# This thing is absolutely silly - AKA Nick's Sirocco 30 Install



## blueguy (Feb 15, 2014)

Started out using wood for our primary heat a couple years' ago with a Napoleon 1450. Even though the 1450 heated our 2200 sq ft bungalow from the fully finished basement (1100 down and 1100 up) fairly well, the list of things we didn't like about the stove started my search for something different - massive amounts of heat put out in the first few hours, then the house started cooling off; the stove burned hot, regardless of draft setting and we didn't like the fact there was no control over how hot it got. Don't get me wrong, the 1450 is a great stove, but heating from a basement with an exterior chimney with this stove highlighted all of the things we didn't like about it. What we identified as being absolute requirements for us was control over the heat, longer times between reloads to fit our work schedules, a stove that is 2.25 cu ft or larger, something that wouldn't run us out of the basement rec room where the stove is, a 6" flue if at all possible, something that needed ember protection only, something that had a 7" or less corner clearance and preferably something that was aesthetically pleasing if at all possible. We contemplated going to a 1900 or maybe even the Enerzone 3.4, but after doing quite a lot of research online about the different options, we decided on a BK which would meet all of our prerequisites except maybe the aesthetically pleasing part. Of course, reading all of the rave reviews on here about the "alien" technology didn't help either 

With no local BK dealer, we had to rely on the printed brochures from BK's website and narrowed it down to either the Sirocco 30, Princess or the King using a 8" to 6" reducer and hope for no smoke spillage. As the King was only $500 more than the Sirocco 30, I was all set to pull the trigger, but due to draft measurement requirements laid out in the codes here and the extra cost of the 8" connector pipe, we decided on the Sirocco 30. I ordered it up on the 3rd of Feb and it was drop shipped to my house on the 13th.

I decided to order everything I would need in one shot, so I also got the blowers and convection deck.

On to the pics:

The 1450 being replaced:





After waiting all day for the truck to show up, the stove arrived. The stove body is crated on its own, so the owner has option to install the leg kit or a pedestal:





When I got it uncrated, I noticed several blemishes in the paint, most notably a big one on the rear right corner of the stove top where it looks like something may have rubbed off the paint. Based on all of the complaints about shoddy welding in the stove collar I read here, I also wanted to get a close-up look in the collar ASAP in case I had to do some grinding. I am happy to say that the welds all look good, and no booger welds or large amounts of spatter were present:





Everything else was boxed separately, so I unpacked everything.

Pedestal and ash pan:





Plain cast door:









Closeup of the door latch:





Closeup of the latch on the firebox:





The pedestal is mounted to the stove body by 4 bolts. I stripped all of the firebrick out of the firebox and removed the side shields before using my engine crane / shop hoist to lift the stove body to mount the pedestal. Once everything was together, we moved the stove into the basement using a fridge cart I bought when we moved into the house.

Once we got the stove into position, I mounted the convection deck and blowers to the stove. When I attached the slip section of the connector pipe to the stove collar, I noticed that when the flare in the bottom of the pipe was fully seated on the top of the stove collar, the bottom edge of the pipe was above the top of the convection deck. I called the sweep I bought this through, the local stove shop and even to BK in Penticton to check to make sure this was normal, and all agreed. I still think it looks sloppy, but I might invest in another slip section piece which will seat all the way into the collar. An Excel stove adapter would sit in the collar just the same as the current pipe, so I am not going to attempt that. It was a very big pain getting the "self tapping" screws to tap into the collar, so I pilot drilled the holes - 3 drill bits and a bunch of broken screws later, it's all safely mounted and secure. 

I reinstalled all the firebrick. When I pulled the brick out of the stove body in the garage, one of the standard sized ones was broken across the width, so I picked up a replacement SBI brick locally for $4. A couple things stood out at me when I was handling the bricks - they all seem to be pumice bricks, very light and not near as dense as the heavier ones that were in my Napoleon, and there is a fabric mat under the layer of bricks across the stove floor. I assume this is an insulating layer of sorts to reduce the amount of heat being transferred through the stove floor:





The ash plug seems tinier than I expected, but I'll give it a whirl and if I don't like it, I kept the sealing plug and bottom plate to reinstall:









I got a pic of the stove side without the shield in place for those who may be interested:





And with the shield in place:





While I was in the firebox, I slipped out the cat and took a pic. The cat is steel, and the gasket was secured to it with a lot of masking tape. The tape burned right off in the first fire.





Dropped the door onto the hinge pins (I like this design A LOT better than the Nappy one of the separate pins that like to walk out) and latched the door shut. All I can say is that is what a lot more effort to get the door closed.

Based on the threads mentioning t-stat operation here, I pulled the cover off and twisted the dial a couple of times. On a stone cold stove, mine clicks closed at around 1 on the dial. The odd thing is that when turned fully open, the stop on the rod contacts at just shy of 3:





I was thinking of loosening the set screw on the dial and readjusting it so that it is sitting at 3.5 at the stop. Any thoughts on that - sound good or just run it as is?

Anyways, here it is all buttoned up and ready to start it's first fire:





I ran my wife's hairdryer up through the bypass for about 5 mins to warm the flue before starting a load of kindling:





So while we're waiting on the kindling to get fully engaged, here is what else came with the stove...

A bag with all of the documentation, a "BK" firestarter (I added it to my 100ct box of Super Cedars), a 2" cat probe, a poker / ash plug removal tool and the cat flame guard:









The bag of documentation came with break in directions from the company that I assume the paint came from, and it said to run it up to 400F for 15 mins and then up to 600F for an hour to cure the paint. As the kindling started to burn down, I figured there was no way a stone cold stove that hadn't been fired ever was getting up to 400 without more wood, so I added about 6 small-ish splits. When I opened the door, I was met with a wall of smoke coming out, which I wasn't at all happy about. I figured after that the smoke was probably not all from the wood, but from the oils and moisture being baked out of the internals (I trialled it again this morning after the load had all caught and very little smoke spillage, so it seems I was right). Once the cat was in the active zone, I closed the bypass and left the t-stat on high. 

After several hours of smoke coming off the stove, my smoke / CO detectors going off and every window in the basement open, the paint seems cured. I left the stove on ~2 for the night and went to bed at 9:45ish with the stove top at 600ish and the cat glowing:


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## blueguy (Feb 15, 2014)

I was up this morning at 0530 and the cat was partway in the inactive zone with a stove top of ~250 / 300 and very little ash with a few coals. I raked them all forward and loaded up the stove with 7 medium sized splits. At 0605, I closed the bypass and turned the t-stat to a little over 2 (it's hard to see with my corner install):





At 1105, I checked on the stove, and the cat probe was over halfway into the active zone, the stove top at 537 over the cat, 500 in the right corner and almost 3/4 of the wood remaining:













So far, except for the putrid smell of paint curing, I am extremely pleased with the stove. Even though the long range forecast isn't showing any extreme cold for the next two weeks to test out the stove burning full out with a packed load, I don't have any fears of this being money wasted. As shoulder season comes back on, I am going to try for the longest burns I can get to see if I can surpass the 30 hour mark.

I am definitely a BK convert 





For those who may be interested, my stove was built in Penticton, BC in Aug 2013.


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## blueguy (Feb 15, 2014)

At 2 pm, the stove top is sitting at 405F, the cat probe is at about the 10 position and about 1/4 of the load is left:









8 hours after closing down the bypass with roughly the same amount of wood that would fill my 1450 this time of year (which would be down to coals and a 250F stove top by this point), I still have a lot of heat coming off this thing and more to go. This is just silly  .....and well, pretty damn awesome!


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## tcassavaugh (Feb 15, 2014)

very detailed, thanks for taking the time to share. I've been thinking about a princess. I currently have a pe summit, which looks very similar, with the ashpan option. the trap is located in the front left and is kind of a pita when you burn 24-7. I much prefer the grate and pan like the old dutchwest or my jotul setup.


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## Mike M. (Feb 15, 2014)

Nice post Nick. So other than reduced wood consumption and burn times, are you seeing any additional advantages? How long did you have the 1450 and did it have the blower option?


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## craigbaill (Feb 15, 2014)

Thanks for the very detailed writeup. I was looking at this very stove on their website not two hours ago. Glad to see it is working out well.


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## blueguy (Feb 15, 2014)

Mike M. said:


> Nice post Nick. So other than reduced wood consumption and burn times, are you seeing any additional advantages? How long did you have the 1450 and did it have the blower option?



Well, I've only had it a couple days, so I'm still playing with it...but the firebox is visibly bigger, so I am assuming if we get another cold snap, even with I turned right up, I should still see long burn times. But the burn times and wood consumption seem to be the major advantages.

I did have the blower on the 1450, and to be honest I rarely used it. The blower just really didn't seem to make much difference. I tried out the blowers on the Sirocco this morning a bit, and they push some HOT air out the end of the convection deck. I think if I need to use them during the next cold snap, they'll come in super handy. 

Speaking of the convection deck, I didn't mention it before, but it came with a 4" cat probe. What I found interesting is BK added in an air "deflector" on the underside behind the probe which looks to deflect air from the blowers around the probe so the temp reading isn't affected. I haven't played with them long enough though to check to see if it works or not yet.


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## blueguy (Feb 15, 2014)

At 4:50, my stove top temp was down to 291 and the cat probe falling, so I achieved just shy of 11 hours with that load:









I reloaded with 7 nice sized pieces loosely placed:





By 5:10, the cat was back into the active zone, bypass closed and the temp climbing past 431:





Since it was so warm in here today, I put the dial at 1.5 to see how long this load would burn and what temp it would be in here in the morning. The Mrs and I went out to a movie and came back to at 517 degree stove top at 8:35:









I am very interested to see what the temp is in the morning


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## rdust (Feb 16, 2014)

This is a quote from a post I made after installing my Princess back in 2011.  


rdust said:


> I have to say this thing is silly or better yet super silly!



So I can say I agree with your thread title.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

After making coffee, I sauntered downstairs at 6:05 to see where this thing was in its burn cycle. 13 hours in at 1.5, the stove top is sitting at 361, the cat probe is at about the 10 o'clock position and about 1/2 the load is left:












It's holding the basement at 73, and upstairs in our bedroom all the way to the back it's 66 - with an outside temp of 15 and a howling snowstorm ongoing. I think I'm in love


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

rdust said:


> This is a quote from a post I made after installing my Princess back in 2011.
> 
> 
> So I can say I agree with your thread title.



I don't know of any other way to put it  ....IMO, being able to get still get lots of heat off the stove after 13 hours is so ridiculously crazy. Maybe BK should change the name of this stove to the Silly-rocco 30 

I think I may have inadvertently infringed on your description after going blind from all the reading of BK threads here


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Well, I've only had it a couple days, so I'm still playing with it...but the firebox is visibly bigger, so I am assuming if we get another cold snap, even with I turned right up, I should still see long burn times. But the burn times and wood consumption seem to be the major advantages.



The other thing I am  really liking about this is the reduced reload time. With my 1450, it would take anywhere from 30 to 60 mins (depending on wood dryness) to get the stove cruising from a reload to ensure the secondaries stayed active. I had the Sirocco cruising last evening in 20 mins tops. So add in reduced loading time to my list


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

tcassavaugh said:


> very detailed, thanks for taking the time to share. I've been thinking about a princess. I currently have a pe summit, which looks very similar, with the ashpan option. the trap is located in the front left and is kind of a pita when you burn 24-7. I much prefer the grate and pan like the old dutchwest or my jotul setup.



To be honest, I was a little worried after reading about some issues BK owners were experiencing especially with my less than perfect wood and exterior chimney. After seeing what this thing is capable of just in the two days or burning, I am very glad I made the switch.

Depending on which look you like, either the Princess or Sirocco 30 are pretty much the same firebox size. The Princess Ultra was about $30 more than the Sirocco 30 dressed out the same. Based on what I am seeing here so far, I don't think you could go wrong


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

craigbaill said:


> Thanks for the very detailed writeup. I was looking at this very stove on their website not two hours ago. Glad to see it is working out well.



No problem. Lack of detailed pics and reviews on this model were the reason I went a little overboard


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

At 0820, the stove top was down to ~296 degrees and the cat probe dropped to the line between active / inactive with a couple charred splits left on the left side of the firebox and very little glow from the coals on the right side. I was about to turn it up, but decided to wait and see. At 0900, the stove top is back up to 350, the cat probe at 10 o'clock and the coals are glowing again. 

Gotta love the t-stat 

Edit: 16 hours in and more to go!


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## Kevin Dolan (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> The other thing I am  really liking about this is the reduced reload time. With my 1450, it would take anywhere from 30 to 60 mins (depending on wood dryness) to get the stove cruising from a reload to ensure the secondaries stayed active. I had the Sirocco cruising last evening in 20 mins tops. So add in reduced loading time to my list


Blue guy you sound like one happy camper. Are you burning maple?


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

Happy doesn't describe it 

My stacks are all mixed hardwoods with a mix of yellow birch, rock maple, beech and some other stuff I haven't positively ID'd yet.


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## HotCoals (Feb 16, 2014)

Very nice!

  I see you like the faster reload to cruise times and of course the longer burn times with a cat stove.
You really are going to love the shoulder season and trust the money was not wasted on the fans. When it gets really cold out they will come in handy. I rarely run mine but when I do they do make a diff. I see one error in your posting! There were 8 pieces of wood in the stove when you said 7..lol.
Now you gotta go back and look right? lol


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

I did go back and look 

I went for the faster reload time just to see if the cat would light or not. And to be honest, the fact that I could do it after 20 mins instead of 60 was just icing on the cake


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> I was thinking of loosening the set screw on the dial and readjusting it so that it is sitting at 3.5 at the stop. Any thoughts on that - sound good or just run it as is?



Any BK diehards have an opinion on this one?


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## Rickb (Feb 16, 2014)

Pretty much the only difference in shoulder season and really cold days is weather I turn the blower on or not lol.when its under 35F I turn the blower on if its over that I don't.  Basement stays around 75 and the main floor at 71.


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## Fechmup (Feb 16, 2014)

Great write up! Thank you for taking the time.


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## HotCoals (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> I did go back and look
> 
> I went for the faster reload time just to see if the cat would light or not. And to be honest, the fact that I could do it after 20 mins instead of 60 was just icing on the cake



When your bored and have some free time and it's fairly warm out load the stove then give it just enough air to have some flame. instead of giving it a lot of air to char.
It will come up to temp way slower but the cat should come alive on it's own and if the t-stat is in the sweet spot it should close off the air when everything is up to temp. It takes some practice but pretty cool if you get it to work. Extends the burn time even longer that way.


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## CenterTree (Feb 16, 2014)

I'm holding out for a BK * Ashford 20*.    

I can wish and hope, right?


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

CenterTree said:


> I'm holding out for a BK * Ashford 20*.
> 
> I can wish and hope, right?




Absolutely, although based on the response to the PM I sent Chris while I was still in research mode, you may be waiting a while. I asked him about the possibility of a Sirocco 40, and it sounded like BK is engrossed in meeting the proposed new EPA regulations, meaning new models are on the back burner.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

HotCoals said:


> When your bored and have some free time and it's fairly warm out load the stove then give it just enough air to have some flame. instead of giving it a lot of air to char.
> It will come up to temp way slower but the cat should come alive on it's own and if the t-stat is in the sweet spot it should close off the air when everything is up to temp. It takes some practice but pretty cool if you get it to work. Extends the burn time even longer that way.




Will do. When having heat isn't a high priority, I plan on trying a bunch of different things


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## HotCoals (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Will do. When having heat isn't a high priority, I plan on trying a bunch of different things



Yep..e-w will extend it even longer!


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## rdust (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Any BK diehards have an opinion on this one?



I personally wouldn't mess with it, it sounds to be working fine the way it is.  "If it ain't broke don't fix it"


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## rdust (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> The other thing I am  really liking about this is the reduced reload time. With my 1450, it would take anywhere from 30 to 60 mins (depending on wood dryness) to get the stove cruising from a reload to ensure the secondaries stayed active. I had the Sirocco cruising last evening in 20 mins tops. So add in reduced loading time to my list



This was a big plus for me, I also like that once I got the stove set I knew I could trust it not to "run" away on me when I walked away.


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## HotCoals (Feb 16, 2014)

rdust said:


> I personally wouldn't mess with it, it sounds to be working fine the way it is.  "If it ain't broke don't fix it"


I concur...will never need to burn over 2.5 I would think.
Long as he as enough air to fire the load up the way he wants to ..he should be fine.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

Just came in from an hour and a half of snowblowing the 3' of drifted snow in the driveway and checked on the stove. When I went out at 1030, it was sitting just below 300 with the cat probe straddling the inactive line again and the two well charred splits on the left side still kind of hanging out. The t- stat must have opened again cause when I checked it at 1220, it was back up to 350 and the cat probe at 10 o'clock again.

19 hours and counting on 8 splits at 1.5 and the house is holding at 70


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

HotCoals said:


> Yep..e-w will extend it even longer!


Going to give that a whirl tonight


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## Highbeam (Feb 16, 2014)

I see the weld blob on your flue and i also see that you didn't seat your appliance adapter all the say down. I'd bet that if you had ground that blob out you could have dropped the adapter down and actually got the taper to hit the proper hole cutout in the stove body. If you reach your hand up through the bypass you should be able to feel the snout of your flue hanging slightly into the chamber. A poor seal at this joint could spoil draft.

Did you get 36 inches of vertical flue before that first bend?

Is that a key damper in your flue?

What we are seeing is that a good bk can be great with better draft.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

rdust said:


> I personally wouldn't mess with it, it sounds to be working fine the way it is.  "If it ain't broke don't fix it"





HotCoals said:


> I concur...will never need to burn over 2.5 I would think.
> Long as he as enough air to fire the load up the way he wants to ..he should be fine.



I couldn't imagine firing this over 2.5 for very long, although my 2.5 would seem to be everyone else's 3....


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## HotCoals (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Just came in from an hour and a half of snowblowing the 3' of drifted snow in the driveway and checked on the stove. When I went out at 1030, it was sitting just below 300 with the cat probe straddling the inactive line again and the two well charred splits on the left side still kind of hanging out. The t- stat must have opened again cause when I checked it at 1220, it was back up to 350 and the cat probe at 10 o'clock again.
> 
> 19 hours and counting on 8 splits at 1.5 and the house is holding at 70



I'm 15 hours into a 2/3 load and for the last 3 been just heating off of coals. Temp outside 14 but calm and some sun but some flurries at times.
It is key that the stove be able to hold house temps at 300-350 with these stoves..if you can do that for most of the season you are golden.
When in the deep cold of course you just add a little more air.


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## Highbeam (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> I couldn't imagine firing this over 2.5 for very long, although my 2.5 would seem to be everyone else's 3....



As long as full open yields a wide open intake i would leave it. You need full throttle for reloads and startup.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> I see the weld blob on your flue and i also see that you didn't seat your appliance adapter all the say down. I'd bet that if you had ground that blob out you could have dropped the adapter down and actually got the taper to hit the proper hole cutout in the stove body. If you reach your hand up through the bypass you should be able to feel the snout of your flue hanging slightly into the chamber. A poor seal at this joint could spoil draft.
> 
> Did you get 36 inches of vertical flue before that first bend?
> 
> ...



My pipe is seated fully home, the ICC adapter would sit the same depth. According to the three different pros (including BK), seated = sealed no matter if the pipe sits 1 1/8" into the collar or all the way down. I dry fit the slip section all the way down and the blob you're seeing doesn't interfere with the fit at all. As an aside, the slip section doesn't have the raised outer ridge on the inner pipe like a normal section does (which is why the piece sticks up a bit).

I left the key damper in as I had installed it just before New Years to try and slow down the 1450's burn rate. It's fully open and depending on how this operates, I may pull it out.

Due to the limitations of my ceiling height and the wall exit, I have 24" before the first 45, which is the minimum according to BK. At this point, I'd rather stick with 24" and the 45s than go to 36" and a 90.

Edit: I should add that I just went with what I had to get this up and running (and to WETT specs) for the rest of this season. Come spring, I am going to look at some different options for connector pipe


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> As long as full open yields a wide open intake i would leave it. You need full throttle for reloads and startup.


Agreed, I'm just kind of OCD when it comes to things like a knob that at "full open" doesn't even get to full open on the sticker. I know it's semantics because it's still full open no matter what (and to be honest, because it's in a corner, I can't positively see where the dial is pointing anyways), but to me it seems that based on others' reports, there is no standard for orientation on the knob.



In another thread, someone said owning a BK is boring - I have to wholeheartedly agree. Since reloading last evening around 5, I've forced myself to resist the urge to fiddle with the stove


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## HotCoals (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Agreed, I'm just kind of OCD when it comes to things like a knob that at "full open" doesn't even get to full open on the sticker. I know it's semantics because it's still full open no matter what (and to be honest, because it's in a corner, I can't positively see where the dial is pointing anyways), but to me it seems that based on others' reports, there is no standard for orientation on the knob.
> 
> 
> 
> In another thread, someone said owning a BK is boring - I have to wholeheartedly agree. *Since reloading last evening around 5, I've forced myself to resist the urge to fiddle with the stove *





*hard to do eh? lol*

But yes burn those coals down to a reasonable amount every load no matter the temp and you will be surprised how little you have to pull ash out of it.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

I've already noticed how little ash there is. With the 1450 and my less than great wood, after 8 hours, there was a quite a bit of coals and a lot of ash. I'm still using wood from the same stack and there doesn't look to be a lot of ash in there. Although the door glass is pretty gummed up, so maybe I'm just not seeing it well enough


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## rdust (Feb 16, 2014)

HotCoals said:


> I'm 15 hours into a 2/3 load and for the last 3 been just heating off of coals. Temp outside 14 but calm and some sun but some flurries at times.
> It is key that the stove be able to hold house temps at 300-350 with these stoves..if you can do that for most of the season you are golden.
> When in the deep cold of course you just add a little more air.



Yep, these stoves hang around 300-400 for a LONG time, if that's enough to heat your space(hold temps) you will see the BK long burns.  On the single digit or colder days that's not enough but other than that I will maintain inside temps with those types of temps.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

rdust said:


> Yep, these stoves hang around 300-400 for a LONG time, if that's enough to heat your space(hold temps) you will see the BK long burns.  On the single digit or colder days that's not enough but other than that I will maintain inside temps with those types of temps.



Got 3.5 hours left until 24 hours since the bypass closed on the last load. 

I was hoping for 12 hours between loads to match our weekday work schedules, but if I can get 24 hours out of a full load and keep the house warm, it's all gravy


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## rdust (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Just came in from an hour and a half of snowblowing the 3' of drifted snow in the driveway and checked on the stove. When I went out at 1030, it was sitting just below 300 with the cat probe straddling the inactive line again and the two well charred splits on the left side still kind of hanging out. The t- stat must have opened again cause when I checked it at 1220, it was back up to 350 and the cat probe at 10 o'clock again.
> 
> 19 hours and counting on 8 splits at 1.5 and the house is holding at 70



It sounds like your stove burns similar to the Princess, pulling those side splits in to the middle near the end of the burn and cranking the t-stat for a while will give you some extra heat before reloading.

When the cat is new the stove is super sensitive as it "breaks "in you will notice some difference in performance.


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## rdust (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Got 3.5 hours left until 24 hours since the bypass closed on the last load.
> 
> I was hoping for 12 hours between loads to match our weekday work schedules, but if I can get 24 hours out of a full load and keep the house warm, it's all gravy



You can obtain the 12 hour load schedule, you just have to load it half way.


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## begreen (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Got 3.5 hours left until 24 hours since the bypass closed on the last load.
> 
> I was hoping for 12 hours between loads to match our weekday work schedules, but if I can get 24 hours out of a full load and keep the house warm, it's all gravy


Sorry the stove doesn't meet your expectations. But give it time, you will get used it.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

rdust said:


> You can obtain the 12 hour load schedule, you just have to load it half way.





begreen said:


> Sorry the stove doesn't meet your expectations. But give it time, you will get used it.



I figure I'll just get all the quirks figured out and it'll be spring


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

rdust said:


> It sounds like your stove burns similar to the Princess, pulling those side splits in to the middle near the end of the burn and cranking the t-stat for a while will give you some extra heat before reloading.
> 
> When the cat is new the stove is super sensitive as it "breaks "in you will notice some difference in performance.



I'm still forcing myself not to fiddle with it until the cat stays inactive


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## Quentin2 (Feb 16, 2014)

Congrats man, good to see another satisfied bk owner in the fold, or "cult" as some have been saying.  That was like a professional stove review.  I'm using excell pipe as well and mine bottoms out before it hits the top of stove, no problems with mine so far, it helps that the convection deck hides this fact.  

Might be a good idea to check your chimney after 2-4 weeks of burning to see what your buildup is gonna look like compared to your other stove.  You might find that creosote builds a little quicker due to colder flue temps and longer burns.  Some do and some don't it seems.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

Thanks man. How tall is your convection deck?

While I was waiting for the stove to arrive, I took the opportunity to give the chimney a mid-season cleaning with my Sooteater, so I'll have a fresh indicator of how much creosote is making it past the cat.


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## blueguy (Feb 16, 2014)

At 4:40 there was about 75% of one remaining split left from the load yesterday, the stove was sitting at 288F and the cat probe was straddling the line, so I turned up the dial all the way to try and get some flame off the last little bit:












I let it go for about 15 mins without any real rise in temps, so I decided to reload. After 24 hours, this is all that was left:






I also took a quick pic of the inside of the door. This is after 24 hours at 1.5:






I reloaded with 8 more good sized splits, unfortunately my packing skills were lacking again tonight:






I was going to try packing the stove E-W tonight, but I figured I would try that tomorrow night when it's supposed to drop to an overnight temp of -4F here. While I was waiting for the cat to get into the active zone, I was getting a bit of a secondary show. Not anywhere near the same as in my 1450, but definitely interesting:






30 mins after loading, I closed the bypass and temp rose to 541 on the stove top and 500 flue temp:
















I set the dial to about 1.6 for the night.

I am still amazed that what would last a day and a half in the 1450 will now last me 3 days.

Silly


----------



## BKVP (Feb 16, 2014)

CenterTree said:


> I'm holding out for a BK * Ashford 20*.
> 
> I can wish and hope, right?


They're on the way!  We will be showing three of them next month at Hearth Expo.  Painted black, enamel brown and enamel grey-blue.  Full production by summer is the plan.


----------



## rdust (Feb 16, 2014)

BKVP said:


> They're on the way!  We will be showing three of them next month at Hearth Expo.  Painted black, enamel brown and enamel grey-blue.  Full production by summer is the plan.



Now how about that Ashford with a 4 cubic' box?  I'd give you a pre-order today.


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## CenterTree (Feb 16, 2014)

BKVP said:


> They're on the way!  We will be showing three of them next month at Hearth Expo.  Painted black, enamel brown and enamel grey-blue.  Full production by summer is the plan.


AWESOME!   We have been holding off on a wood stove for the living room area. 

The Ashford 30 is too big for us.  But looks nice.
The Sirocco 20 is not the "look" we want for our country house. But it is the right size.

An Ashford 20 is PERFECT.


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## Quentin2 (Feb 16, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Thanks man. How tall is your convection deck?
> 
> While I was waiting for the stove to arrive, I took the opportunity to give the chimney a mid-season cleaning with my Sooteater, so I'll have a fresh indicator of how much creosote is making it past the cat.


Convection deck is 1-3/4" tall, bottom of excell slip is about 1/4" below this


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## Hoozie (Feb 16, 2014)

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of wood are you burning (hardwood or softwood)? 

What's your fireview a few hours into the burn look like? 




rdust said:


> Now how about that Ashford with a 4 cubic' box?


Does a cat really care about how big the box beneath it is?      (yes, after a certain point it likely has trouble keeping up with the smoke, but until that point...)


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## begreen (Feb 16, 2014)

What were your flue temps running throughout the last burn?


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## Highbeam (Feb 16, 2014)

Quentin2 said:


> Congrats man, good to see another satisfied bk owner in the fold, or "cult" as some have been saying.  That was like a professional stove review.  I'm using excell pipe as well and mine bottoms out before it hits the top of stove, no problems with mine so far, it helps that the convection deck hides this fact.
> 
> Might be a good idea to check your chimney after 2-4 weeks of burning to see what your buildup is gonna look like compared to your other stove.  You might find that creosote builds a little quicker due to colder flue temps and longer burns.  Some do and some don't it seems.



Note that his convection deck doesn't hide it. His flue pipe is not properly seated. I have a princess and my outer wall doesn't hit the stove top but that fact is hidden below the deck as well.


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> His flue pipe is not properly seated.


 
The inner pipe IS seated against the top of the stove collar just like it would be if it was mated to a section of pipe below it. Unless you're running Excel Ultrablack on your stove with an identical height collar and have a standard section of pipe hooked to the stove collar that sits the whole way down where the outer pipe is below the level of the deck, you're not comparing apples to apples.


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

Hoozie said:


> Maybe I missed it, but what kind of wood are you burning (hardwood or softwood)?
> 
> What's your fireview a few hours into the burn look like?


 
Burning mixed hardwoods. When I reloaded last night, there was some wispy flames for the first hour or so, but after that it went back to just a dull glow from the coals and no flames. Although the reflection of the cat in the laminate floor in front of the stove was pretty bright


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

begreen said:


> What were your flue temps running throughout the last burn?


 
After the first couple hours, the flue temp dropped to a hair under 400 and seemed to settle in around 350 or so for the night.

When I checked on the stove this morning at 0630, the stove top was sitting at about 350, the cat probe at about the 10 position and the flue at about 350 with about 1/2 the load left. The temp dropped to 10F last night, so I am assuming the increased draft had a bit to do with it. It's supposed to drop to -4F tonight, so I am going to run it at 2 with a half load and see where we're sitting tomorrow morning after 12 hours.

I've noticed a couple things consistently so far - the load burns from the center out, it also burns from the underside up (which is quite strange as the air comes in at the top of the glass) and the even though the cat is still well into the active zone, during the later stages of the burn I get almost no glow. An odd thing last night though - I got a faint smoke smell coming from the stove about 4 hours into the burn.


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

Quentin2 said:


> ...bottom of excell slip is about 1/4" below this


 
I just reread this - you're using a slip section mated to the stove?


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## jeff_t (Feb 17, 2014)

blueguy said:


> The inner pipe IS seated against the top of the stove collar just like it would be if it was mated to a section of pipe below it. Unless you're running Excel Ultrablack on your stove with an identical height collar and have a standard section of pipe hooked to the stove collar that sits the whole way down where the outer pipe is below the level of the deck, you're not comparing apples to apples.



Don't bother trying to argue.

I get what you're saying. I don't understand why they can't make the adapter so it looks decent. All three of the Selkirk adapters I have used are the same way. The convection deck hides it on mine, but the other two look goofy.


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

When I talked to BK in Penticton, they said they send out offers to the pipe manufacturers to test their pipes mated to the new stove models. Apparently ICC was one of the only ones who didn't take them up on it  

In any case, it looks shoddy IMO, but most importantly, it's safe. If history is any indicator, we can count of winter being pretty well over by end-March, so I am going to wait until it is warm out to fully decide on my plan of action for improvements to my connector pipe.


----------



## Highbeam (Feb 17, 2014)

I've never seen a door gasket splice covered like that. Do other new bks come like that too?


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## Highbeam (Feb 17, 2014)

jeff_t said:


> Don't bother trying to argue.
> .



There's no argument here. The adapter is not seated and now he's getting smoke smell. Who made you the forum boss?


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## jeff_t (Feb 17, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> There's no argument here. The adapter is not seated and now he's getting smoke smell. Who made you the forum boss?





Nick states the inside pipe is seated in the flue collar. The outside pipe is not sitting down all the way on top of the stove. Perhaps visually unappealing, but the purpose of the outer layer is to create an insulating air space. Smoke goes up the inside. I think.


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## Highbeam (Feb 17, 2014)

jeff_t said:


> Nick states the inside pipe is seated in the flue collar. The outside pipe is not sitting down all the way on top of the stove. Perhaps visually unappealing, but the purpose of the outer layer is to create an insulating air space. Smoke goes up the inside. I think.



Had you considered the high likelihood that the inner pipe is setting on top of that weld blob and unable to drop into place? Nobody expects the outer wall to set on the stove top but until the taper of the inner wall mates with the cutout hole in the firebox the seal is not made. With a poor seal at the collar most of the smoke would make it up the chimney but so would room air which would damage draft. Smoke smell in the room is another symptom of a poor seal here. The only way to know is for nick to reach up into the bypass and verify that the tapered inner wall has indeed made it into the firebox past that weld blob. Easy.

Weve seen too many poorly operating bks due to mistakes at installation. When the mistake is fixed, the stove changes dramatically. Nick seems happy but i worry that he is leaving a lot on the table. I dont normally worry about cat temps but I would expect a much higher gauge reading on Nick's.

Don't be so quick to assume, you know what that does....


----------



## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

The pipe IS fully seated. Before I lit anything, I verified this by sticking my head into the firebox and looking with a flashlight up through the bypass. If you go to ICC's website and look up the dimensions of their adapter, you will see that the lower portion sticks into the stove only about 1" before the visible flare in the drawing will seat onto the top of the stove collar in the same manner that a standard length would seat into the next length below it. My pipe is seated a little over 1.125" into the collar before the flare seats - the pipe doesn't go all the way down to the bottom of the collar. A slip section with no flare goes all the way down / bottoms out and doesn't contact what you're calling "the blob". FWIW, the blob doesn't actually protrude out into the collar enough to affect the fit - that pic into the collar is a little deceiving.

Additionally, the stove collar on Sirocco 30s is ~3" tall, whereas your Princess Ultra's is only ~2" tall which explains why the joint on mine sticks up above the convection deck. After confirming that the current way it is installed met WETT and the manufacturer requirements, I decided to live with the odd look until spring.

The smoke smell seems to be coming out from the front of the convection deck, which is lower than the bottom of my outer pipe - which leads me to believe it's coming from either the probe hole or a section of door gasket. The smell also didn't occur until about 3 hours after the bypass was closed, and was not present throughout the entire burn, which I think excludes a shoddy seal between the stove collar and pipe. I crawled all around the stove last night with a high power light and the room lights off - and there was no sign of visible smoke nor any smell to the rear of the stove.

Edit: There was no smoke smell at all on Saturday when I was watching it like a hawk (and jumping up and down with joy over its performance )

For the sake of transparency, my setup isn't optimal, which is probably why I am seeing lower performance that yours - my wood is not the best, I have an exterior chimney that is 21' from stove top to cap (18' Class A and ~ 3' of Ultrablack connector) and my first bend is 24" from the stove top. In the spring once some of the snow is off my roof, I am going buy a cheap 4' single wall pipe and see if extending the chimney gets me better performance. I'm also going to have a look at addressing the 24" of connector pipe before the first bend, to include a slip section that bottoms out in the flue collar.


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## rdust (Feb 17, 2014)

Even after grinding my flue collar weld down some I added furnace cement to ensure I had a good seal on the appliance adapter.  I will say my M&G appliance adapter fit/s like crap!


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## Quentin2 (Feb 17, 2014)

blueguy said:


> I just reread this - you're using a slip section mated to the stove?


I bought the adjustable pipe with slip and connected that to stove, I guess the top part (female) is considered the slip, so technically no the slip is not connected to stove.


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## Highbeam (Feb 17, 2014)

Other possible smoke exits are the bypass shaft penetration, and yes that cat meterhole. I sounds like your collar joint is as well sealed as it can be.


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

I just got home from work, and stove is sitting at 250 and the cat into the inactive portion with a tiny bit of one split left.

I had another look around all the openings on the stove with a flashlight with no evidence of any leaking. What I did notice though when I looked around the probe hole was the hole looks to be about 3/8" dia for a 3/16" probe. There is a LOT of room around the probe. I'll give it another look when I reload here in a bit to see if I can positively see any smoke coming out.


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

rdust said:


> Even after grinding my flue collar weld down some I added furnace cement to ensure I had a good seal on the appliance adapter.  I will say my M&G appliance adapter fit/s like crap!



Not sure if I want to use furnace cement yet - I'd like to keep the adjustable section removable from the collar to clean the pipe without removing the cat every time....although based on everything I've read here, I ordered up extra cat, door, glass and bypass gaskets in case I say f it


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> Other possible smoke exits are the bypass shaft penetration, and yes that cat meterhole. I sounds like your collar joint is as well sealed as it can be.



I did the sniffer test along the top edge of the right side shield by the bypass shaft - no smoke smell. Also did the sniffer test along the front of the stove, not smelling anything yet.

I do have to wonder why the cat probe hole is oversized? Aside from possible fitment issues from a misaligned hole in the convection deck, I just cannot see any benefit. Although looking at the probe, it has a bit of a gasket on it, so I assume this would seal the hole when the convection deck isn't used. 



I loaded the stove E-W as full as I could from what I had inside - I fit 11 nice sized splits in with a little room to spare that could have been filled with small splits if I had any inside. While waiting for the cat to come up to temp, I was getting a bit of a secondary show again on the left side of the firebox with another separate secondary show across the face of the cat. Closed the bypass at 6:10 and set it at 1.5. I plan to turn it up to 2 for the night as temps drop


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

rdust said:


> Now how about that Ashford with a 4 cubic' box?  I'd give you a pre-order today.



I was hoping for a Sirocco with a 4 cu ft box


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## jeff_t (Feb 17, 2014)

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful posts, Nick. I don't think we've seen that much of a Sirocco yet.

I actually think it is a good thing when something comes in a crate, with 'some assembly required'. You now know a whole lot more about your stove than most. You don't get that when you pick it up out of the showroom.


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

jeff_t said:


> Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful posts, Nick. I don't think we've seen that much of a Sirocco yet.



No problem  Lack of reviews was one of the reasons I've been posting so much. To be honest, I kind of went on blind faith from all of the positive posts about the Princess and Webby's threads on his Ashford when I bought it.




jeff_t said:


> I actually think it is a good thing when something comes in a crate, with 'some assembly required'. You now know a whole lot more about your stove than most. You don't get that when you pick it up out of the showroom.



That was the problem with the Nappy - it was all installed by pros. I absolutely love to get my hands dirty, and watching the installers put that one in without being able to help nearly killed me


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## blueguy (Feb 17, 2014)

blueguy said:


> I loaded the stove E-W as full as I could from what I had inside - I fit 11 nice sized splits in with a little room to spare that could have been filled with small splits if I had any inside. While waiting for the cat to come up to temp, I was getting a bit of a secondary show again on the left side of the firebox with another separate secondary show across the face of the cat. Closed the bypass at 6:10 and set it at 1.5. I plan to turn it up to 2 for the night as temps drop



At 8:50, the stove top over the cat was at 570, the thermometer on the right side reading 500, cat probe over 12:00 and the flue at 400. I turned it up to about the "N" in normal, and 10 mins later, above the cat is over 600, the thermometer reading almost 600, cat probe at about 1:00, flue temp at 500 and a nice flame show  

I'm going to leave it at this setting for the night...


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## Highbeam (Feb 17, 2014)

blueguy said:


> At 8:50, the stove top over the cat was at 570, the thermometer on the right side reading 500, cat probe over 12:00 and the flue at 400. I turned it up to about the "N" in normal, and 10 mins later, above the cat is over 600, the thermometer reading almost 600, cat probe at about 1:00, flue temp at 500 and a nice flame show
> 
> I'm going to leave it at this setting for the night...


Have you ever seen the cat probe gauge go all the way to the top of the active range?


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## Quentin2 (Feb 18, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> I've never seen a door gasket splice covered like that. Do other new bks come like that too?


Just checked, mine did not.


----------



## blueguy (Feb 18, 2014)

Just checked the stove at 0535, after burning at "N" for the night, there's a huge pile of coals on the rear of the stove with the stove top at 400ish. Right now, it's -7F out, and the house is holding steady at 70. I threw a few more pieces on and turned it down as it's going up to 25F today.


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## blueguy (Feb 18, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> Have you ever seen the cat probe gauge go all the way to the top of the active range?



Not yet. I'm assuming it's due to my substandard wood. Although it does seem to be going higher on the gauge every night when I turn it down to 1.5.


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## jeff_t (Feb 18, 2014)

What does the probe read at room temp? It can be adjusted.


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## blueguy (Feb 18, 2014)

IIRC, when I unpacked it, it was reading at the bottom of the inactive zone. When I get home from work, I'll pull the probe and let it cool to room temp to see where it ends up and adjust it if necessary.


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## Highbeam (Feb 18, 2014)

blueguy said:


> IIRC, when I unpacked it, it was reading at the bottom of the inactive zone. When I get home from work, I'll pull the probe and let it cool to room temp to see where it ends up and adjust it if necessary.


 
You've got to let it get ice cold, fully room temp. From what I discovered when making the same adjustment, it is supposed to point at the bottom of the inactive zone when at room temp. It only takes a slight warming for that needle to move though and then you're using bad information for cat engagement so be sure it is totally room temp. My needle spends hours of each load at the very top of the active zone.

Properly seasoned wood will improve your burning experience in many ways, you think your jumping up and down now... just wait until you get some dry wood.


----------



## Seasoned Oak (Feb 18, 2014)

What kind of fire show (if any)do you get with this stove.With my harman i sometimes have to turn the air up to see flames. With the englander and the Country Hearth theres always some kind of show no matter the air setting. Im considering this stove as my next purchase. I want a cat  stove
but cant get past the pot like looks of the king.


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## blueguy (Feb 18, 2014)

So far, I've gotten flames when turning up the stat to two or higher, except during the tail end of the burn. Keep in mind my wood isn't the greatest this year, so it will be different next year and hopefully flames at a lower setting.

When I first started this journey, I wasn't too keen on the looks of the Princess or King either, but as I read more and studied more pics of the Ultra models, their looks started to grow on me. If I wasn't overly worried about my draft with the 8" reducer, I would have gone for the King Ultra. 

When we end up in our "forever" house, unless there is a Sirocco 40 on the street, we will have a King Ultra


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## blueguy (Feb 18, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> You've got to let it get ice cold, fully room temp. From what I discovered when making the same adjustment, it is supposed to point at the bottom of the inactive zone when at room temp. It only takes a slight warming for that needle to move though and then you're using bad information for cat engagement so be sure it is totally room temp. My needle spends hours of each load at the very top of the active zone.



Thanks for the head's up  when I got home, I had a bit of a surprise waiting for me. The three small splits I threw in this morning were mostly still there and the stove top at 350 - so letting the cat cool will have to wait a day or so. 



Highbeam said:


> Properly seasoned wood will improve your burning experience in many ways, you think your jumping up and down now... just wait until you get some dry wood.



I can't wait


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## Quentin2 (Feb 18, 2014)

blueguy said:


> So far, I've gotten flames when turning up the stat to two or higher, except during the tail end of the burn. Keep in mind my wood isn't the greatest this year, so it will be different next year and hopefully flames at a lower setting.
> 
> When I first started this journey, I wasn't too keen on the looks of the Princess or King either, but as I read more and studied more pics of the Ultra models, their looks started to grow on me. If I wasn't overly worried about my draft with the 8" reducer, I would have gone for the King Ultra.
> 
> When we end up in our "forever" house, unless there is a Sirocco 40 on the street, we will have a King Ultra


This was my experience as well, the first couple I saw in person were the parlor or classic, didn't like the bulbous look at all.  The ultra grew on me and the wife surprisingly was all for whatever I thought was gonna work the best.  She actually disliked some of the soapstone and enameled ones that I liked, she said they were too gaudy.


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## HotCoals (Feb 18, 2014)

Notice his probe gauge is diff then the condor.

He really should not go over 2:00 by very much.


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## blueguy (Feb 18, 2014)

That's my flue probe. My cat probe is the standard BK probe


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## jeff_t (Feb 18, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Thanks for the head's up  when I got home, I had a bit of a surprise waiting for me. The three small splits I threw in this morning were mostly still there and the stove top at 350 - so letting the cat cool will have to wait a day or so.



You can just pull the probe out and let it sit somewhere for 15-20 minutes to cool off.


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## blueguy (Feb 18, 2014)

I'll give it a whirl tomorrow afternoon!


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## rdust (Feb 18, 2014)

blueguy said:


> I'll give it a whirl tomorrow afternoon!



You don't have to wait, you can pull it out while the stove is burning if you'd like.


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## HotCoals (Feb 18, 2014)

blueguy said:


> That's my flue probe. My cat probe is the standard BK probe


ooppps!

My bad!


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## Highbeam (Feb 18, 2014)

rdust said:


> You don't have to wait, you can pull it out while the stove is burning if you'd like.




I do this every so often to check color, kinda like a spark plug, and that bugger is hot. Dont drop it!

This isnt a time for shortcuts, it's serious calibration. Take your time and let it cool fully. Leave it on the hearth for hours or even overnight.


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## blueguy (Feb 19, 2014)

Highbeam said:


> I do this every so often to check color, kinda like a spark plug, and that bugger is hot. Dont drop it!



It's funny you mention that. I was doing that with my flue probe regularly with the 1450, and I've done it once or twice with the cat probe since putting the BK in


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## blueguy (Feb 20, 2014)

I took the time today to adjust the cat probe. I pulled it from the stove and let it cool until the probe itself felt cold in my hand. At cold, it was reading a bit below the last tick in the inactive zone:






I adjusted it so the pointer was on the last tick which is at the very bottom of the inactive zone:






I don't think there is going to be much difference in how the cat probe reads, but we'll see.


I also took the time to pull the stat cover and check to see if the butterfly was hitting the third screw stop before the shaft bottomed out on the stop. The "EPA hole" is in the butterfly. 

Butterfly position at 1.5:






Butterfly position at WOT:






I also took a pic of the safety stop screw in the housing:






With the cover on or off, the dial stills stops at a hair under 3 at WOT.


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## blueguy (Feb 23, 2014)

So I've had this burning for a week now, and I can say I still can't get over how well this stove is running. I've been getting 24 hours out of 7 split loads loosely placed, keeping the house around 70F or more. I think it's safe to say my wood usage is way down - what usually lasted me about 3 days lasted me 5 this week. Granted, it's been fairly warm this week (teens up to high twenties), but from what I've seen, even if the temps start dropping again, I still won't be using near as much wood


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## blueguy (Feb 24, 2014)

I had a chance today to use the ash pan in the pedestal. With the 1450's lack of an ash pan, I was used to the scoop and dump routine with the mouth of the pail held up to the door opening to keep the ash in the box or up the flue. Having never used an integral ash pan before, I was pretty curious to see whether it was a positive or not when compared to the Sirocco's other fantastic features.

After 9 days' burning, the ash bed wasn't overly deep:






I dug around a bit with the poker / hook tool that came with the stove to hook the plug and pull it out:






My first impression is that this hole seems pretty small. If it were up to me, I think I would increase it to double the size:






It took me all of a minute to push the ash build up to the front of the firebox into the hole with my coal rake upside down:






I kept in mind some of the complaints about the plug not sealing properly, so I made sure to scrape around the top of the sealing surface before putting the plug back in. I also determined that one of the tines on my rake fits into the loop on the plug top. I'll probably hit the end tines with my grinder to thin them out slightly to fit properly:






Just out of curiosity, I pulled the pan to see how much space ash from a week+ of 24/7 burning occupies:






All in all, I am pretty happy with the ash pan in this stove. I definitely think the chute could be bigger, but even with it's current size, it gets the job done


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## blueguy (Feb 25, 2014)

In the 13 / 14 BK performance thread before it was locked, it was asked how deep the belly on the 30 series stoves is. It's 3" from the top of the firebrick laid on the stove box floor to the top of the bottom door opening.


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## Highbeam (Feb 25, 2014)

blueguy said:


> Just out of curiosity, I pulled the pan to see how much space ash from a week+ of 24/7 burning occupies:


 
Why didn't you empty all of the ashes into the pan? Looks like you only shoved a small portion of the belly load. I find that chute ridiculously small too.


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## blueguy (Feb 25, 2014)

That was the majority of the ashes. The rear of the firebox was almost all coals. I ended up missing a bit of ash along the left side, but not enough to really matter.


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## webby3650 (Feb 25, 2014)

blueguy said:


> I had a chance today to use the ash pan in the pedestal. With the 1450's lack of an ash pan, I was used to the scoop and dump routine with the mouth of the pail held up to the door opening to keep the ash in the box or up the flue. Having never used an integral ash pan before, I was pretty curious to see whether it was a positive or not when compared to the Sirocco's other fantastic features.
> 
> After 9 days' burning, the ash bed wasn't overly deep:
> 
> ...


I had originally thought it needed to be bigger, after using it for a few months I think it's just right! If it was any bigger all your good coals would go down with the ashes.


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## blueguy (Feb 26, 2014)

webby3650 said:


> If it was any bigger all your good coals would go down with the ashes.



Too true


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## begreen (Feb 26, 2014)

How long does it take to fill up the firebox with ashes if you don't dump them?


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## Highbeam (Feb 26, 2014)

begreen said:


> How long does it take to fill up the firebox with ashes if you don't dump them?


 
I burned 1.5 cords of douglas fir without exceeding one inch of build up on the firebox floor of my princess. Then I swtiched to bigleaf maple and I need to empty the 6" belly every two weeks. Huge range of answers depending on wood being burned.


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## begreen (Feb 26, 2014)

Yes I know. I have gone from weekly ash dumps earlier this year burning maple, to not at all while burning locust and fir. It is starting to build up in the center with clinkers so I'll probably clean it this weekend after a couple months.


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## blueguy (Feb 26, 2014)

begreen said:


> How long does it take to fill up the firebox with ashes if you don't dump them?



With the mixed hardwoods I'm burning, if I had not emptied what was there, I estimate I would have gotten about 2 weeks or so before the accumulation would have been to the point of needing to empty them.


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## Seasoned Oak (Feb 26, 2014)

begreen said:


> How long does it take to fill up the firebox with ashes if you don't dump them?


In the harman i can go 2 weeks
In the Nc-30 Englander just a few days
It seem the harman ashes burns to a fine powder,not so much with the englander.


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## BurnIt13 (Feb 27, 2014)

Seasoned Oak said:


> In the harman i can go 2 weeks
> In the Nc-30 Englander just a few days
> It seem the harman ashes burns to a fine powder,not so much with the englander.



Seasoned Oak...a bit off topic but how much wood are you putting through the 30?  I went through a little over a cord of pine before I needed to empty the ashes in mine.  I've been burning red oak since and it looks like I'll get close to a half cord before I need to empty them.  Maybe I just keep the stove full of ashes?  I usually empty when the ashes are about an inch from the top of the doghouse.


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## Seasoned Oak (Feb 27, 2014)

BurnIt13 said:


> Seasoned Oak...a bit off topic but how much wood are you putting through the 30?  I went through a little over a cord of pine before I needed to empty the ashes in mine.  I've been burning red oak since and it looks like I'll get close to a half cord before I need to empty them.  Maybe I just keep the stove full of ashes?  I usually empty when the ashes are about an inch from the top of the doghouse.


3 days burning in not much wood. Likewise when it starts to cover the doghouse. Perhaps i have a weak draft,might make a big difference. Its connected to a 12" flue so when the fire dies down so does the draft.


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## blueguy (Mar 4, 2014)

I decided to try and address the slight smoke smell that seemed to be coming from under the convection deck. I replaced my SBI flue thermometer due to the stem sagging from what I assume was from the high temps in my 1450 pre-key damper, so I re-purposed the magnet and "gasket" that shields the spring from the pipe to try this. The magnet is strong enough to hold the gasket to the stove top, so I pulled the cat probe, slid the gasket/magnet over and replaced the probe through the gasket.......

I'm happy to say the smoke smell is now gone


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## blueguy (Nov 22, 2014)

Been burning 24/7 for about a week now, albeit on 8 split, 24 hour loads. I've noticed the stove's burn patterns have changed slightly from last year - it seems to be burning through the load a tad quicker with a little less heat coming off the stove. I'm assuming it's due to the increased draft from the addition of a 4' section of class A I added to my chimney this fall. Looks like a reason to tinker with it some more this year...

This thing is still silly :D


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## Thislilfishy (Nov 22, 2014)

First off...you suck!

Hehe, my findings on your old stove are the same, I just purchased a Napoleon 1400, which is basically the same stove as your old one. Loves to over fire and wild temp swings. We considered the Princess but it just wasn't in the budget this year. The Nappy (how fitting!) is dirt cheap here as we live very close to the factory, so the princess was quite literally 3 times the price. I wish we had the money for it, and after reading your post I want it even more...but it's still not in the budget.

Congrats...and phooey on you! 


Ian


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## blueguy (Nov 24, 2014)

Well, I think I found part of the reason I was getting less heat - my bypass plate needed adjustment. The temps were into the mid fifties here today, so took the time to check out the seal on the bypass. It needed about 1/4 turn on the bolt and now the dollar bill is nice and snug.

Temps are supposed to drop tomorrow night again, so we'll see if there's any difference


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## Sushiyummy (Feb 21, 2015)

Hi blueguy. I'm thinking of buy Sirocco to replace my Englander NC30, by reading through your post it's help me a lot. I make decision and call Blaze King dealer now.


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## blueguy (Feb 21, 2015)

Glad I could help


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## philupthegastank (Feb 21, 2015)

are most blaze kings around the $3,000 mark if you want to heat around 2,000 sq ft?


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## Quentin2 (Feb 21, 2015)

philupthegastank said:


> are most blaze kings around the $3,000 mark if you want to heat around 2,000 sq ft?


I paid about $3400 for king ultra with blowers up in ak 2 years ago.  Prices can vary coast to coast.


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## Seasoned Oak (Feb 21, 2015)

Thats a nice looking stove, BK should update the looks of some of their other stoves from time to time,like the car companies do.


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## blueguy (Feb 21, 2015)

I'm a form over function guy, but if you get the performance with something that looks good, it's a win - win


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## drz1050 (Feb 21, 2015)

blueguy said:


> I decided to try and address the slight smoke smell that seemed to be coming from under the convection deck. I replaced my SBI flue thermometer due to the stem sagging from what I assume was from the high temps in my 1450 pre-key damper, so I re-purposed the magnet and "gasket" that shields the spring from the pipe to try this. The magnet is strong enough to hold the gasket to the stove top, so I pulled the cat probe, slid the gasket/magnet over and replaced the probe through the gasket.......
> 
> I'm happy to say the smoke smell is now gone



Any pictures of this?


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## blueguy (Feb 21, 2015)

Nope. Picture the round gasket and magnet sitting on the stovetop with the probe stem going down through them into the stove body as per normal. 

As I found out this year, the smell is coming from the top left of the door, so I think it was coincidence that the smell disappeared after putting these in


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## blueguy (Feb 21, 2015)

philupthegastank said:


> are most blaze kings around the $3,000 mark if you want to heat around 2,000 sq ft?



When I picked my Sirocco up last year, the King Ultra was only about $500 more.

FWIW, I'm heating just shy of a total of 2400 sq ft from a fully finished basement with this stove, ~1200 up, ~1200 down.


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## drz1050 (Feb 21, 2015)

blueguy said:


> Nope. Picture the round gasket and magnet sitting on the stovetop with the probe stem going down through them into the stove body as per normal.
> 
> As I found out this year, the smell is coming from the top left of the door, so I think it was coincidence that the smell disappeared after putting these in



Did you replace the door gasket/ did that fix the smoke smell? 
Don't currently have one, waiting on my Ashford 30 to come in.. all the smoke reports about this firebox are a little concerning.


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## blueguy (Feb 21, 2015)

I haven't shut it down yet to do it, and probably won't until the end of the season. The smell is not enough to concern me, so it can wait.


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## blueguy (Feb 21, 2015)

I should also add that it looks to me like one small section of the door gasket in that area is to blame, but there's no obvious sooting or other identifiable signs of seepage at all.


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