Just found small holes in the back of my Blaze King King kE1107.

[05ramctd]

Was cleaning up my BK today and removed the fans as I do every year for a total overhaul.
The model # is KE1107LBK. Never did I think I would see holes in a steel stove. We purchased the stove in 2014 new, from a local dealer. I would have to say my only recourse is to weld plates on the outside and hopefully on the inside. I did nudge some stove cement on it to start a small test burn but this might explain the smoke smell I had last year. Has anyone had this problem or any better ideas. Been retired money is tight and can’t afford another stove.

 

[Highbeam]

I’ve definitely seen it before on a king model. Might have been on another forum. On the back like yours.

 

[BKVP]

Unfortunately, yes this is very uncommon but can happen when creosote forms in the back of the firebox and is neither burned off nor scraped off. Another reason to have a hot fire periodically is to keep creosote from forming and then causing this issue.

You can certainly weld a few cover plates over the damaged area on the outside. However, you need to also be able to remove on the inside and creosote or metal that is damaged from the creosote.

If you run the stove on low continually, please run it on high (hot) once or twice a week. In order to remove the inside formation of creosote, try a weed burner at the same time you have it out for welding.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND REMOVE CREOSOTE PRIOR TO WELDING OR YOU COULD START AN INTENSE FIRE IN THE FIREBOX.

BKVP

 

[05ramctd]

Well I removed the brick a scraped the affected area and more . Then wire wheeled the area. Only found 18 gauge today and I may cut and insert on the inside. It was amazing the damage to the metal it was paper thin in areas, it looked like metal that was fifty years old. Planning on getting thicker plate. Didn’t install anything. I’m pretty good with stick welding, but may need to use mig on the inside. Will see. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated.

 

[weee123]

18ga will burn through easily if you put it on the inside. You need to make it out of the same material the stove body is

 

[05ramctd]

Ok thanks

 

[Diabel]

Nine year old stove😳. Not good.

 

[Highbeam]

The king has those heat shields welded in on the rear above the brick line. Are you pretty sure the only damage is down low behind the brick?

 

[05ramctd]

I removed all the brick an hit every thing with a wire brush. Only found damage in left and right bottom corners. But i did find thin metal to the right middle next to the heat shield. But no sign of interior damage in that area just thin. Pretty disappointing and discouraging for the age of the BK . I did clean it twice a year religiously when I clean the chimney since I hav owned it. Have not removed the brick in three years though did not think it would have been a problem, nice surprise.

 

[begreen]

Don't beat yourself up. There is nothing in the manual to suggest this is required maintenance.

 

[Diabel]

What is the recourse on a 7 year old BK stove? No warranty I presume….

 

[05ramctd]

It’s over it’s time line for warranty
Spoke to a local welder today. After that conversation looking like for safety reasons may be looking for a new stove. Any suggestions. 8 inch flue of course. Guess I could step down to six if needed. Wife was looking at a floor model jotul carrabessett. It has a six inch flue. But the specs look great heating wise except the burn times. Was loading the king 2.5 times a day anyway.

 

[MCC]

It’s over it’s time line for warranty
Spoke to a local welder today. After that conversation looking like for safety reasons may be looking for a new stove. Any suggestions. 8 inch flue of course. Guess I could step down to six if needed. Wife was looking at a floor model jotul carrabessett. It has a six inch flue. But the specs look great heating wise except the burn times. Was loading the king 2.5 times a day anyway.

Wow that's really disappointing for such an expensive investment. What kind of cleanup maintenance did you do to your stove in the spring? Is there anything you could have done differently looking back? My pellet stove i've had for 15 years instructed me to spray down the firebox with cooking oil to prevent rust. I just bought a Princess 32 last year and have a lot of creosote behind the side heat exchangers and up above the air tube that I couldn't get at very well to remove. After reading this thread I pulled up some of my bricks and there is rust under everyone of them. What should I be doing to get long life out of this?

 

[farmwithjunk]

It’s over it’s time line for warranty
Spoke to a local welder today. After that conversation looking like for safety reasons may be looking for a new stove. Any suggestions. 8 inch flue of course. Guess I could step down to six if needed. Wife was looking at a floor model jotul carrabessett. It has a six inch flue. But the specs look great heating wise except the burn times. Was loading the king 2.5 times a day anyway.

Regency F5200 is an 8" flue, which I have, would be similar but with a better fire view IMO. Doesn't go as low but little more on the higher end. Its a shame yours rotted out so quickly. I didn't realize that happened on these premium stoves in under a decade.

Regency claims a lifetime warranty on their welded firebox excluding rust if maintenance isn't followed. Might be worth some additional research:

https://www.regency-fire.com/en/Owners/Warranty-Claims/Lifetime-Warranty/Regency-Warranty-Wood-2019.aspx

 

[Highbeam]

Before everyone freaks out...

Creosote is normal in the firebox, the dry stuff that flakes off in chunks or sheets is very normal. Even if it's very thick. I get lots of chunks thicker than my fingers and I do knock most of them out every year. The drippy tar stuff is normal when running really low and is more harmful. It soaks into the metal and is more corrosive. The best we can do with our stoves is to minimize that gooey wet tar by either burning hot enough to not create it or by having a hot fire every week or so to convert it to the dry stuff. Definitely burn it off at the end of the season. You can't clean it, you need to burn hot enough that it dries into flakes.

If you were wanting to clean and paint the stove behind the bricks it would be done at the end of the season to protect the metal during the off season slumber. No point in doing it during the burn season. I removed all of my bricks for the first time this summer after 12 years. Nothing bad to be found but I checked and knew it was possible.

I do not believe it is necessary to regularly remove the bricks to clean or paint behind them. If you're really worried about it then I would burn hot enough to prevent the gooey wet tar deposits in the first place. I believe that is what the kings with corrosion problems were doing though I can't say that this is what was happening with @05ramctd . A constant waterfall of that wet tar oozing down behind the bricks would be the worst case. Once it's behind the bricks it is insulated from hot fires so can't get dried out into a less corrosive form.

Thicker steel? Better steel? This is the reason some wood boilers have gone to stainless steel fireboxes.

 

[Highbeam]

It’s over it’s time line for warranty
Spoke to a local welder today. After that conversation looking like for safety reasons may be looking for a new stove. Any suggestions. 8 inch flue of course. Guess I could step down to six if needed. Wife was looking at a floor model jotul carrabessett. It has a six inch flue. But the specs look great heating wise except the burn times. Was loading the king 2.5 times a day anyway.

This is a problem with installing that obsolete 8" chimney. Only a couple of stoves are built for it. Sounds like you're not looking at another king?

To match the 8" flue I would go for the regency 5200. It is pretty ugly but better than a king. It's also been around long enough and does not appear to be a typical 2020 cat stove that was designed to comply.

Another nice looking 8" stove is the GM80 from hearthstone. I can't recommend it since I haven't researched it but at least it's not soapstone and it looks good like most hearthstones.

https://www.hearthstonestoves.com/product/green-mountain-80/

 

[farmwithjunk]

This is a problem with installing that obsolete 8" chimney. Only a couple of stoves are built for it. Sounds like you're not looking at another king?

To match the 8" flue I would go for the regency 5200. It is pretty ugly but better than a king. It's also been around long enough and does not appear to be a typical 2020 cat stove that was designed to comply.

Another nice looking 8" stove is the GM80 from hearthstone. I can't recommend it since I haven't researched it but at least it's not soapstone and it looks good like most hearthstones.

https://www.hearthstonestoves.com/product/green-mountain-80/

I have the F5200 and liked the GM80 when I was looking but two things, much smaller firebox size and reviews were iffy since it was new. Perhaps they worked the bugs out of it.

 

[Highbeam]

I have the F5200 and liked the GM80 when I was looking but two things, much smaller firebox size and reviews were iffy since it was new. Perhaps they worked the bugs out of it.

Yeah, at just 3.1 cubic feet the GM80 is not a large stove. I had a hearthstone and measured the firebox to find a huge discrepancy between what hearthstone stated and reality. They lied (overstated) big time and they are not the only manufacturer doing so.

The BK measures very close to the stated volume so the GM80 might only be half as big. But it sure looks nice!

Any other 8" stoves you can think of or recommend?

 

[farmwithjunk]

Yeah, at just 3.1 cubic feet the GM80 is not a large stove. I had a hearthstone and measured the firebox to find a huge discrepancy between what hearthstone stated and reality. They lied (overstated) big time and they are not the only manufacturer doing so.

The BK measures very close to the stated volume so the GM80 might only be half as big. But it sure looks nice!

Any other 8" stoves you can think of or recommend?

I was targeting the 30% tax credit so that limited the availability. Even if I wanted the BK the wait time on it was MONTHS in 2022.

 

[05ramctd]

Found another bk king today so it’s between that a Quadra fire 5700. Wife like the jotul carrabassatt got to check out the specs and price a six inch liner.

 

[05ramctd]

Well after some discussion and speaking with other dealers and wait times for stove to get shipped we called the stove store this evening. Grabbing the BK king they have in stock. Figured it worked great until it stopped some preventative maintenance and high burns. Also putting a insulated liner in Any recommendations for the liner?

 

[begreen]

Yeah, at just 3.1 cubic feet the GM80 is not a large stove. I had a hearthstone and measured the firebox to find a huge discrepancy between what hearthstone stated and reality. They lied (overstated) big time and they are not the only manufacturer doing so.

The BK measures very close to the stated volume so the GM80 might only be half as big. But it sure looks nice!

Any other 8" stoves you can think of or recommend?

The Regency 5200 is probably the best bet in 8". It's a hybrid with less chance of tarring up. There's also the Buck 91 with is a full cat stove. I was going to add the venerable Country S310, but Iron Strike has discontinued it.

 

[05ramctd]

Was looking at the 5200. Won’t be shipped for weeks. We decided on another bk.

 

[05ramctd]

Looks like a great stove though

 

[05ramctd]

My new baby is home. BKKing 40!