2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[jeff_t]

When it's cold I load my king twice a day to keep my house at 70 I'm not surprised with gregs results

Yep. I fill it up at night, a few splits or uglies in the morning to make it to evening, if necessary. So far this winter, one big load + some junk have been enough.

Here's a question about the reloads. Often I come home to find the box all but empty but the stove still just in the active range. If I reload and immediately close the bypass door, it takes a heck of a long time for the needle to begin climbing (with the t-stat set to max). Should I be keeping the bypass open for a while as if the stove had gone inactive? Though it says it's active, the cat doesn't seem to light off right away. Usually after five or so minutes, it begins to climb.

Even if the cat probe is still well into the active zone, I still wait until the fresh load is well involved before I close the bypass. But then, I'll close it if it is not active, as long as I have a bunch of fire.

I don't pay strict attention to the gauges, if you can't tell. Just takes a little experience.

 

[tarzan]

Since we've been burning 24/7 it's been tricky to get just enough wood in the stove on that morning or in some cases, afternoon load, to last until bed time without going over.

I've ran a wood stove of some kind for much of the last 30 years and never thought I would be trying to judge how much wood I need to last ONLY 12 hours.

 

[Rossco]

Since we've been burning 24/7 it's been tricky to get just enough wood in the stove on that morning or in some cases, afternoon load, to last until bed time without going over.

I've ran a wood stove of some kind for much of the last 30 years and never thought I would be trying to judge how much wood I need to last ONLY 12 hours.

Same boat as us. I work 2 days - 2 nights so the load intervals have to be modified.

Am trying this 2.5 burn procedure and its eating the wood. All I have at the moment is a glob of yellow mass but she's putting out the heat for sure.

 

[tarzan]

Same boat as us. I work 2 days - 2 nights so the load intervals have to be modified.

Am trying this 2.5 burn procedure and its eating the wood. All I have at the moment is a glob of yellow mass but she's putting out the heat for sure.

Same boat as us. I work 2 days - 2 nights so the load intervals have to be modified.

Am trying this 2.5 burn procedure and its eating the wood. All I have at the moment is a glob of yellow mass but she's putting out the heat for sure.

I hear ya. It's been cold here at night and warming up to above freezing during the day so I guess you could say there's a day and night difference on how we run the stove

I've worked similar schedules as you, it sux!

 

[Poindexter]

I dunno for sure about hot relaods v- flue temp.

The first cord I burned this year I I would run the door open until my stack thermometer was up to a temp I knew gave me minimal creosote buildup, close the door, stay in bypass until up to the first white tick mark on the edge of the dial of the cat probe in the active range, than I ran on three / high for about an hour before chopping the thermostat back to 1, 1.5 or 2 for 10-12 hours.

After that first cord I brushed my stack again and got about 2 tablespoons of mostly dark brown dry crumblies out of the stack, with a very few scattered specks of shiny black.

Almost through my second cord of the season. What I have been doing this time is running in bypass with the door cracked until either the stack is warm or the cat is in the active range again, then close the door, switch from bypass to cat and then chop immediately to 1, 1.5 or 2. I have been keeping the stove hot enough that the cat is usually to the active mark again on the cat probe _before_ my stack thermometer is showing me the creosote free zone.

I figger is the cat is working well I shouldn't see much creosote buildup no matter what my stack temp is indicated. Should find out this weekend, I am about through the second cord of the season.

 

[Poindexter]

BEWARE the bio-logs that do puff up while burning. I got a local manufacturer of those, threw 8 in the stove this evening to see what would happen.

Holy cow. As the end got well lit it would puff up, fall off, and the the freshly exposed wood both on the fallen piece and the remaining log would burst into flame. Then a few minutes later a second hockey puck sized piece would fall off and both those freshly exposed surfaces burst into flame...

The directions - which I should have read sooner - said to only mix three bio-logs at a time with regular cord wood, and to load the logs parallel to the glass. I loaded up 8 at 5PM local, about 530 I set the smoke alarms off pulling a pile of burning hockey pucks out of the front of the stove that were leaning on the glass.

I chopped the thermostat down to one once I had all the weight off the glass, I suspect these will be burning a good long while.

 

[turbojoe]

I will be joining the dark side tomorrow Stopped by my local BK dealer to check out a Princess. I don't have room for a King and the Princess will fit in place of my newly installed PE TN19. The PE is a good stove if your there to tweek it all the time, just couldn't find a good mix of burn time and heat, while away.
I was kinda bummed when they said first of next year :0 They did say they had 1 in stock that was spoken for but the customer had not returned there calls for 2 weeks.
When i left the store i give them my number and said Cash tomorrow if you want that Princess gone. Well, cash is king... or should i say Princess...lol
I pick it up tomorrow. The learning curve starts over. I read all 35 pages of this thread, is that a good start

 

[Rossco]

I hear ya. It's been cold here at night and warming up to above freezing during the day so I guess you could say there's a day and night difference on how we run the stove

I've worked similar schedules as you, it sux!

Oh the weather here is all over at the moment. -26C then -5C the next day. It effects draft somewhat so all this 'Stove Rosta' jive goes out of the window.

I have a load running @ 2 for about 10hrs now and it's still very much alive and kicking. Two days ago that would have been a 6hr burn then coaling.

 

[Rossco]

I will be joining the dark side tomorrow Stopped by my local BK dealer to check out a Princess. I don't have room for a King and the Princess will fit in place of my newly installed PE TN19. The PE is a good stove if your there to tweek it all the time, just couldn't find a good mix of burn time and heat, while away.
I was kinda bummed when they said first of next year :0 They did say they had 1 in stock that was spoken for but the customer had not returned there calls for 2 weeks.
When i left the store i give them my number and said Cash tomorrow if you want that Princess gone. Well, cash is king... or should i say Princess...lol
I pick it up tomorrow. The learning curve starts over. I read all 35 pages of this thread, is that a good start

Good for you. Shame you couldn't have got the KING.

I did the same at the dealer, Brand new Ultra sitting there spoken for, I told them to phone the owner and ask if they wanted to let it go. Didn't happen. So 17 days later for my unit.

 

[turbojoe]

My boss will stop ripping on me now..lol. I work for a Catalyst Company, In the Aging and Durability test lab. I get paid to melt cats..lol
We just ran a set of Cats for 135 hrs @ 1030 C.. They were white hot :O I'll have to post a few pics.
Sorry to ramble and go a bit off topic...
I'll shut up and pay attn. now
Hope to fire her up Sunday !!

 

[tarzan]

My boss will stop ripping on me now..lol. I work for a Catalyst Company, In the Aging and Durability test lab. I get paid to melt cats..lol
We just ran a set of Cats for 135 hrs @ 1030 C.. They were white hot :O I'll have to post a few pics.
Sorry to ramble and go a bit off topic...
I'll shut up and pay attn. now
Hope to fire her up Sunday !!

Your JOB is to test CATS?

O'l, I doubt your straying off subject with that kind of info.

 

[Rich2343]

My boss will stop ripping on me now..lol. I work for a Catalyst Company, In the Aging and Durability test lab. I get paid to melt cats..lol
We just ran a set of Cats for 135 hrs @ 1030 C.. They were white hot :O I'll have to post a few pics.
Sorry to ramble and go a bit off topic...
I'll shut up and pay attn. now
Hope to fire her up Sunday !!

Turbojoe cool job.look foreword to the photos

 

[tarzan]

I will be joining the dark side tomorrow Stopped by my local BK dealer to check out a Princess. I don't have room for a King and the Princess will fit in place of my newly installed PE TN19. The PE is a good stove if your there to tweek it all the time, just couldn't find a good mix of burn time and heat, while away.
I was kinda bummed when they said first of next year :0 They did say they had 1 in stock that was spoken for but the customer had not returned there calls for 2 weeks.
When i left the store i give them my number and said Cash tomorrow if you want that Princess gone. Well, cash is king... or should i say Princess...lol
I pick it up tomorrow. The learning curve starts over. I read all 35 pages of this thread, is that a good start

Your going from a 2 cu ft tube stove to the Princess. I think you'll be happy Were you able to heat your home entirely with the PE?

Our Princess replaced a 2.3 cu ft non cat, and while it could heat our home just fine, to say it was more work than the BK would be an under statement.

 

[liquidskin]

just not getting the heat that I was expecting out of my princess insert. fully loaded last night about 10pm, cranked a bit past medium, this morning 5:30AM the upstairs is very low 50's, cat was very inactive and had nothing but ash and some coals left. stove is on the first floor of my bi-level and im using a fan at the bottom of the stairs to move the hot air upstairs.

finally getting a moisture meter this weekend, i just dont have a good feeling about this wood. ive personally seasoned it 6 months, since i moved in.. worried about what im going to find out.

 

[rdust]

just not getting the heat that I was expecting out of my princess insert. fully loaded last night about 10pm, cranked a bit past medium, this morning 5:30AM the upstairs is very low 50's, cat was very inactive and had nothing but ash and some coals left. stove is on the first floor of my bi-level and im using a fan at the bottom of the stairs to move the hot air upstairs.

finally getting a moisture meter this weekend, i just dont have a good feeling about this wood. ive personally seasoned it 6 months, since i moved in.. worried about what im going to find out.

Try closing the windows tonight! What were the temps on the main level where the stove is located, what type of stove temps are you seeing, what kind of wood are you burning? So many things come into play here. From what I've read here the inserts don't seem to heat as well as the freestanding stoves.

Last night I loaded the stove at 6pm with ash, it was 7* when I woke up, stove was 345* when I reloaded at 7 am with a stove full of coals. Stove room thermometer about 10' from the stove read 78*, hallway leading to the stairway was 71*. Last night I ran the stove with the fans on low and t-stat set on 1 3/4(bottom of normal zone). I'm heating just a touch under 2K.

 

[jeffsk7]

Question. Where is the fresh air inlet hole on a sirocco 30?

 

[jeff_t]

Question. Where is the fresh air inlet hole on a sirocco 30?

Middle, back of the stove, under the thermostat assembly. Between the blowers, if you have them.

 

[Parallax]

Hey, good news! My BK dealer came out to the house today. He agreed to add an extra 4 foot section of chimney. He said he'll have to fabricate a brace to hold it in high winds, which he'll attach to the roof eve. It won't be easy to get it up there. Said they would let me know when they have time and the forecast calls for no rain.

I don't think he's going to charge me for this. However, I'm having him do some additional work, essentially adding insulation to the water pipes under my house. That will be a full day's labor plus materials. Happy to do it though. We're bleeding a lot of heat from the hot water pipes as things are now. The house was designed for radiant heat. That has something to do with why the hot water lines aren't wrapped. Now that we're not using the radiant system, the pipes need to be fully insulated.

 

[liquidskin]

Try closing the windows tonight! What were the temps on the main level where the stove is located, what type of stove temps are you seeing, what kind of wood are you burning? So many things come into play here. From what I've read here the inserts don't seem to heat as well as the freestanding stoves.
Last night I loaded the stove at 6pm with ash, it was 7* when I woke up, stove was 345* when I reloaded at 7 am with a stove full of coals. Stove room thermometer about 10' from the stove read 78*, hallway leading to the stairway was 71*. Last night I ran the stove with the fans on low and t-stat set on 1 3/4(bottom of normal zone). I'm heating just a touch under 2K.

i'm going to try to get some data this weekend and will revert back. i unfortunately dont know the exact species of wood, i just know it to be "hardwood".

 

[jeffsk7]

Hey, good news! My BK dealer came out to the house today. He agreed to add an extra 4 foot section of chimney. He said he'll have to fabricate a brace to hold it in high winds, which he'll attach to the roof eve. It won't be easy to get it up there. Said they would let me know when they have time and the forecast calls for no rain.

I don't think he's going to charge me for this. However, I'm having him do some additional work, essentially adding insulation to the water pipes under my house. That will be a full day's labor plus materials. Happy to do it though. We're bleeding a lot of heat from the hot water pipes as things are now. The house was designed for radiant heat. That has something to do with why the hot water lines aren't wrapped. Now that we're not using the radiant system, the pipes need to be fully insulated.

Did you previously add more pipe already? I tested adding four feet and it seems to help draft a little better and have since ordered what I need for the permanent install.

 

[Parallax]

When they first put the stove in, they agreed to raise the pipe 1 foot by replacing a 3 foot section with a 4 foot section. That put us at 22 feet. Now they'll add another 4 foot section, bringing us to about 26 feet. More important than the length of the pipe is the fact that it will vent above the peak of the roof. I think the problem has been that the chimney is currently surrounded by trees on three sides and the roof on the fourth. Also, a neighbor's house is set back maybe 25 yards on that side of the house. He's our only neighbor but the chimney is about as close as it could be to his home.

Of course this is an experiment. We'll know if it works once it's done. We had wanted to try it out too but, as it turns out, putting it up is pretty much putting it up regardless of whether it's a temp job or permanent. Also, not fully secured it might not be safe, even if only for a day or two. We get some pretty big wind gusts.

 

[Doug Morford]

i'm going to try to get some data this weekend and will revert back. i unfortunately dont know the exact species of wood, i just know it to be "hardwood".

Hopefully it's a decent species. Hardwood/softwood is not necessarily a qualifier for good/poor firewood. Some of the least dense woods are hardwood. Hardwood/softwood only refers to the differences in water pathway structures within the wood.

 

[turbojoe]

Break in fire, this thing is amazing. I am getting nervous because i keep wanting to get up to f with the stove lol

 

[tarzan]

Break in fire, this thing is amazing. I am getting nervous because i keep wanting to get up to f with the stove lol

The hardest thing for me to get used to, after 3 winters with a tube stove, was the black fire box.

Every time I looked at the stove for the first few days my first thought was to run over and turn up the draft, even though the stove was pumping out heat.

 

[tarzan]

Hopefully it's a decent species. Hardwood/softwood is not necessarily a qualifier for good/poor firewood. Some of the least dense woods are hardwood. Hardwood/softwood only refers to the differences in water pathway structures within the wood.

True, but given the species of wood native to the NJ area I would think it more likely he has softwood thought to be hardwood