2014-2015 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[HotCoals]

HotCoals, carry on. I mean that sincerely and without irony. It's not your fault that I had a catalytic melt down (the most efficient kind!) It's my fault, truly.

I do completely understand geeking out about stuff and I do it too. (Oh, I could introduce you to some people who've had a LOT of patience with me when I geek out.) I went from theoretical to practical in 2.5 seconds without anybody in the world telling me to go there. Again, lack of experience talking.

I love my new stove. I don't want to break it. So I'm being neurotic like a first time mama.

Carry on, everyone.

P.S. Edited to tell HotCoals thank you again for your help as well.

It's a great stove and I would buy it all over again.

It shines in the shoulders and it heats great in the deep cold.

I was just trying to say go by how charred the wood is from a cold start rather then what the cat probe says as when to turn the air down for cruise. I close the by-pass way sooner then half to help heat the cat up faster.

The probe is affected by the stove top temp not that it matters but it is. When in a cruise turn the fans on and watch it drop.
After the wood is half gone there really is no gas left for the cat to burn so the reading of the probe is the stove top at that point..that's all.

Some BK owners don't want to hear that stuff. Like how the t-stat is really lazy and really is more a manual regulator of the intake air then it is a t-stat..but with experience with where to set it ..it works some.
The outside temp seems to regulate the burn good enough anyways.

I have had burns of 40 hours with enough coals to light off a new load in the shoulders .

In the deep cold and wind I always get at least 12 hours without much of a temp drop in my 2500sq.ft. two story hose that is reasonably tight and insulated.

It's a great heater that holds a lot of wood!

 

[becasunshine]

It's a great stove and I would buy it all over again.

It shines in the shoulders and it heats great in the deep cold.

We are already finding that it shines in the shoulders. Tonight really isn't cool enough in the house to light the stove- but that has everything to do with the fact that we lit the stove last night. Even though the wood was down to embers today, the stove radiated and kept the house warm enough all day long. It's still 72'F in here, hardly cold enough to light a wood stove.

I was just trying to say go by how charred the wood is from a cold start rather then what the cat probe says as when to turn the air down for cruise. I close the by-pass way sooner then half to help heat the cat up faster.

Ahh- I see now! The first couple of times I used the stove, I did wait until the thermometer temp hit high noon in the active cat setting before I engaged the cat- out of an abundance of caution about putting out the fire. That's Old School Wood Stove talking. I remember people reciting incantations and performing strange ritual dances trying to get and keep their old wood stoves started from cold. In fact, that was one reason why everybody's house was 100'F with windows opened and everything smelled like smoke and creosote during the Arab Oil Embargo in the 1970s. No matter if it's 32'F outside, or 12'F outside, or 52'F outside, NEVER EVER LET THE WOOD STOVE GO COMPLETELY COLD. BURN IT ON LOW FOR SIX MONTHS IF NECESSARY BUT NEVER LET IT GO COMPLETELY OUT BECAUSE YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE A SACRIFICE AND SELL YOUR SOUL TO GET IT RE-LIT. So I waited until that cat was good and ready before I closed the bypass. Of course by this time the heat was rolling off of the stove. A slower start definitely works for me with this stove.

It's amazing how easily this stove lights with dry wood. If closing the bypass heats the cat up faster, causing it to engage faster, I'm all for that. I love it that the wood we purchased in the spring is already so dry. The trees were felled between one and three years ago, and the logs were split immediately before delivery. I questioned the guy from whom we bought this wood to death about the dryness of the wood. He swore to me it would be ready in October and he was telling the truth! On the other hand, this wood is dry and it burns up quickly. Getting the cat engaged early will help us conserve fuel and wring the most btu's out of it.

The probe is affected by the stove top temp not that it matters but it is. When in a cruise turn the fans on and watch it drop.

We opted not to have fans on the stove. It's in an open area of the house and we don't really have to push the heat anywhere. If you go back in this thread you can see pictures of the stove with the HVAC return above it. (I can't remember who- it may have even been you!- commented on that.) Unlike our experience with our pellet stove in town, the HVAC return and fan really do help move the heat through the house. At least it seems to now. It will be interesting to see if I feel that way when temps are well below freezing outside and the heat is being moved through ductwork in the unheated portions of our house. But for right now that's working well. Anyway, we can't engage the convection fans to do that experiment because we don't have them- but I do understand what you are saying.

After the wood is half gone there really is no gas left for the cat to burn so the reading of the probe is the stove top at that point..that's all.

That makes sense.

Some BK owners don't want to hear that stuff. Like how the t-stat is really lazy and really is more a manual regulator of the intake air then it is a t-stat..but with experience with where to set it ..it works some.

I guess I always equated the thermostat (you are talking about the heat control knob on the back of the stove, right?) as a damper, and I've always understood the damper on any wood burning appliance as being not only an air control, but a heat control as well. More air = hotter fire. I do appreciate the design of the thermostat control though, and I like it that the "normal" range is marked. The visual helps me.

The outside temp seems to regulate the burn good enough anyways.

I don't understand this- please explain. Does it have to do with cold dense air? We don't have an outside air kit hooked to this stove. We have one on the pellet stove and I was adamant about having one on the Blaze King as well to increase efficiency. The stove shop owner talked me out of it, saying that we wouldn't need it. So far he's right (but I still wonder if we'll notice the air coming through the cracks in this new construction house when it's colder outside.) Do you have an outside air kit on your BK?

I have had burns of 40 hours with enough coals to light off a new load in the shoulders .

I could see that but I think our wood is too dry or I'm not turning the t-stat down far enough to get 40 hours out of this stove (yet.)

In the deep cold and wind I always get at least 12 hours without much of a temp drop in my 2500sq.ft. two story hose that is reasonably tight and insulated.

I am so looking forward to this. It gets gawd-awful cold here in the winter, with wind right off of the water. All indicators are that we are going to have another remarkable winter in this area. I could see myself coming here on winter weekends just to curl up by the wood stove. The pellet stove is nice but nothing, nothing compares to the bone warming heat of a wood stove! You have a King, right? We have a Princess to heat about 2000 sq. ft. I'll bet our winters, even though they can be harsh, are probably not as deep, as long or as cold as yours. The wind does get up to 60 mph right off of the water here in the winter though. Last year it froze the condenser in our gas furnace up solid where the drain exited the crawl space, and took the entire heating system off line. Thank God we arrived here in time to get it unfrozen and back online before we lost pipes. We could have used a wood stove that night for sure. It was 32'F to 33'F (depending on which thermometer one consulted) and the floors, walls and furniture had lost all of their stored heat. It took a full 24 hours for the furnace to raise the house temp to 65'F and honestly, I'm surprised we reached 65'F in 24 hours as cold as everything in the house was. We burned up a lot of expensive propane that weekend. =/ =/

It's a great heater that holds a lot of wood! <:3~

 

[Todd 2]

? for you guys. Been looking at the Sirocco 30 to replace the Summit and looking at the installation requirements they say 3 ft straight off the stove before any 90's and recommend two 45's all DWP from stove to thimble. I only have 5 ft from the floor to the center of the thimble however I do have 20 ft of 6" ridged insulated pipe that is in a tile lined chimney outside the house. The draft is constant even with a cold stove and will run the summit on low burn with the air shut pretty much off once warmed up.
How would you hook up the connection on a 30 ? try it like it is first ? This would not be a fun fix if the current thimble height would not work for the 30.

Thanks, Todd

 

[HotCoals]

No I don't have a outside air kit and most probably won't need one imo.

It seems the colder it is the more draft you will have which will regulate the burn more then you would think.
Temp differential between the inside and outside of your house is the reason.

 

[blueguy]

View attachment 142368 ? for you guys. Been looking at the Sirocco 30 to replace the Summit and looking at the installation requirements they say 3 ft straight off the stove before any 90's and recommend two 45's all DWP from stove to thimble. I only have 5 ft from the floor to the center of the thimble however I do have 20 ft of 6" ridged insulated pipe that is in a tile lined chimney outside the house. The draft is constant even with a cold stove and will run the summit on low burn with the air shut pretty much off once warmed up.
How would you hook up the connection on a 30 ? try it like it is first ? This would not be a fun fix if the current thimble height would not work for the 30.

Thanks, Todd

I have an SC30, and the manuals says min of 2 ft before the first bend, preferably 3. My first bend is at 24" off the deck if the stove and my Sirocco burns just fine. You may end up with some slight smoke spillage, but I don't think you'll have anything to worry about.

 

[jeff_t]

Reading all these posts almost had me convinced that the thermostat is very active, then HotCoals snaps me back to
reality I kinda want to by another thermostat assembly and eliminate the coil. Make it all solid, just to see how much difference it makes.

I gotta say, though, that my half-burned load of fuel has a lot left in it for the cat to burn. Not so much in cold weather when it's a half full box of glowing coals, but it certainly does this morning.

I know my stove is older, but how do I engage my cat? Mine is mounted solidly into the stove. It doesn't move.

 

[tarzan]

In my "very limited experience" I have noted my stove top thermometer dropping down to about 375f and then going back up to around 450f several times during a burn.

I can only believe that this is a result of the thermostat doing its job.

 

[HotCoals]

I can't advise you guys to take the cover off the t-stat to see for yourself but mine has been off for 4 years.
I'm not saying it doesn't work at all it does. Just nowhere as much as you would think.

 

[Todd 2]

I have an SC30, and the manuals says min of 2 ft before the first bend, preferably 3. My first bend is at 24" off the deck if the stove and my Sirocco burns just fine. You may end up with some slight smoke spillage, but I don't think you'll have anything to worry about.

Thanks Nick, at 2 ft off the top I would have to 90 deg ell straight into the thimble (as pictured on current stove) my chimney drafts good, so just trying to avoid any setbacks. Thanks, Todd

 

[tarzan]

I can't advise you guys to take the cover off the t-stat to see for yourself but mine has been off for 4 years.
I'm not saying it doesn't work at all it does. Just nowhere as much as you would think.

Mine says "do not remove cover" so of course I did.

Took the cover off while stove was cold just to get an idea of the mechanics. Thought about leaving it off but noticed the air would be somewhat pre heated by leaving the cover in place.

Figured this was intentional so I put it back.

I don't have any expectation that the thermostat would completely open or shut the draft but as long as it helps maintain a cruzing temp while we sleep that's good enough for me.

 

[webby3650]

I really don't understand all this talk about the thermostat not working well. It works fabulous! It's what sets this stove apart from others. I can't imagine trying to improve on it, much less dumb it down by removing the coil.

 

[tarzan]

I really don't understand all this talk about the thermostat not working well. It works fabulous! It's what sets this stove apart from others. I can't imagine trying to improve on it, much less dumb it down by removing the coil.

I'm with ya!

As I stated above, I don't think the thermostat was ever intended to completely run the stove. Otherwise, you could set the draft control at low ( if that's what you wanted) from a cold start.

I believe its to assist in maintaining a cruising temp.

Like a car, the cruise control can work fine but you still have to hit the gas to get up to speed and the brake to stop.

 

[HotCoals]

Just forget about it. You guys have it all figured out.


I never said it did not work. Just that it does not have all that much effect or you would not have to turn the air up to burn down the coals.
I have had mine off for 4 years and can see the thing .
The real magic is how the outside temps effect the burn..in a positive way.

Time to change the subject!

 

[tarzan]

Now wait a minute, I'm not saying I have it all figured out. In fact, I have made it clear through out this thread that this is my first year with the BK

I'm not even disagreeing with you that the thermostat will not run the stove, so to speak.

I'm only saying that from what I've seen so far, it will hold the stove at or near where I want it to run once I get it to that temp. As this is my first stove with a thermostat out of five, I'm loving it! I don't care that it won't open the draft all the way to start a fire or to finish a burn cycle. So long as it keeps holding a temp through the burn cycle.

This time last year I thought the thermostat WOULD completely open or close the draft. I even argued against a DS Machine stove with a thermostat because of it. I think you posted on that thread. I know better now and regret my argument.

 

[HotCoals]

Trust me it's more of a adjustment for the amount of the intake air. The stove cruises fine anyways without it moving. Most all stoves do even without a t-stat..lol

Look don't get me wrong I would buy the stove over again but not because of the stat. I have been all over this stove in the last 4 years and I know how it all works.
Leave the cover off and watch it for a few days. Having the cover off will not change the operation one bit.
just be careful putting the cover back so that the flapper does not get jammed...prolly should just leave it on..it don't matter really.
We really need to get off this subject..lol..

So,how good is your glass at staying clean?..lol.

Cheers!

 

[tarzan]

I have to say so far this stove has been the tamest stove I have ever run. I said in another post "it does what you tell it to do"LoL with the exception of the couple times I charred a stove full at once getting it up to temp on a cold start.

As for the glass, yell lol. There is a small hole I can peek through at the top but not much going on behind it anyway the wife is missing the action of the tube stove but not near as much as she is enjoying waking up to a warm house and not having to go straight from the bed to the stove.

 

[rdust]

Just forget about it. You guys have it all figured out.


I never said it did not work. Just that it does not have all that much effect or you would not have to turn the air up to burn down the coals.
I have had mine off for 4 years and can see the thing .
The real magic is how the outside temps effect the burn..in a positive way.

Time to change the subject!

It's not intended or designed to open back up as the stove cools. It's a simple bi-metallic thermostat, it has no way to open up past it's set point. I've said this before, I personally don't want it to burn my coals down for me. If I'm not around I want it to hold the coals as long as it can. If it opened as the stove cooled these stoves wouldn't get anywhere near the burn time they get.(I'm not aware of any modern stoves that opens the air as the stove cools) Mine works as it's intended, it regulates the burn until there is not enough fuel for it to keep the temp the same. I can sit here for hours and watch the stove go from dark to flames as needed to maintain my setting. It's not rocket science, it's a design that is darn near perfect for a wood burning application. In my opinion a wood fire needs a "lazy" t-stat, fires are slow to react to change and if the t-stat was too sensitive it would be a mess trying to regulate the fire.

If you run the t-stat at it's close point when the stove is cold(1 on my stove) it's obviously not going to open or do anything during the burn.

 

[webby3650]

I agree that the stat needs to be moved on occasion. My king didn't seem to need as much attention on the low end burns as the Ashford. But after having several tube stoves, I'd much rather bump up the air in the morning than add wood. Once the cold hits, the Ashford has nice clean glass!

 

[HotCoals]

It's not intended or designed to open back up as the stove cools. It's a simple bi-metallic thermostat, it has no way to open up past it's set point. I've said this before, I personally don't want it to burn my coals down for me. If I'm not around I want it to hold the coals as long as it can. If it opened as the stove cooled these stoves wouldn't get anywhere near the burn time they get.(I'm not aware of any modern stoves that opens the air as the stove cools) Mine works as it's intended, it regulates the burn until there is not enough fuel for it to keep the temp the same. I can sit here for hours and watch the stove go from dark to flames as needed to maintain my setting. It's not rocket science, it's a design that is darn near perfect for a wood burning application. In my opinion a wood fire needs a "lazy" t-stat, fires are slow to react to change and if the t-stat was too sensitive it would be a mess trying to regulate the fire.

If you run the t-stat at it's close point when the stove is cold(1 on my stove) it's obviously not going to open or do anything during the burn.

A guy that gets it for the most part.
It really does not do much at all period.

Reason being if it opened to much in the middle of a burn it could get crazy.

 

[becasunshine]

We really need to get off this subject..lol..

I like spaghetti.

Do any of you cook on top of your BK? I reheated dinner on top of ours the other night. Favorite recipe for stove top?

Cooking or otherwise, what's your favorite wood stove add on or accessory? I am rather partial to our PowerSmith ash vacuums. (We have one for the pellet stove as well.)

 

[Poindexter]

Can someone talk about the indicated temp on the cat probe and help me figure out how much of the indicated temp is from direct contact with the enamel cover on my Ashford versus how much of the indicated temp is "real"

It looks to me like with the stove in bypass there is very little airflow over the temp probe. I do see when I run from a hot or cold start up to the first little white tick mark out on the edge of the gauge that's about half a fingerwidth up into the active zone - and then engage- my cat lights right off and the indicated temp on the cat probe starts rising fast.

 

[tarzan]

Reason being if it opened to much in the middle of a burn it could

I like spaghetti.

Do any of you cook on top of your BK? I reheated dinner on top of ours the other night. Favorite recipe for stove top?

Cooking or otherwise, what's your favorite wood stove add on or accessory? I am rather partial to our PowerSmith ash vacuums. (We have one for the pellet stove as well.)

We have cooked many meals on our stoves over the years. We go for days to weeks without power in the winter so the ability to cook on our wood stove has provided us warm meals at times we would otherwise be eating Bologna sandwiches.

Cast iron cookware is the ticket when cooking on the wood stove!

 

[webby3650]

Most cat stoves have never had a cat probe thermometer. When the stove top was approaching 400/500 degree mark you closed the bypass and things went well. The BK made it even easier with active/inactive probe. I can't see how it would make any difference if the thermometer was being heated up from a little stovetop heat or from the cat itself. If the stove top is hot enough to move the therm into the active zone(which it won't have much effect since its a probe) then that means its hot enough to fire up and do its job.

 

[Woody Stover]

If closing the bypass heats the cat up faster, causing it to engage faster, I'm all for that.

I can't see how it would make any difference if the thermometer was being heated up from a little stovetop heat or from the cat itself. If the stove top is hot enough to move the therm into the active zone(which it won't have much effect since its a probe) then that means its hot enough to fire up and do its job.

Beca, I don't like to close the bypass until I'm sure the cat will light right away (cat probe will rise rapidly if the cat is burning.) My thinking is that if I have the bypass closed but the cat isn't burning, byproducts of combustion will be deposited in the cat. Sure, they will burn off when the cat lights, but will that leave ash stuck on the catalytic surface? I'm not really sure but I just like the cat to light right away when I start directing smoke through it. I figure that in the long run I'll have to boil out the cat less often in the distilled vinegar/distilled water solution. Then again, most cats probably never see a bath their whole lives. But some could probably be resurrected with a bath...
Like webby said, when the top insides of the stove are hot enough, the cat will light. I can achieve that with just the surface meter on the flue if I want to. I know that when warming the stove from a cold start, if I maintain a certain flue temp for a certain amount of time, the innards of the stove will most likely be hot enough so that the cat will light immediately when I close the bypass, and be glowing usually within a minute.

 

[HotCoals]

Most cat stoves have never had a cat probe thermometer. When the stove top was approaching 400/500 degree mark you closed the bypass and things went well. The BK made it even easier with active/inactive probe. I can't see how it would make any difference if the thermometer was being heated up from a little stovetop heat or from the cat itself. If the stove top is hot enough to move the therm into the active zone(which it won't have much effect since its a probe) then that means its hot enough to fire up and do its job.

One last time.

Right now I'm at the end of a 24 hour burn. There are just a few small pieces of wood left..mostly all coal.
But yet my cat probe is at 10:00. Now that is just from heat not from gas's being burnt by the cat.
All I'm saying is just because the gauge is in the active zone that alone dose not mean it is truly active.
I don't expect everyone to understand that but I thought you would.
But it makes no deference..burn away! Cheers!
.All is fine in the world!