Two new BK Ashford 30's in da'house

[Ashful]

Delivered this morning.

 

[pma1123]

Congrats!! I foresee this becoming a long thread...in on pg 1! How long till the break-in fires?

 

[begreen]

Woot! Turn up the air conditioning for some break in fires.

 

[Ashful]

One will be hooked up tonight, and if the weather stays as cool as it is, I might do a break in fire this weekend.

The other will require some short elbows to offset (thinking a pair of 30 degree elbows?), so that may be a few days in getting hooked up.

 

[Jags]

Looking good. Will be interesting when you fire those up and let them stretch their legs.

 

[Ashful]

Yeah... anxious to see how two big modern stoves do against the infinite heat sink I call home.

 

[jeff_t]

Heck, I'm fixing to go grab an armful of wood right now. It was a short summer.

So, what color are they?

 

[Heatsource]

unique installation, is building dept concerned that you could close the doors while unit is running and get too hot?

 

[rideau]

I guess I'm really slow on the uptake. Just realized why you went from Joful to Ashful.

Hope you enjoy your new stoves.

 

[Highbeam]

Looks good. We're burning the bk with a 75% full load tonight. Loving the steel cat. You've got steelcats in those too right?

 

[Ashful]

Hah... yep, it's me rideau. Made the decision to switch to Ashfords back in February... just took this long to get them delivered.

They are black, jeff_t. I had placed the order as midnight enamel, but the factory replied, "not available". So, we switched to black paint.

 

[Ashful]

Looks good. We're burning the bk with a 75% full load tonight. Loving the steel cat. You've got steelcats in those too right?

I'm sorry to say... yes. I did not specify a steelcat, but I guess that's what they're shipping now?

I had experimented with steelcats in my Jotuls, and found they don't hold up very well at all, to the high temps cats run in those stoves. Have heard many other Jotul and VC cat stove owners had the same complaint, and like many of them, I ended up switching back to ceramic. I'm hoping they hold up okay in the BK, but I think I'd have been more comfortable with a ceramic cat.

 

[drz1050]

Woo! My Ashford came in, still at the stove shop right now though waiting on delivery

 

[begreen]

An interesting setup would be to have one cat of each material. Then see how you like them in an A/B comparison test.

 

[webby3650]

The Ashford tribe is growing!

 

[tarzan]

Congrats! BKVP said somewhere around here that the cats would not overheat in the BK so hopefully you will have a better experience with the steel cat than you did in the past.

I'm not sure which is better for me (ceramic vs steel) but should have at least 4 more years to compile data before I'm forced to chose.

 

[begreen]

The Ashford tribe is growing!

I can see this developing into a tv series. Ashford & Sons? The Ashford Wives...

 

[BrotherBart]

I figure he won't be bAshful about telling us how they do.

 

[BKVP]

Congrats! BKVP said somewhere around here that the cats would not overheat in the BK so hopefully you will have a better experience with the steel cat than you did in the past.

I'm not sure which is better for me (ceramic vs steel) but should have at least 4 more years to compile data before I'm forced to chose.

Tarzan....

From Ashland WI......

The washcoats used on both ceramic and stainless substrates "flattens out" at 1800F.

When the washcoat flattens out you can kiss the precious metals coating goodbye.

When this happens, cat plugs, overheats and dies....off to cat heaven.

There will be many...many new cat stoves in the near future....priority #1, never allow the cat to get as hot as mentioned above.

 

[webby3650]

Tarzan....

From Ashland WI......

The washcoats used on both ceramic and stainless substrates "flattens out" at 1800F.

When the washcoat flattens out you can kiss the precious metals coating goodbye.

When this happens, cat plugs, overheats and dies....off to cat heaven.

There will be many...many new cat stoves in the near future....priority #1, never allow the cat to get as hot as mentioned above.

Like in the direct path of all the flames with no protection?

 

[tarzan]

Tarzan....

From Ashland WI......

The washcoats used on both ceramic and stainless substrates "flattens out" at 1800F.

When the washcoat flattens out you can kiss the precious metals coating goodbye.

When this happens, cat plugs, overheats and dies....off to cat heaven.

There will be many...many new cat stoves in the near future....priority #1, never allow the cat to get as hot as mentioned above.

So, should this number (1800F) mean anything to BK owners or just designers.

 

[BKVP]

So, should this number (1800F) mean anything to BK owners or just designers.

Designers! (Engineers). It should not be a goal to build a 75,000 btu heater at the sacrifice of the cat.

 

[BKVP]

Like in the direct path of all the flames with no protection?

Correct!

 

[BrotherBart]

Don't have unprotected burning.

 

[webby3650]

Don't have unprotected burning.

Some stoves are being produced without any protection for the catalyst, then adding a constant stream of secondary flames that pour through the cat. It's a recipe for failure! But Hey, it's clean burning!