2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 2 (Everything BK)
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Nigel459
Feeling the Heat
Ahhhh well then. Understood. Thanks truly for catching me up, saving me reading oodles of discussion.
Too bad for some though. I’ll do the same and wish success to anyone encountering this issue. (I am not.)
Cheers
MissMac
Minister of Fire
anybody got any suggestions on how long i should wait to fire up the stove? RTV tube says the stuff takes 24 hours to cure, so does that mean i gotta give it the full 24 before i fire? I'm anxious to see/smell what happens when i fire this beaut up!
also, i do feel compelled to throw a shout-out to BK. i mean i cannot deny that i've been frustrated trying to figure out "what's wrong" with my brand new (and not cheap) stove, however, the level of customer service i've received from people in the states and Canada has been pretty awesome. i don't think i've ever had better support or commitment to help me get things figured out than i've received from BK over the past few weeks. which is a relief, and making the whole process at least as good as it can be. definitely a company i will stick with.
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Cure time depends on temperature and humidity but to be sure go the 24. You don't want the RTV to start bubbling and ruining the sealing job.
I hope you have a continuous bed of RTV, all the way around. This helps a lot.
MissMac
Minister of Fire
Nigel459
Feeling the Heat
lsucet
Minister of Fire
For those of you with the smell issue. Do you have a OAK installed? Do you crack open a window next to the stove? Can be possible the smell coming from the outside? I don't have smell inside the house but sometimes when outside i can smell the creosote coming from the chimney when tstat open some. I am trying to compare your setup with those of us that don't have the smell issue, like me. What can be different?
Some went to taller chimney, new gasket, different stove top adapter, what is left? defective stove? Can the smell be penetrating inside the house from the outside?
Some went to taller chimney, new gasket, different stove top adapter, what is left? defective stove? Can the smell be penetrating inside the house from the outside?
MissMac
Minister of Fire
so for me, the smell was definitely coming from the stove - at first i thought it was over the thermometer hole, but then realized it was coming from the door, at the top on the hinge side. upon inspecting the gasket, it wasn't properly centred in that corner (i posted a pic somewhere in this convo a while back), and so wasn't making a good seal. other thing i did to confirm that this part of gasket wasn't right was hold a lighter around the door - every time i got to that corner, the flame would bend right like it wanted to go into the fire box. plus, i could tell the fire was getting oxygen there, as the flames inside would reach for that part of the door. i've installed the new gasket, and after 18 hours of curing the caulking, i've thrown caution to the wind and lit a fire. so far, no smoke smell!
i only put a couple of logs on the kindling, as i just want to do a little test fire. i've got it dialled down to the 3 o'clock position, which I've not been able to do yet without overwhelming smoke smell, and so far so good. i can smell the caulking that's about it. not sure what will happen when i load the box right up, but that will be next.
MissMac
Minister of Fire
ok i have another random question for the group. what would be the down side to really tightening the stove door, so that it takes a good flex to get it to latch? what sort of issues could this create? why not do it? thanks for all your insight - still trying to learn everything i can from you guys!
MissMac
Minister of Fire
black smoke signals
Feeling the Heat
I wood not over due it on the door latch adjustment laying a straight edge across the face of the door should be flat. PUT a dab of anti seize on the face of the latch door.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I have noticed this problem in my own house, which is shaped like a “U”, with a center courtyard. There is a chimney at either end of the “U” legs, and in the center part of the house on the second floor, I can sometimes get smoke smell. This is not coming from the stoves, it is make-up air drawn thru my windows, which happens to contain some smoke from the two adjacent chimneys.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
My own opinion is there are many many many reasons an operator might have a faint smoke smell in their home.
I am looking at chimney draft pretty hard and don't really have anything useful to say about draft at this time, other than a good chimney has to work good under widely varying conditions.
There is a collection of potentially useful articles under "all about chimneys" at wood heat dot org.
I am looking at chimney draft pretty hard and don't really have anything useful to say about draft at this time, other than a good chimney has to work good under widely varying conditions.
There is a collection of potentially useful articles under "all about chimneys" at wood heat dot org.
MissMac
Minister of Fire
well, verdict is in. i can still smell smoke overtop of the stove. can't smell it around the door anymore - i know the gasket made a difference, but i've got it dialled down to about a 4 o'clock position after a nice char, and it smells. and i promise to the skeptics out there, yes i know the difference between a stove smell and a fire smell. 
so, back to trouble-shooting. but to be honest, at this point, now that i know the stove door isn't leaking air in anymore, i'm content just to burn in my stove and smell it for now. 17 years of fighting forest fires - it's the smell of money! except for this time, it's my money burning trying to figure out what is up with this stove?
so, back to trouble-shooting. but to be honest, at this point, now that i know the stove door isn't leaking air in anymore, i'm content just to burn in my stove and smell it for now. 17 years of fighting forest fires - it's the smell of money! except for this time, it's my money burning trying to figure out what is up with this stove?
Niko
Minister of Fire
I can def say for me the smell I get is when I run the stove on low for like 5-7 days in a row and have not given it a real good full blast to burn out all the crap inside. So at night ill turn it up to where my stove top says 600 ish and let it burn all night to clean it out. When I check it out in the mor ijg the clean is pretty much clean and the stove inside is good. I dont always get tue gasket clean tho. So next time I do it I turn it up a tad more to burn that crap off.
Bkvp has recommended a weekly burn out for one hour at max stat setting if you otherwise run on low all the time. I know some people run for weeks on nothing but max stat setting but I guess I’m a chicken and don’t like to see the gauges up so high! Plus, it gets really hot in the house and wastes my fuel. The glass doesn’t really clean up during extended hot burns for me but the black goo does dry up and flake off. I suppose that’s the point, converting that stinky corrosive goo into flakey ash. Like a self cleaning oven.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
If the problem was a leaking gasket, and you’ve now sealed it from the inside, it’s entirely possible whatever stank has presently soaked that gasket may take some time to dissipate. Just a thought... I’d tend to give it a few days and see if it clears up.
That said, I was also interested in today’s earlier poster, who ground a weld in the outlet collar, and changed pipe adapters. They reported a dramatic improvement, in smell near the top of the stove, from that change. It might be worth consideration, given what you just described.
![[Hearth.com] 2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 2 (Everything BK)](/talk/data/attachments/218/218257-4a14304bfe33fb18abe8a0fdf2f19c78.jpg?hash=oAcpYISOx_)
oldbluedeer
New Member
[QUOTE="
also, i do feel compelled to throw a shout-out to BK. i mean i cannot deny that i've been frustrated trying to figure out "what's wrong" with my brand new (and not cheap) stove, however, the level of customer service i've received from people in the states and Canada has been pretty awesome. i don't think i've ever had better support or commitment to help me get things figured out than i've received from BK over the past few weeks. which is a relief, and making the whole process at least as good as it can be. definitely a company i will stick with.[/QUOTE]
When you customer support is awesome, are you talking about calling a BK 800 number and getting support that way?
Did BK provide you with a new gasket kit and the RTV, since you are having to fix a new stove?
This forum is great with some good troubleshooting suggestions, but the smoke smell in the house remains, with smell definitely coming from the stove door during full loads and especially when dampering it down. I've had one initial conversation with BKVP on this forum, and it was helpful, but I haven't heard anything since. I had assumed that posting on this forum was the best way to get support.
also, i do feel compelled to throw a shout-out to BK. i mean i cannot deny that i've been frustrated trying to figure out "what's wrong" with my brand new (and not cheap) stove, however, the level of customer service i've received from people in the states and Canada has been pretty awesome. i don't think i've ever had better support or commitment to help me get things figured out than i've received from BK over the past few weeks. which is a relief, and making the whole process at least as good as it can be. definitely a company i will stick with.[/QUOTE]
When you customer support is awesome, are you talking about calling a BK 800 number and getting support that way?
Did BK provide you with a new gasket kit and the RTV, since you are having to fix a new stove?
This forum is great with some good troubleshooting suggestions, but the smoke smell in the house remains, with smell definitely coming from the stove door during full loads and especially when dampering it down. I've had one initial conversation with BKVP on this forum, and it was helpful, but I haven't heard anything since. I had assumed that posting on this forum was the best way to get support.
Definitely call. While it is super helpful when BKVP can drop in, he is often busy. Hearth.com is not an official BK support forum.
oldbluedeer
New Member
oldbluedeer
New Member
I have deleted my previous post, since perhaps I put too much frustration in it. Here's a more concise summary of smoke smell issue with BK Sirocco 2.0, with 7-8 weeks of actual usage.
Replacing the Duravent stovetop adapter with the Amerivent adapter (and removing a small blob of welding material at the top/inside of the stovetop collar) reduced the smell of smoke in the room quite a bit. Previously when investigating this issue, I could get a clear whiff of acrid smoke just above the stovetop collar. That smell above the collar was completely eliminated after installing the Amerivent adapter.
Next I had a look at the stove door, after doing a test burn to check the results of the new adapter.
In smelling above the stove door at the hinge side with a cold stove, no smoke smell. In smelling the same spot with a full load of wood burning hot on high damper, no smoke smell. However, after dampering it down for the long burn, there was a distinct smell of smoke arising from the hinge side of the door, and to a lesser extent along the length of the door, which means the seal/gasket on the stove door is definitely a source of smoke smell in the room.
The gasket on the door looks good. It is well centered on the steel of the door opening, as evidenced by the imprint of the stove on the gasket, and there is no evidence of leakage past the door along this line around the stove door.
I added a 2' section of chimney to the existing 15' stack (including two offset elbows), for a total of 17'. (The BK Sirocco 2.0 owner's manual really should mention adding 1' of stack for every elbow. It would save some hassle, and might influence where and how people decide to install their stoves). Adding 2' to the stack may have helped the fire start a little faster and liven it up on hot burns, but did nothing to help resolve the smoke smell issue coming from the door gasket.
Next step is to call BK support line. Perhaps that should have been the first step, but at least I have learned a lot about the stove (and the problem) before calling them.
Replacing the Duravent stovetop adapter with the Amerivent adapter (and removing a small blob of welding material at the top/inside of the stovetop collar) reduced the smell of smoke in the room quite a bit. Previously when investigating this issue, I could get a clear whiff of acrid smoke just above the stovetop collar. That smell above the collar was completely eliminated after installing the Amerivent adapter.
Next I had a look at the stove door, after doing a test burn to check the results of the new adapter.
In smelling above the stove door at the hinge side with a cold stove, no smoke smell. In smelling the same spot with a full load of wood burning hot on high damper, no smoke smell. However, after dampering it down for the long burn, there was a distinct smell of smoke arising from the hinge side of the door, and to a lesser extent along the length of the door, which means the seal/gasket on the stove door is definitely a source of smoke smell in the room.
The gasket on the door looks good. It is well centered on the steel of the door opening, as evidenced by the imprint of the stove on the gasket, and there is no evidence of leakage past the door along this line around the stove door.
I added a 2' section of chimney to the existing 15' stack (including two offset elbows), for a total of 17'. (The BK Sirocco 2.0 owner's manual really should mention adding 1' of stack for every elbow. It would save some hassle, and might influence where and how people decide to install their stoves). Adding 2' to the stack may have helped the fire start a little faster and liven it up on hot burns, but did nothing to help resolve the smoke smell issue coming from the door gasket.
Next step is to call BK support line. Perhaps that should have been the first step, but at least I have learned a lot about the stove (and the problem) before calling them.
He’s probably the busiest guy you’ll ever meet. Often times he not even in the US when he’s posting on here helping with problems.
I hate to say it man, but it’s likely not just the stove. These stoves are all produced the same. The very same.. an occasional weld skip or something happens, but not often. This “smoke smell” is really probably 1 in 10,000 units, probably more. This site is the go to for problems, rarely attracts people looking to sing a stoves praises. There’s probably something in the setup, in the home, or around the home contributing to the problem. Stoves suck, that’s what they do. In order leak smoke there has to be an underlying issue.
I feel very fortunate with this Princess...no smoke smell ever...no dirty glass as this leaky place dictates running it a little harder than most....not wide open by any stretch but with out flames after the initial "burn in" 2:30-300 oclock t-stat setting for 12 hour cycles to fit my work schedule...no tarred up box ever...I "high" burn a minimum 2-3 times per week in milder weather and in colder weather 4-5 times per week...I walk in the door open the air(clean out ashes if needed) grab some uglies throw them in and let it burn 3/4 to half open on the t-stat till close to bed time...by then the uglies have burned down to a nice bed of coals and I load it for the night....repeat the next day...I have never had it so easy!
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