2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

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Is that little bowl part of the meter or an add-on?


It is an add on from the point you can take off the bottom nut and slide it out from the probe and use the probe like any others from blaze king. it looks more like the cage from the stove top thermometer just up side down
 
I wonder if my probe tip is too far away from the cat.
I wouldn't think so, being stock. Your needle goes high into the active zone...you've pretty much pinned it at times, right? Just wondering why you think it might be too far away. Tip 1/2-3/4" away should be fine, maybe even a little further. Just for my own curiosity, I'd try to figure out where exactly the tip is. Maybe with the cat shield off and a clean cat, you can see with a bright light the tip of the probe through the cat. Then feed a piece of wire through, mark the length, and subtract the thickness of the cat.
As far as the needle hitting, if you get a probe with numbers, you could use the one with a 1.5" dial face. They appear to be calibrated a little differently from the 2" face, though....numbers are in different positions on the face.
 
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I wouldn't think so, being stock. Your needle goes high into the active zone...you've pretty much pinned it at times, right? Just wondering why you think it might be too far away. Tip 1/2-3/4" away should be fine, maybe even a little further. Just for my own curiosity, I'd try to figure out where exactly the tip is. Maybe with the cat shield off and a clean cat, you can see with a bright light the tip of the probe through the cat. Then feed a piece of wire through, mark the length, and subtract the thickness of the cat.
As far as the needle hitting, if you get a probe with numbers, you could use the one with a 1.5" dial face. They appear to be calibrated a little differently from the 2" face, though....numbers are in different positions on the face.

You can't pin these meters. There are no pins. I certainly use every bit of the active range during the prescribed high fire warm ups though. I'll still want a full sized meter so it will have to be upside down!
 
@raypa

View attachment 191978

That install doesn't meet the minimum requirements for installstion. Gotta do what you gotta do I supose. Might want to review the manual when you get time.

Is that double or single wall pipe out of the top of the stove? What do you have it connected to, insulated chimney liner?

I like the looks. I see it doesn't have the convection deck like my ultra does. I might consider taking mine off. First I'm going to get the fans and try it with it on though.
Congrats, love the stone work.

What don't you like about the install? This just replaced the stove that was here for the last 15 years. It vents single wall into a clay lined chimney. I'm curious what you see?
 
What don't you like about the install? This just replaced the stove that was here for the last 15 years. It vents single wall into a clay lined chimney. I'm curious what you see?
Ideally, they probably want the connector pipe coming straight up for 3'. But as long as you have enough stack height, and a liner all the way to the top, you shouldn't have a problem. But the BKs don't seem to breathe as easily as some other stoves...
 
What don't you like about the install? This just replaced the stove that was here for the last 15 years. It vents single wall into a clay lined chimney. I'm curious what you see?

The manual states there should be a minimum 2' straight section before any elbows. It also says to use double wall close clearance pipe to connect the stove to the chimney. Using single wall is not recommended because the low flue temperatures and the single wall will cause the flue gas temperature to give up heat and be even lower. All of these things could cause draft issues and creosote buildup.

Ultimately its up to you how you hook it up, and if you have no issues with draft then you are all set there. The possibility of creosote buildup should not be ignored regardless of the draft. Is your masonry chimney external to the house or does it go up through the center of the house/attic inside its own chimney well? How tall is the masonry chimney and what is the flue size?

Go back a hand full of pages an read some of my posts and look at my pictures. I have my King hooked to my masonry chimney with proper draft and have a little bit of creosote buildup in the top foot of the chimney and I'm running my stove on 100% full open 90% of the time. it might be more significant if I ran the stove at 50% so Im partially relieved for that.
 
What don't you like about the install? This just replaced the stove that was here for the last 15 years. It vents single wall into a clay lined chimney. I'm curious what you see?

Not enough rise before an elbow, shoot for 3' off the stove. CAT stoves are pretty sensitive to draft due to low flue temps. An insulated liner and double wall pipe help keep the low flue temps up.
 
What don't you like about the install? This just replaced the stove that was here for the last 15 years. It vents single wall into a clay lined chimney. I'm curious what you see?

There are recommendations and then there are requirements. You must meet all requirements or else you risk liability in the event of a fire. Recommendations are just for better performance. Double wall chimney and no elbows for 3 feet is a recommendation only. You could improve performance on that setup by using double wall pipe. I'm not sure if going vertical for a couple of feet and then a 90 into the thimble is better than the two 45s you have there.
 
I will
There are recommendations and then there are requirements. You must meet all requirements or else you risk liability in the event of a fire. Recommendations are just for better performance. Double wall chimney and no elbows for 3 feet is a recommendation only. You could improve performance on that setup by using double wall pipe. I'm not sure if going vertical for a couple of feet and then a 90 into the thimble is better than the two 45s you have there.

"For wall exits, the same suggestion applies. With the addition of the recommendation to use two 45 degree
elbows rather than a single 90 degree elbow. Th e use of two 45 degree elbows will allow for both a smoother
transition to the exterior chimney and will also shorten the horizontal run to the outside chimney. A minimum
36” rise is recommended prior to any elbows being used."

[Hearth.com] 2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)




What's not clear is if the MIN. 2ft* is still a recommendation or a requirement.
 
I will


"For wall exits, the same suggestion applies. With the addition of the recommendation to use two 45 degree
elbows rather than a single 90 degree elbow. Th e use of two 45 degree elbows will allow for both a smoother
transition to the exterior chimney and will also shorten the horizontal run to the outside chimney. A minimum
36” rise is recommended prior to any elbows being used."

View attachment 192015



What's not clear is if the MIN. 2ft* is still a recommendation or a requirement.

Good post. That word minimum is usually associated with a requirement vs. a recommendation.
 
I will


"For wall exits, the same suggestion applies. With the addition of the recommendation to use two 45 degree
elbows rather than a single 90 degree elbow. Th e use of two 45 degree elbows will allow for both a smoother
transition to the exterior chimney and will also shorten the horizontal run to the outside chimney. A minimum
36” rise is recommended prior to any elbows being used."

View attachment 192015



What's not clear is if the MIN. 2ft* is still a recommendation or a requirement.
24" rise before an elbow is a requirement, 36" is a recommendation. Since this isn't a safety concern, I'd try it as long as the chimney was fully lined and tall. Like 18 feet to more. Assuming the alternative was no BK...
 
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24" rise before an elbow is a requirement, 36" is a recommendation. Since this isn't a safety concern, I'd try it as long as the chimney was fully lined and tall. Like 18 feet to more.
That's the way it was explained to me by BK regarding the straight lengths. I agree with you, not a safety concern from what I can see just not optimal for draft. If draft is not an issue then that's good. The manual does recommend double wall pipe on the interior of the home to connect to the chimney though. Again, recommendation vs requirement, let you're conscience be your guide.

He should be concerned about using the single wall pipe though and having it hooked to the masonry chimney without an insulated liner and creating creosote. If his masonry chimney is short that would be an advantage, less thermal mass.
 
That's the way it was explained to me by BK regarding the straight lengths. I agree with you, not a safety concern from what I can see just not optimal for draft. If draft is not an issue then that's good. The manual does recommend double wall pipe on the interior of the home to connect to the chimney though. Again, recommendation vs requirement, let you're conscience be your guide.

He should be concerned about using the single wall pipe though and having it hooked to the masonry chimney without an insulated liner and creating creosote. If his masonry chimney is short that would be an advantage, less thermal mass.
If one doesn't follow the recommendations and there's a problem, everything will need to be upgraded before BK can offer much help.
 
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If one doesn't follow the recommendations and there's a problem, everything will need to be upgraded before BK can offer much help.

Well, their help will might be to follow the recommendations. They will still offer assistance. Weak draft seems to be a very common cause of issues.
 
Day 2 with the new Princess and all is well...its currently a balmy 7 degrees outside and 74 degrees inside..so far the stove has proven to be very easy to run. I have been burning some well seasoned red and white oak.I have some Hedge in reserve and may have to break it out before the weekend is over.Minus digits in the forecast for weekends end.I have been pushing it slightly as it has been pretty cold here and I have a drafty house.My son and my wife and I have been addressing some of the draft issues and I could tell a big difference today.I sent my wife out to the barn to get some plastic and she came back in and asked me if something was wrong with the stove? I said no why do you ask? She said well there is no smoke coming out of the chimney! lol Perfect! She is still trying to get her head wrapped around the concept of the cat eating the smoke...lol
 
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Go back a hand full of pages an read some of my posts and look at my pictures....I'm running my stove on 100% full open 90% of the time.
Holy Kamoly....what page is that on?
 
Yay!! Spring is coming. Saw my first chikadees of the season today, a sure arbiter of spring. And I found a wide range of Dopplebocks at the beer store on my way home, yet another indicator girls will be back in white shoes again in a few weeks.

Three cords left to burn this year.

Forecast high for the next ten days is less than -20dF.

But spring is coming! Yay!!

Ashford 30 is running like a champ at wide open throttle.
 
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spring is coming! Yay!!
;lol Dude! Winter solstice was only a couple weeks ago, and the coldest average day of the year (here, anyway) is still two weeks away. Better keep the path to the woodpile shoveled out, and the old Ashford crankin'! >>
 
The manual states there should be a minimum 2' straight section before any elbows. It also says to use double wall close clearance pipe to connect the stove to the chimney. Using single wall is not recommended because the low flue temperatures and the single wall will cause the flue gas temperature to give up heat and be even lower. All of these things could cause draft issues and creosote buildup.

Ultimately its up to you how you hook it up, and if you have no issues with draft then you are all set there. The possibility of creosote buildup should not be ignored regardless of the draft. Is your masonry chimney external to the house or does it go up through the center of the house/attic inside its own chimney well? How tall is the masonry chimney and what is the flue size?

Go back a hand full of pages an read some of my posts and look at my pictures. I have my King hooked to my masonry chimney with proper draft and have a little bit of creosote buildup in the top foot of the chimney and I'm running my stove on 100% full open 90% of the time. it might be more significant if I ran the stove at 50% so Im partially relieved for that.

I'll check it out. I appreciate the advice. I only have 7' of ceiling in my area there. I was going back and forth how to run the black from the King to the wall. It just seems more fluid to have the two 45s rather than coming up 2' going to a 90, then over a foot and a half to another 90, the through the thimble to the 90 vertical rise.

What is the benefit of that 2' rise to 90 EL over my current set up? I have a ~15' external clay lined brick chimney with a external 2' drop to the clean out. With our old Baker, we would get creosote build up, so we are very in tuned to checking it. I'm going to run it for a week like it is and check the pipes for build up. I'm going to hold off on the double wall until I'm confident how I want the pipe run to be and then I'll switch over.

So, it's 14 degrees, we loaded it up at 11:00 last night and the house was still 75 this morning at 4:30 with tons of wood left in the belly. I typically would be adding wood to our baker. That said, I'm happy so far.
 
Ideally, they probably want the connector pipe coming straight up for 3'. But as long as you have enough stack height, and a liner all the way to the top, you shouldn't have a problem. But the BKs don't seem to breathe as easily as some other stoves...
I don't have a steel liner. We have a 6x9 clay liner. Can you even convert that to steel? It seems to draft good. we dont' get any blow back, even when lighting the stove.

What about a chimney topper? I'v never run one as our baker ran hot, would a chimney topper aid at all?
 
I'll check it out. I appreciate the advice. I only have 7' of ceiling in my area there. I was going back and forth how to run the black from the King to the wall. It just seems more fluid to have the two 45s rather than coming up 2' going to a 90, then over a foot and a half to another 90, the through the thimble to the 90 vertical rise.

What is the benefit of that 2' rise to 90 EL over my current set up? I have a ~15' external clay lined brick chimney with a external 2' drop to the clean out. With our old Baker, we would get creosote build up, so we are very in tuned to checking it. I'm going to run it for a week like it is and check the pipes for build up. I'm going to hold off on the double wall until I'm confident how I want the pipe run to be and then I'll switch over.

So, it's 14 degrees, we loaded it up at 11:00 last night and the house was still 75 this morning at 4:30 with tons of wood left in the belly. I typically would be adding wood to our baker. That said, I'm happy so far.

Like I said, do what you have to do. Those recommendations are primarily for draft/flow considerations from what I can tell. If the stove is not lazy acting and has good draft you are likely in the clear. I agree with you, run it the way you have it for now. Your options are limited with the space you have. Here is my King Ultra with a 24" vertical section then two 45* elbows with a 12 between them to connect to my masonry thimble. About as ideal as I could get. Bottom of the thimble ends up being around 6'1".
[Hearth.com] 2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)


I don't have a steel liner. We have a 6x9 clay liner. Can you even convert that to steel? It seems to draft good. we dont' get any blow back, even when lighting the stove.

What about a chimney topper? I'v never run one as our baker ran hot, would a chimney topper aid at all?

You can put a flexible insulated stainless steel liner down an existing chimney if there is room. Yours being 6x9 is not going to fit any insulated liner into it. A 6" linsulated liner with insulation needs about 7.5" round clearance to fit. An 8" needs 9.5" clearance. Neither are going to fit in your chimney unfortunately.

I would leave a cap off the chimney. They choke the flow slightly. The faster the flue gas can exit the less heat it will give up to the chimney and the less chance you have for creosote. Just keep an eye on your chimney. Is the best thing you can do at the moment. Burn the stove hot once or twice a day to dry out any creosote is also a good practice. If someone is home during the day to feed the stove then run the setting in high but add only 2-3 splits at a time at shorter intervals vice a full load turned down. Good luck and let us know how you make out. Give us a pic of your chimney on the exterior of you can.
 
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