No you can't remove the shields. For 1 it would be ugly , second your air control passes through the right side shield. That would have your air control dangling out in space without any reference as to what setting the stove is on.
2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)
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kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
HarvestMan
Burning Hunk
I was under the impression that one of the great benefits of the BK is the ability to minimize radiant heat by burning low. Since the burning of smoke/gases is isolated mostly in the cat area, I would think most of the radiant heat would come from this area. Isn't this the reason for the convection deck to help distribute that heat better. From what I have read, even my non-BK stove will radiate heat mostly from the top when burning low; to get higher radiant heat from the entire stove I would need to increase the amount of flame in the box. I assume this is the same for the BK.
They come with the stove and are removable but the ultra was only tested with sideshields so removing them removes the UL/EPA listing and there are no published minimum clearance to combustible distance. It becomes a modified stove.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
OMG this day after day of 24 hour burns is killing my OCD.
I come from work, switch to bypass, open the air control, go get some wood, load the stove, leave the door cracked till it catches good, close the door. Engage the cat, wait an hour, turn it down to half, wait 30 minutes, turn it down to low, come back tomorrow after work.
I feel like must be missing something... but overnight lows in the 30s with daytime highs in the 40s will be in my rearview soon enough.
I come from work, switch to bypass, open the air control, go get some wood, load the stove, leave the door cracked till it catches good, close the door. Engage the cat, wait an hour, turn it down to half, wait 30 minutes, turn it down to low, come back tomorrow after work.
I feel like must be missing something... but overnight lows in the 30s with daytime highs in the 40s will be in my rearview soon enough.
So you're getting day after day 24 hour burns with softwoods? Good deal. I can use your schedule for our entire 9 month burning season since your temp description describes the bulk of our burn season temps.
blueguy
Feeling the Heat
I decided to finally add some stone veneer behind the Sirocco and to rework my connector pipe to try and gain some height before the first bend.
When I installed the Sirocco two years ago, I had roughly 24" to the first bend. By swapping out and rearranging a couple pieces, I now have ~33" from the stove top to the first bend. I kept the damper on the pipe to slow things down a bit during the Nor'Easters that blow through. To keep the first turn at 33", I had to keep the stove as close to the corner as I could - I have 4" from the corners to the stone.
The day after original installation:
![[Hearth.com] 2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/161/161967-53726ed2d4e7c64ee0e680f9353d31e6.jpg?hash=FDC8UgRgVK "[Hearth.com] 2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)")
With the stone added:
![[Hearth.com] 2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/161/161968-93b0f99d023da8d6734bae417ead4be5.jpg?hash=F93q25kK1A "[Hearth.com] 2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)")
![[Hearth.com] 2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/161/161969-fb57dd6a6cd4d097234632b9cddd7a09.jpg?hash=ia18xtTy7t "[Hearth.com] 2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)")
I also changed out the bypass gasket, the cat gasket and the door gasket. I think I maxed out the bypass adjustment last season and the gasket seemed pretty flat. Putting the new one in wasn't too hard, just needed to contort my hands to scrape the gasket cement the factory used to install it. I also added a little anti seize to the latching mechanism - it's smoooooooooth now [emoji1]
I changed the cat gasket because I noticed a couple times last season that the cat had "walked" itself about 1/4" out of its housing, which led me to believe the gasket was damaged or had disintegrated or something. I've read the BK cat gaskets expand slightly for a snug fit - I'm hoping that the cat stays put this year. The cat itself had a lot of ash in the cells - I vacuumed it and it looks a lot better now.
Lastly, I pulled the door gasket to see if I could find the source of the smoke smell that has been mentioned in other threads. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) there was no trace of creosote or staining anywhere along the glass retainers or under the door gasket. What I did notice though, was that the underside of the door gasket in the area of where the air wash hits it on the hinge side had the same discolouring as the topside. Not sure how that would happen, but I changed out the door gasket and I will fire it up on Sunday evening when the temps are due to dip into the low 40s here to check everything over.
When I installed the Sirocco two years ago, I had roughly 24" to the first bend. By swapping out and rearranging a couple pieces, I now have ~33" from the stove top to the first bend. I kept the damper on the pipe to slow things down a bit during the Nor'Easters that blow through. To keep the first turn at 33", I had to keep the stove as close to the corner as I could - I have 4" from the corners to the stone.
The day after original installation:
With the stone added:
I also changed out the bypass gasket, the cat gasket and the door gasket. I think I maxed out the bypass adjustment last season and the gasket seemed pretty flat. Putting the new one in wasn't too hard, just needed to contort my hands to scrape the gasket cement the factory used to install it. I also added a little anti seize to the latching mechanism - it's smoooooooooth now [emoji1]
I changed the cat gasket because I noticed a couple times last season that the cat had "walked" itself about 1/4" out of its housing, which led me to believe the gasket was damaged or had disintegrated or something. I've read the BK cat gaskets expand slightly for a snug fit - I'm hoping that the cat stays put this year. The cat itself had a lot of ash in the cells - I vacuumed it and it looks a lot better now.
Lastly, I pulled the door gasket to see if I could find the source of the smoke smell that has been mentioned in other threads. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) there was no trace of creosote or staining anywhere along the glass retainers or under the door gasket. What I did notice though, was that the underside of the door gasket in the area of where the air wash hits it on the hinge side had the same discolouring as the topside. Not sure how that would happen, but I changed out the door gasket and I will fire it up on Sunday evening when the temps are due to dip into the low 40s here to check everything over.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
We're suppose to have some low 40's Sunday night, I may have to do a 1 load fire to start the season, I'm a little excited / a little disappointed at the same time, I was hoping to not lite the stove until October, but it is what it is, I might as well enjoy it.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
Yup. 15' 6" of flue, collar to rain cap. I have burnt some birch this year but, prefer spruce for burns like this when it's on top of the stack. Haven't started the fan kit on the back of the Ashford yet this year, just using the box fan on the floor down the hall by the bedrooms.
blueguy
Feeling the Heat
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
drz1050
Minister of Fire
Is that real stone veneer, or the engineered stone stuff? How'd you mount it? Looks good!
blueguy
Feeling the Heat
It's real stone. I used thinset mortar to mount it. It came in 6" X 24" pre made panels, so it was super easy to lay [emoji4]
Did you thinset it directly to the painted drywall or did you put cement board up first? I only ask because its a better practice to use a mastic product on drywall for that application and to set it onto unpainted drywall. The layer of paint you attached to can pull off in large sheets especially if you rolled the paint on too thick or didnt use a really good primer.
Best way of doing it is thinset onto cement board thats been screwed to the studs. Beautiful work and I hope it stays put for you for a long time!
Best way of doing it is thinset onto cement board thats been screwed to the studs. Beautiful work and I hope it stays put for you for a long time!
blueguy
Feeling the Heat
How far into active on the thermometer is safe on an Ashford 30? Also is a stove top thermometer necessary? Sorry for all the new guy questions.
The "active" range is just that, a range. So any place on the range is safe. When it's new the cat will tend to run on the high end of the range, it will settle in eventually and rarely hit the high mark.
A stove top thermometer is not going to work well because of the convection top.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
I'm not so sure that a stove top meter is very effective even on the non-convection top models like the princess. The super hot cat is sitting right there in the middle and everything else is cooler. I have a STT meter but it is the meter I cold most live without. Flue temps and cat temps are helpful.
HarvestMan
Burning Hunk
Checked out the BK King and Princess models at a dealer not too far away. Was hoping to get a look at an Ashford 30, but they did not have any on the floor. Was able to play around with a demo version of the auto damper and to look over the stove internals (well, at least what you can see from the firebox). Took a few pictures, but they did not turn out. The King model makes my stove seem almost toy like in comparison. Really like the deep firebox and the front loading would make N/S loading nice. Dealer confirmed the great long burn times but pointed out that one really needs to balance the duration to heating needs. I told him I was heating 2400 sf and he suggested the King over the Princess for this size home (of course he pointed out every home is different). Asked him about customer experiences regarding burn times and he said most used a 12 hour burn cycle during the bulk of winter to get the needed heat but could do 24 hour burns when less heat is needed.
He showed me a Regency stove that he said was built to compete with the King. It is a hybrid version as it has burn tubes in addition to cat. Said it was rated for up to 30 hours vs. the King's 40. Most of the other stoves he had could not come close to burn times. He said one manufacturer's idea of burn time was when the stove body was at least 1 degree warmer than the surrounding air temperature (not sure which stove and did not ask).
What interested me most about the stove was the air supply tubes at the top of the fire box of the Princess. It wasn't at all clear to me how these functioned; would like to understand how they distribute the air between the cat chamber and air wash of the stove. Would love to see an "alien autopsy" of the internals of the stove to see how it all works. For those with King and Ashford models, do they all share the same air distribution internals (two tubes at top of firebox leading from center air intake) as the Princess?
He showed me a Regency stove that he said was built to compete with the King. It is a hybrid version as it has burn tubes in addition to cat. Said it was rated for up to 30 hours vs. the King's 40. Most of the other stoves he had could not come close to burn times. He said one manufacturer's idea of burn time was when the stove body was at least 1 degree warmer than the surrounding air temperature (not sure which stove and did not ask).
What interested me most about the stove was the air supply tubes at the top of the fire box of the Princess. It wasn't at all clear to me how these functioned; would like to understand how they distribute the air between the cat chamber and air wash of the stove. Would love to see an "alien autopsy" of the internals of the stove to see how it all works. For those with King and Ashford models, do they all share the same air distribution internals (two tubes at top of firebox leading from center air intake) as the Princess?
blueguy
Feeling the Heat
There is no dedicated air supplied to the cat. The air tubes feed the air wash at the top of the door opening, which is where the combustion air comes from [emoji4]
Right and those tubes run up there in the top of the firebox so that the air inside of them is preheated before actually entering the firebox. They are 2" diameter and the thermostat opening that feeds them is usually closed to a hole the size of a dime so the air has lots of time in those tubes to heat up.
No separate air feed to the cat. Your car's cat probably doesn't have an air feed either.
HarvestMan
Burning Hunk
I find this all very interesting. My old Hearthstone Harvest had a bimetallic controlled air supply for the cat and I know the WS IS has some kind of bimetallic controlled air supply for the cat, yet my WS Fireview and the BKs do not have a separate air supply mechanism for the cat. Makes me wonder why one group thinks it is needed and the other does not.
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