2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK) Part 2

[Highbeam]

Intentional?

From what I understand those retainers melt out like a fusible link to save the rest of the stove. The smoke will puke up the chimney instead of through the cat.

But maybe I'm crazy!

 

[begreen]

Lots of noncats. Even my old hearthstone if you don't want a long burning cat.

But not steel.

 

[Ashful]

Intentional?

From what I understand those retainers melt out like a fusible link to save the rest of the stove. The smoke will puke up the chimney instead of through the cat.

But maybe I'm crazy!

Not crazy. BKVP stated the same, earlier this year. This melting feature may make them difficult to make as a bolt-in (if they're getting hot enough to melt, imagine the condition of the hardware after they 'fuse'!), but it appears BK has done it on the new 25 series fireboxes. If they end up reworking the 30 design in similar fashion, and make it so the new damper can be swapped into an old stove after failure, that would be fantastic.

Even without replaceable gasket keepers, I think I'd rather replace my damper door, than deal with grinding out and welding in new keepers. Is it not possible to just swap this door after a retainer failure?

 

[Highbeam]

Not crazy. BKVP stated the same, earlier this year. This melting feature may make them difficult to make as a bolt-in (if they're getting hot enough to melt, imagine the condition of the hardware after they 'fuse'!), but it appears BK has done it on the new 25 series fireboxes. If they end up reworking the 30 design in similar fashion, and make it so the new damper can be swapped into an old stove after failure, that would be fantastic.

Even without replaceable gasket keepers, I think I'd rather replace my damper door, than deal with grinding out and welding in new keepers. Is it not possible to just swap this door after a retainer failure?

I haven't had my head inside the new 25 insert box to see how the retainers bolt in but I could imagine bk just using the same old gasket retainers and holding them in with nuts and bolts rather than a welder. Bypass door unchanged. Yes, I've thought of how hard it might be to drill holes in my cat chamber to install the new style retainers.

Really, my gasket still seals, the melting I've experienced is out by the welds. I will most likely leave it alone.

Stove is running so very well right now that I'm in la la land.

 

[huauqui]

Glad this worked!

 

[Highbeam]

So far so good. I've been running low output 24/7, tested up to 50% on the stat, seldom ever need higher.

I wonder if months of very dry, clean, emissions will convert the goopy junk in my chimney to something easier to clean?

 

[kf6hap]

You should have burnt a "creosote log" to convert it while the cat was out. I guess the cat could be blocked off with a piece of sheet metal.

 

[Highbeam]

The goop is just the cap. Whether the cat was working or not, my flue temps were always above 400 so I feel pretty good about the main chimney. Was burning it like a conscientious smoke Dragon burner I guess.

I wouldn't risk burning a bk catless. Seems pretty clear that damage can be done other than just higher emissions.

 

[rdust]

It's a cat nightlight, even better than LED.

 

[kf6hap]

How old is your cat?

 

[rdust]

How old is your cat?

It was new at the start of the burn season.

 

[Ashful]

How old is your cat?

Do cat years work the same as dog years?

 

[jetsam]

Do cat years work the same as dog years?

Nope! That's a 2-year-old burning on medium low (though it has at least 9000 hours on it, I think).

It still puts out good heat, but is noticeably less frisky than it was on its first year.

I will give it a vinegar bath this summer (and every 2 years thereafter until it poops out).

 

[webby3650]

When we are talking burn times, we don't mean we can scratch up a few coals at the end of the day...
This is after 24 hours on a partial load. There's still a piece of wood in there! No other stove can replicate that!

 

[kf6hap]

BK stoves are nonpareil.

 

[Woody Stover]

BK stoves are nonpareil.

They sound delicious!

But not steel.

Were the new Jotul steel stoves mentioned? They rear-vent...

 

[huauqui]

6:30 this morning she was bedded down with Chinese elm in her belly. At 9 tonight I had too many coals to reload on so I let them burn down for an hour and at 10:08 I loaded her full again. Here she is 25 minutes later at 10:33 ready to go. I have her set for what will be a 14+ hour load.

 

[huauqui]

I had not noticed how hard that wood was still off-gassing until I looked at the second photo. You can see the fog as it heads up to feed the cat. I had just made the second and final adjustment on the load. (First adjustment was from wide open down to the three o'clock position for ten minutes then down to about what wood be 2:30 on a clock dial just before I took the picture.) The cat really glows nice and it is fun to sit in the easy chair and watch it glow then go dark then glow again as the stove regulates the air to maintain temp.

Reading that last sentence makes me realize how truly addicted to wood burning I am. Oh well welcome to the addiction, right?

huauqui

I am headed back down to stare at the stove

 

[Woody Stover]

three o'clock position for ten minutes then down to about what wood be 2:30 on a clock dial

Now is that the hour hand or the minute hand?

I am headed back down to stare at the stove

Right now, I can see the top half of the stove (and all of the cat ) if I look to my left, over the couch. But I just switched from a USB modem to a smartphone for data so if I get a tablet or Windows 2 in 1,and hotspot off the phone, I might be sitting more often where I can see the stove a little better. I'm not addicted like you, though....I can quit any time.

 

[jetsam]

You guys know that you can get a basic wifi wireless access point for $20, right?

I'm disoriented by all this talk of not having internet access in every room of the house.

 

[Woody Stover]

Hey, that's $20 I could use to buy SuperCedars; I'll be using more if winter is going to be 50*+ every day from here on out. The whole idea of switching what I had was to save a little cash...and get more data. We have only two rooms and I don't generally hang out in the bedroom so the phone should work OK I guess, if I end up getting something in addition to the desktop.
Maybe you are disoriented due to being bombarded by microwave radiation. I don't like this wireless crap in the house...trying to come up with a Faraday cage/wave guide setup to spare myself. Just kidding, but I do think about that kind of stuff...

 

[jetsam]

When we are talking burn times, we don't mean we can scratch up a few coals at the end of the day...
This is after 24 hours on a partial load. There's still a piece of wood in there! No other stove can replicate that!

View attachment 11

Fairly full of poorly seasoned oak (plus a little stick of green pine I found in the yard when I went out to split a split down into minisplits).

If I wanted to play Tetris and do some more splitting, I could get another reasonably big split in there, but there's no reason to. I'll be back in 12-13 hours and there will still be plenty left.

 

[regalflyer]

We had a chimney fire the night before last, very scary. As we were watching tv, alarms went off and smoke haze from the very hot double wall connector pipe filled the cathedral section of the living area. It occurred just as I was starting the stove for the coming cold snap. Wife called the fire department and I put out the stove with the stove extinguisher we keep "just in case". Apparently, the chimney fire consumed all available fuel very quickly and was out in a few minutes, before the FD arrived. They pulled the cap and checked the chimney to be sure it was out and done. Cap was loaded with crunchies. My fire box is heavy creosote and crunchy black, with the side panels in the box full of crunchy stuff.

The chimney and stove are always cleaned completely at the start of every heating season. My Cat indicator never fell below active unless the stove were done with its burn and being shut down.

This season has been the warmest I can remember with the stove, and many shut downs and startups this year.

Our wood is always seasoned for 2 years, about 17 to 19% moisture content, and I have run this stove for over 5 years without any trouble. Our cat still lights off and responds well, it was replaced 2 years ago.

I know this stove can generate creosote or condensate very quickly in some cases, but I cannot climb to the roof to do an inspection and clean out during the heating season. Our roof is high and often slippery, so I would have to call in a sweep.

We will be replacing the chimney because of the fire, I don't think it can be trusted after that heat level. Not sure we will keep the stove and might have to get rid of it and the chimney.

It's just hard for me to tell if the creaosote level is getting to the danger zone-

More post mortem analysis to come in the spring when the chimney is removed.

As always, thanks for all advise, I read the Blaze King pages all the time, this community is a wealth of knowledge greatly appreciated.

 

[jetsam]

We had a chimney fire the night before last, very scary. As we were watching tv, alarms went off and smoke haze from the very hot double wall connector pipe filled the cathedral section of the living area. It occurred just as I was starting the stove for the coming cold snap. Wife called the fire department and I put out the stove with the stove extinguisher we keep "just in case". Apparently, the chimney fire consumed all available fuel very quickly and was out in a few minutes, before the FD arrived. They pulled the cap and checked the chimney to be sure it was out and done. Cap was loaded with crunchies. My fire box is heavy creosote and crunchy black, with the side panels in the box full of crunchy stuff.

The chimney and stove are always cleaned completely at the start of every heating season. My Cat indicator never fell below active unless the stove were done with its burn and being shut down.

This season has been the warmest I can remember with the stove, and many shut downs and startups this year.

Our wood is always seasoned for 2 years, about 17 to 19% moisture content, and I have run this stove for over 5 years without any trouble. Our cat still lights off and responds well, it was replaced 2 years ago.

I know this stove can generate creosote or condensate very quickly in some cases, but I cannot climb to the roof to do an inspection and clean out during the heating season. Our roof is high and often slippery, so I would have to call in a sweep.

We will be replacing the chimney because of the fire, I don't think it can be trusted after that heat level. Not sure we will keep the stove and might have to get rid of it and the chimney.

It's just hard for me to tell if the creaosote level is getting to the danger zone-

More post mortem analysis to come in the spring when the chimney is removed.

As always, thanks for all advise, I read the Blaze King pages all the time, this community is a wealth of knowledge greatly appreciated.

Clean it regularly bottom-up. Lesson learned.

 

[Ashful]

You guys know that you can get a basic wifi wireless access point for $20, right?

I'm disoriented by all this talk of not having internet access in every room of the house.

If you own an old house with stone walls, you end up having a half dozen of these scattered all over the house, just to keep connectivity on the first and second floors.

On topic, now that I have these consistently-controllable BK's, I'm getting a much better feel for the dynamics of this house. After several days in the 50's, last night was 32F, and I woke up to 75F. This is about 4 degrees warmer than I'd see if it had been a consistent 32F outside for several days, and at least 7 or 8 degrees warmer than I'd see if it had been 20F for several days before a 32F night. The time constant on this mass of stone is several days.