2016-17 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[kennyp2339]

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.

I get nervous here on the EC when I hear Alaska saying spring so early.. usually means that there is a good ridge developing and that opens the artic door for us from the Mississippi river east, aka: the dreaded back loaded winter.

 

[Woody Stover]

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?

6x9 is pretty close to the area of an 8" round, so draft should be alright, which it seems to be from what you're saying. Me, I wouldn't want rain or snow going down my clay liner tiles, so I'd probably figure out some kind of cap...

 

[Ashful]

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.

psst... Poindexter. Winter started just two weeks ago. You'll be burning at least another 4 months!

 

[Ashful]

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.

You haven't been around long, if you're recommending running without a cap. Countless stories of squirrels and birds in stoves over the years, including one particularly upset squirrel in one of my stoves. It's hard to imagine ways to mess up your house faster than having a soot-loaded squirrel jump out of the stove at you and go tearing around the house, when you open the loading door.

If you're burning clean, there is absolutely no reason to run without a cap. I haven't cleaned mine in two years (since I installed the BK), and it's still as clean as the day I put it up there. At least 12 cords thru it, since last cleaning.

 

[Marshy]

You haven't been around long, if you're recommending running without a cap. Countless stories of squirrels and birds in stoves over the years, including one particularly upset squirrel in one of my stoves. It's hard to imagine ways to mess up your house faster than having a soot-loaded squirrel jump out of the stove at you and go tearing around the house, when you open the loading door.

If you're burning clean, there is absolutely no reason to run without a cap. I haven't cleaned mine in two years (since I installed the BK), and it's still as clean as the day I put it up there. At least 12 cords thru it, since last cleaning.

Just because I'm new to the site doesn't mean I'm new to wood stoves. I've been around and I've had my own experience with a bird's nest in my flue. They didn't get there when the stove was in operation. They don't have any interest getting near the flue in the winter time when the stove is in operation. There are plenty of people who don't use a cap and have operated like that their entire life. There are drawbacks from not having a cap like birds and squirrels but IMO it's relatively low when the stove is in operation. Clearly there are benefits from having one also. They protect against down draft and obviously keep out unwanted foreign items from entering the flue. They also restrict draft as well and if you are having a creosote issue they can clog up and restrict flow even more. Seems obvious to me that @raypa has operated his previous stove without one with no I'll effects from down draft or foreign critters/nests. It doesn't seem unreasonable to continue that practice while he figures out his stoves personality. I personally have a cap on mine and don't want any water entering my flue but because of the low flue temps from the stove I see some buildup on my caps screen after a few months of operation. A masonry chimney with no insulated liner is a different animal than what you are likely use to.

 

[kennyp2339]

I see some buildup on my caps screen

Keep the cap, remove the screen, if worried about animals and suck, upgrade the screen to 1" blocks..aka chicken wire

 

[Marshy]

Keep the cap, remove the screen, if worried about animals and suck, upgrade the screen to 1" blocks..aka chicken wire

Yup, that was going to be my next move. Thanks.

 

[raypa]

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.

Any suggestions on how you would hook that up in a small area. I'm being ignorant, I just don't see going from 45 deg to vertical making much difference. I do agree with the double wall. I'm going to do it, but need to finalize the set up….and you guys are making rethink it. My dealer sold me the single wall and never even recomended double wall. I also told them I was putting the elbow on the unit. They weren't much help i'm seeing. Ive been burning for 20 years, just not with anything this fancy and technical.

 

[raypa]

Keep the cap, remove the screen, if worried about animals and suck, upgrade the screen to 1" blocks..aka chicken wire

I was thinking more along the lines of keeping the rain and snow out. I know it's not a lot, but I'm several hundred degrees cooler now.

 

[raypa]

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".
View attachment 192054



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.

That is a nice set up. Too bad that thing is in a basement.. It's too nice. You should have opted for a furnace, like a woodchuck or similar.

I can shift mine over, but I like the looks of having it in the corner. I'll get up on the roof here the begining of the week and get a photo down inside and compare it in a month. I've always had creosote problems, but, I blame it on the fact I only season my wood 1 year.

 

[raypa]

Yup, that was going to be my next move. Thanks.

Had a dove in my last stove. Opened it up and the thing was in there staring at me. Caught it with a laundry basket.

 

[kf6hap]

Do they make oval pipe?

 

[Niko]

This is what my thermostat looks like in my king ultra. I usually run it a little left of the N of normal almost on the line that is their in the picture. the (normal) word on the thermostat is highlighted. Here is my question im getting great burn times at that setting but once in a while tho i come and my cat wont be active anymore( after like 8 hrs of burning) but my stove top temps will be above 300 which is plenty of heat for the outside temps we have been getting lately. Other times i am still in the active Zone.

This is my question and frankly the same question i have been having at least when it comes it my thermosts. If i turn that thermostat even a crack to the right of my usual burning spot the stove will take off, not at that instant but after a couple pf hrs or so the stove temps are getting to 600+ and the my cat is glowing like kryptonite. It seems i can't cotrol the heat after my sweet spot. I have done my door gasket test and on the most part and doing the same things every night. I have said it before can their be something wrong with my thermostat? Or maybe needed to be cleaned or something?

 

[Niko]

This is what the real thermostat looks like and where is usually keep the thermostat at.

 

[lsucet]

Did you check if is calibrated correctly? i think it should have a complete stop right at 6:00 o'clock. check the knob and shaft turn together and tight.

 

[Highbeam]

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.

I do enjoy reading your posts and imagining what it's like to live in your environment. I also appreciate the data point of somebody running a BK at full output continuously for extended periods of time.

We've got another 5+ months of daily burning to do. Long season but usually on minimum safe output levels.

 

[Marshy]

@Niko, The internal butterfly air valve moves a considerable amount with only a slight turn of that dial. How much do you move it in the scinero you described? From N to the #2 or N to O..?

 

[Niko]

Did you check if is calibrated correctly? i think it should have a complete stop right at 6:00 o'clock. check the knob and shaft turn together and tight.

Yea i just spun it and its fine. As far as the 6 oclock it stop, but does go past it a lil but when let go from turning the t stat goes back to 6 oclock, it kinda does a lil hop past the 6 oclock then goes back to it when u let it go from turning.

 

[Niko]

The internal butterfly air valve moves a considerable amount with only a slight turn of that dial.

Yea i know small adjustsment are huge in our stoves but when comparing it to the thermostat setting i still have so much more movement to go.

 

[Marshy]

@Niko, hit refresh. I made an edit that's not in your quote.

 

[lsucet]

lets see is somebody else or BKVP has some recomendation. mine stop rock solid at 6 o'clock.

 

[lsucet]

but mine do not have the NORMAL like you. Mine is a sticker

 

[Marshy]

My King Ultra doesn't have numbers or letters.

 

[Highbeam]

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.

There is one more requirement that you might have missed. You must have a certain number of inches from stove top to ceiling. I want to say it was 49" for my princess and I inadvertently came within a 1/16" inch of failure to meet this spec. I had no idea. Low ceilings and big stoves aren't always compatible.

The double wall and the 2 foot rise are for superior draft which improves stove performance and prevent smoke spillage. Sounds like you are getting some good performance.

 

[Niko]

@Niko, The internal butterfly air valve moves a considerable amount with only a slight turn of that dial. How much do you move it in the scinero you described? From N to the #2 or N to O..?

To the O maybe a lil closer to the R. My T Stat handle likes to move up and down slightly So that is where the lil comes into play.