2012-2013 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

[HotCoals]

I hope you don't mind a tip in this thread.

When I'm burning coals down in the evening(raked forward full air) I'll sometimes put 2 or 3 cups full of pellets onto the coals...leave the air full on and bypass closed..seems to bring the cat up to temp before the actual load.

This will heat my stove up fast if it's cooling to much and it seems to make the coals burn down faster.
Also if you want throw another cup in just before you load to help the load take off.
It will take some experimenting but that always intriguing and fun right!
I go through maybe 2- 40 lb bags a season.

Burn on brothers!

 

[rdust]

Has anyone experienced smoke smell when they turn their stoves down to low?

I've noticed at times when I turned down to low I'd get a slight smoke smell around the stove top around the pipe. It's never bad enough to stink up the room or house but has annoyed me at times.(I'm surprised I haven't burnt my nose or face sniffing around the stove top) I notice it to be worse when I have the convection deck on and the blower running. My thought was when the blower was running with the deck on the blower air going under the bottom of the double wall pipe creates a vacuum and pulls some stink out of a leaking joint. I've also considered it coming from the hole for the cat probe.

Tonight I pulled the cat probe out and put a magnet over the probe hole and the stink is gone. I'm not sure if I'm just being mental or if it has actually fixed the annoying issue. Do you think my wife would be annoyed if I woke her up to smell the stove top?

 

[weatherguy]

We both have the insert. Will be interesting to see how long of a burn you get. I think you always do better than my burn times.

I got 12 with the first load, I can get a bit longer but with a big house if I need the heat I have to turn the tstat up which lowers my burn time.
What temp is your cat when your burning with the blower on, Im usually in the 1000-1200 range, no matter where its at once the blowers on it settles in that range depending on what kind of wood Im burning. I know the freestanders are usually in the 1600+ range, mine will do that without the blower on.

 

[Todd]

Has anyone experienced smoke smell when they turn their stoves down to low?

I've noticed at times when I turned down to low I'd get a slight smoke smell around the stove top around the pipe. It's never bad enough to stink up the room or house but has annoyed me at times.(I'm surprised I haven't burnt my nose or face sniffing around the stove top) I notice it to be worse when I have the convection deck on and the blower running. My thought was when the blower was running with the deck on the blower air going under the bottom of the double wall pipe creates a vacuum and pulls some stink out of a leaking joint. I've also considered it coming from the hole for the cat probe.

Tonight I pulled the cat probe out and put a magnet over the probe hole and the stink is gone. I'm not sure if I'm just being mental or if it has actually fixed the annoying issue. Do you think my wife would be annoyed if I woke her up to smell the stove top?

I don't have a blower but I have smelled some smoke on occasion on warmer days. I think my situation is more due to negative pressure in my basement. According to my sniffer it's coming from the stove collar and pipe connection.

 

[nate379]

Has anyone experienced smoke smell when they turn their stoves down to low?

I've noticed at times when I turned down to low I'd get a slight smoke smell around the stove top around the pipe. It's never bad enough to stink up the room or house but has annoyed me at times.(I'm surprised I haven't burnt my nose or face sniffing around the stove top) I notice it to be worse when I have the convection deck on and the blower running. My thought was when the blower was running with the deck on the blower air going under the bottom of the double wall pipe creates a vacuum and pulls some stink out of a leaking joint. I've also considered it coming from the hole for the cat probe.

Tonight I pulled the cat probe out and put a magnet over the probe hole and the stink is gone. I'm not sure if I'm just being mental or if it has actually fixed the annoying issue. Do you think my wife would be annoyed if I woke her up to smell the stove top?

Mine will let a wisp or two if I turn it down sorta quickly. From the change in draft I guess?

 

[Todd]

Here's my fire box after about a months worth of burning. The cat is clean as a whistle, no fly ash anywhere.

 

[Highbeam]

Could be a picture of my stove too Todd. Right down to the colors and thickness of the creo accumulation, eerily similar. Even the crushed SS bracket thing up by the cat.

So what does a clogged cat look like? Will we be able to see it on the face of the cat?

I had to reload today on top of a quarter full firebox. It got into the twenties last night and the low low setting allowed the house to drop to about 70 in the stove room. Not good enough for a saturday morning, just turning up the stat didn't have a good enough or fast enough effect since the remaining fuel was spread out and ashed over. Everything went well except the smoke spillage and we're back up to mid 70s.

 

[Todd]

So what does a clogged cat look like? Will we be able to see it on the face of the cat?

It will start with fly ash sticking to the face and eventually start plugging the cells. It shouldn't happen with good wood and good burning habits.

 

[Todd]

Could be a picture of my stove too Todd. Right down to the colors and thickness of the creo accumulation, eerily similar. Even the crushed SS bracket thing up by the cat..

What crushed SS bracket? Nothing looks crushed to me.

 

[steve19]

Hi everyone,

I thought i'd jump in and add my comments.

I purchased my BK princess last year and had a challenging time learning how to tame it. My stove is in the basement and I could not find the correct temperature setting to comfortably heat my home. Fortunately, what changed everything was purchasing the fan kit this year. I've been able to maintain a comfortable temperature of 70-72 during the day with the temperature setting at 2 and the fans running on low. I easily get 16+hour burns on temperature setting 1. I burn pine, which is a soft wood, but the burn times are still great.

Another issue I had last year was the moderate amount of creosote build up in the chimney, which required several sweeps during the winter season. I related this to the continuous low burns at setting 1. I'm changing it up this year and burning the stove hot (setting 3) more regularly during re-loads, so this should reduce the creosote signfiicantly. We'll see what happens.

I live in Northern Canada where the winter months hit lows of -40 degrees celcius, so this stove is perfect. All in all, i'm very pleased with my BK Princess. It was a great purchase.

 

[HotCoals]

Steve,
Just make sure the moisture content of that pine is no more then 25%,20% would be way better.
I'm sure you're getting the cat up to temp before closing the by-pass..that is key in keeping the creosote down imo..other then MC.
Get her good and hot on reloads.
I myself don't like to close the by-pass till the cat probe reads at least halfway.
That said I don't like to see flames beating on the cat much either.
Happy burning!

 

[Highbeam]

What crushed SS bracket? Nothing looks crushed to me.

Look under the cat, that SS bracket that supports the flame shield. There are two nuts that hang down into the firebox holding the bracket on. In your photo and on my stove, the installer tightened those nuts until the bracket crushed. Not catastrophic but careless all the same. Really, these stoves seem to be put together pretty well.

 

[Monosperma]

I've got an older model BK King. Once you close the loading door, the bypass closes, automatically. There is no option to have the loading door closed and the bypass open. When starting, and when reloading, you have to have the door and the bypass open while the wood catches (that's the only way to have enough air to get the wood burning), but before long at all the stack temp rises and the door has to be shut so it won't go nuclear. I do this at about 500 or 550 stack temperature (single wall, surface reading, 18 inches above the stove top), that is, right before the thermometer indicates overfire. The door gets closed, the bypass gets closed (automatically), and the combustor gets hit with quite a bit of rather hot smoke and gas. Once closed, the stack temp starts dropping immediately, and the combuster temp (probe thermometer) starts its slow climb. Once in a while the fire goes out at this stage, but you can tell this pretty fast because the stack temp drops fast and the cat probe won't budge.

 

[HotCoals]

I've got an older model BK King. Once you close the loading door, the bypass closes, automatically. There is no option to have the loading door closed and the bypass open. When starting, and when reloading, you have to have the door and the bypass open while the wood catches (that's the only way to have enough air to get the wood burning), but before long at all the stack temp rises and the door has to be shut so it won't go nuclear. I do this at about 500 or 550 stack temperature (single wall, surface reading, 18 inches above the stove top), that is, right before the thermometer indicates overfire. The door gets closed, the bypass gets closed (automatically), and the combustor gets hit with quite a bit of rather hot smoke and gas. Once closed, the stack temp starts dropping immediately, and the combuster temp (probe thermometer) starts its slow climb. Once in a while the fire goes out at this stage, but you can tell this pretty fast because the stack temp drops fast and the cat probe won't budge.

Wow never heard of that deal with a BK..interesting.

 

[murphsprin]

I just got my new princess clasic up and running was wondering were is the best place for my stove top thermometer. I have check with my IR gun and it seems to read the hottest between the cat prob and the flue. but the convection deck is in the way

 

[steve19]

Steve,
Just make sure the moisture content of that pine is no more then 25%,20% would be way better.
I'm sure you're getting the cat up to temp before closing the by-pass..that is key in keeping the creosote down imo..other then MC.
Get her good and hot on reloads.
I myself don't like to close the by-pass till the cat probe reads at least halfway.
That said I don't like to see flames beating on the cat much either.
Happy burning!

My pine has been seasoned for 2 years and is bone dry. Last measurement was around 18%. I often wish I had hard wood to make the burn times last longer.

 

[Todd]

I just got my new princess clasic up and running was wondering were is the best place for my stove top thermometer. I have check with my IR gun and it seems to read the hottest between the cat prob and the flue. but the convection deck is in the way

I just watch the cat probe most of the time but I also check things with my IR gun once in awhile. Seems my hottest temps are right around the cat probe, probably best to place your thermo right in front of the cat probe.

 

[Todd]

Going on 16 hours burning a full load of Oak at #2. Pumps out a ton of heat and had flames for a good 6 hours, glass also stayed clean. I didn't think it would burn this long burning this hot, was shooting for a 12 hour burn. Guess I'll have to load a little less wood or burn even hotter to find that 12 hour schedule.

 

[David Tackett]

I am currently in the market for a used stove and I am trying to locate a Buck Model 91 or a Blaze King, but there just seems to not be any Blaze Kings in my area. The closest dealer is in Tn. and I am in KY. I don't think they are sold here much, with North Carolina being so close to Ky, Buck pretty much has a lock on this area.

 

[evilgriff]

Welcome to the forum Rick, evilgriff has one. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/first-thoughts-on-my-new-bk-sirocco.92546/#post-1214420

Rick, I have the new Sirocco, pedestal model. Still not cold enough in NJ to run at full throttle, but hey, tons and tons of future firewood as far as the eye can see. I have yet to fill the stove to attempt a 20hr burn. 10 hrs seems easy- my old intrepid II was difficult to get to 8hrs, this works for 10 without thinking. Price was steep but I already know that the cost will be offset with less wood usage and handling- don't even have to ask the wife to refill it when I'm away- that alone makes it priceless. Pedestal ash pan is huge. I have fans/convection deck- I won't be using the fans, I can tell already. My house is only 1000 sq ft, and this thing puts out enough heat to bake a cake if it is sitting on my livingroom couch. Glass gets a bit dirty but cleans up nicely. Cat easy to control, easier than the intrepid. No visible smoke when cat engaged. It looks ok, not nearly as cute as the Intrepid, but it's a much better design. I think if it fits your application you would like it. I bought the stove for heat and efficiency, not looks. I am very happy with my purchase.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Question about low burns and controlled burns:

• On a low burn, what is the stove top temp at?
• What type of burn time with an active cat would you receive from the Princess and King with the stove top at 400-500 degrees throughout the burn cycle?

 

[Todd]

Question about low burns and controlled burns:

• On a low burn, what is the stove top temp at?
• What type of burn time with an active cat would you receive from the Princess and King with the stove top at 400-500 degrees throughout the burn cycle?

I like to run my 24 hour burns at 1.5 and the stove top starts out at around 600 right around the cat and ends up around 250-300 when it's time to reload. The stove top fluctuates as the t-stat opens and closes so I'd say the stove top right at the cat averages at about 400 for a 24 hour burn for me. You can see a big difference in temps the farther away you get from the cat area. If you keep flames in the box like I did the other day the whole stove gets hotter not just the top.

I've never had to burn any lower than 1.5 but I bet if I shut her down all the way with a full load of Oak or Black Locust I'd get close to the 40 hour burn. I've done 33+ at 1.5.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I like to run my 24 hour burns at 1.5 and the stove top starts out at around 600 right around the cat and ends up around 250-300 when it's time to reload. The stove top fluctuates as the t-stat opens and closes so I'd say the stove top right at the cat averages at about 400 for a 24 hour burn for me. You can see a big difference in temps the farther away you get from the cat area. If you keep flames in the box like I did the other day the whole stove gets hotter not just the top.

I've never had to burn any lower than 1.5 but I bet if I shut her down all the way with a full load of Oak or Black Locust I'd get close to the 40 hour burn. I've done 33+ at 1.5.

What are the temps on the side of the stove and the glass during the low burns?

 

[Highbeam]

I just got my new princess clasic up and running was wondering were is the best place for my stove top thermometer. I have check with my IR gun and it seems to read the hottest between the cat prob and the flue. but the convection deck is in the way

I also have the convection deck and can tell an obvious greying of the paint above the cat assembly. I don't think that stove top temps are really important with this stove, I actually took the stove top meter off because it wasn't of much value. With a non-cat, the fire and the whole top of the stove gets hot but these low and slow cats aren't like that only a hot spot.

Since the cat is the only thing that gets hot you have a single hot spot that is probably most accurately measured by the cat temp probe instead of a surface temp measurement.

So I monitor flue temp with a probe, cat temp with a probe, and room temp. The real Feedback loop though is stat setting vs. room temp.

 

[Todd]

What are the temps on the side of the stove and the glass during the low burns?

About 100 degrees cooler on the sides never measured the glass.