Summer Shutdown for Blaze King

[Murray01]

Searched in the owner’s manual and couldn’t find any mention of summer hiatus for BK stoves.

What I’ve been doing is leaving the bypass door open allowing air to circulate through the stove and chimney and not compress the bypass door gasket any more than it already is. Thinking of leaving the door closed but not latched tight, this would allow more air to circulate and not compress the door gasket, maybe give the gasket time to rebound closer to its original shape?

Is there a preferred method to prepare the stove for the summer hiatus?

 

[stoveliker]

I don't think there is a preferred method.
I leave the bypass open as well, and the door closed by not tight, for the exact same gasket reasons.

(I do not have meaningful air circulation as I also close the air inlet with a home-made stop, because I take the stove pipe off, cap the stove exit and the thimble, and put a container of damprid in the stove - but that's not a nice look if one has the stove in a living room.)

 

[BKVP]

Good time to remove ashes, scrape off any interior creosote deposits and of course, a good chimney cleaning/inspection.

Each year, I even inspect bricks because I'm hard on my stove!

BKVP

 

[brenndatomu]

It depends...if the stove is in a spot that is pretty cool, leaving it breath may be a mistake...that could allow warm moist air down the chimney when the breeze is just right, or a bath/kitchen fan is pulling air out of the house (makeup air needed). warm moist air inside, cool on the outside (cool stove body) means condensation mixed with soot/ash/creosote...not good. I think this is partly why some people have issues with their stoves rusting out.
My suggestion would be to block everything off tight, if possible...one of those chimney balloons they make to block off fireplace flues would be ideal, but I know that is not very likely to be practical for most people.
I guess it depends on your setup as far as what's best. For me, I have started blocking off every air inlet on my basement installed wood furnace...that way the furnace/flue is a "blind hole" and warm/moist air is not likely to settle into the furnace (the basement can be 30* cooler than outside) and cause trouble. I have tried to hang a large "Damp Rid" bag in the firebox, and it filled up in 3-4 months over the summer. But I'd prefer to just keep the flow of moisture out...my 2 ¢

 

[Highbeam]

Good idea to leave the bypass open. That way if a bird comes down the chimney at least it can get into the firebox without pecking the heck out of the back of the cat and then dying up there in the cat chamber.

Cleanout the stove and stack sooner than later as ash/creo plus humidity is corrosive. Ideally you would have had a few short and very hot fires near the end to dry up and cause that firebox gunk to flake off to bare metal. Kinda late now but maybe next year. Easier to inspect the bare metal for the BK corrosion that can happen in the back corners. I've had none but have seen some scary examples.

 

[Itslay90]

Good time to remove ashes, scrape off any interior creosote deposits and of course, a good chimney cleaning/inspection.

Each year, I even inspect bricks because I'm hard on my stove!

BKVP

Does it hurt anything if you don’t get of the creosote?