2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)
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lsucet
Minister of Fire
Well, I have almost 19' of chimney counting the termination cap. lately here i am having some nights dropping temp into the mid 40s and a little lower between 4-7am but during the day temp rising in mid 70s. I loaded the stove Saturday night about 8pm, i run it hot for 20 minutes, set to low. we can say about 1 and 2 oclock. at midnight stove room 78df rest of house between 73 to 75 df outside temp 51df. with 500df stove top by condar thermometer. dialed down a little more(TOO HOT).
By 6AM outside temp 42, stove room 75 and rest of house 72-74. (i run the fans in low with a programmable outlet and it runs for two hrs and two hrs off).
I heard the fan goes off when making coffee right at 6am, at that time was when i check the rooms temp and disconnected the fans cause i dont run them thru the day. Got ready and went for my last load of wood for this season that i am CSS for 2-3 years before i use it. came back little after noon.
The house was inferno hot cause wife was using the oven too. (BAD IDEA). temp outside 76 df. the damn thing keeps going with cat probe about 10 o'cloc and between 325 to 350 stove top. (Of course everybody blaming me). At that point i just dialed down and well, i went outside to do my things.
Maybe two hrs later it was like going into the inactive zone. i forgot about cause still hot and i want it off cause that night we were going back into town for the week. WELL, when sun start going down but outside temp were almost the same, the cat probe start ricing to almost 10 o'clock again. that was about 6:30pm on Sunday. we left about 8:30 and it was about 200 df stove top and flue temp about the same. some little stuff glowing in there but most was ash. i think i am having good draft if i am getting that performance and no smell of smoke at all and cat staying in the active zone.
Sorry for the long post but after all it is THE PERFORMANCE THREAD. lol lol
By 6AM outside temp 42, stove room 75 and rest of house 72-74. (i run the fans in low with a programmable outlet and it runs for two hrs and two hrs off).
I heard the fan goes off when making coffee right at 6am, at that time was when i check the rooms temp and disconnected the fans cause i dont run them thru the day. Got ready and went for my last load of wood for this season that i am CSS for 2-3 years before i use it. came back little after noon.
The house was inferno hot cause wife was using the oven too. (BAD IDEA). temp outside 76 df. the damn thing keeps going with cat probe about 10 o'cloc and between 325 to 350 stove top. (Of course everybody blaming me). At that point i just dialed down and well, i went outside to do my things.
Maybe two hrs later it was like going into the inactive zone. i forgot about cause still hot and i want it off cause that night we were going back into town for the week. WELL, when sun start going down but outside temp were almost the same, the cat probe start ricing to almost 10 o'clock again. that was about 6:30pm on Sunday. we left about 8:30 and it was about 200 df stove top and flue temp about the same. some little stuff glowing in there but most was ash. i think i am having good draft if i am getting that performance and no smell of smoke at all and cat staying in the active zone.
Sorry for the long post but after all it is THE PERFORMANCE THREAD. lol lol
I've never heard any clunk noises coming from the thermostat.
I also did a check on the door gasket, everything was sealed up tight. I talked to my dealer, he was going to contact BK and talk to them about it. Hopefully it can be fixed and I'll be enjoying those long burn times soon.
I have only been using my ashford 30 for about 2 weeks now and I'm very impressed. Had a little issue with the chimney leaking a bit at first but that has been resolved. (They think excess moisture from the bricks was the issue, they also reconfigured the black chimney a bit). Day highs are around the upper 50's lows at night around the upper 30's low 40's. Loaded stove up the other day with some very dry popple, not a complete full load. Set stat to around the 2:30 ish o'clock position. 22 hrs later stove was roughly half way in the inactive zone, wood basically totally consumed. Keeping the blower on the stove off helps keep it in the active zone a little easier, keeps her hotter. I typically don't shoot for a real long single burn, I like to add 2-3 logs in the morning and evening. Makes it easier to keep it going, plus I burn it hot at the same time fir a bit.
I discovered this last night. Not only do the fans artificially lower the cat meter's reading but they seem steal so much heat from the stove that the draft is affected which can stall the cat. The thermostat tries to compensate for the fans by feeding the fire more combustion air but the draft doesn't quite recover. Seems that the stove is happier making low output without the fans running. Save the fans for when you need high output? At least that is my plan with my minimum spec chimney.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
What's happening, aside from the false low probe readings Highbeam already mentioned, is that the blower keeps the t'stat a little cooler. This causes it to open a bit more than it would without the blower running, so your load burns faster.
You can achieve similar burn times with blower on by simply accounting for this stat setting offset, however it will also be more likely to stall the stove, since you're changing the base setting (it can't open quite as far as the load burns down).
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You can achieve similar burn times with blower on by simply accounting for this stat setting offset, however it will also be more likely to stall the stove, since you're changing the base setting (it can't open quite as far as the load burns down).
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The only trouble I have with my short stack (<12') is with establishing a fire in mild weather. After the fire is established it's fine.
A few days ago I built an overnight fire with temps in the low 40's expected. The next day the daytime high was in the upper 60's. I turned the thermostat as far as I could counterclockwise so there was no chance of it opening. Even with warm outside temps the cat stayed in the active range for most of the day until the fuel was all but gone.
A few days ago I built an overnight fire with temps in the low 40's expected. The next day the daytime high was in the upper 60's. I turned the thermostat as far as I could counterclockwise so there was no chance of it opening. Even with warm outside temps the cat stayed in the active range for most of the day until the fuel was all but gone.
Interesting that some folk report stalling the cat in mild weather with short stack, but your installation is ok.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I know I've reported it, but my wood is not ideal. I suspect tarzan's wood is better.
In my case, it's mostly 2 year oak, uncovered until September of the year it's being burned, and then covered with plastic that often tears. My new 900 sq.ft. wood shed is next on the "big projects" list.
Wood quality, outdoor temps, even wind can play a role in the assessment of draft adequacy. My cat doesn't stall but the smoke emissions are up despite very dry wood.
I would surely add a length of pipe to get to 15' of chimney but adding braces to my roof would look dumb and not gain spousal approval.
That's another thing that should work against me. I live in a hollow surrounded by trees.
My wood is a three year c/s/s mix of many different species. The majority being Hickory, Wild Cherry, and Yellow Poplar.
I'm not sure my exact flue height but with two four foot rods and an outstretched arm I can get a brush into the stove from the top.
The pic in my Avi was taken on a hill above my house.
My wood is a three year c/s/s mix of many different species. The majority being Hickory, Wild Cherry, and Yellow Poplar.
I'm not sure my exact flue height but with two four foot rods and an outstretched arm I can get a brush into the stove from the top.
The pic in my Avi was taken on a hill above my house.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
He just checked in on the draw collar thread. A thicker door gasket and new cap seem to have resolved the issues.
Jeff in Maine
Feeling the Heat
yes the crap on my door smokes too . It does matter some if you open it v-e-r-y slowly but even then it stinks up the place,.. sometimes worse than others.
Not an issue. The T6 always has a clear window. I only clean a haze off it about 2-3 times a season.
I figured. Wasn't really aimed at you. Not all BKs have dirty glass all the time either. The new models are much better about it, though some still are able to make it happen.
This is why I moved to a ecofan last year. It moves air without cooling the stove. We only turn on the fan if we really need it.
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You can get a cheap piece of vent pipe or the snap-seam connector pipe, to temporarily stick up there to see how much it will help.
I was thinking about that, but the top of my chimney is kinda hard to get to. My draft issues seem to be intermittent too, so I'd probably have to run it like that for a couple weeks to be sure if there's any difference. And with the wind that we get, any half-measure would probably get torn down. I wish I had a super-sensitive manometer with appropriately located ports in the stove pipe for checking real results, but that's not quite feasible for me either.
The good news is, I found a 3' section of chimney at Lowe's for $79 with the veteran's discount. That beats the $150 for 4' I was seeing online. I'll try adding that and see where it gets me.
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