2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[tylorklein]

I'll look into that. It could be that it just slipped because the distance between full open and closed air is still about right, its just migrated down the dial. Thanks.

 

[webby3650]

Was able to take it apart and the very end of the tape wrapping the wind was peeled up and getting sucked into the blades when I turned it on. Rewrapped and all is good! Maybe a useless venture since I don't even use it but it's nice to know it works.

 

[Gforcefd]

Should I screw the duravent dvl collar adapter to the Ashford stove collar, or as long as it is snug and all the other pieces of pipe are screwed together it is fine? I would thing I would need extra long screws to go through both layers of the adapter and guess where the holes are pre-drilled on the stove to make it work.

 

[Ashful]

90% of what i burn is softwood, it is what we have on this part of the country. I have some oak that i burn some pieces last weekend temp drop to 11df and i can tell you that there is not much differences between hard and softwood with these stoves... i burn 90% of the time RED/WHITE CEDAR,PINE, ALLIGATOR JUNIPER and it is just fine.

Cedar = 11-12 mbtu/cord
White oak = 24.2 mbtu/cord

Yeah, not much difference. [emoji23]

 

[lsucet]

Cedar = 11-12 mbtu/cord
White oak = 24.2 mbtu/cord

Yeah, not much difference. [emoji23]

I am not saying that there is no differences but i dont see double of the time at all at the same rate. burn longer? yes no doubt, but not twice. i dont think so, but maybe i am wrong. i do not have the experience that you guys have. i still think that 4 or 5 hrs more of burn time is great and make a difference on wood consumption and in saving. it is not what i am seeing when burn some oak.
I always do a mix of oak and alligator those days that i toss some pieces. never burn just a full load of oak. maybe that the reason i dont see a big difference.

 

[lsucet]

remember juniper has 19.5 per cord. at that point the difference is not that much. just a small gap. all my loads has a good percentage of alligator. I can say about 50%.

 

[Highbeam]

Should I screw the duravent dvl collar adapter to the Ashford stove collar, or as long as it is snug and all the other pieces of pipe are screwed together it is fine? I would thing I would need extra long screws to go through both layers of the adapter and guess where the holes are pre-drilled on the stove to make it work.

I do not screw through the double wall into the collar. My last two installations were done this way, I pointed it out to inspectors and both said duh, you can't screw there. even if you could find the holes you would crush the two layers together.

 

[jetsam]

You might double your wood BTU content and not have much impact on burn times at all- depends on the airflow, stove, and operator.

The stoves I grew up with had about the same burn times for oak, poplar, pine, elm, cardboard, and kerosene.

 

[Ashful]

I am not saying that there is no differences but i dont see double of the time at all at the same rate. burn longer? yes no doubt, but not twice. i dont think so, but maybe i am wrong. i do not have the experience that you guys have. i still think that 4 or 5 hrs more of burn time is great and make a difference on wood consumption and in saving. it is not what i am seeing when burn some oak.
I always do a mix of oak and alligator those days that i toss some pieces. never burn just a full load of oak. maybe that the reason i dont see a big difference.

Same setting = higher output on a higher-BTU wood. So, if you're saying you don't see double the burn time for the same thermostat setting, that would be why. The stove is definitely putting out roughly double the net heat on oak, versus cedar, but it won't mean double the burn time if it's running hotter for the same t'stat setting.

I burn about 80% oak, but just ripped thru most of a cord of cedar, thanks to having a few of them fall in my yard in hurricane Sandy. I know that for the same thermostat setting I will still have enough oak coals left after 24 hours that I need to run the stove on high 2 - 3 hours to burn them down before a reload. With cedar, I have nothing left after 24 hours. Literally, nothing. Cold stove, no coals, barely any ash.

 

[Ashful]

On my princess, duravent dvl did NOT fit the stove collar. Much too sloppy.

Same with my Ashfords. Adaptor required.

 

[lsucet]

Same setting = higher output on a higher-BTU wood. So, if you're saying you don't see double the burn time for the same thermostat setting, that would be why. The stove is definitely putting out roughly double the net heat on oak, versus cedar, but it won't mean double the burn time if it's running hotter for the same t'stat setting.

I burn about 80% oak, but just ripped thru most of a cord of cedar, thanks to having a few of them fall in my yard in hurricane Sandy. I know that for the same thermostat setting I will still have enough oak coals left after 24 hours that I need to run the stove on high 2 - 3 hours to burn them down before a reload. With cedar, I have nothing left after 24 hours. Literally, nothing. Cold stove, no coals, barely any ash.

i know for sure it will burn longer but about the temp cause more BTUs going out at the same burn rate, really i am not being putting much attention to it. something else to look into it in the future. i also never just burn only cedar, till now always is a mix. i used to buy my wood and always get a mix not the same species. in future years i will be burning just pine and cedar cause that is what i am being CSS and i still using the wood that i have for a few years now. possibly enough for next winter too. thanks for the info

 

[Tar12]

Highbeam I am with you on the stupid looking braces..hopefully I can just split the difference and get one set to work..although I am going to use the fresh air kit I have a question..I have leaky windows and doors and I wondered how much air would be drawn in around the doors and windows with out a fresh air set up? I realize that would depend upon your flue height and draft...just curious. Seems to me that the fresh air kit would help defeat drafts through out the house?

 

[liquidskin]

Hey all. I wanted to document the performance of my BK Princess Insert and get some feedback if this is looking like typical performance or maybe if I could be doing something better.

Here's a morning/afternoon on a warmer than usual December day in New Jersey. My wood is seasoned and under 14%. My upstairs 1970's Earth Stove puts out a ton of heat with this wood so I dont believe my issues are wood related.

Here's a typical burn cycle which lasted about 5.5 hours.

9:03 AM (after reloading 10:30PM the prior night) 33 degrees outside, 61 degrees inside.





Full reload:



9:48AM - cat goes ACTIVE, bypass is thrown and t-stat remains on HIGH





10:10AM - stove is 500 degrees+ and I lower the t-stat and put on fans. Room is 63 degrees, up 2 degrees in an hour





10:39 - stove is still getting hotter. 64 degrees inside. 37 outside



11:07 - 68 inside. Stove is still way active, but lower than before.




1:21 PM - back from errands. Almost inactive





2:41 PM - inactive cat. Room is 70 and comfortable, but also a warmer than usual 44 degrees outside.I'd start thinking about reload around here.

 

[shoot-straight]

Ashfull- If the bi coil stat works the way I think it does, this is incorrect. The setting of the stat is realty a desired output temperature. As a load cools, it opens to get ithe temp back up. Then after it heats up, it closes. Over and over it does this.

So....At the same setting, the high btu wood puts out more heat, so the stat would open less. Less air, longer burn time. That's my logic anyway.

All that said, I actually like lighter woods for lots of reasons. And I have lots of oak available to me. And all setups burn a little bit differently.

 

[shoot-straight]

Liquid skin- the fans really cut into your burn time. The higher the speed the faster the burn. Some setups are worse than others. Mine literally cuts my burn time in half if they are on med to high. Others aren't nearly as bad.

I did notice that your cat term may need adjustment. My needle sits at the bottom of the inactive zone, not below. Others can confirm.

 

[liquidskin]

Liquid skin- the fans really cut into your burn time. The higher the speed the faster the burn. Some setups are worse than others. Mine literally cuts my burn time in half if they are on med to high. Others aren't nearly as bad.

I did notice that your cat term may need adjustment. My needle sits at the bottom of the inactive zone, not below. Others can confirm.

hey shoot-straight. thats interesting that you mention the fans... shortly after posting i turned the fans completely off to be sure I had a good coal bed to reload on and nearly 2 hours later, the sensor is showing that cat back in active! I didnt do anything except turn the fans off. The stove top temp is only about 250, but I definitely agree the fans seems to shorten my cycle. That said, if I dont have them on, I dont think I get enough heat...

also, my cat therm does go lower than my first pic, I guess because the stove was still a little hot from the previous burn. when its completely cold the arrow points as low as possible.

 

[Tar12]

Cure fire..I thought I saw here where it was said to build a couple small fires initially to season the stove but the BK manual is saying get a good bed of coals and load her up and have at it...right or wrong way? I have never fired a new stove as all of the stoves from my past have been pre-owned and well used...lol

 

[Ashful]

Ashfull- If the bi coil stat works the way I think it does, this is incorrect. The setting of the stat is realty a desired output temperature. As a load cools, it opens to get ithe temp back up. Then after it heats up, it closes. Over and over it does this.

So....At the same setting, the high btu wood puts out more heat, so the stat would open less. Less air, longer burn time. That's my logic anyway.

All that said, I actually like lighter woods for lots of reasons. And I have lots of oak available to me. And all setups burn a little bit differently.

You definitely have the idea right, @shoot-straight, but I don't think it works nearly as well as you're implying. My stoves both run hotter and longer on hardwood, but like Isucet, not so long as would be expected for the difference in wood BTU. They also seem to throw more heat on oak than on cedar (the only soft wood I've burned in a BK), at the same t-stat setting, for whatever reason that may be.

So, either stove efficiency is seriously dropping when running higher-BTU hardwoods, to account for the non-proportional burn times, or they really are running a little hotter.

 

[rdust]

hey shoot-straight. thats interesting that you mention the fans... shortly after posting i turned the fans completely off to be sure I had a good coal bed to reload on and nearly 2 hours later, the sensor is showing that cat back in active! I didnt do anything except turn the fans off. The stove top temp is only about 250, but I definitely agree the fans seems to shorten my cycle. That said, if I dont have them on, I dont think I get enough heat...

also, my cat therm does go lower than my first pic, I guess because the stove was still a little hot from the previous burn. when its completely cold the arrow points as low as possible.

The cat probe at the end of the burn isn't good for much. As highbeam always says it shows when to engage the cat on start up. The fans need to be shut off for 15 minutes(think I read this in the manual once upon a time) before taking a reading. The fans cool the coil on the probe and makes it read low. At the end of a burn with only coals left there aren't many/if any gasses left in the wood to keep it "active", the probe at this point is just showing the cat could eat smoke if you introduced some into the cat.

 

[Highbeam]

Highbeam I am with you on the stupid looking braces..hopefully I can just split the difference and get one set to work..although I am going to use the fresh air kit I have a question..I have leaky windows and doors and I wondered how much air would be drawn in around the doors and windows with out a fresh air set up? I realize that would depend upon your flue height and draft...just curious. Seems to me that the fresh air kit would help defeat drafts through out the house?

Burning outside air is wise for many reasons and often required by law as it is in my state.

With oak you will also be able to keep humidity up in the house much easier.

 

[Highbeam]

Hey all. I wanted to document the performance of my BK Princess Insert and get some feedback if this is looking like typical performance or maybe if I could be doing something better.

Here's a morning/afternoon on a warmer than usual December day in New Jersey. My wood is seasoned and under 14%. My upstairs 1970's Earth Stove puts out a ton of heat with this wood so I dont believe my issues are wood related.

Here's a typical burn cycle which lasted about 5.5 hours.

9:03 AM (after reloading 10:30PM the prior night) 33 degrees outside, 61 degrees inside.

View attachment 191049
View attachment 191050
View attachment 191051 View attachment 191052

Full reload:

View attachment 191053

9:48AM - cat goes ACTIVE, bypass is thrown and t-stat remains on HIGH

View attachment 191054
View attachment 191055
View attachment 191056

10:10AM - stove is 500 degrees+ and I lower the t-stat and put on fans. Room is 63 degrees, up 2 degrees in an hour

View attachment 191057
View attachment 191058
View attachment 191059

10:39 - stove is still getting hotter. 64 degrees inside. 37 outside
View attachment 191060
View attachment 191061

11:07 - 68 inside. Stove is still way active, but lower than before.

View attachment 191063


1:21 PM - back from errands. Almost inactive

View attachment 191064
View attachment 191065


2:41 PM - inactive cat. Room is 70 and comfortable, but also a warmer than usual 44 degrees outside.I'd start thinking about reload around here.

View attachment 191066

View attachment 191067

Your fuel may be dry but it is split way too small. More bigs and less smalls will get you more heat per load and longer burn times.

 

[Ashful]

Your fuel may be dry but it is split way too small. More bigs and less smalls will get you more heat per load and longer burn times.

Not that different from my split sizes, although I do pack 'em in tighter (think Tetris). I'm getting 24+ hour burns on a medium setting, 30+ hours on lower settings, with burn time being cat probe in active region the entire time.

 

[liquidskin]

Not that different from my split sizes, although I do pack 'em in tighter (think Tetris). I'm getting 24+ hour burns on a medium setting, 30+ hours on lower settings, with burn time being cat probe in active region the entire time.

No way thats with an insert, right? I dont think Ive ever seen anyone post those burn times with the insert.

 

[jetsam]

He's got a 30% bigger firebox, and the advantage of the stoves being freestanding.

I wouldn't even have coals left in the insert after 24 hours on medium (though it can easily go 24 hours on low with no fan, which is only useful in shoulder season).

 

[kennyp2339]

I made some BK chicken lastnight