2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[lsucet]

Well i purchased a spare cat and i got it today but it is broken. Pieces falling off. I almost just put it away cause it is a spare but i said let me open it and see it. good thing i did.
I call them and leave a mssg. Lets see. I am calling them for days to know when i was going to get the cat delivered and multiple mssgs and nobody ever call me back. When i put the order it says that i will get an email telling that the item was shipped but i never get anything. and i checked the spam and everything.

 

[Blazing]

I have a King and my Princess likes the house hot in the winter! I'll square it up once split and stacked. Best guess, 3 cords, maybe 4. All exceptionally dry...under 8%.

Will you be mixing it with wetter wood?

 

[Poindexter]

Will you be mixing it with wetter wood?

I am going to guess he isnt going to mix it with wetter wood. Turns out i am not the only moron BK owner running cords and cords or wood under 10% MC, just the most active poster here with that "short bus" issue.

I really want to bring my stacks in at 12-16% this year, it is the sweet spot for my stove.

 

[Jeff in Maine]

Just wanted to make a post to be sure I can... I just had a devil of a time logging in.

Its kind of rainy here this morning 62*. I spent yesterday afternoon making and testing a "Stroke Limiter" for my wood splitter. It returns to the 24" opening if you don't stop it soon enough. I have been splitting my princess wood 16" so the extra wait for the wedge to get back to 16" gets on my nerves some. Now it opens up to 18" and stops , (well at least it does now in limited trials). So the shorter wait times will be much nicer.

I am going into the shop today and make some firewood measuring sticks today. I lost my last one while bush hogging I had it stuck to the tractor hood and I guess it fell off while driving under some low limbs. I stole the design from a fella in another forum I belong to and It works very well. It has a magnet base an empty 30:06 brass and a fiberglass driveway marker rod and is 16" long. You stick it to the side of your chainsaw bar and just walk up to the log get the bar close eyeball the tip of the rod and make your cut. I only had a chance to use it a very little bit this spring but it seems very promising .

I have not cleaned up the stove for the season yet but I will soon. I like to take the blowers off and clean them out very good then vacuum out the insides as well. I want to check gaskets and by pass closure tolerances. Look for broken brick and look at the Cat too. I will do that soon I just need my son to help me move the stove ahead a foot or so first.

 

[BKVP]

Will you be mixing it with wetter wood?

Yes. I have some silver maple that is around 12% but it burns too quickly....so mix with good walnut and get 40 hours in shoulder season.

 

[Highbeam]

Oh...this wasn't free! I just cut it all up yesterday and today. (3 tress to go but it's 103F in the sun!)

I will start splitting it next week. It's going to go into a cooling trend....only going to be in the 90's!

The cherry tree had some rot, but is still had about 50% solid and it was 34' long.

The black locust tree was about 20% center rot, but heck it was 44" in diameter and the core of rot is about 7".

The walnut...perfect!

I'm just up the road from you in Chelan this weekend. 103 here too! I'd wait until the temps drop and the high levels of Canadian smoke dissipates.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes. I have some silver maple that is around 12% but it burns too quickly....so mix with good walnut and get 40 hours in shoulder season.

Is there an ideal mc% for the bk stoves that balances burn times and efficiency? Or is it just dryer = better?

The kuuma furnace guys specify 18-28% mc.

 

[lsucet]

Yes. I have some silver maple that is around 12% but it burns too quickly....so mix with good walnut and get 40 hours in shoulder season.

Good morning BKVP. That is a nice pile of wood. I have a question if you don't mind. The two Princess the i have, one is new never burn on it. It will be install soon for next winter. The cat on the new one looks like a light uniform yellow color, the same I remember with the other one when new that I look to the cat. This spare cat that I purchased from firecatcombustors.com aside that is damaged, the damaged part looks darker compare to the other two. Is it normal?

 

[BKVP]

Is there an ideal mc% for the bk stoves that balances burn times and efficiency? Or is it just dryer = better?

The kuuma furnace guys specify 18-28% mc.

We have found wood loads average of 18% burn very clean. When fuel is too dry you can create a rich fuel environment and can experience delayed ignitions...

 

[BKVP]

Good morning BKVP. That is a nice pile of wood. I have a question if you don't mind. The two Princess the i have, one is new never burn on it. It will be install soon for next winter. The cat on the new one looks like a light uniform yellow color, the same I remember with the other one when new that I look to the cat. This spare cat that I purchased from firecatcombustors.com aside that is damaged, the damaged part looks darker compare to the other two. Is it normal?

The colors can vary quite a bit. We buy thousands annually and notice color variation. I'm certain they will replace the damaged cat.

 

[lsucet]

The colors can vary quite a bit. We buy thousands annually and notice color variation. I'm certain they will replace the damaged cat.

Thank you I appreciate your quick response.
Regards

 

[Woody harrelson]

The wood shed is stocked with red And white oak that has been CSS for 3 years, the chimney is cleaned, the princess parlor has been vacuumed out, bypass and loading doors have been adjusted, and anti seize applied to the thermostat shaft tension washers. Now it's wait for the cold here in NJ. I got less than a coffee can full of creosote after burning about 3.5 cords last year. That was my second winter with the princess. Cat still looks good and operating well. I do have a steelcat on standby in case of an issue in the middle of winter. I debated putting it in this year to see the difference, but decided to not fix what isn't broken. I had a few 36 hour burns last fall with the princess. At times I was praying for it to burnout. Hahaha. This is the best stove I have ever owned, thanks blaze king

 

[BKVP]

The wood shed is stocked with red And white oak that has been CSS for 3 years, the chimney is cleaned, the princess parlor has been vacuumed out, bypass and loading doors have been adjusted, and anti seize applied to the thermostat shaft tension washers. Now it's wait for the cold here in NJ. I got less than a coffee can full of creosote after burning about 3.5 cords last year. That was my second winter with the princess. Cat still looks good and operating well. I do have a steelcat on standby in case of an issue in the middle of winter. I debated putting it in this year to see the difference, but decided to not fix what isn't broken. I had a few 36 hour burns last fall with the princess. At times I was praying for it to burnout. Hahaha. This is the best stove I have ever owned, thanks blaze king

Thank you for operating and maintaining your investment. Now head west and I'll let you get in shape splitting some huge walnut rounds.

 

[Woody harrelson]

Thank you for operating and maintaining your investment. Now head west and I'll let you get in shape splitting some huge walnut rounds.

My hydraulic log splitter is too big to fit in the overhead bins of the airlines and that drive is just too long! Seriously though I do enjoy hand splitting sometimes. Most of the hand splitting I do is quartering big oak rounds in the woods so I can lift them into my truck. Once home, everything is done with the timberwolf. The fiskars x27 I use is a pretty effective splitting maul.

 

[BKVP]

My hydraulic log splitter is too big to fit in the overhead bins of the airlines and that drive is just too long! Seriously though I do enjoy hand splitting sometimes. Most of the hand splitting I do is quartering big oak rounds in the woods so I can lift them into my truck. Once home, everything is done with the timberwolf. The fiskars x27 I use is a pretty effective splitting maul.

That's ok, I pay the $25 check baggage fee for your splitter.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

Long time no see!!

Yes Sir, I've been extremely busy!

How have been?

 

[BKVP]

Woody....sorry to report you're too late.

 

[Woody harrelson]

Woody....sorry to report you're too late.
View attachment 199158

What the heck! I've been driving all day and night. I just crossed the Rockies. Looks good, you got a lot done. What was the moisture content of it?

 

[BKVP]

What the heck! I've been driving all day and night. I just crossed the Rockies. Looks good, you got a lot done. What was the moisture content of it?

Keep on a coming...it needs to be stacked! The walnut was all over the place, nothing over 12%.

The locust was the surprise. Cut over 5 years ago and although still full length trees, the bark was 100% removed and it was still 15% across all 3 trees.

The cherry was green, 18-22%. But it sure had a sweet smell running in the splitter.

 

[lsucet]

The colors can vary quite a bit. We buy thousands annually and notice color variation. I'm certain they will replace the damaged cat.

I got Scott email off the internet and I was able to contact him. He did answer quick, and he is sending me another one. the email links thru firecatcombustors.com website are not working at least for me. it keeps bouncing back saying that can't be delivered every time i sent email.
well everything is ok. thanks

 

[Jeff in Maine]

Well after the cleaning I have a few surprises not good ones either. The cat looks great from the firebox side but on the bypass side there is damage and I have a couple of broken fire bricks. I am the only one that loads the stove and I honestly try to be very careful I NEVER toss in wood I always "place it".
What are all your opinions? is this Cat damage normal? is it going to last this winter or do I need to cough up a few hundred for a new one?
I asked the dealer when I bought the stove how long to expect the cat to last... reading about them being costly to replace. They said it is not uncommon for a cat to last 10 years, I hoped for maybe 7 years trying to be realistic. This is 2 seasons. I was impressed at how clean the thimble was though. I last cleaned it and the stove pipe last September.

 

[begreen]

Did you inspect when new? I am wondering if that has always been that way or if this is new after this season.

 

[Highbeam]

You're going to want to vacuum that cat out too. It should be clean, more exposed catalyst is better. I've never seen damage on the back of the cat. Broken bricks, yeah I've got one too on the side. It took me like 5 years though!

 

[BKVP]

I think you're good to go. High exit temps on the combustor don't usually manifest in this form, cracks can be normal. This looks like thermal shock. Is there a chance at all the bypass plate was left open for any period of time more than reaching "active"?

 

[Poindexter]

The general concensus here last year was a combustor lasts about 10,000 hours in the active zone. Works out to two winters for me, i should be good this year and buy a spare next summer.