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

[Dieselhead]

How do the higher btu woods react in a cat stove? I imagine the same as any other wood just longer burn times? Unless of course you run with the stat open with open flame but hey smoke is smoke as far as the cat is concerned right?

 

[Ashful]

How do the higher btu woods react in a cat stove? I imagine the same as any other wood just longer burn times? Unless of course you run with the stat open with open flame but hey smoke is smoke as far as the cat is concerned right?

Some woods cause the cat to run hotter than others. Some woods (eg. Walnut) can out-gas so rapidly at some point in the burn, that they can cause many stoves to back-puff.

 

[Dieselhead]

I have a lot of oak not much of any walnut that I know of

 

[BKVP]

I have a lot of oak not much of any walnut that I know of

All biomass has the same btus per pound. Some, like oak, are more dense than others, like cottonwood. That is why if you were to burn on low for a load of oak and then the same full load of cottonwood, the oak wood burn much longer.

I once took a King model and loaded it full and it held 90lbs of oak. The next load, full firebox was 55lbs, which was cottonwood.

With comparable moisture contents, fuels with a higher specific gravity are usually hardwoods.

 

[begreen]

Tom has a nice article on wood density and its heat value here:
(broken link removed)

 

[Ashful]

Shopping double-wall pipe for my Ashfords. They make two stove adaptors, one for stoves with collars which appears to have an overlapping outer, and another for stoves without collars which seems to have a truncated outer. Which would work and look best on an Ashford 30?

(broken link removed to http://www.rockfordchimneysupply.com/doublewallblack.php)

 

[webby3650]

Seems really silly to me. I use the same adaptor on all the stoves we install. If the stove doesn't have a flue collar, it's an insert! Or a dinosaur! That being said, either one would work. Some stoves don't accept a stovetop adaptor very well, the double wall pipe fits the flue collar much better than the adaptor, others yet don't fit either well, so other methods are necessary.

 

[Highbeam]

Seems really silly to me. I use the same adaptor on all the stoves we install. If the stove doesn't have a flue collar, it's an insert! Or a dinosaur! That being said, either one would work. Some stoves don't accept a stovetop adaptor very well, the double wall pipe fits the flue collar much better than the adaptor, others yet don't fit either well, so other methods are necessary.

I found the same, that you won't know until you try it or somebody else can tell you. You would think that these flue collars would be standard across all stoves but no. My cast hearthstone heritage would not take the appliance adapter, the collar was too big and the adapter would rattle around. The end of the double wall fit right in like a glove, awesome taper match up. The BK princess would not accept the double wall directly and needed an appliance adapter which fit pretty well after I ground out the weld blobs.

Realize that the non cast stove collar of the BK (is the ashford a cast collar?) has no taper so it is only sealing on one little ring at some point within the collar. You want that one little ring to be tight. Remember how draft sensitive these things are.

 

[webby3650]

I found the same, that you won't know until you try it or somebody else can tell you. You would think that these flue collars would be standard across all stoves but no. My cast hearthstone heritage would not take the appliance adapter, the collar was too big and the adapter would rattle around. The end of the double wall fit right in like a glove, awesome taper match up. The BK princess would not accept the double wall directly and needed an appliance adapter which fit pretty well after I ground out the weld blobs.

Realize that the non cast stove collar of the BK (is the ashford a cast collar?) has no taper so it is only sealing on one little ring at some point within the collar. You want that one little ring to be tight. Remember how draft sensitive these things are.

No, they do not have a cast flue collar.

 

[Ashful]

...you won't know until you try it or somebody else can tell you.

Exactly. Just waiting now for someone else to tell me.

 

[Highbeam]

Exactly. Just waiting now for someone else to tell me.

Ah, you'll need to be specific about the brand of double wall then. Sounds like Rockford is a supplier of pipe but what pipe? Then you'll either need to find someone that's put that pipe into an ashford or you'll need to assume that BK uses the same flue collar on all stoves which is likely a pretty good assumption.

 

[webby3650]

Exactly. Just waiting now for someone else to tell me.

Don't you have a local shop that sells pipe? You could buy an adaptor and then decide for yourself if it's needed, then return the leftovers.

 

[Ashful]

There's one local stove shop, but they're difficult to get to during store hours, very expensive, and never seem to have what I need in stock.

The local hardware stores all carry stovepipe, but it's cheap tinfoil-grade crap, compared to what I've always bought from Rockford. So, I was really hoping to go the Rockford route.

 

[begreen]

Home Depot carries DuraVent line of pipe. Their DVL is good double-wall stove pipe. Is there a HD near you?

 

[Ashful]

I used to pass HD daily, but not anymore. Closest is almost an hour round-trip, so not horrible, just a bit out of the way. I do pass them from time to time, so I can just put this on my list for then... but the one I used to pass daily would clear their shelves of all stove stuff in Feb/March, not to be replaced until September. Does yours stock stovepipe year round?

 

[tarzan]

Not sure what brand Lowes carries or if there's one near you but I did notice the local Lowes here had a very good selection of pipe and caps for this time of year. I was on a plumbing mission so didn't pay much attention beyond that.

 

[Ashful]

Will check Lowes this week. I wasn't impressed with the quality of the single wall they were stocking in 2012, so I never went back to look at their double wall, figuring it was probably the same low-grade stuff.

 

[kennyp2339]

Last fall I used the lowes single wall pipe to connect from the collar to the ceiling support box, I was out of time and money to order the double wall, it worked fine all season, it seems a little cheap, probably 26gauge material, no that the season is over, its time to buy the right stuff.

 

[webby3650]

Will check Lowes this week. I wasn't impressed with the quality of the single wall they were stocking in 2012, so I never went back to look at their double wall, figuring it was probably the same low-grade stuff.

They do stock low end stuff. It'll be Super-Vent. Entry level stuff that doesn't go together very well. I'm not a fan.. I don't think our lowes even keeps it in stock.

 

[Joe dirt]

Hey guys I've got a dilemma here and need some of you to chime in. I'm replacing my Napoleon 1400. I really feel a blaze king is what I need. I've been reading the threads on them and like what everyone has to say. The house is bungalow 1800sq ft plus the basement. Stove is in the basement and the 6" chimney is all outside. 15' to be exact. I was looking to get the king due to all the great reviews and long burn times. I talked to my installer and he really feels the king is "too much stove" for my house and is pushing the princess model instead.

If I did go with the princess my 6" chimney would not need to be replaced. The princess is $3200 for the ultra in black and $3800 for the king. I also called the other dealers in general area and all are the same prices. Would the king be too much stove? I don't want to have buyers remorse. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

 

[webby3650]

Hey guys I've got a dilemma here and need some of you to chime in. I'm replacing my Napoleon 1400. I really feel a blaze king is what I need. I've been reading the threads on them and like what everyone has to say. The house is bungalow 1800sq ft plus the basement. Stove is in the basement and the 6" chimney is all outside. 15' to be exact. I was looking to get the king due to all the great reviews and long burn times. I talked to my installer and he really feels the king is "too much stove" for my house and is pushing the princess model instead.

If I did go with the princess my 6" chimney would not need to be replaced. The princess is $3200 for the ultra in black and $3800 for the king. I also called the other dealers in general area and all are the same prices. Would the king be too much stove? I don't want to have buyers remorse. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Except for some extreme instances, the King will never be too much stove. They are so controllable, it's not really an issue like other stoves.

 

[Highbeam]

Hey guys I've got a dilemma here and need some of you to chime in. I'm replacing my Napoleon 1400. I really feel a blaze king is what I need. I've been reading the threads on them and like what everyone has to say. The house is bungalow 1800sq ft plus the basement. Stove is in the basement and the 6" chimney is all outside. 15' to be exact. I was looking to get the king due to all the great reviews and long burn times. I talked to my installer and he really feels the king is "too much stove" for my house and is pushing the princess model instead.

If I did go with the princess my 6" chimney would not need to be replaced. The princess is $3200 for the ultra in black and $3800 for the king. I also called the other dealers in general area and all are the same prices. Would the king be too much stove? I don't want to have buyers remorse. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

You are trying to heat 3600 SF from a basement in Canada. The King will NOT be too much. Stove dealers often don't understand how a stove as big as the king, or even the princess, can be set to only emit a small amount of heat.

 

[begreen]

If you go for the King you will need to change the chimney. If you go for the Princess you may still need to add some chimney to improve draft. There is a chance that that is why the Nappy underperformed. Well that and a 2 cu ft stove is too small to heat that amount of sq ft in Canada.

 

[Joe dirt]

If I go with the king would 15' be enough pipe or would I need more. And if more what's a good number?

 

[begreen]

It will be close for either stove with 15' and two 90 deg. turns slowing down draft. The minimum spec for the King is 12' of 8" pipe. You may do ok if you can provide about 3 ft of vertical rise before the elbow to the thimble. It's worth a try, the King uses different tech than the Napoleon. Just be prepared to add another 2-3 ft if you find draft insufficient.