So yesterday I decided to start getting the stove around for fall and the burning season. Im also new to blaze king stoves. I purchased my stove and had it installed back in the early spring. I had 6 to 8 fires in that time..now I didnt have a constant fire for days on end. Anyway, I opened the stove to clean the glass and notices some good size globs of creosote in the fire box and heavy creosote on the glass of the door. Am I burning the stove too cold? I tried to keep the flue temp to 300 to 350..the stove never really felt like it out tons of heat during the times I fired it. I also know a couple of fires I had. I should have let the wood catch better before shutting it down. Any advice would be great.
Blaze king princess 32 creosote in the fire box
- Thread starter MichiganMan82
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Most likely reason for the creosote is wet wood. Wet wood makes it much more difficult to keep your temps up. Did you ever check the moisture content? If you bought the wood last fall to burn last winter I can pretty much guarantee that wet wood is your issue. If you still have some of that same wood it will be much better this year.
Yes I checked the moisture content this spring when I got the stove to kinda make sure. It was between 15-18 nothing over 18. Its all dead ash. I think im not letting the reload completely catch as well because I noticed peices of unburned wood still in the fire box. So I dont know. Im doing something wrong.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Unburnt wood would indicate:
1) Too low a setting of the thermostat based upon the amount of draft in the system
2) Wet wood. How did you test the fuel? What was your procedure and was the wood off the pile or acclimated to the room temperature for 24 hours prior to testing?
3) If your cap has a spark arrestor screen check it. Get up close and look from 10" away. If it's covered with fluffy stuff, clean it off and consider cap without screen.
BKVP
1) less than half way on the to a quarter on the thermostat. Which is what im thinking is the problem.
2) wood is dead dry ash. Checked with a moisture meter. Stacked on a covered porch. I should bring some inside. But when I had the fire it was at the end of the burning season.
3) I just have a rain cap on my chimney. Its good and clear.
Was this on the outside of single wall or a probe meter measuring flue temps inside of double wall? Makes a huge difference. Your reported temperatures are too cold for internal measurements in my experience. Left over wood is pretty common on these stoves since the fuel sort of burns apart from the next log so the single log is often left over.
These stoves can make a mess out of the firebox even when doing everything perfectly. The low burn fire makes a smoldering smoke that the cat eats up and the efficiently with clean emissions above the cat. The firebox is designed to be able to run cool. That's why they are so great at low output burns.
Nothing about your post is abnormal.
Well its double wall black pipe with the drilled hole and thermometer. To me the stove doesnt feel hot like it should I guess. Maybe im just used to older woodstoves. I honestly thought this stove would put some decent heat out.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
You likely have insufficient draft and/or wetter wood than you think (tested).
Can you describe how you measured the moisture content please? Thank you.
Also, I have a KE40 in my home. I do everything "perfectly" and I have ZERO accumulation of creosote in my firebox. I do burn it hot every Friday for 2-3 hours and that practice keeps the firebox perfectly clean.
BKVP
Running a BK in shoulder season and expecting a clean window and firebox isn’t going to happen. Last winter was our first winter running a BK, prior to that we weren’t spending winters at the cabin. Once the temperatures dropped to sub freezing we were able to run the stove in the normal range, creosote formation disappeared. Glass was 80% clean and the firebox was relatively clean compared to shoulder season.
Every stove runs differently based on your location and setup. What works for us may not work for you. We turn our stove down at night much like you would a furnace so when we get up the cabin is cool, less than 20C. First one up cranks the stove up to high to start warming up the house and the stove/CAT getting the coals and remaining wood burning hot. This will clean the glass enough that we can see what’s remaining for wood in the firebox and will determine when to reload. In the winter it’s a full reload, in the shoulder season we often let the stove burn out and relight.
I have learned that you can’t fairly judge a BK performance during shoulder season. Wait until the dead of winter before evaluating your stove. When you need heat it will perform!
Every stove runs differently based on your location and setup. What works for us may not work for you. We turn our stove down at night much like you would a furnace so when we get up the cabin is cool, less than 20C. First one up cranks the stove up to high to start warming up the house and the stove/CAT getting the coals and remaining wood burning hot. This will clean the glass enough that we can see what’s remaining for wood in the firebox and will determine when to reload. In the winter it’s a full reload, in the shoulder season we often let the stove burn out and relight.
I have learned that you can’t fairly judge a BK performance during shoulder season. Wait until the dead of winter before evaluating your stove. When you need heat it will perform!
That's probably it. Our winter is everyone else's shoulder season, so it is always run rather low. And I always have creosote behind the side baffles and on the glass.
Running it at high for a few hours every week would probably get rid of that, but then my living room would be 90 degrees plus.
Ah then the reason the stove wasn't very hot and the reason that you had creosote accumulation in the box is that you were not running it hot enough. A slobbery cold fire, even with an active cat temperature, will make a mess of the stove. At a minimum, try keeping that flue probe meter reading up above 400. You can turn the knob all the way in the hot direction until it hits an internal stop. Give that a shot but be careful not to let your flue meter go over 1000.
The BK is capable of ultra low burn rates but a slightly higher burn rate that gives you at least 400 in the flue will be much cleaner. You also greatly reduce the risk of cat stall where the cat temperature falls out of the active range.
I have found that this BK stove design does best keeping a house warm. Fill up the stove and set the thermostat at a setting that keeps the house warm all the time so no need for maximum output.
