BK Performance Questions

[Parallax]

I have a few questions about my Ashford. First, though the wood I'm using is quite dry (14 to 18%), I'm still getting some smoke from the chimney. Last spring, when the install was new, there would be times it would settle down and I'd see only heat waves. Now I consistently get smoke no matter how long the cat has been engaged or how low the stove is turned down. (Finally managed to see the cat glowing so it's definitely doing something.)

Second question is around burn times. Already this season I've had a 24 hour burn. But I have to keep adjusting the thermostat for this to happen. When the box is loaded, I can run it at 1. But then I've got to turn it up and up to maintain the temperature in the active range. By the time the load is done, we're open full throttle, which is about 3 1/2 or 3 3/4 on this stove. Is that normal?

A lot of times I catch the stove wanting to crash and have to turn it up. It's hard to find the sweet spot where it burns low but doesn't crash. Sometimes it seems to want active flames, at least for a time. Am I doing something wrong?

Finally, and of most importance, a neighbor is complaining that when I've got the cat disengaged, he's getting smoked out. One morning they had windows open and their smoke alarms went off. There's just one house close to mine but it's on the side of the house where the chimney lives. He has a second floor deck that's maybe 10 feet below the top of our chimney pipe. Over our houses are very tall Douglas firs so the air often tends to sink rather than rise. Would going another section higher help with this? I'm thinking maybe if the pipe extended above the peak of the roof of the second floor that would make a difference because right now it's exhausting into an area blocked on all four sides (by trees, the neighbor's house and the top of the roof).

I've got a 22 foot long chimney pipe, double wall inside and more insulated on the outside. The last week or so the weather around here has been overcast and humid with some rain.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Don't run a cat stove, so I can't help you there, but tell your neighbor to go pound sand. You're taking every step possible to be a low impact, environmentally and neighbor conscious burner by burning dry wood in an EPA stove. His rights do not include the right to go through life unoffended.

 

[Rossco]

OAK might regulate your burns better.

Everyone is recommending I hook mine up.

 

[HotCoals]

Well if the out door temps are not that cold you will not have the draft you need on low t-stat settings. That is a fact with my BKK (though i mostly get away with it)and probably also true with your BK cat stove.

Run with more air(higher t-stat setting) when temp differential is less then 30f or so. You will burn cleaner then and you may have to have some flame in the box. I know it will heat your house up maybe too high but that's what you may have to do.


Also know that the t-stat is probably not that sensitive...I know mines not.
I believe they are designed to be slow as to not to open to far to easy...saftey thing and I have no problem with that.

 

[Parallax]

Well if the out door temps are not that cold you will not have the draft you need on low t-stat settings. That is a fact with my BKK (though i mostly get away with it)and probably also true with your BK cat stove.

Run with more air(higher t-stat setting) when temp differential is less then 30f or so. You will burn cleaner then and you may have to have some flame in the box. I know it will heat your house up maybe too high but that's what you may have to do.

Also know that the t-stat is probably not that sensitive...I know mines not.
I believe they are designed to be slow as to not to open to far to easy...saftey thing and I have no problem with that.

Thanks HC. We don't have anything close to a 30 degree differential now. Today it's 60 degrees outside and will drop to the low of mid 50s tonight. Inside it's maybe 72.

 

[Parallax]

OAK might regulate your burns better.

Everyone is recommending I hook mine up.

Thanks Rossco. I've got an OAK and it seems to be a really good installation.

 

[Parallax]

Don't run a cat stove, so I can't help you there, but tell your neighbor to go pound sand. You're taking every step possible to be a low impact, environmentally and neighbor conscious burner by burning dry wood in an EPA stove. His rights do not include the right to go through life unoffended.

Since I value my relationship with my neighbor, I'm not going to tell him to pound sand. I might tell him we can't do any better. But first I want to find out if we can do better and how much it would cost. If I could raise the chimney and avoid smoking him out, I'd pay the extra cost if it was just a few hundred dollars. If it were more than that, I'd want him to share the expense. We'll see. Right now I haven't gotten a call back from the guy who installed it.

 

[webby3650]

Wait on cold weather. It just too warm for good draft. I still see some smoke on occasion, no stove is smoke free.

 

[DougA]

His rights do not include the right to go through life unoffended.

When the smoke alarm inside his house is going off due to your wood stove smoke in his house, that alone is cause for a potential civil suit. You need to do more research before posting.

 

[HotCoals]

Wait on cold weather. It just too warm for good draft. I still see some smoke on occasion, no stove is smoke free.

I concur . It's not worth upsetting a neighbor when you can use other means for heat in the shoulders. I'm pretty sure because I buy my wood that it is cheaper just to run my heat pump in the warmer part of the shoulders. That said once the temps outside get below 50f I still light up but my neighbors are not close and I rarely get much smoke from my seasoned wood and stove/chimney setup.

 

[Parallax]

Wait on cold weather. It just too warm for good draft. I still see some smoke on occasion, no stove is smoke free.

So the temperature makes a difference in whether one sees smoke? When I ran it in spring, there was no smoke and I don't recall it being colder than it is now. I'm not seeing any times when there's no smoke. Is this an indication of a defect in the catalytic combustor?

 

[Parallax]

I concur . It's not worth upsetting a neighbor when you can use other means for heat in the shoulders. I'm pretty sure because I buy my wood that it is cheaper just to run my heat pump in the warmer part of the shoulders. That said once the temps outside get below 50f I still light up but my neighbors are not close and I rarely get much smoke from my seasoned wood and stove/chimney setup.

I don't have a heat pump. We have radiant floor heat but it's powered by a propane water heater and is really inefficient. Would run space heaters but would much prefer to operate the stove. I think we need to find a solution, a way to burn without smoking out the neighbor. I'm not sure if a higher chimney would do the trick. When the air is pushing down, there may be no way around this problem.

 

[HotCoals]

I don't have a heat pump. We have radiant floor heat but it's powered by a propane water heater and is really inefficient. Would run space heaters but would much prefer to operate the stove. I think we need to find a solution, a way to burn without smoking out the neighbor. I'm not sure if a higher chimney would do the trick. When the air is pushing down, there may be no way around this problem.

Well you will make less smoke at higher temps. That may mean for you smaller hotter fires to keep the smoke at a min at warmer outside temps.
You should try that. Starting the fire from the top down method could also help.

 

[webby3650]

So the temperature makes a difference in whether one sees smoke? When I ran it in spring, there was no smoke and I don't recall it being colder than it is now. I'm not seeing any times when there's no smoke. Is this an indication of a defect in the catalytic combustor?

The cat is over active when its new, it breaks in and isn't as reactive. If its cold out, your draft improves. This pulls better, so you can run on a lower setting without issues. I also move my thermostat throughout the burn, nothing I have ever seen said you wouldnt need to. If I'm up on med-high I don't, but once I drop down to the lower settings I will find it slipping into the inactive zone. I just turn it up for a little while until it's rocking again. Kicking up the stat for a few is way easier than reloading after 10 hours like other stove owners do.

 

[HotCoals]

The cat is over active when its new, it breaks in and isn't as reactive. If its cold out, your draft improves. This pulls better, so you can run on a lower setting without issues. I also move my thermostat throught the burn, nothing I have ever seen said you wouldnt need to. If I'm up on med-high I don't, but once I drop down to the lower settings I will find it slipping into the inactive zone. I just turn it up for a little while until it's rocking again. Kicking up the stat for a few is way easier than reloading after 10 hours like other stove owners do.

Another spot on post!

 

[Parallax]

The cat is over active when its new, it breaks in and isn't as reactive. If its cold out, your draft improves. This pulls better, so you can run on a lower setting without issues. I also move my thermostat throughout the burn, nothing I have ever seen said you wouldnt need to. If I'm up on med-high I don't, but once I drop down to the lower settings I will find it slipping into the inactive zone. I just turn it up for a little while until it's rocking again. Kicking up the stat for a few is way easier than reloading after 10 hours like other stove owners do.

Thanks Webby. It's good to know it's working normally.

 

[Parallax]

Well you will make less smoke at higher temps. That may mean for you smaller hotter fires to keep the smoke at a min at warmer outside temps.
You should try that. Starting the fire from the top down method could also help.

Will give that a try -- the smaller, hotter burns. What's the top down method? Lighting the stuff on top?

 

[HotCoals]

Will give that a try -- the smaller, hotter burns. What's the top down method? Lighting the stuff on top?

Yes. Give it a try. Cheers!

 

[Shane Collins]

I've only just had mine installed as you know and only had a couple of fires. From what I gathered on here smaller hotter fires would be the best and that's what I did. I also used top down method which really works well. Mine is brand new so it could be my cat is over active like webby said but after activating the cat with a smaller fire and on a higher setting I didn't see any smoke. I wont be burning now until my stove pipe is replaced and I've only had a few fires so I'm really not the best person to give advice. But based on the few small but hot fires I've had. There has been no smoke coming out the chimney. Good luck!

 

[HotCoals]

I've only just had mine installed as you know and only had a couple of fires. From what I gathered on here smaller hotter fires would be the best and that's what I did. I also used top down method which really works well. Mine is brand new so it could be my cat is over active like webby said but after activating the cat with a smaller fire and on a higher setting I didn't see any smoke. I wont be burning now until my stove pipe is replaced and I've only had a few fires so I'm really not the best person to give advice. But based on the few small but hot fires I've had. There has been no smoke coming out the chimney. Good luck!

There you go!

 

[Highbeam]

The bk will smoke like a freight train until cat engagement. White smoke from the cold stove. Is that what the neighbor is complaining about or is it the lighter blue smoke that occurs well into a burn with an active cat?

Does this neighbor leave his Windows open all winter? Wood burning with neighbors that close is difficult. We have to recognize that there is a density at which wood burning is not practical.

I can't believe you've been burning much lately. It is so warm out still.

 

[jeffsk7]

I have a few questions about my Ashford. First, though the wood I'm using is quite dry (14 to 18%), I'm still getting some smoke from the chimney. Last spring, when the install was new, there would be times it would settle down and I'd see only heat waves. Now I consistently get smoke no matter how long the cat has been engaged or how low the stove is turned down. (Finally managed to see the cat glowing so it's definitely doing something.)

Second question is around burn times. Already this season I've had a 24 hour burn. But I have to keep adjusting the thermostat for this to happen. When the box is loaded, I can run it at 1. But then I've got to turn it up and up to maintain the temperature in the active range. By the time the load is done, we're open full throttle, which is about 3 1/2 or 3 3/4 on this stove. Is that normal?

A lot of times I catch the stove wanting to crash and have to turn it up. It's hard to find the sweet spot where it burns low but doesn't crash. Sometimes it seems to want active flames, at least for a time. Am I doing something wrong?

Finally, and of most importance, a neighbor is complaining that when I've got the cat disengaged, he's getting smoked out. One morning they had windows open and their smoke alarms went off. There's just one house close to mine but it's on the side of the house where the chimney lives. He has a second floor deck that's maybe 10 feet below the top of our chimney pipe. Over our houses are very tall Douglas firs so the air often tends to sink rather than rise. Would going another section higher help with this? I'm thinking maybe if the pipe extended above the peak of the roof of the second floor that would make a difference because right now it's exhausting into an area blocked on all four sides (by trees, the neighbor's house and the top of the roof).

I've got a 22 foot long chimney pipe, double wall inside and more insulated on the outside. The last week or so the weather around here has been overcast and humid with some rain.

Same thing here with the sirocco 30 right now. If I just set the t stat at 1.5 the cat wants to go inactive (this is after I have heated the fire box up). If I keep it at two I can get good burn times 12-15 hours, but it blows me out. Wood is fir 15% on the moisture meter. T stat seems to be really sensitive. Maybe it just the warm weather still.

 

[HotCoals]

Same thing here with the sirocco 30 right now. If I just set the t stat at 1.5 the cat wants to go inactive (this is after I have heated the fire box up). If I keep it at two I can get good burn times 12-15 hours, but it blows me out. Wood is fir 15% on the moisture meter. T stat seems to be really sensitive. Maybe it just the warm weather still.

Sensitive to the position it's at as far as intake air but it takes a big swing in temp to get the flapper to actually move much.

 

[jeffsk7]

Sensitive to the position it's at as far as intake air but it takes a big swing in temp to get the flapper to actually move much.

I'm new to blaze king. What do you mean by needing a big temp swing to get flapper to move? Are you saying the t stat is some how affected by temperature?

 

[HotCoals]

I'm new to blaze king. What do you mean by needing a big temp swing to get flapper to move? Are you saying the t stat is some how affected by temperature?

Yes. There is a bi-metal coil that can close or open the flapper from where you set it.