2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

[rdust]

Interesting, when i called the rep at BK in Vancouver and told him about the centre cell, he sluffed it off as no big deal and said it probably moved during transit. When i told him it was straight a month before, he went silent. And it has moved more in the last 2 weeks. He never got back to me about it, or my door seal thats leaked since new. You would think these things would be built better for the price you pay! I am curious, anyone else with a BK could you have a look at your combustor sometime and just see if it has moved. Then i can have some backup info for Dennis at BK when i tell em to send me a new combustor!

I've read a report of another moving before, I think it was after almost 3 seasons of use. Moving shouldn't be hurting anything as long as all the pieces are still there with no leaks between ceramic and the frame. If I remember your stove is pretty new, the cat should have a 10 year warranty(?) so you can watch it for a while without worrying about it too much.

 

[Skidooer]

Great thanks for checking this out Chris!! Well i sent Dennis some pics a month ago and no reply. Maybe they didnt go thru, Dennis was very nice, so maybe they have gotten mixed up or something. chit happens, no big deal. Anyway, i bought a Blaze king King ultra last march. Model KEJ 1107 #WH-K 3475. Built in November 2012. Since day one the top left corner has leaked on the door. The rope has pushed/squished up and rolls off the flange when i shut the door. Sometimes its ok, but alot of times i get a light smoke smell in the house. I thought it was the stove pipe adapter, but after burning my nose doing a sniffer test, its definately the top left corner under the hindge. I am also goin to check the glass seal when i s/d for ash removal, maybe the culpret too. Noticed for the first time around Cmas that the CAT centre honeycomb was sucked in at the bottom 3/16", not flush with the rest. It has gotten worse, i checked it last night. And i did notice a slight blush smoke haze coming out on thursday, is was burning hot but not too crazy. Iam kinda afraid to push it too much with all the wind here lately.
I have called Urban Hearth many many times and the owner called me back once. With no help. So then i called Dennis... then i gave up! I understand everone is busy, but i spent alot of cash on this unit, and i expect it to work properly.

 

[Skidooer]

Good idea rdust

 

[BKVP]

Let me look into this when I return to my office is in 2 weeks I'll speak with Dennis on Monday and see if he has any input as well. It could be that the gasket that goes around the combustor has failed and it's causing or allowing the ceramic center block to shift that would not be such a difficult thing to address. As far as the door gasket is concerned that too is not difficult to address. Can you send me a picture of that gasket in the door?

Chris

 

[Skidooer]

Finally got a chance to get back online. Sent you the info Chris, thanks

 

[BKVP]

Finally got a chance to get back online. Sent you the info Chris, thanks

Thank you...will be in touch. I'm traveling in NJ and PA so I'll be busy but won't forget your combustor and gasket concerns.

 

[blueguy]

On another note, I pulled the trigger on a Sirocco 30 to replace my Napoleon 1450. The nearest dealer is ~2 hours away, so it's being drop shipped to my house from the distributor in Quebec. It should be here Monday :D

Looks like I'll be waiting another couple days - seems like a shipping time of 3 - 4 days across less than 1000 kms was a little too good to be true. Kinda sucks cause the Napoleon 1450 is sitting in my garage and we're on electric baseboards till the SC30 shows up

We've already noticed the change in the "feel" of the heat since letting the stove go out Saturday afternoon. Can't wait to get the bones of the house warmed back up

 

[PapaDave]

I'm waiting with you Nick.

 

[blueguy]

The Mrs. and I were starting to get excited last night about it arriving today, but it is what it is I guess. The dealer is in contact with the shipper, so I should have an updated delivery date first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[PapaDave]

Boy, it's a good thing you called, or I was gonna'.

 

[blueguy]

Boy, it's a good thing you called, or I was gonna'.

Well, looks like it'll be here Thursday sometime. Hopefully it's in before the snowstorm they're forecasting hits...

 

[PapaDave]

WOOHOO!!
Wait, that's 2 days away.
Oh man........
Excellent. Closer than you think.

 

[blueguy]

Yup, gettin' there. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait

 

[HotCoals]

Stove had a lot of coals when I came home tonight..raked them forward and put 3 smaller splits e-w in the back and gave her full air.

Man it rocked!
Burnt down the coals while the splits in the back kicked off some big time heat without flame beating on the cat.
The whole top of the stove was around 650..you could not get within 5' of it..lol.

 

[weatherguy]

Stove had a lot of coals when I came home tonight..raked them forward and put 3 smaller splits e-w in the back and gave her full air.

Man it rocked!
Burnt down the coals while the splits in the back kicked off some big time heat without flame beating on the cat.
The whole top of the stove was around 650..you could not get within 5' of it..lol.

that's how I do it too, I usually use a couple splits of pine, awesome heat while you burn down coals.

 

[HotCoals]

that's how I do it too, I usually use a couple splits of pine, awesome heat while you burn down coals.

Yeah. I usually a use a cup or three of pellets for the job but have done this a few times now and it works great with the splits in the back...I ran out of pellets ..lol.

 

[Missouri Frontier]

I just came across this picture and remembered that I forgot to post it. a little dirty but, she's pretty.

 

[alforit]

Update on the Ashford:

Been getting 24 + hour burns the past few days.................And today I surpassed my record and got a 29 hour burn. And that was with only 2/3 full load. Could have gone a couple more hours easily .....had plenty of coals on reload and house was at 75-76 degrees the whole burn......Outdoor temps in the upper 30's to low 50's..............It seems like its just getting better .....heh......,Amazing.
Awesome stove !

 

[Highbeam]

Update on the Ashford:

Been getting 24 + hour burns the past few days.................And today I surpassed my record and got a 29 hour burn. And that was with only 2/3 full load. Could have gone a couple more hours easily .....had plenty of coals on reload and house was at 75-76 degrees the whole burn......Outdoor temps in the upper 30's to low 50's..............It seems like its just getting better .....heh......,Amazing.
Awesome stove !

It's been a nice warm snap after a super cold snap. I'm on 24 hour cycles now too. The diesel pickup is much happier about starting up in the mornings too. I wonder how odd it is that we PNW folks get 13 degrees and blowing at 20 knots on one wednesday and then a week later 53 and sunny? The ground has thawed (frozen for a week) and now I have mud again.

 

[Zanimal]

My Ashford update:
Got 4' of extra chimney put on yesterday. The stove puts out a lot more heat now!
Last night I put it on 1.5 out of my max setting of 3 and the cat stayed active all night which is a big win!

The blower is also now on the stove. Unfortunately I find it too loud to use. The noise from the moving air is not that bad but there are other whirring noises which I cannot get over. The fan blades were very rough and had a lot of extra material hanging off of them which may be contributing. I guess it is that material for the high heat. I do not have a screw driver which can fit between the wall and the stove to mess with it.

I did use the blower last night but I will have to reserve judgment for how effective it actually is at producing additional heat. It seems that simply by removing the two back panels where the fan blows into has created extra convective surface which helps. The stove top is not getting anywhere near as hot as it was before yet the house is warmer. With the panels off I have not yet successfully steamed water on top.

It still seems like a pipe dream to get a 24 hour burn.
After 11 hours there was still a good amount of fuel left. But not enough even for another half a day. I thought there was more but when I turned the thermostat up it all collapsed into coals. My thermostat was on 1.5 and closes at 1 and I do not think that putting it much lower than 1.5 could sustain a burn with the cat in the active zone. Will have to test that.

We also put a probe thermometer through the double walled pipe. It was at 800 degrees after burning on high for about 15 minutes after a reload with the bypass closed.

I'm going to try some more compressed sawdust logs and a bunch of stuff that people had previously suggested. Will play with blower while I am out and at night to see how it does.

We are much happier campers now that our house is settling into the mid 60's.

 

[alforit]

My Ashford update:
Got 4' of extra chimney put on yesterday. The stove puts out a lot more heat now!
Last night I put it on 1.5 out of my max setting of 3 and the cat stayed active all night which is a big win!

The blower is also now on the stove. Unfortunately I find it too loud to use. The noise from the moving air is not that bad but there are other whirring noises which I cannot get over. The fan blades were very rough and had a lot of extra material hanging off of them which may be contributing. I guess it is that material for the high heat. I do not have a screw driver which can fit between the wall and the stove to mess with it.

I did use the blower last night but I will have to reserve judgment for how effective it actually is at producing additional heat. It seems that simply by removing the two back panels where the fan blows into has created extra convective surface which helps. The stove top is not getting anywhere near as hot as it was before yet the house is warmer. With the panels off I have not yet successfully steamed water on top.

It still seems like a pipe dream to get a 24 hour burn.
After 11 hours there was still a good amount of fuel left. But not enough even for another half a day. I thought there was more but when I turned the thermostat up it all collapsed into coals. My thermostat was on 1.5 and closes at 1 and I do not think that putting it much lower than 1.5 could sustain a burn with the cat in the active zone. Will have to test that.

We also put a probe thermometer through the double walled pipe. It was at 800 degrees after burning on high for about 15 minutes after a reload with the bypass closed.

I'm going to try some more compressed sawdust logs and a bunch of stuff that people had previously suggested. Will play with blower while I am out and at night to see how it does.

We are much happier campers now that our house is settling into the mid 60's.

WOO HOOO

Great news.
that's one step in the right direction.............Keep playing with it...... ....It takes some break in time and playing with all the variables of starting the fire and closing the bypass to setting the t-stat to setting the fan speed.

The fans on this BK are an integral part of its function and getting peak performance, especially when its cold outside......You will see ......Way to keep hanging in there man .... It gets better over time too.

I just got my fans a couple weeks ago and it made a huge difference when we had a cold snap with temps in single digits and wind chill on top of that.

11 hours of burn with a good amount of fuel left is good........and in the active zone on top of that .....YAY !

When you get into the shoulder season you will see even longer burns............I just got a 29 hour burn for the first time and have been trying for 2 months.........Hah !.............It takes some practice and stove breakin time.

Really happy for ya Zanimal !

 

[NVHunter]

Zanimal, how tall is you whole chimney system now? From stove top up?

 

[Zanimal]

The fans on this BK are an integral part of its function and getting peak performance

I think your right! I turned it to its lowest setting after the stove was keeping the room constant and the temp went up pretty quick! After all this time in a 50 degree house 68 is too hot

Zanimal, how tall is you whole chimney system now? From stove top up?

Chimney is now 19 ft from stove top. I do have a bend in it to get it a couple inches more away from the wall.
Everything seems to be working much better!
The stove is doing its funky catalytic magic and making us toasty!

 

[daleeper]

Great to hear that you are gaining on the heat zanimal. I have been playing with the speed control on my fans to gain heat while it was so cold, but in more normal weather, I keep the fan speed on low, mostly to reduce the noise. If you do not have a speed control on the fan, then get a router speed controller that will handle the amperage of the fans, and slow those fans down. All you need is a little bit of air movement to spread that heat around.

 

[Zanimal]

I have been playing with the speed control on my fans to gain heat while it was so cold

I find that with the fan on the thermostat cover is only warm to the touch.
While the fan is still too loud for me to have on all the time I bet that it is really going to help the thermostat operate properly at night.