2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)#2

[JA600L]

Yes but our bks aren't warping parts. How about your is?

You're right that at high outputs the Woodstock hybrids are at their best.

So is this what I have to hear after being truthful and giving an honest review? None of the "slightly" warped items affected performance one bit. Easy fix.

Both are great stoves. Carry on.

 

[Wolves1]

Can somebody post a video of what BK burn looks like about 2 hours in?

 

[Tenn Dave]

So is this what I have to hear after being truthful and giving an honest review? None of the "slightly" warped items affected performance one bit. Easy fix.

Both are great stoves. Carry on.

JA600L - don't be discouraged. Your unbiased and impartial review has been appreciated by many members. Thanks.

 

[Calentarse]

Can somebody post a video of what BK burn looks like about 2 hours in?

I'll try to this afternoon/tonight with our Ashford. Standby.

 

[rdust]

Loaded up for tonight, expecting minus single digits for tonight.
View attachment 152679

Here is what things looked like this morning when I loaded this morning just before 8am.
Coal Bed

Stove Top Temp.


Indoor Outdoor Temp.



Stove load again for the day. Didn't mess around with this load, no soft maple.

 

[Wolves1]

I'll try to this afternoon/tonight with our Ashford. Standby.

Thank you

 

[Highbeam]

So is this what I have to hear after being truthful and giving an honest review? None of the "slightly" warped items affected performance one bit. Easy fix.

Both are great stoves. Carry on.

Come on guys, can't you take a bit of good natured ribbing? All stoves have plusses and minusses. My BK is ugly and some leak smoke I've heard. Black glass etc. Sheesh, I didn't mean to upset anybody.

 

[ambull01]

I also added a coil made of pipe and fittings to the firebox and heated my water that way during the winter. I ran that stove heating my water and all rooms evenly for 5-8 years. I can't see why we have a stove that burns 12-34 hours at a time but we can't heat water. Seems silly to me.

That would be awesome. What's stopping you from rigging up something similar with the BK?

Honestly the hardest part is leaving the darn loading door shut so the stove can do what it's designed to do.
You need one match and a bit of kindling for the first fire at the beginning of the season.
You need really dry wood. My local BK dealer has been beating the "16% per electronic gizmo" drum for as long as I can remember. I got some wood at 16%, and some at 12%. The BK manual for the Ashford 30 specifies 13% MC, the moisture meters that say BK on them are electronic gizmos with two pins sticking out one end. I ran a load at 20% just to see, I am burning my 16% stuff this year because it is good enough, and I am splitting next year's wood smaller than I did last year, I wanna see 12% or less in every piece I sample going into the shed this fall. It makes a difference- my install - my insulation envelope - etc.
NB: When I find a split in the shed that feels heavy for size, ie probably over 16% MC, those I am putting back out in the sun on the racks for another year.

Why do you have the loading door open? Are you like me and can't leave well enough alone? lol. I wish there's was an automatic mechanism to close the stove door. Came home a couple times and found my insert's door cracked open. Guess my wife couldn't get a fire to start and just gave up. It really unnerves me though because it could ignite while she's upstairs and a spark flies out. Goodbye house.

The really dry wood kind of steers me away from BK. I know most/all of the newer stoves require dry wood but 13% seems really low.

Yes but our bks aren't warping parts. How about your is?
You're right that at high outputs the Woodstock hybrids are at their best.

Stove fight!

 

[ambull01]

Come on guys, can't you take a bit of good natured ribbing? All stoves have plusses and minusses. My BK is ugly and some leak smoke I've heard. Black glass etc. Sheesh, I didn't mean to upset anybody.

Oh almost forgot! Just read about some cap build up issues. I thought the BKs were meant to do smoldering burns so why is there buildup?

 

[bobdog2o02]

Oh almost forgot! Just read about some cap build up issues. I thought the BKs were meant to do smoldering burns so why is there buildup?

If the cat can't burn all of the smoke it condenses on the cool screen of the cap. The problem mostly goes away if you remove the screen.

 

[Jags]

Yep - just checked. The title of this thread is:
2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)#2

It is an interesting and informative thread about ONE of the industry leaders in burn tech. Keep it that way. Disrupting the discussion with "My stove" or "My MFG" is better than yours will not be tolerated.

PM me with any discussions.

Please continue accordingly.

 

[ambull01]

If the cat can't burn all of the smoke it condenses on the cool screen of the cap. The problem mostly goes away if you remove the screen.

So if it's not burning all the smoke then how can BK claim to be the most efficient? Not trying to start anything, just curious. If the cat is unable to burn all the smoke and causes the cap to starts to gunk up that sounds like a real issue to me. Are you guys trying to squeeze every last bit of burn time out of it that's beyond BK's intent?

 

[Highbeam]

Oh almost forgot! Just read about some cap build up issues. I thought the BKs were meant to do smoldering burns so why is there buildup?

The BK does many things well but due to the low low flue temperatures that accompany high efficiency, condensation in the flue system is very easy. The cap is very cold and is the first place for this condensation to occur. In fact, my whole chimney needs annual sweeping due to the crunchy black junk that builds up during the burn season. Almost my entire burn season is burning at low outputs. This same chimney, same house, same wood, was much cleaner when I was using a non-cat.

I don't think anybody is clogging their cap, just the silly screen. That's not just a BK issue either.

 

[begreen]

Oh almost forgot! Just read about some cap build up issues. I thought the BKs were meant to do smoldering burns so why is there buildup?

The flue temps are cooler with the BK. If the flue run is long, or uninsulated, and/or exposed to exterior chimney cold temps, the flue gases are going to condense. This is why BK says their stoves should be installed with double-wall connector.

 

[rdust]

The really dry wood kind of steers me away from BK. I know most/all of the newer stoves require dry wood but 13% seems really low.

13% is silly low, none of my wood is that low and I've been on the 3 year + plan for years now.(single rows/top covered) I have no idea how people get their wood that low. I guess every environment is different.

 

[ambull01]

The BK does many things well but due to the low low flue temperatures that accompany high efficiency, condensation in the flue system is very easy. The cap is very cold and is the first place for this condensation to occur. In fact, my whole chimney needs annual sweeping due to the crunchy black junk that builds up during the burn season. Almost my entire burn season is burning at low outputs. This same chimney, same house, same wood, was much cleaner when I was using a non-cat.
I don't think anybody is clogging their cap, just the silly screen. That's not just a BK issue either.

Ah I see, that makes sense. Thanks

The flue temps are cooler with the BK. If the flue run is long, or uninsulated, and/or exposed to exterior chimney cold temps, the flue gases are going to condense. This is why BK says their stoves should be installed with double-wall connector

So there is a downside to BK stoves besides the initial price! BTW, you guys are great at explaining things at a dumbed down level I can understand.

13% is silly low, none of my wood is that low and I've been on the 3 year + plan for years now.(single rows/top covered) I have no idea how people get their wood that low.

Good to hear. Was starting to think I sucked at drying wood as much as planting veggies. Can't even get tomatoes to grow despite a concentrated effort yet my grandfather could throw half eaten ones on the ground and they would sprout.

 

[Poindexter]

ambull01 you got two questions for me that I recognized.

1. The way my dad taught me to do it was get the stove running good, then close the air intake and chimney damper as far as we could to keep it running pretty good, and then open the door every thirty minutes to stir stuff around and keep it running good. With my BK the drill is load it, get the cat hot, engage the cat and come back in twelve hours +/-.


2. MC of wood v- condensation in chimney is really two sides of the same coin.

In general (and I don't have results tabulated by model) the folks running wood at 20%MC and less aren't having any trouble. Folks running wood at greater than 20% MC -in general - are the ones having issues.

Yes, one of the combustion products of burning wood is water as a very warm vapor. But the less water you put in the fire box, the less vapor you have to deal with in the flue. If you got a bunch of water vapor in the stack the thing to do is run the stove a little hotter so the water vapor is still a gas when it exits the pipe.

If you run the stove low enough the water vapor condenses on the inside of the pipe instead of after it leaves the chimney.

My climate, my install, I have't seen an outdoor temp above zero dF in a couple months. It hasn't been above freezing since sometime in early November and probably wont get above freezing again until sometime in late March maybe. When my combustion gasses pass through my ceiling connector and then get through the blown in insulation up there I got a battle on my hands.

I don't know how much I have had to burn this year just to pump water vapor out of my stack before it condenses. I am deep into the fifth cord of the season and the only good news is January is over.

I can't quantify how much better my stove runs on drier wood. I can't tell you x number of BTUs or y minutes longer burn time. What I have in my shed is some larger splits of birch that were probably on the shady side of seasoning stacks. If they had been on the sunny side like some of their colleagues, they would probably be at 16%. But they aren't, they are at a pretty uniform 20%MC. I did collect enough of them in the garage to fill the stove once, loaded on hot coals and haven't knowingly put a single piece of wood that wet in the stove since.

The stove (my install) just runs better on 16%, and even better than that on 12%. You won't really know until you have tried it, or fly up with a stove load of your wood in your checked bag, I'll get a sleeping bag and plop you in the stove room for 24 hours.

Would you put 85 octane gas in a Corvette? The decal inside the fuel door says 92 octane only.

Out of eight cords seasoned last year I got maybe a face cord of larger birch splits at 20%. But I started the season with probably a cord of similar sized birch splits that were on the sunny side of the seasoning rack that went into the shed at 16%, and went up the chimney last month.

FWIW I get my wood that dry by splitting over the winter so that my wood is benefiting from every single moment the temp is above freezing. My wood is on pallets and my pallets are on cinder blocks. Covered on top once the spring thaw gets close. From about June 1 to about July 15 my wood pile gets 20 hours of direct sunshine daily. Can't see the cinderblocks because of the snowpack, but they're under there.

 

[ambull01]

ambull01 you got two questions for me that I recognized.

1. The way my dad taught me to do it was get the stove running good, then close the air intake and chimney damper as far as we could to keep it running pretty good, and then open the door every thirty minutes to stir stuff around and keep it running good. With my BK the drill is load it, get the cat hot, engage the cat and come back in twelve hours +/-.


2. MC of wood v- condensation in chimney is really two sides of the same coin.

In general (and I don't have results tabulated by model) the folks running wood at 20%MC and less aren't having any trouble. Folks running wood at greater than 20% MC -in general - are the ones having issues.

Yes, one of the combustion products of burning wood is water as a very warm vapor. But the less water you put in the fire box, the less vapor you have to deal with in the flue. If you got a bunch of water vapor in the stack the thing to do is run the stove a little hotter so the water vapor is still a gas when it exits the pipe.

If you run the stove low enough the water vapor condenses on the inside of the pipe instead of after it leaves the chimney.

My climate, my install, I have't seen an outdoor temp above zero dF in a couple months. It hasn't been above freezing since sometime in early November and probably wont get above freezing again until sometime in late March maybe. When my combustion gasses pass through my ceiling connector and then get through the blown in insulation up there I got a battle on my hands.

I don't know how much I have had to burn this year just to pump water vapor out of my stack before it condenses. I am deep into the fifth cord of the season and the only good news is January is over.

I can't quantify how much better my stove runs on drier wood. I can't tell you x number of BTUs or y minutes longer burn time. What I have in my shed is some larger splits of birch that were probably on the shady side of seasoning stacks. If they had been on the sunny side like some of their colleagues, they would probably be at 16%. But they aren't, they are at a pretty uniform 20%MC. I did collect enough of them in the garage to fill the stove once, loaded on hot coals and haven't knowingly put a single piece of wood that wet in the stove since.

The stove (my install) just runs better on 16%, and even better than that on 12%. You won't really know until you have tried it, or fly up with a stove load of your wood in your checked bag, I'll get a sleeping bag and plop you in the stove room for 24 hours.

Would you put 85 octane gas in a Corvette? The decal inside the fuel door says 92 octane only.

Out of eight cords seasoned last year I got maybe a face cord of larger birch splits at 20%. But I started the season with probably a cord of similar sized birch splits that were on the sunny side of the seasoning rack that went into the shed at 16%, and went up the chimney last month.

FWIW I get my wood that dry by splitting over the winter so that my wood is benefiting from every single moment the temp is above freezing. My wood is on pallets and my pallets are on cinder blocks. Covered on top once the spring thaw gets close. From about June 1 to about July 15 my wood pile gets 20 hours of direct sunshine daily. Can't see the cinderblocks because of the snowpack, but they're under there.

View attachment 152695

1) Sounds good. I like hands off operation.

2) The whole moisture in moisture out thing makes sense to me. If I lived in Alaska I would be one pasty dude. I wouldn't come out of the house all winter with those temps.

Actually I put 87 octane in a Corvette. Well technically it's a Cadillac with a Corvette engine lol. I have a CTS-V and it can run on 87. Not as much horsepower and torque as the better fuel though.

Firewood sounds like a full-time job for you.

Just got my electric bill. HOLY CRAP Time to take drastic measures. I'm disconnecting all the baseboard heaters. Going to set aside several weekends to upgrade insulation, I'll buy a big new honking stove to heat the house entirely with wood, etc.

 

[begreen]

And now back to the Blaze King topic of this thread...

 

[ambull01]

And now back to the Blaze King topic of this thread...

Excuse me, we're on topic lol. It says (Everything BK) in the thread title. We're talking about BK! Plus Corvettes.

 

[webby3650]

I was in elementary school at the time, my dad was all about learning how to do stuff.




Honestly the hardest part is leaving the darn loading door shut so the stove can do what it's designed to do.

You need one match and a bit of kindling for the first fire at the beginning of the season.

You need really dry wood. My local BK dealer has been beating the "16% per electronic gizmo" drum for as long as I can remember. I got some wood at 16%, and some at 12%. The BK manual for the Ashford 30 specifies 13% MC, the moisture meters that say BK on them are electronic gizmos with two pins sticking out one end. I ran a load at 20% just to see, I am burning my 16% stuff this year because it is good enough, and I am splitting next year's wood smaller than I did last year, I wanna see 12% or less in every piece I sample going into the shed this fall. It makes a difference- my install - my insulation envelope - etc.

NB: When I find a split in the shed that feels heavy for size, ie probably over 16% MC, those I am putting back out in the sun on the racks for another year.



I am not the only contributor to this thread who feels like I got my money's worth. If space aliens tractor beam my BK into the mother ship tonight I will go buy a new Ashford 30 tomorrow AM and try to get it installed before the oil furnace kicks on.

I'm with you! I don't think they are priced too high, they aren't too far off from other quality stoves.

I also don't buy the whole "they need wood that's perfect" crap. All stoves should have dry wood! I find my BK gobbles down wood that is less than ideal with no issues at all. Much easier to run with under seasoned wood than any non-cat I've used.

 

[bobdog2o02]

So if it's not burning all the smoke then how can BK claim to be the most efficient? Not trying to start anything, just curious. If the cat is unable to burn all the smoke and causes the cap to starts to gunk up that sounds like a real issue to me. Are you guys trying to squeeze every last bit of burn time out of it that's beyond BK's intent?

The whole thing with BK's and chimney crud....

Bk's run a cool chimney temp, this is because more heat is staying in the stove and getting pumped into the house. REGARDLESS of MC the products of combustion are CO2 and H20, this is why steam comes out the tailpipe of you car. When mixed with the unavoidable solid particulates of burning wood you get creosote, this situation is exacerbated by the lower flue temps that BK's run at. Install a double wall pipe and insulated liner with a BK and you SHOULD be A-OK in 99% of situations.

End Rant

 

[Calentarse]

Thank you

Ok, wolves did what I could this evening to get you a 2 hour in burn pic. They're smartphone crappy, sorry. If I get time this weekend and I'm home, I'll redo with a better camera.

Loaded on a light bed of coals around 630. Mostly all white oak with a piece of hickory in there. Gonna be in the teens tonight whick is very cold for us so I'm burning my hardest wood.


Then you'll see what it looks like now, almost 8:30. About 8 the stat shut and brought things to a halt as it's on 2.5 and the cat is almost at its max.

sorry on 2nd pic, can't open door cause sparks would fly everywhere at this point. Never hot reload around these parts...

 

[Wolves1]

Ok, wolves did what I could this evening to get you a 2 hour in burn pic. They're smartphone crappy, sorry. If I get time this weekend and I'm home, I'll redo with a better camera.

Loaded on a light bed of coals around 630. Mostly all white oak with a piece of hickory in there. Gonna be in the teens tonight whick is very cold for us so I'm burning my hardest wood.
View attachment 152721 View attachment 152722

Then you'll see what it looks like now, almost 8:30. About 8 the stat shut and brought things to a halt as it's on 2.5 and the cat is almost at its max.

soery on 2nd pic, can't open door cause sparks would fly everywhere at this point. Never hot reload around these parts...

Thank you. I have the regency ci2600 there are a lot of people that are complaining about getting only 4 hour burn time. I'm getting a good 8 to 9 hours of insert heating my house but it sounds like the bk stoves heat the home for longer time, I wanted to see what the burn looked like compared to the ci2600. Within two to three years I'm looking to build an extension on my house and wanted to put a free standing stove and I starting to think BK.

 

[Quentin2]

If you turn your flash off the glowing orange coals will at least show.