2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 2 (Everything BK)

[Ashful]

So I've been seeing so many of you talking about having flue probes, temperature gauges for your stove tops and flue pipes etc. All I have is the factory thermometer that came with the stove telling me whether I'm in the inactive or active range. It seems like you all think it's important to have some of these other gauges for monitoring stove conditions and performance. Can you all recommend some add-ons for me?

Opinions vary on this, so I'll give mine:

It perfectly fine to drive this stove by the cat probe thermometer, it is the only truly necessary piece of equipment. However, most of us have observed that this thermometer is very slow, and it is actually possible to engage the combustor WAAAaaaayyyy before that probe is anywhere near "Active". This is where the flue probe is most handy, as you can usually engage when the flue gasses hit 500F, and get instant cat light-off. For many, that may occur before the cat probe is even half way thru "Inactive", from a cold stove.

It's also interesting to watch how your flue temp varies with different operating parameters of the stove, but that's more for amusement, than anything else.

 

[kf6hap]

I placed mind at 30". That is about 5 diameters away from the 90 degree turn at the stove top. This gets it out of the main area of turbulence. Also I can see it from my chair whilst gazing at the idiot box. Any other ideas on how high up?

 

[lsucet]

So I've been seeing so many of you talking about having flue probes, temperature gauges for your stove tops and flue pipes etc. All I have is the factory thermometer that came with the stove telling me whether I'm in the inactive or active range. It seems like you all think it's important to have some of these other gauges for monitoring stove conditions and performance. Can you all recommend some add-ons for me?

When I have flue probe and stove top thermometer on one of the stoves, I have no plans on installing any of that on my new install. I have to accept that having it on one help me and i learned how to run it efficient that at this point i don't feel I need it. I like to go by the cat probe indication of when is going into the active zone and flue temp still lower. It's simple, start the fire at front of the stove under the cat regardless if it is full or partial loads. The cat will get to temp quicker than the flue.
On reloads if possible and heat demand needed allows it, go thru the whole burn cycle with just enough coals for restart. rake then to the front as much you can and load tight, shut door, engage cat if into active and run it on high. almost no smoke on reload that way. When I used to spread the bed of coals, I was getting smoke almost till i start to dial it down cause the whole load was out gassing too quick. Raking to the front, , like i said, almost nothing of smoke, is like it is just little steam and the flue temp stays low. I am using the same routine with the new install and i dont see the need for all that, but at some point it did help me to find what works better for me.

 

[MissMac]

When I have flue probe and stove top thermometer on one of the stoves, I have no plans on installing any of that on my new install. I have to accept that having it on one help me and i learned how to run it efficient that at this point i don't feel I need it. I like to go by the cat probe indication of when is going into the active zone and flue temp still lower. It's simple, start the fire at front of the stove under the cat regardless if it is full or partial loads. The cat will get to temp quicker than the flue.
On reloads if possible and heat demand needed allows it, go thru the whole burn cycle with just enough coals for restart. rake then to the front as much you can and load tight, shut door, engage cat if into active and run it on high. almost no smoke on reload that way. When I used to spread the bed of coals, I was getting smoke almost till i start to dial it down cause the whole load was out gassing too quick. Raking to the front, , like i said, almost nothing of smoke, is like it is just little steam and the flue temp stays low. I am using the same routine with the new install and i dont see the need for all that, but at some point it did help me to find what works better for me.

yup, i've been reloading with a nice bed of coals and cat still active - open bypass for 2 min., wait to stabilize, open door slowly, reload stove and close door and bypass cause needle is still active. i don't get smoke spill on reload and have got it down pretty good. I was just more curious about all the contraptions i hear some of the folks on here talking about, and wondered if there's any utility in me getting some of them too. figured out what makes this stove tick a lot more now - now, i just need to resolve the pesky smell issue, and i'll be locked, stocked and ready to rock.

 

[showrguy]

yup, i've been reloading with a nice bed of coals and cat still active - open bypass for 2 min., wait to stabilize, open door slowly, reload stove and close door and bypass cause needle is still active. i don't get smoke spill on reload and have got it down pretty good. I was just more curious about all the contraptions i hear some of the folks on here talking about, and wondered if there's any utility in me getting some of them too. figured out what makes this stove tick a lot more now - now, i just need to resolve the pesky smell issue, and i'll be locked, stocked and ready to rock.

I put in an Auber AT-100 cat probe on mine, that tells me instantly what the cat temp is..
You might be suprised how much that cat drops in temp with a fresh load of fuel..

 

[black smoke signals]

Tell us more about cat temps and how the AT-100 helps your stove!

 

[17vljoe]

Ok, im up and running!! This thing is awsome! Smoked my house out pretty good with new paint smoke though! I got her running aroud 400 stove top temp now. If the cat is not glowing does that mean it stalled? Gauge is still in active range.. here's some pictures of the first burn!!

 

[showrguy]

Ok, im up and running!! This thing is awsome! Smoked my house out pretty good with new paint smoke though! I got her running aroud 400 stove top temp now. If the cat is not glowing does that mean it stalled? Gauge is still in active range.. here's some pictures of the first burn!!View attachment 218910 View attachment 218911 View attachment 218912 View attachment 218913

Congrats to you..
Your CAT is definitely active..
Where are you in Pa.??

 

[17vljoe]

Thank you, Souderton.

 

[lsucet]

Ok, im up and running!! This thing is awsome! Smoked my house out pretty good with new paint smoke though! I got her running aroud 400 stove top temp now. If the cat is not glowing does that mean it stalled? Gauge is still in active range.. here's some pictures of the first burn!!View attachment 218910 View attachment 218911 View attachment 218912 View attachment 218913

The cat don't need to be glowing to be working, as long the probe is showing active, it's active.

 

[showrguy]

Tell us more about cat temps and how the AT-100 helps your stove!

I dunno what you'd like to know ?

 

[17vljoe]

Ok thank you, how long do you guys wait to reload these Magic wood smokers? Until its inactive? Or when its down to coals? I got alot of learning to do!!

 

[kennyp2339]

Ok thank you, how long do you guys wait to reload these Magic wood smokers? Until its inactive? Or when its down to coals? I got alot of learning to do!!

LOLOLOL - that's basically 1/2 of what this thread is about... experiment

 

[Highbeam]

Ok thank you, how long do you guys wait to reload these Magic wood smokers? Until its inactive? Or when its down to coals? I got alot of learning to do!!

Either one. The stove operates best if you load it to the roof and then let that load burn down as much as possible before reloading. Not letting the stove go cold but just enough coals to relight the next load. Worst case is throwing in a fresh split every few hours.

 

[Ashful]

Cat does not need to glow to be active. Cat is active above 500F, but doesn’t glow until closer to 1000F.

 

[MissMac]

so one of my little off-cuts that i'd thrown in this load just rolled and is now in contact with the ceramic door. the stove is hot right now (cat tstat is way up) so i'm hesitant to open the door when it's so hot. is this okay to have this hunk of burning coal smushed into the door for the rest of this load? thoughts?

 

[Ashful]

so one of my little off-cuts that i'd thrown in this load just rolled and is now in contact with the ceramic door. the stove is hot right now (cat tstat is way up) so i'm hesitant to open the door when it's so hot. is this okay to have this hunk of burning coal smushed into the door for the rest of this load? thoughts?

no problem. Can't say what it will do for your smoke smell issue, but it's a non-issue for the glass. I used to have full splits rolled up against the glass as daily routine, when I burned Jotuls, as they could only load E/W.

 

[redktmrider]

is this okay to have this hunk of burning coal smushed into the door for the rest of this load?

It will leave a smoke smudge on the glass like what is in the corners. If it's in a place that cleans up on a high burn, it will go away with one or more high burns. You just don't want splits falling into and breaking the glass.

 

[kennyp2339]

I have a very scary story, the oilman was here today, I haven't seen the guy in over a year and a half, got my 200 gallons and said see you in 2019

 

[WES999]

I have a very scary story, the oilman was here today, I haven't seen the guy in over a year and a half, got my 200 gallons and said see you in 2019

I have not had a oil delivery for 10 years, When I had the Regency I would put in 15-20 gal of diesel and that
would be enough to get through the winter. Now with the BK I don't think I will need to run the furnace at all.
It is 13 outside and 79 in the living room, even the basement seems to stay warm enough to prevent any pipe freezing.
Must be the alien technology.

 

[Dieselhead]

It’s definetly clean glass weather here in the northeast for the next week, not even a set of dragon eyes or whatever most call the corners getting dark. 12 hr reloads, stat at 3:00, fan on low, 71 and comfy.

 

[Dieselhead]

As far as dealing with coals I saw a page or 2 back this is my method, I posted it in another thread a few min ago:

I like to pull all coals to the front, then load 1-2 splits behind them E/W on the floor of the stove. Put in the rest of your splits on top of the coals and 2 bottom pieces in a N/S fashion. Burns down the coals and gets the next load going all at the same time.

 

[Poindexter]

So I've been seeing so many of you talking about having flue probes, temperature gauges for your stove tops and flue pipes etc. All I have is the factory thermometer that came with the stove telling me whether I'm in the inactive or active range. It seems like you all think it's important to have some of these other gauges for monitoring stove conditions and performance. Can you all recommend some add-ons for me?

The only reason I have a gas temp probe in my double wall telescope is because I live in an EPA designated "non attainment area" for air quality. I am subject to a $1000 fine if I spend more than 20 minutes getting from cold stove to clean burn as adjudicated by a policeman standing out in the street in front of my house looking at my chimney.

With the flue gas probe I can start from a cold stove and run to max safe flue gas temp with the door cracked, then close the door. I get to clean plume faster that way. I have found that my cat might be "active" or "lit off" or etc long before my actual exhaust plume is clean to the eye.

So for cold starts I run with the door cracked to about 800dF indicated flue gas temp, close the door and then engage the combustor when the flue gas temp gets back up in the 800-1000dF range.

Active combustor does not (does NOT) mean clean exhaust plume. I don't know why. What I see, having gone out in the cold to look at my stack in incomplete cold weather gear dozens and dozens of times is my personal install, my wood, my envelope; I have a clean plume when the combustor indicator reaches the first tick mark up in the active zone.

At my house, and YMMV, the fastest way to get there is not engaging the cat as soon as possible, but rather getting the whole stove as hot as possible as fast as possible before engaging the combustor.

I suspect for lowest total emissions over the entire burn the best thing to do is follow the manual and use the combustor indicator probe as your guide, no other instrumentation required

 

[17vljoe]

Woke up to my boiler kicking on around midnight, i think i went to low on the stat, i had it set at about 12:00 or so with the stove top at 550F when i went to bed. When i woke up to the boiler kicking on the stove top was down to 325F. So I turned it up to about 2:30 on the stat, which took the stove top to about 415F for about 2hrs then i reloaded. I got about 7hrs total out of my overnight load. Is this normal? I was hoping it would hold a stove top temp of at least 500 overnight. Im sure ill get it with practice. It also went down to 10F overnight and i didnt have very big splits in the stove. Most of the wood i have for this year is 3-4 inch splits. I split it small for faster seasoning and for use in my old 17vl. I wonder if i throw in a compressed wood brick or 2 maybe that would help me out.

 

[Niko]

The wood part of my door handle is extremely hot this year. Running the stove the same as every other year. I mean its to the point of not being able to touch it. It also looks like it's changing color to a darker brown on the inside of the handle.

Anyone see this before?