I have a new Ashford insert that was put in last summer, I love the stove but I am not impressed with the blower, is there any way to get a higher capacity blower in there?
Bk Ashford insert blower replacement
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jetsam
Minister of Fire
spudman99
Feeling the Heat
I commented in one review thread on the Princess insert that as a con I find the blower speed (or exit volume of the air) a bit lacking. I too wonder if there is a mod that can be made to increase fan speed or volume in this insert? Perhaps a DC fan for example, but I quite frankly know very little about fan ergonomics.
Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
I have the same question, but not for a BK stove. Seems like this is an area that stove makers are cutting corners. I'm certain my blower could be moving a ton more air for all the noise it's making. I'm intimate with the blower after cleaning it out for the last 5 years, and the weak spot seems to be the chitty plastic and engineering on the fins(?).
BKVP
Minister of Fire
There are two squirrel cage blowers in the AF25 insert. Have the dealer verify they are both working and in position. Thank you.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
The fans in the AF25 & SC25 insert are not the same as the PI...the PI has a single axial fan. The others are both 2 squirrel cage blowers.
I am going to call them today at some point. It is moving air and its not moving any less or any more air than when it was installed, it just doesnt seem like a lot.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Hi - did you get this sorted out? I was in a dealer today and I am looking at this unit or the Sirocco 25. My other option is the Lopi medium flush mount because their large version won't fit my opening.
Can these blaze king units be run without activating the bypass if I wanted to have a more lively flame going?
Can these blaze king units be run without activating the bypass if I wanted to have a more lively flame going?
Nope. All you do for more active, lively flame is turn up the therm knob which feeds the fire more air. Bingo, Flame away.... Follow the manual for bypass closing otherwise to keep from potentially damaging your stove.
The factory blower for my nc30 was very loud and barely moved air. I upgraded to a much higher cfm blower from amazon which made a huge difference in output from that stove.
Quiet is important but so is effective air flow. Then again, maybe the engineers don’t want too much airflow.
Quiet is important but so is effective air flow. Then again, maybe the engineers don’t want too much airflow.
This is not really applicable to an insert where there are specific space constraints and alignment with the convection jacket in important.
Correct and with it hidden inside the insert plugged into that insert’s wiring I would be leery of non oem upgrades.
Just look for stove blower motors on amazon. There are lots and they offer a wide range of flow rates. You’ll notice a consistent form factor. The one I chose was low cost and high flow but it is a direct replacement for some stove’s factory blower.
Did you ever get this issue resolved? I had an Ashford 25 installed last November and agree the fans don't love a lot of air. I also think there's an issue with the rheostat on mine
The issue is that moving more air may not extract more heat from the insert. I think the bottleneck in the heat flow is the transfer from metal to air. Blowing more air over that metal then won't give you more heat, just more air with less heat content per cubic foot of air.
I.e. you'll feel colder (blowing lower temperature air) without actually transferring more energy from the stove to the room. Quantity is not everything in these cases. Quality (amount of heat transferred from metal to air per second) is. (Hence the fins on air cooled engine blocks - heat transfer from metal to air is tough, and the only way to increase the total energy flow is by increasing the surface area - i.e. cooling fins.)
I.e. you'll feel colder (blowing lower temperature air) without actually transferring more energy from the stove to the room. Quantity is not everything in these cases. Quality (amount of heat transferred from metal to air per second) is. (Hence the fins on air cooled engine blocks - heat transfer from metal to air is tough, and the only way to increase the total energy flow is by increasing the surface area - i.e. cooling fins.)
"fireplaceblowersonline" was great to deal with for replacing my two squirrel cages. they include ball bearing end grommets vs. the thimble type bearing grommet. one of the grommets had some defective rubber that started to deteriorate, and the company sent me replacements no questions asked. they are semi universal if you need to drill the squirrel cage to mate uo to your mounting holes on the stove.
I have looked all over and cannot source the dang end grommets directly, which seemed to be the problem on cheaper squirrel cages.
I have looked all over and cannot source the dang end grommets directly, which seemed to be the problem on cheaper squirrel cages.
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