2015-2016 Blaze King Performance thread (Everything BK)

[jetsam]

I'm forever trying to pack every split of wood possible in a load to the point of searching for the perfect split to fill a certain spot in the stove. As a result I'm usually wearing a burn or two on my hands or wrist.

I've had a few pair of welding gloves but our Chocolate Lab is forever chewing the fingers out of every pair of gloves she can get ahold of. Inevitably, it will happen that she gets her chance so I just gave up on gloves for now.

Order a bottle of bitter apple spray next time you order some gloves. It should also be available at pretty much any pet store. Commonly used to make things taste nasty so dogs won't chew them. Get a durable chew toy like a nylabone too.. they'll still chew the nasty tasting gloves if they don't have a better choice.

 

[Jeff in Maine]

So the cat needs wood that is in the process of burning for it to have something to burn ie smoke? So if I am burning a bunch of coals and only coals is that bad for the cat like am I damaging it? I don't think that was ever explained in that way to me. Hopefully burning just coals is not harming my cat as I have done a bunch of that this winter.
So for next winter I will have some soft wood ready to use when the coals build up. I will drop a poplar and a Fir maybe, I have one in mind the wind took a few weeks ago.

 

[webby3650]

So the cat needs wood that is in the process of burning for it to have something to burn ie smoke? So if I am burning a bunch of coals and only coals is that bad for the cat like am I damaging it? I don't think that was ever explained in that way to me. Hopefully burning just coals is not harming my cat as I have done a bunch of that this winter.
So for next winter I will have some soft wood ready to use when the coals build up. I will drop a poplar and a Fir maybe, I have one in mind the wind took a few weeks ago.

You are in no way damaging the cat.

 

[Jeff in Maine]

ya know ,.... you just made a dumb Mainer very happy ha ha. It is new and I don't want to damage it is all. Thanks

 

[Woody Stover]

You are in no way damaging the cat.

And you want the bypass closed to make a longer path for the exhaust through the stove, so more heat can be extracted.

 

[Jeff in Maine]

yup I do

 

[Poindexter]

I don't think the cat is getting damaged by being hot and mostly idle. Just the house isn't as warm as it could be.

I do agree with woody better to keep the bypass lever over in the "cat engaged" position as much as possible.

 

[Highbeam]

I do agree with woody better to keep the bypass lever over in the "cat engaged" position as much as possible.

Me too! as long as the cat probe is above the active/inactive line (ignoring the reload char time) that bypass should be closed. Don't melt your bypass gasket retainers, keep the bypass closed as much as possible.

 

[begreen]

Are the bypass gasket retainers that fragile?

 

[jetsam]

Are the bypass gasket retainers that fragile?

I have wondered this too. I've seen BKVP say they could be melted by burning in bypass, but we forgot to put the cat in one time, and it burned half the load down with no apparent ill effects. (I haven't inspected them, but they still seem to work fine.)

 

[webby3650]

Ive seen a few Princess stoves with some warped bypass parts, nothing that compromised their function. The folks weren't shutting bypass until very late into the burn, if at all. I'm yet to see a damaged bypass retainer. Even if it did, they are very easy to change and won't be expensive.

 

[tarzan]

As I mentioned in another thread, I've forgotten to close the bypass and went to bed. No damage done.

Maybe I was just lucky. I still wouldn't do it deliberately but that was my experience with burning one time for about 10 hours with the bypass open.

 

[webby3650]

As I mentioned in another thread, I've forgotten to close the bypass and went to bed. No damage done.

Maybe I was just lucky. I still wouldn't do it deliberately but that was my experience with burning one time for about 10 hours with the bypass open.

It's not like these stoves are fragile. A one time event is very unlikely to do any damage. When there's damage, it's from repeated occurrences. Even then, its minimal.

 

[Highbeam]

Are the bypass gasket retainers that fragile?

There are bypass retainers which are just little clips that easily pop out. Then there is the biggy, the bypass gasket retainers that are welded in place and can warp. Sure, they can be replaced by a guy willing to grind out welds in the roof of the firebox and then overhead weld new ones in but that is a pretty big deal for most folks and certainly not something a dealer is set up to do.

I would call it the Achilles heel of this stove.

There have been posts on this forum from guys that have not been able to get a welder to do it so they used a bottle jack to bend them straight(er).

We know that this is a possibility and it is easily preventable so it is wise to remind members to keep it closed.

 

[webby3650]

There are bypass retainers which are just little clips that easily pop out. Then there is the biggy, the bypass gasket retainers that are welded in place and can warp. Sure, they can be replaced by a guy willing to grind out welds in the roof of the firebox and then overhead weld new ones in but that is a pretty big deal for most folks and certainly not something a dealer is set up to do.

I would call it the Achilles heel of this stove.

There have been posts on this forum from guys that have not been able to get a welder to do it so they used a bottle jack to bend them straight(er).

We know that this is a possibility and it is easily preventable so it is wise to remind members to keep it closed.

Wow, I've never seen this happen. I thought we've had some rough customers? Not that rough I guess!

 

[Highbeam]

Wow, I've never seen this happen. I thought we've had some rough customers? Not that rough I guess!

Scares me to think that I could hurt this stove, I really like it.

 

[webby3650]

Scares me to think that I could hurt this stove, I really like it.

You'll be fine..

 

[becasunshine]

Scares me to think that I could hurt this stove, I really like it.

Agreed.

 

[pvfjr]

Order a bottle of bitter apple spray next time you order some gloves. It should also be available at pretty much any pet store. Commonly used to make things taste nasty so dogs won't chew them. Get a durable chew toy like a nylabone too.. they'll still chew the nasty tasting gloves if they don't have a better choice.

My mom's dog actually likes the taste of that bitter apple spray. Go figure. He is a bit of a knucklehead, so it may work for most dogs.

 

[Heftiger]

The term "automatic thermostat" took on new meaning for my Ashford last night. It was forecasted to be a bitterly cold night, so I made sure the stove was stuffed full, set the thermostat to the 5 o'clock position and turned the fan kit to high. To my surprise, I woke up in the morning with wood still in the box, but not for the reason you would expect. The thermostat had wiggled itself down to the 3 o'clock position. Does anybody else have this problem? I was surprised when I got the Ashford that the thermostat moved so freely, my King had a little resistance to it.

Update on this for documentation sake:

We did receive a replacement thermostat. The new one was much stiffer than the old (insert wife joke here). There must have just been a problem with production on the old one. The date on the old thermostat was Oct 2015.

 

[showrguy]

What are the symptoms of too much draft ??
Reason I ask is, yesterday it got pretty warm here, 62 deg. F......Loaded the stove at 12 noon with oak, set t-stat at 3 oclock position..
Checked the stove @ 8 Pm last night and CAT was inactive, had plenty of coals/charcoal....Raked coals around, filled with Oak again...
This morning at 8;30, checked stove, pretty full of coals, CAT just under the line to inactive, open up, rake coals/charcoal around, (sparks flyin everywhere) close door. 10 min. later Cat happy again..reset t-stat to 3 oclock.
BK King Ultra, 30+ ft. 8" double wall+class A, straight run chimney...
Thoughts ??????

 

[Highbeam]

What are the symptoms of too much draft ??
Reason I ask is, yesterday it got pretty warm here, 62 deg. F......Loaded the stove at 12 noon with oak, set t-stat at 3 oclock position..
Checked the stove @ 8 Pm last night and CAT was inactive, had plenty of coals/charcoal....Raked coals around, filled with Oak again...
This morning at 8;30, checked stove, pretty full of coals, CAT just under the line to inactive, open up, rake coals/charcoal around, (sparks flyin everywhere) close door. 10 min. later Cat happy again..reset t-stat to 3 oclock.
BK King Ultra, 30+ ft. 8" double wall+class A, straight run chimney...
Thoughts ??????

If anything it sounds like you had too little draft.

 

[showrguy]

If anything it sounds like you had too little draft.

I was wondering the same thing, the more I thought about it...
Would warmer temps cause the draft to get "lazy"..

 

[Heftiger]

I was wondering the same thing, the more I thought about it...
Would warmer temps cause the draft to get "lazy"..

Exactly right. The larger the temperature differential the greater the draft. So if it was 20 degrees outside and 80 inside, you would expect excellent draft. If it was 70 outside and 75 inside, you would expect poor draft.

Here's a link to some information about the stack effect.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_effect

Edit: the way I'm describing is talking about the natural draft, without a fire. With a fire, you're comparing the flue gas temp to the outside air temp. If it's warmer outside, the temperature differential is less. Plus, if it's warm you've likely turned the stove down, which decrease the flue gas temps.

 

[robk]

Was a bit cooler last night so got to run the stove. Getting close to no-stove weather and in sad about that. What a fun winter it has been.