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

[MacinJosh]

I run my stove on high lots, and can clean the glass off from doing this no prob. But, i’ve Never been able to burn off the creo in the box. Looks like a scaly dragon in there all the time. Is this something that folks should be inspecting for on these stoves? Gotta think that the low and slow feature would give a lot of people creo build up in the box?

It was warm as hell here (70) in the middle of the winter so I let the fire die and scooped out all the ash. I noticed creo on the sides and back. I could easily pick it off with my finger though. Is this normal? I do try to run on high for 30 mins every chance I can on a reload but not always possible.

 

[Diabel]

Mine looks pretty much the same.

 

[MacinJosh]

He used to have "southern" in his location. I opined that it was a stretch. I live about ten miles from KY..that's southern.

No kidding. This has got to be the warmest winter I can recall since I moved down here. We are saving a ton of wood, but OTOH I don't hear the fat lady singing yet..

Well I grew up in Columbus, IN but live in Louisville now so I guess I'm officially southern, haha. Can't believe how warm this winter has been....NUTS!

 

[Alpine1]

Same here... absolutely normal IMO

 

[Highbeam]

We're seeing lots of new snow in the hills around us over 700 feet, but lots of rain locally.
Unfortunately I'm in the same boat, but I have barely 2 seasons on the cat and it's stopped working, can't get the needle past the 11 o'clock mark unless it's blasting - bit disappointed really. I randomly checked about 10 pieces of Dfir and it's all under 15%. I'm religious about getting the wood dry before it's put away. Fir I'm burning now is 3 years old and was under 20% before it went into the shed.

This is 8 weeks of burning...
View attachment 255118View attachment 255119

And this is 3 1/2 weeks of burning...

View attachment 255120View attachment 255121

That last picture is 4 1/2 feet above the stove!

I have 20 more pics like this one...
View attachment 255122

That is a pretty ugly pipe. Are you monitoring flue temps? Even though the cat is active and eating what it can, this stove is so efficient that it can maintain very low flue temperatures even when you’re doing everything right. Low enough flue temperatures to allow condensation in the flue. These stoves aren’t zero emissions so if your flue temperatures are low enough to condense then it will be creosote looking stuff.

I wonder if our 100% dry Doug fir diet is a factor in short cat life or flue deposits. The noncat loves it!

 

[jdonna]

We're seeing lots of new snow in the hills around us over 700 feet, but lots of rain locally.
Unfortunately I'm in the same boat, but I have barely 2 seasons on the cat and it's stopped working, can't get the needle past the 11 o'clock mark unless it's blasting - bit disappointed really. I randomly checked about 10 pieces of Dfir and it's all under 15%. I'm religious about getting the wood dry before it's put away. Fir I'm burning now is 3 years old and was under 20% before it went into the shed.

This is 8 weeks of burning...


And this is 3 1/2 weeks of burning...



That last picture is 4 1/2 feet above the stove!

I have 20 more pics like this one...

How well did that clean out after brushing ? I have a similar brush as yours but thinking of upgrading.

 

[Indiana wood]

That is a pretty ugly pipe. Are you monitoring flue temps? Even though the cat is active and eating what it can, this stove is so efficient that it can maintain very low flue temperatures even when you’re doing everything right. Low enough flue temperatures to allow condensation in the flue. These stoves aren’t zero emissions so if your flue temperatures are low enough to condense then it will be creosote looking stuff.

I wonder if our 100% dry Doug fir diet is a factor in short cat life or flue deposits. The noncat loves it!

2 weeks burning less than ideal ash. 25%mc
Outside exposed chimney. Pic taken looking up “t” cleanout

 

[Ashful]

I think that the blower is out of the equation, the wife objects to the aesthetic aspect (or the lack thereof) of a power cable running from the stove across the hearth. She has a point there.
But we do have a ceiling fan less than 10 feet from the projected stove location, that may actually be enough.

Why not just install a receptacle behind the stove? I we were able to get Romex thru 20 inches of 1730’s masonry to the back of our stove, you should be able to do it in your place.

 

[begreen]

Maybe strike a compromise with her? The blower is probably only needed during the coldest weather. If plugged in just during the coldest weather, a cord would be visible for less than a month or two.

 

[kennyp2339]

Mid season cleaning completed, finally got smart and just raised the telescoping dvl bast the collar and taped a plastic bag to the end, sent the brush down a few times and hit the cap.. real easy, maybe a 2 cups of crud for 20ft of pipe.

 

[Indiana wood]

Proper blaze king king Side clearance?

 

[showrguy]

Proper blaze king king Side clearance?

Looks like 10” with side sheilds..

 

[MissMac]

Mid season cleaning completed, finally got smart and just raised the telescoping dvl bast the collar and taped a plastic bag to the end, sent the brush down a few times and hit the cap.. real easy, maybe a 2 cups of crud for 20ft of pipe.

What did you prop the telescoping piece up with so it didn’t slide back down while you were sweeping?

 

[Indiana wood]

Looks like 10” with side sheilds..

Ok how do I know if I have side shields?

 

[kennyp2339]

What did you prop the telescoping piece up with so it didn’t slide back down while you were sweeping?

it didn't slide down, once the pipe gets some crud in it, it stays in place, at least mine does.

 

[showrguy]

Ok how do I know if I have side shields?

You have a King Ultra right ??
So, unless you removed them, you have them..

 

[Tron]

Why not just install a receptacle behind the stove?

I will do that anyway, there is very conveniently a cable connecting two outlets running behind the stove inside the wall (which we need to patch up anyway now that the old fireplace is gone), so I will include an outlet there behind the stove. If we decide we really need the blower, we can always retrofit it.

 

[AlbergSteve]

How well did that clean out after brushing ? I have a similar brush as yours but thinking of upgrading.

Meh, not very, Doesn't take the hard smooth glaze off. I'm looking for a steel brush.

 

[AlbergSteve]

That is a pretty ugly pipe. Are you monitoring flue temps? Even though the cat is active and eating what it can, this stove is so efficient that it can maintain very low flue temperatures even when you’re doing everything right. Low enough flue temperatures to allow condensation in the flue. These stoves aren’t zero emissions so if your flue temperatures are low enough to condense then it will be creosote looking stuff.

I wonder if our 100% dry Doug fir diet is a factor in short cat life or flue deposits. The noncat loves it!

I burned a lot of cedar and alder at the beginning of the season, and it's all under 15%.
Last year was a mix of cedar and fir.

I don't monitor flue temps, seems to defeat the purpose of the thermostat on the BK. If I turn the stove down to the required heat I need in the house and the cat is active, I shouldn't have to monitor flue temps. Otherwise, I might as well go back the the Regency tube stove. I only swept every two years and the most I got out of 26 feet of pipe was less than a cup of fine black powder.

 

[begreen]

Otherwise, I might as well go back the the Regency tube stove. I only swept every two years and the most I got out of 26 feet of pipe was less than a cup of fine black powder.

Is that from the Regency or the Ashford?

 

[Woody Stover]

Well I grew up in Columbus, IN but live in Louisville now so I guess I'm officially southern, haha. Can't believe how warm this winter has been....NUTS!

Yeah, a buddy of mine lives across the street from Otter Creek.
I don't remember past winters like some people do, but this is the longest sustained run of warmer-than-normal temps that I recall. It's sort of eerie, but at least we're conserving our stacks.

 

[Highbeam]

I burned a lot of cedar and alder at the beginning of the season, and it's all under 15%.
Last year was a mix of cedar and fir.

I don't monitor flue temps, seems to defeat the purpose of the thermostat on the BK. If I turn the stove down to the required heat I need in the house and the cat is active, I shouldn't have to monitor flue temps. Otherwise, I might as well go back the the Regency tube stove. I only swept every two years and the most I got out of 26 feet of pipe was less than a cup of fine black powder.

come on now, there’s a huge spread between maintaining noncondensing temperatures in your flue and what a noncat would puke up the stack. You just need to be above the condensation temperature which is like 250 at the top. I aim for 400 internal temperature at 18” above the stove.

Or you could just sweep may more often. Up to you I guess.

 

[jdonna]

At some point I'd love to wire a thermocouple just below my flue exit to actually see the exhaust temp. I think that would take all the mystery out of where to target stack temps.

2 stack thermocouples, one on the cat and one on the stove top coupled with a stepper motor air control all ran to an ecu .... one can dream.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Is that from the Regency or the Ashford?

...from the Regency F2400.

 

[SpaceBus]

At some point I'd love to wire a thermocouple just below my flue exit to actually see the exhaust temp. I think that would take all the mystery out of where to target stack temps.

2 stack thermocouples, one on the cat and one on the stove top coupled with a stepper motor air control all ran to an ecu .... one can dream.

I would rather have one just below the cap and right at the flue exit. Don't have a cat stove but I assume that would also be relevant.