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

[Ashful]

Females have more color receptors. Males have more black and white receptors. The trade off for less color sensitivity is ultimate sensitivity. Men don't need to use a flashlight to get to the bathroom at night.

Always let her pick out the paint color.

Rods and cones. Remember your psyc101 material, folks.

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Females have higher cone count = better color differentiation. Males have higher rod count = better low-light ability.

 

[chemie]

Rods and cones. Remember your psyc101 material, folks.

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Females have higher cone count = better color differentiation. Males have higher rod count = better low-light ability.

My favorite comedy show ever! Closer one was The Office.

 

[logfarmer]

hey all, hope everyone is staying warm in this cold weather! Anyways I found an BK princess for sale, manufactured in 2002, bought in 2004 and used till last winter. I’m going to look at it tomorrow, from looking at photos it doesn’t look bad, lil surface rust in a few spots( been in a garage)! They are asking $500 for it. Do you think it’s worth it if it isn’t beat up or firebricks are still good and checks out ok? I will put a new combustor in and probably door gasket, combustor gasket! Thank for any input.

Log farmer

 

[begreen]

hey all, hope everyone is staying warm in this cold weather! Anyways I found an BK princess for sale, manufactured in 2002, bought in 2004 and used till last winter. I’m going to look at it tomorrow, from looking at photos it doesn’t look bad, lil surface rust in a few spots( been in a garage)! They are asking $500 for it. Do you think it’s worth it if it isn’t beat up or firebricks are still good and checks out ok? I will put a new combustor in and probably door gasket, combustor gasket! Thank for any input.

If it hasn't been abused this sounds like a nice deal.

 

[Woody Stover]

humidity is fairly high so i it will take longer to season and won’t get super low on the MC. I’m really pondering a Solar kiln next spring.

The woods kenny mentioned, Ash, Cherry and Maple, will dry quicker than Oak. It's probably as humid here as in TN, and if I top-cover, only put two rows next to each other, and don't split too big, those woods dry fairly quick. Wood will get to about 16% here after a few years.
I'm assuming you have decent wind there, and that's the main thing. Even though my stacks are in the shade in the woods, they get decent breeze and don't take too long to dry.
Your best bet for next year is dead White Ash, for better length of burn, and then Cherry and Red Maple which heat well but don't last quite as long. After you have that stacked, work on your Oak etc. for year 2 and beyond. Split to medium size or less, like 4" on a side, until you get way ahead.

Wish they had a temp gauge inside the units... would be super helpful

I would have to drill through the top to get a good cat probe reading on my stove, but just looking at the glow gives a pretty good idea...even though BKVP says otherwise. There was a direct correlation between the cat probe reading on the Buck 91 and the intensity of the glow, so I'm going with that. Maybe he was talking from the standpoint of the blower cooling the dial of the BK probe, thereby giving fake news readings? The Buck wasn't affected by that as much since the cat probe came in horizontally from the front, above the door. The blower definitely cooled stove parts near the shaft of the cat probe, which would reduce the reading slightly even though the actual cat exit temp was about the same..

I’m not worried about it someone(Kenny) wanted pictures!

Way too hot, like 1800+.

now its a much gentler deeper red, I'll take a pic

Yep, when you can see the cell walls, that's about perfect. I sometimes go a little hotter than that, though..

 

[Ashful]

There was a direct correlation between the cat probe reading on the Buck 91 and the intensity of the glow, so I'm going with that.

Maybe this is what you meant, but one can tell temperature by color, not intensity. I have a recent post on this subject, somewhere on this forum, so I won’t repeat all of the science behind that, but most materials radiate at the same wavelength or color at a given temperature. The intensity is just a function of the material’s emissivity at that wavelength.

 

[Woody Stover]

Maybe this is what you meant, but one can tell temperature by color, not intensity.

Right. Maybe I was describing my perception of the intensity.
I was editing my post probably when you were typing, re: da VP's statement..

 

[Dieselhead]

That cat glow...like a nightlight in the stove room.

 

[kf6hap]

Yellow-white. Now that is hot. Never make it past orange-red here.

 

[Dieselhead]

675 directly above the cat, fades off in surrounding areas.

 

[sprawlnstall]

With the cold snap in Minnesota I've been pushing my princess to the max. As of late I've noticed the stove is behaving differently and am thinking the cat may be damaged. I dusted and vacuumed the front of the ceramic cat last week and it looked like it was in perfect condition (less than a year old). When I load the stove now I will run it full blast for around 30 minutes, I usually back the temp off when the house is warm or the stovetop thermometer is in the middle of the "too hot" temp around 700 degrees I suspect. When I turn the dial down to 50% the temp does not back off like it used to. To extinguish the fire for a real slow burn I have to turn the dial way down, In the past turning it down this low would have stalled the cat.

Any idea what is going on? And yes my wood is under 15% moisture with a mix of hard and softwoods. 23 feet of chimney with good draft.

 

[lsucet]

With the cold snap in Minnesota I've been pushing my princess to the max. As of late I've noticed the stove is behaving differently and am thinking the cat may be damaged. I dusted and vacuumed the front of the ceramic cat last week and it looked like it was in perfect condition (less than a year old). When I load the stove now I will run it full blast for around 30 minutes, I usually back the temp off when the house is warm or the stovetop thermometer is in the middle of the "too hot" temp around 700 degrees I suspect. When I turn the dial down to 50% the temp does not back off like it used to. To extinguish the fire for a real slow burn I have to turn the dial way down, In the past turning it down this low would have stalled the cat.

Any idea what is going on? And yes my wood is under 15% moisture with a mix of hard and softwoods. 23 feet of chimney with good draft.

I will say that when too cold outside, draft increase sending more heat up thru the flue. I noticed under those cold conditions is better once the wood catch real good, closing the air a little ( 3 - 4 o'clock ) and let rip there instead wide open helps a lot and the box keep good temp
WHEN COLD THE EXCESSIVE DRAFT can give you that symptom. .

 

[sprawlnstall]

I will say that when too cold outside, draft increase sending more heat up thru the flue. I noticed under those cold conditions is better once the wood catch real good, closing the air a little ( 3 - 4 o'clock ) and let rip there instead wide open helps a lot and the box keep good temp
WHEN COLD THE EXCESSIVE DRAFT can give you that symptom. .

This makes sense it was -38 last night.

So instead of running it on high to char everything up keep it at 3 o'clock when it's really cold out.

 

[MissMac]

I will say that when too cold outside, draft increase sending more heat up thru the flue. I noticed under those cold conditions is better once the wood catch real good, closing the air a little ( 3 - 4 o'clock ) and let rip there instead wide open helps a lot and the box keep good temp
WHEN COLD THE EXCESSIVE DRAFT can give you that symptom. .

so i've learned this lesson this winter, and have made some great improvements to my burning habits as a result when it's this cold out. last winter when it was in the minus 30-40*C range, i would burn my stove wide open, full throttle non stop and just keep feeding the stove the pine, with the fans on about half way. was lovely in the stove room, however was really chewing through wood. this winter i've actually found that once i run the load on high for about 20 minutes, if i dial it down just a bit until the flames look less manic, i can stretch the load better and keep the same heat output in the house. when it's this cold out, it's like i can actually sit there in front of the stove and watch that miserable cold air suck all that nice warm heat right out of the firebox and out into the cold blue. dialling it down to a nice calm flame front (so for me from about 6 o.c. to 5 o.c.) has made a difference.

 

[MissMac]

This makes sense it was -38 last night.

So instead of running it on high to char everything up keep it at 3 o'clock when it's really cold out.

i'd still char it, but then when you'd otherwise want to leave it on high, dial it back a bit and see what that does. i think you'll just have to play with it to figure out the sweet spot that meets your heating needs in these temps.

 

[sprawlnstall]

When I turn my stove down from 6 to 3 it does not back off like it used to.

 

[tdibiasio]

Hi All

I have installed a BK Princess insert 3 years back. As I think it is normal, but could be wrong, I noticed that the CAT is glowing less and less these days. I know that does not mean it is not working but when I started to pay closer attention and have observed that infact the CAT does still glow but ONLY under one condition - the condition is if the fire box is "rolling" flames up to the CAT area of the stove. It is even a little strange were if the flames only rolls up to the cat in say the left side, only the that side will glow. Does this seem normal to all of you BK owners and or does this happen to others? The reason I am asking myself if this is normal is that although I am getting pretty good heat from the stove with the gauge at about 12 o'clock with no glow at all - when the cat is glowing the gauge will jump to about 3 o'clock and MUCH more heat coming from the stove. I would like to better understand how I can keep the temp of the cat up in the 3 o'clock zone more during these bitter cold days like most of us are facing this week.

Thanks for any feedback you give on your experience

TomD

 

[begreen]

If you are burning 24/7 all winter long the 3 yrs. is the average life that most folks are reporting for the cat. It could be losing its magic and be approaching replacement time. The first one is on warranty.

 

[Mnpellet]

Have you checked your door gaskets?

When I turn my stove down from 6 to 3 it does not back off like it used to.

 

[sprawlnstall]

Have you checked your door gaskets?

Door gasket seemed okay, dollar bill would come out on the bottom of the door but took a little force, top and sides are very snug. While on the subject to tighten the door an allen wrench is needed on the nut. I tried adjusting but no allen wrench would fit odd size?

 

[aaronk25]

so i've learned this lesson this winter, and have made some great improvements to my burning habits as a result when it's this cold out. last winter when it was in the minus 30-40*C range, i would burn my stove wide open, full throttle non stop and just keep feeding the stove the pine, with the fans on about half way. was lovely in the stove room, however was really chewing through wood. this winter i've actually found that once i run the load on high for about 20 minutes, if i dial it down just a bit until the flames look less manic, i can stretch the load better and keep the same heat output in the house. when it's this cold out, it's like i can actually sit there in front of the stove and watch that miserable cold air suck all that nice warm heat right out of the firebox and out into the cold blue. dialling it down to a nice calm flame front (so for me from about 6 o.c. to 5 o.c.) has made a difference.

Summer project. Put that damper in with a manometer and run wide open, the damper back to .05 then to .03wc——-that is if you love flames. The Lower suction in the fire box at the min .03 setting at wide open produces the most beautiful long 12-18” flames slow moving for hours I have ever seen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[MissMac]

Summer project. Put that damper in with a manometer and run wide open, the damper back to .05 then to .03wc——-that is if you love flames. The Lower suction in the fire box at the min .03 setting at wide open produces the most beautiful long 12-18” flames slow moving for hours I have ever seen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

i'd love to start fiddling with that stuff, however it is beyond my expertise and comfort level. i love following all the conversations and ideas on this website, but i will freely admit i'm a newbie to wood stove burning, and am still in learning mode. adding things into my set up is just not something i'm comfy doing.

 

[BKVP]

You all know that in the past I have stated the thermometers are not accurate measurement tools but rather to provide a "general" guidance. Well these two images taken 5 minutes ago in a showroom in WI...support that statement.

 

[BKVP]

Off by almost 20%

 

[begreen]

I don't trust cheap thermometers. You would think someone in the industry would up the game a little and make something a bit more accurate and protected. Our old Sandhill thermometer is almost 40 years old and still is a lot more accurate than that new Meeco. Back in 1979 this was not a horribly expensive thermometer, but now to get something like this one has to move up to the expensive Tel-Tru. The TelTru is nice, but a bit of overkill for a wood stove.