2019-20 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 1 (Everything BK)

[Woody Stover]

I attempted to tape my combustor the way a "very experienced person" told me to

Did you also tape the edge of the gasket, with a little of the tape width overlapping the back face of the cat as suggested? That will act as a "shoe horn" to ease installation. I had to do that on the Buck 91.

 

[Jeff in Maine]

yes 50% on the gasket 50% wrapped down over the back side of the cat. Then 2 strips binding the top surface across the back to the bottom surface. In the 5th photo I am pointing with a knife tip to the area at the top f the cat where the gasket had " bunched up" while trying to install it.

 

[tarzan]

I'm glad the worst think I'll have to deal with is replacing firebrick eventually...

Don’t let all the chatter fool you. Granted, replacing a cat requires a few steps but it’s truly not difficult nor very time consuming.

 

[SpaceBus]

Don’t let all the chatter fool you. Granted, replacing a cat requires a few steps but it’s truly not difficult nor very time consuming.

It seems like an easy task. If we ever need a new stove the small hybrids will be at the top of our list. Our current stove had a contoured refractory liner that I was a bit rough with this last season. This will be much more difficult to replace than any cat! I'm hoping to get at least two more seasons out of the refractory floor and then hopefully much longer on the second one. Inexperience can be more expensive than any consumeables!

 

[Highbeam]

yes 50% on the gasket 50% wrapped down over the back side of the cat. Then 2 strips binding the top surface across the back to the bottom surface. In the 5th photo I am pointing with a knife tip to the area at the top f the cat where the gasket had " bunched up" while trying to install it.

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Whoa. First, that cat was pretty hammered already. Look at all the broken chunks. You’ve got some thermal shock occurring that has compromised the ceramic base.

You blamed the problem on your tape not sticking to the cat gasket but what really needs to happen is that the tape sticks to the tape. You tightly wrap the single layer gasket with tape so that the gasket is held tightly to the cat during installation.

In your photos, the tape looks loosely applied. Is that just an illusion?

 

[Jeff in Maine]

No thermal shock nothing quite so exotic as that, the damage done to the front was caused by my hands trying to push the cat into back into place.
I was trying to "walk" the cat back in place, push on the left then the right then left then right like I was told to do. The loose tape was before I pressed it into firm contact with the cat frame of the cat. I took several photos as in each stage of the project, Although don't think I have a good photo of it after I had the tape was fitted tightly to the frame. The cat was in primo condition when removed but after it has been run a season it is quite fragile, if you have ever replaced an previously used cat then you know that. I pressed on the front bottom flange and side flanges, as well as the "cat face" because I was told that pressing on the cat face with my palms would not damage it. Well that was not the case ha ha.

 

[ratsrepus]

Did you also tape the edge of the gasket, with a little of the tape width overlapping the back face of the cat as suggested? That will act as a "shoe horn" to ease installation. I had to do that on the Buck 91.

In the machine shop business we called that grinding a lead

 

[Woody Stover]

In the machine shop business we called that grinding a lead

And here I thought that was only a Rock 'n' Roll term..

 

[Jeff in Maine]

I think I might have had some luck had I used masking tape. Evidently yellow/ blonde masking tape will adhere to this gasket material. My green painters tape would not.

 

[Mike240]

Ok so I'm going to fire up a newly installed stove a little later today for a test run. Any recommended last checks anyone can suggest before doing so? How big a load should I start with? Anything in particular to pay attention to? After reading here the last few weeks my brain is mush on the topic of wood stoves lol. Stove is a new BK Ultra in the basement with an Excel chimney system straight up a total of 29'. I have both pine and fir to burn. I grew up with a wood insert in our homes but this is the first stove of my own not counting the existing stove in the house which I haven't used.

 

[MissMac]

Ok so I'm going to fire up a newly installed stove a little later today for a test run. Any recommended last checks anyone can suggest before doing so? How big a load should I start with? Anything in particular to pay attention to? After reading here the last few weeks my brain is mush on the topic of wood stoves lol. Stove is a new BK Ultra in the basement with an Excel chimney system straight up a total of 29'. I have both pine and fir to burn. I grew up with a wood insert in our homes but this is the first stove of my own not counting the existing stove in the house which I haven't used.

I would suggest a few smaller fires to cure the stove paint gently. Build a small hot fire to start. I burn pretty much all softwoods, and ran jack pine through my stove the first season i had it - no issues.

 

[ratsrepus]

29 ft of chimney! you certainly wont be short on draft, be aware of that. Runnin on the hole , it might whistle

 

[Raoul]

I would suggest a few smaller fires to cure the stove paint gently. Build a small hot fire to start. I burn pretty much all softwoods, and ran jack pine through my stove the first season i had it - no issues.

While this is the standard answer and my manual says a small fire for a few hours, I wonder about whether or not to engage the cat.


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[lsucet]

While this is the standard answer and my manual says a small fire for a few hours, I wonder about whether or not to engage the cat.


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If temperatures in the cat probe goes into active zone, yes, engage the cat. Heat from the cat will help a lot.

 

[MissMac]

While this is the standard answer and my manual says a small fire for a few hours, I wonder about whether or not to engage the cat.


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as soon as the cat is active, engage it. that is how the stove is designed to run. somebody smarter on here will correct me if i'm wrong for sure, but i'm pretty sure i got this one

 

[lsucet]

as soon as the cat is active, engage it. that is how the stove is designed to run. somebody smarter on here will correct me if i'm wrong for sure, but i'm pretty sure i got this one

For sure you got this one.

 

[Raoul]

as soon as the cat is active, engage it. that is how the stove is designed to run. somebody smarter on here will correct me if i'm wrong for sure, but i'm pretty sure i got this one

Thanks. I guess I was aware of that aspect. I more was wondering if during break in of a new stove you might not choose to make a hot spot.


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[Ashful]

29 ft of chimney! you certainly wont be short on draft, be aware of that. Runnin on the hole , it might whistle

I have more than that on one of my Ashfords. It's completely controllable, and loves to run down low, with no stall issues. The only trouble I have is that, with that much draft, I can plug a steelcat in 4 - 6 hours running on high. Likely a combination of a more aggressive air wash system in the 30 boxes (turbulence) and running a SteelCat. My solution was a key damper to keep the draft dialed down a bit after start-up, as posted in past threads.

30 feet of chimney can suck at 0.18" H2O, at least in this house. The max spec on my stove is 0.06" WC.

 

[Pgaron]

What is the acceptable moisture content for the wood im gonna burn in my new ashford? also how do i search the forums, could not figure that out! sorry newbie here

 

[lsucet]

What is the acceptable moisture content for the wood im gonna burn in my new ashford? also how do i search the forums, could not figure that out! sorry newbie here

20% of MC and under is ideal. What kind of search in particular you are interested?
You can click if using your phone the 3 lines on the left at the top of the page and it will pop a menu where you can select forums and new post and check threads etc.

 

[Pgaron]

20% of MC and under is ideal. What kind of search in particular you are interested?
You can click if using your phone the 3 lines on the left at the top of the page and it will pop a menu where you can select forums and new post and check threads etc.

what does MC mean? moisture content? im on my PC

 

[Ashful]

what does MC mean? moisture content? im on my PC

Yes. Moisture content by weight. You can buy a moisture meter for $30 that will give a reasonable approximation by reading electrical resistance, if used correctly.

 

[Woody Stover]

im on my PC

Magnifying glass icon at the top of the page.

 

[kennyp2339]

Runnin on the hole , it might whistle

Actually before I installed my damper when my t-stat was closed off while running the stove, if I took the cat probe out I would get a whistle through the hole.
Over draft is a serious issue with the woodstove world, I never had any cat plug issues but I do attribute more heat getting sucked up the flu before it can be transferred from the stove top to the room. The key damper did wonders for my system.

 

[Mike240]

I am very very happy with my BK install. Burned the stove in at the 3:00 thermostat setting. Fumes were not to excessive. Draft is good as expected and you can see an immediate response from the fire when turning down the thermostat. Could overdraft become more of an issue as it gets colder out?