us mounting the dampers fairly high.

Now, that’s all good theory, and it is right. But how big a difference it really makes in the measurement, I can’t say, it is possible that any localized effects are too small to matter much.

 

[Dieselhead]

In an ideal world, you’d measure internal flow pressure far enough from the stove or damper to be unaffected by any localized eddy currents. That might mean a manometer penetration at 18” above stove collar, and another 18” up to the damper, which is why you see most of us mounting the dampers fairly high.

Now, that’s all good theory, and it is right. But how big a difference it really makes in the measurement, I can’t say, it is possible that any localized effects are too small to matter much.

makes sense

 

[Highbeam]

Funny seeing everybody use the cat probe hole to measure draft.