2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

[hack]

my ashford is supposed to be here monday!

question- i may have it at the house for a day or so before my install guy gets to me. i was thinking of firing it off outside to cure the paint, rather than stink up the house. what do you think? also, the manual doesnt give a break in process, it simply says burn at low for several hours to cure the paint, then just goes on with normal operation. my hearthstone break-in process was much more specific,i do realize that its a stone stove vs steel though.

thanks
brett

I've recently installed three new BK's and have done the initial firing in the house each time. There's a good amount of paint smoke initially but it disipates within several hours with no long term issues. No need to fire outside unless you can't wait to fire her up .

 

[shoot-straight]

I've recently installed three new BK's and have done the initial firing in the house each time. There's a good amount of paint smoke initially but it disipates within several hours with no long term issues. No need to fire outside unless you can't wait to fire her up .

of course i cant wait... really tough to pick up on that eh?

cold wx coming, so i would like to plug her in and go i would assume it would operate ok with a couple feet of pipe outside?

 

[jeff_t]

of course i cant wait... really tough to pick up on that eh?

cold wx coming, so i would like to plug her in and go i would assume it would operate ok with a couple feet of pipe outside?

I did okay with about 6'. Took a while, but took care of most of the stink.

With the steel firebox, I doubt that the break in process needs to be quite as involved as a pure cast stove. I'd say take it easy for a few hours, let it cool off, and it should be fine.

 

[Dhide371]

Wow an installer who does a first fire! Wish u put mine in! All my guys did was put a hole in my ceiling when he fell trough from the attic! Anyway. My stove set the alarms off in the house when curing, the smell was there for about a day or two. Gone now

 

[shoot-straight]

I'm no installer! I'm the homeowner! Just would like to pick up the stove myself and fire it off before he puts it inside. Not a fan of the offgassing.

 

[Dhide371]

Will think of that next time! Hopefully not a next time with this baby tho!

 

[wireedm]

I have been keeping our house comfortable with a Princess insert for 3 weeks today, non-stop. I've noticed that when I turn the fan speed all the way up when the cat temperature is very high, the room doesn't seem to get as warm as when the fan speed is on medium.

I'm sitting in the living room now with the stove 'stat set to about 3 and the cat temp pegged. It's 17 degrees outside currently. I had the fan speed set to high for about an hour and the room temperature stayed lower than I'd like so I reduced the fan speed to medium to confirm my suspicion. Now, about 30 minutes later, it is nice and toasty in the room. It's a fairly large living room area. I'm sitting far enough away and off to the side from the stove that I can't directly feel the air movement from the fan. So I can't say that it's the movement of the air that is making me feel cooler.

This doesn't make much logical sense to me. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Matt KH]

I'm looking at picking up the BK princess. I bought the fan but do I need to side shields?

 

[Highbeam]

The side shields on my ultra have nothing to do with the fans. All fan ducting involves the rear and top so no, side shields are not needed unless you have a side clearance issue.

 

[shoot-straight]

Follow up on break in.. not gonna have a chance to do it outside. Install tomorrow. Should I light it off full with wood, engage the cat and such but just keep it on a low setting? With my hearthstone I used small loads of wood at first so I wouldn't get it too hot.

Paint smoke? There is actual smoke? Or just that nice toxic smelling odor?

Very excited to say the least.

 

[Dhide371]

I had smoke and smell. I did what you said. Load it up and set it back. Open all the windows and just deal with the smell. I got used to it, it made me happy to know I was heating with wood! Either that or I was high from the fumes! Good luck!

 

[aansorge]

I have been keeping our house comfortable with a Princess insert for 3 weeks today, non-stop. I've noticed that when I turn the fan speed all the way up when the cat temperature is very high, the room doesn't seem to get as warm as when the fan speed is on medium.

I'm sitting in the living room now with the stove 'stat set to about 3 and the cat temp pegged. It's 17 degrees outside currently. I had the fan speed set to high for about an hour and the room temperature stayed lower than I'd like so I reduced the fan speed to medium to confirm my suspicion. Now, about 30 minutes later, it is nice and toasty in the room. It's a fairly large living room area. I'm sitting far enough away and off to the side from the stove that I can't directly feel the air movement from the fan. So I can't say that it's the movement of the air that is making me feel cooler.

This doesn't make much logical sense to me. What are your thoughts on this?

Don't run your princess that hard, you'll hurt her. If you can't get enough heat without pegging the thermo pegged you need to add heat some other way to help her out.

 

[HotCoals]

My probe will peg at times with the t stat on one even. I'm sure his could also. Just sayin'. Cheers!

 

[aansorge]

My probe will peg at times with the t stat on one even. I'm sure his could also. Just sayin'. Cheers!

While the fans are on?

Also, he is running it on 3, you're on one.

It sounds as though wireedm is running it too hard...does anyone disagree with this?

 

[jeff_t]

While the fans are on?

Also, he is running it on 3, you're on one.

It sounds as though wireedm is running it too hard...does anyone disagree with this?

New cat tends to run hotter for a few weeks or more. Also, he has an insert. The thermostat has dots instead of numbers, so '3' probably means more of a medium setting.

I also see pretty high cat temps at low settings and a fresh load. Not surprising, considering a smoldering load making lots of smoke. Little air in=little air out, which gives the cat plenty of time to do its job.

 

[HotCoals]

While the fans are on?

Also, he is running it on 3, you're on one.

It sounds as though wireedm is running it too hard...does anyone disagree with this?

Sorry I didn't notice he was on a higher setting but Like Jeff said his still maybe only at med.

I hardly ever use my fans so no. If i do use them it does effect the gauge.

 

[weatherguy]

Yeah with the insert he's still probably below half way, mine ran like that when new, the cat was easy to peg now its more controllable. I did notice I get the best heat with the blower on low-med, on high it seems to cool everything off too quick.

 

[HotCoals]

Yeah with the insert he's still probably below half way, mine ran like that when new, the cat was easy to peg now its more controllable. I did notice I get the best heat with the blower on low-med, on high it seems to cool everything off too quick.

Yep I concur.
When it gets below 10f outside i do use the fans on low and they do help then.
They will remove the heat from the steel so transfer can happen faster.

 

[aansorge]

Ok. I thought 3 was wide open throttle. Back to the regular scheduled program...

 

[wireedm]

Thanks for the input everyone.....Yes, 3 on my insert is still medium low. 5 is about half-way.

After a fresh refill, the cat-stat will peg even on low. After awhile it simmers back to about half-way. I'm just finding that even when the cat-stat is up, it seems to heat the room better on lower fan speeds. I was just wanting to get thought from others on this since I haven't had the insert long.

Does anyone have a general recommendation for the best thermostat/fan speed setting to get the most heat with a long burn time from red oak? I'm narrowing mine down to about 1.5. Yes, I realize this is a loaded question. lol

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks for the input everyone.....Yes, 3 on my insert is still medium low. 5 is about half-way.

After a fresh refill, the cat-stat will peg even on low. After awhile it simmers back to about half-way. I'm just finding that even when the cat-stat is up, it seems to heat the room better on lower fan speeds. I was just wanting to get thought from others on this since I haven't had the insert long.

Does anyone have a general recommendation for the best thermostat/fan speed setting to get the most heat with a long burn time from red oak? I'm narrowing mine down to about 1.5. Yes, I realize this is a loaded question. lol

As I recall, the manual tells you to match fan speed to stat setting. Do that. Too much fan cools too much and could be your problem.

 

[shoot-straight]

OK. Fiddling with my new Ashford. Read so many bk posts/threads my mind is jelly. I know my wood isnt perfect. It burned great in my tube stove. Breaking out super dry oak for this coming cold spell. Gonna buy a few wood bricks as well and throw a few in with my loads. Should help my wood some. Questions...

Near end of the burn on a lower setting cat probe sits right at the active/inactive line. No visible glow from cat. No smoke in chimney. Is that OK?

There will be more coming I'm sure.

 

[rdust]

Near end of the burn on a lower setting cat probe sits right at the active/inactive line. No visible glow from cat. No smoke in chimney. Is that OK?

There will be more coming I'm sure.

Yep it's fine, doesn't have to be glowing to work. Near the end of the burn there isn't much smoke for the cat to eat so it won't be doing much. If it goes inactive with unused fuel you may have the air set too low for your draft or wood quality.

 

[Matt KH]

What temp is the stove top on setting #2 on the princess

 

[rdust]

What temp is the stove top on setting #2 on the princess

Not usually a setting I run, if I guessed it would be over the 650 mark early in the burn. So many things come in to play with the settings though, draft, wood type, how it's loaded etc. It's hard to compare one setup to another.