2013-2014 Blaze King Performance Thread(everything BK)

[BKInsert]

Last night I had had the worst time getting the cat to light off. I've never had it happen before, not sure if we had a low pressure area above the house or what. The probe was in the active zone and rising, I closed the bypass and darn near snuffed out all the flames, opened the bypass back up and let the fire gain life back, closed it again and snuffed them out again, opened the bypass one more time and it finally stayed going after closing the bypass. The cat was bright and stayed red for a while before dimming out. The stove had a normal stove top temp this morning and no smoke out of the chimney.

Hopefully the load tonight goes better.

Wow this is strange! It amost sounds like the thermostat was closed...

 

[Rickb]

Wow this is strange! It amost sounds like the thermostat was closed...

If the thermostat was closed he would have had the same problem with the bypass open or closed. Sounds more like he had something blocked up in the cat.

 

[BKInsert]

If the thermostat was closed he would have had the same problem with the bypass open or closed. Sounds more like he had something blocked up in the cat.

What you say makes sense, but for some reason it does make a difference, maybe the bypass opening is larger so it pulls more air.

 

[Rickb]

That's interesting. I know my flames seem to act the same whether the bypass is open of closed as long as the thermostat is set to high. Maybe because mine is newish?

 

[rdust]

If the thermostat was closed he would have had the same problem with the bypass open or closed. Sounds more like he had something blocked up in the cat.

My first thought was a plugged up cat, I shined a flash light at it and the face was clean, not sure what the backside looks/looked like. I'm thinking the weather was goofy last night, we'll see how it acts tonight.

Wow this is strange! It amost sounds like the thermostat was closed...

I could hear the flapper opening and closing so I'm pretty sure it was working correctly.

This is my third season with the stove and it's never acted this way. Hopefully it was just a fluke!

 

[BKInsert]

Maybe you do have some ashes buildup or something on the other side of the cat? When was the last time you removed and cleaned the cat? I am on the third season and never removed it, just gently vacuumed it from the front, and then vacuumed from the rear through the top collar vent.
I was afraid that the seal that holds the cat would fall apart if I removed it. I wish I could remove the cat to inspect it completely, is it easy to replace the gasket? How much and where can one buy one? It almost looks like just masking tape but not sure if it is.

 

[jeff_t]

You have to replace the gasket if you remove the cat.
http://www.firecatcombustors.com/ACIG-2-p/sku_acig-2.htm

 

[PapaDave]

Last night I had had the worst time getting the cat to light off. I've never had it happen before, not sure if we had a low pressure area above the house or what. The probe was in the active zone and rising, I closed the bypass and darn near snuffed out all the flames, opened the bypass back up and let the fire gain life back, closed it again and snuffed them out again, opened the bypass one more time and it finally stayed going after closing the bypass. The cat was bright and stayed red for a while before dimming out. The stove had a normal stove top temp this morning and no smoke out of the chimney.

Hopefully the load tonight goes better.

Ok, I'm gonna be the one.......have you checked the wood?
Seriously though, I need to pay close attention to these BK posts, since I'll likely be an owner soon.

 

[Highbeam]

If the thermostat was closed he would have had the same problem with the bypass open or closed. Sounds more like he had something blocked up in the cat.

Whether you restrict the intake or you restrict the exhaust, the flow will be reduced. Flopping the bypass closed and forcing all exhaust through the cat is an added restriction that results in less combustion air to feed the fire. So for a given thermostat setting, opening the bypass will result in more air for the fire.Long ago some stoves were throttled by only a flue damper.

 

[HotCoals]

My first thought was a plugged up cat, I shined a flash light at it and the face was clean, not sure what the backside looks/looked like. I'm thinking the weather was goofy last night, we'll see how it acts tonight.



I could hear the flapper opening and closing so I'm pretty sure it was working correctly.

This is my third season with the stove and it's never acted this way. Hopefully it was just a fluke!

If it does it again look in the stove to see if there is much smoke...you might need a flashlight to be able to see through the glass though..lol.
I'm thinking you just didn't char the wood enough before closing down,I have done it.

 

[rdust]

Maybe you do have some ashes buildup or something on the other side of the cat? When was the last time you removed and cleaned the cat?

I have to pull the pipe to sweep the chimney so I always clean the backside when I do that. I had the pipe of not long ago, I've probably only run a 1/6 cord through the stove since then.

 

[rdust]

Ok, I'm gonna be the one.......have you checked the wood?

Cute really cute! Actually this is shoulder season wood so it's really not my best, it was css last summer so it doesn't have the time I like it to have but overall it's probably fine(meter confirms high teen/low 20's on big chucks I've re-split to test) If it acts up again I'll try some of my ash from the spring of 2010.

 

[nellraq]

Can't you pop the top off? I thought I read that the top could be somewhat easily removed should you need to cook on the top in a power outage. No tools but you'd probably want to let it cool a bit.

The convection plate is a solid piece...ie. the stove pipe goes through a hole cut in the plate. Otherwise, it looks like there are just 2 screws holding the plate onto the sides.
I ended up ordering a digital thermometer and a 6 foot cable with a thermocoupler on the end. I should be able to get the coupler and cable onto the stove top...so will soon be able to get accurate readings of stovetop temps.
Did I really have to do this---no---haven't had any problems with overheating. Just curious and want to know!

 

[BKInsert]

You have to replace the gasket if you remove the cat.
http://www.firecatcombustors.com/ACIG-2-p/sku_acig-2.htm

OK thank you! Is it self adhering and wide enough to cover the cat? Do I need to put more than one layer?

I see the width is perfect at 2"...

 

[HotCoals]

OK thank you! Is it self adhering and wide enough to cover the cat? Do I need to put more than one layer?

I see the width is perfect at 2"...

One layer of that worked fine on mine.
I used masking tape to hold it on..it just burns off.

 

[rdust]

CAT lit off just fine tonight, who knows what happened last night.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

rdust- could be one of those weird things that happens from time to time. I've had similar "odd" burns with Aspen, and the next day- no problems. Luckily, they are infrequent. See if it happens again in the next month.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

A different direction-
Who here has changed the by-pass gasket ?
If so, why? and how much of a bugger was it to change out?

 

[jeff_t]

A different direction-
Who here has changed the by-pass gasket ?
If so, why? and how much of a bugger was it to change out?

The hard part is finding 5/8" high density rope.

I've only done it on my sister's stove. Pretty basic, but I had to put new retainers in it, so I didn't have to clean out the old gasket. That looks like it might be a PITA.

 

[jeff_t]

OK thank you! Is it self adhering and wide enough to cover the cat? Do I need to put more than one layer?

I see the width is perfect at 2"...

Just one layer, and like hot coals said, secure it with masking tape. It should slide in pretty easy. The gasket expands when it gets hot, to make a good seal.

 

[HotCoals]

So would you guys agree with me if I said our BK's get a long burn because of very low air interring the stove in the low setting?
I think so and because of that less heat is going up the flue which to me means more is going into the room.
The more air coming into the stove may mean more heat going up the flue exponentially...pretty sure anyhow...lol.
The thing I'm surprised with is the low amount of crap in my pipes when i clean the flue. I only do it once a year and almost nothing to speak of.
My screened cap would not make it two seasons though without being cleaned.
The heat transfer rate on this stove seems to be very good also...even without the blowers on.

 

[Highbeam]

I have found that the princess dirties up my flue much more than my previous non-cat hearthstone. Easily double the volume of junk from the same flue, same house, same hearth, and same wood.

 

[aansorge]

A different direction-
Who here has changed the by-pass gasket ?
If so, why? and how much of a bugger was it to change out?

I did it this summer. Why? Because I was changing the door gasket, cat and cat gasket, and just decided to do it all. The most difficult part was scrapping out the old gasket, otherwise it was easy.

 

[privatejoker75]

6 weeks of 24/7 fire in our Chinook 20, finally let it die last night to clean the ash out.

Actually, i saved the embers in a pan and used them to light a "new" fire so technically i guess it's still the same fire going

 

[BKInsert]

6 weeks of 24/7 fire in our Chinook 20, finally let it die last night to clean the ash out.

Actually, i saved the embers in a pan and used them to light a "new" fire so technically i guess it's still the same fire going

Nice! How cold did the house get down to and how long did it take to come back to temperature?