2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[rdust]

Probably a question for BKVP or someone in the business(webby). I was wondering if ceramic combustor technology has changed/improved any in the past 10 years?

 

[SCOTT S.]

I have read on here about doing a dollar bill test on the bypass damper, but in the manual it doesn't mention that it just talks about hearing a click when it engages. The manual does mention the bill test for the door gasket. I did the bill test on the damper and failed but I do hear the click when engaging the damper, am I okay or not?

 

[kennyp2339]

I did the bill test on the damper and failed but I do hear the click when engaging the damper, am I okay or not?

I had the same issue a few weeks back, I elected to tighten down my damper, it took longer to unscrew the smoke pipe, I wasn't paying attention but you either need a 7/16 wrench or 1/2 wrench, loosen the top bolt (I gave mine a quarter turn) then slide the wrench down and tighten the bottom bolt (1/4 turn) tighten the top bolt to snug against the bottom, do the dollar bill test again. *Just my preference, I didn't clamp down on this, I made it tight but still when I pulled the bill there was movement, but more resistance on it than the first test to determine it need some tightening, I figure the metal on the by-pass plate will expand some once the stove starts to warm up, my stove was cold when I did the dollar test.

 

[showrguy]

How do you know when your CAT might need cleaning/vacuuming ??
Last night I loaded about 10;30 with locust and hickory, let the fire get established, closed bi-pass, let go awhile, eventually turning the t-stat to the 3;00 o'clock position, this morning at 9;00 am I had a buncha coals, and a stalled CAT...........Is this normal ??

 

[tarzan]

How do you know when your CAT might need cleaning/vacuuming ??
Last night I loaded about 10;30 with locust and hickory, let the fire get established, closed bi-pass, let go awhile, eventually turning the t-stat to the 3;00 o'clock position, this morning at 9;00 am I had a buncha coals, and a stalled CAT...........Is this normal ??

What is important, is this normal for your stove? Probably not. If wood has been ruled out as the culprit the next suspect for me would be a clogged cat. Unless it's awfull you should be able to take the flame shield off and wipe the cat clean with a soft brush. This won't take a minute to do then you can go from there. Another quick check would be the chimney cap. The screens are notorious for clogging and causing these symptoms.

Editing to say normaly I would check the cap first but since my cat was clogged recently after burning Hickory and I suspect the Hickory I would definately check and or clean both.

 

[showrguy]

What is important, is this normal for your stove? Probably not. If wood has been ruled out as the culprit the next suspect for me would be a clogged cat. Unless it's awfull you should be able to take the flame shield off and wipe the cat clean with a soft brush. This won't take a minute to do then you can go from there. Another quick check would be the chimney cap. The screens are notorious for clogging and causing these symptoms.

Editing to say normaly I would check the cap first but since my cat was clogged recently after burning Hickory and I suspect the Hickory I would definately check and or clean both.

Thanks for the reply there Mr. King Of The Jungle,
My cap does'nt have a screen in it, and I don't know if this is normal for my stove, since it's only been running since Jan. 9th...
Is it not recommended to use a shop vac with the soft brushy/bristle attachment ??
Stove is a king ultra btw. with 8" double wall and allfuel chimney straight up...
Thanks for anyone's thoughts..

 

[tarzan]

Yes. You can use a shop vac being careful to not be to vigorous. I just used an old paint brush to the face of the cat last time mine clogged with excellent results.

 

[showrguy]

Thank you..

 

[tarzan]

Thank you..

Three weeks would be a very short amount of time for your cat to clog if that is the problem. Didn't know that's how long you had ran your stove. You could have other draft related problems.

What o'clock thermostats settings have you normaly used and how did the stove react to them?

 

[webby3650]

How do you know when your CAT might need cleaning/vacuuming ??
Last night I loaded about 10;30 with locust and hickory, let the fire get established, closed bi-pass, let go awhile, eventually turning the t-stat to the 3;00 o'clock position, this morning at 9;00 am I had a buncha coals, and a stalled CAT...........Is this normal ??

So your stat was at the 3 o'clock setting all night?

After all night I often have an "inactive" cat, especially if I was running on higher settings. If there's no more smoke for the cat to consume it starts to cool off. It goes inactive because of lack of fuel, that's different than a stalled cat.

 

[showrguy]

Welp,
When it was colder I was running between 4 - 5;30 o'clock positions and it seemed fine........the Wifey would add to it early in the morning..
Last night I told her not to mess with it this am. cause I wanted to see what things looked like..
This stove is pretty awesome either way..
Oh, I should maybe mention that in the first few days of burning I did open the main door to reload without opening the bi-pass a handfull of times........did'nt know any better..

 

[showrguy]

So your stat was at the 3 o'clock setting all night?

After all night I often have an "inactive" cat, especially if I was running on higher settings. If there's no more smoke for the cat to consume it starts to cool off. It goes inactive because of lack of fuel, that's different than a stalled cat.

Yes Sir, All night @ the 3 o'clock spot....
I'll try it again tonight and pack it full(er)..lol
Thanks
Edit;; sorry if I used stalled instead of inactive, I've heard both terms and thought they meant the same thing..

 

[webby3650]

Also keep in mind that the cat is hyperactive for a little while when it's new and can be a little unpredictable. After a few weeks it settles down, this is very possibly what you are experiencing.

 

[jetsam]

How do you know when your CAT might need cleaning/vacuuming ??

Get a bright flashlight (or better yet a work light with a bright bulb in it) and look through the cat from the front. If the stove's cold, you can probably also turn the flash on your cell phone and take a nice closeup video of the cat for easy inspection.

Not sure you can do this in a King. With my Princess, there's a steel flame guard that just rests on a little ledge in front of the cat- lift that off and you're looking right at the cat.

Now that I'm thinking about this, I wonder if you could put a work light in a cold stove and close the bypass, and see light through the front of the cat.

 

[tarzan]

Webby is right. After I read 3:00 position and stalled cat I overlooked the stove full of coals part. I should have read your entire post better and also realized this was a new setup.

Hope you didn't get burned trying to clean anything

 

[webby3650]

My cat doesn't have any visible ash or plugging after an entire burning season, running 24/7. I really doubt you have an issue at all. It's just still new to you, there's a leaning curve.

 

[showrguy]

It' supposed to be really warm here on wed. I think I'll check it out then..
Thanks guys..

 

[pvfjr]

BTW, what's with "succinct"! I had to pull out the dictionary.

Nothing wrong with a little brevity, unless you're inherently loquacious.

 

[jetsam]

Nothing wrong with a little brevity, unless you're inherently loquacious.

Brevity is loquacity plus experience.

 

[showrguy]

My cat doesn't have any visible ash or plugging after an entire burning season, running 24/7. I really doubt you have an issue at all. It's just still new to you, there's a leaning curve.

I tried the same thing again last night, only I loaded it with all locust, this morning @ 10 I still had an active cat, and quite a bit of charcoal logs left on the sides..........12 + hrs. on 3 o'clock setting.....
Added 2 pcs. of fresh cat food, and she's good to go..

 

[Ashful]

Just another point of reference, my cat is always active after 12 hours on the 3 o'clock setting. In fact, it's usually active beyond 24 hours at 3 o'clock on the dial, with a 15 foot chimney.

 

[tarzan]

Just another point of reference, my cat is always active after 12 hours on the 3 o'clock setting. In fact, it's usually active beyond 24 hours at 3 o'clock on the dial, with a 15 foot chimney.

How often do you clean the ashes out of your stove's? I have found that cleaning out enough ashes to get that third row in, or at least a couple or three extra splits on top make a big difference on my burn times.

Are those figures with or without the blower running?

 

[Ashful]

I clean ashes once per week. I'm only getting two rows in the stove, since my splits are larger. The fan is on, with line on rheostat knob pointing at 9 o'clock.

 

[jetsam]

Now that I'm thinking about this, I wonder if you could put a work light in a cold stove and close the bypass, and see light through the front of the cat.

It was really warm today and I was off work! Swept the chimney (didn't need it, but by the time I found that out I was on the roof anyway...), vacuumed the cat, and answered the above question!

(Answer: Sorta, but a cell phone or inspection scope works better.)

 

[robk]

So we've been running our princess (insert) for a few months.

I have two questions. First is burn times. I'm averaging maybe 11-14 hours on a full load, mostly fir or madrone. Other than loading, we usually run on the lowest setting. I don't understand how you guys get such long burn times. Thoughts?

Second, and my main reason for posting: tonight I think something is wrong. I only threw in 2 logs this morning. I was running late (slept in) so I put in just a bit to keep the house warm in the morning or when everyone else got up. Before leaving I turned the stat down to low. I came home late this evening and the stove was a wee bit warm with a few tiny coals but well well below active. Rats. Hot reloads are so much more fun.

So I loaded up a load, got that fire going. Closed the bypass when the cat turned active. Waiting until the fire got going well and the cat got to about 1pm, and dropped the Stat to half, a few minutes later to low.

The flames didn't die out. The fire is raging on with not much of a discernible difference between the stat in high. Usually the flames quench in seconds. It has now been maybe 15 minutes.

Help?