2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 3 (Everything BK)

[black smoke signals]

While checking loading door with dollar bill get a flashlight turn off all room lights (pitch black) turn air down to low till it smoldering then shine flashlight around hour glass stain looking for smoke traveling away from glass area. Works for my stove

 

[ratsrepus]

My stove is new, been running a little over a month. so i would think no worries for a while. When i replace the jotul in my house next fall with either a princess, or the ashford 30. The princess manual says not go under 2 ft rise from stove to top of the 90 going through the wall. Actually it recommends a 3 ft min. Any thoughts on that?

 

[black smoke signals]

My stove is new, been running a little over a month. so i would think no worries for a while. When i replace the jotul in my house next fall with either a princess, or the ashford 30. The princess manual says not go under 2 ft rise from stove to top of the 90 going through the wall. Actually it recommends a 3 ft min. Any thoughts on that?

Door tag alert on Bk stove handles you need to check it I found showroom stoves that needed adjustment and failed dollar bill check! I would do what Bk recommend no 90degree bends 45 better.

 

[lsucet]

My stove is new, been running a little over a month. so i would think no worries for a while. When i replace the jotul in my house next fall with either a princess, or the ashford 30. The princess manual says not go under 2 ft rise from stove to top of the 90 going through the wall. Actually it recommends a 3 ft min. Any thoughts on that?

Like you know, 3' before the bend is better. But the most important thing here is if possible replace the 90 for two 45s.

 

[ratsrepus]

Like you know, 3' before the bend is better. But the most important thing here is if possible replace the 90 for two 45s.

just measured and ILL have 29 inches, and the two 45's are no problem

 

[ratsrepus]

Id like to do it now, we still have a couple months of heating season, but Im stove poor right now unless someone wanted to take the jotul off my hands

 

[lsucet]

just measured and ILL have 29 inches, and the two 45's are no problem

With 29 inches of straight vertical run it will be ok. Be aware that possibly you will need to go higher to compensate for the bends.

 

[lsucet]

What is the total length of the chimney?

 

[ratsrepus]

With 29 inches of straight vertical run it will be ok. Be aware that possibly you will need to go higher to compensate for the bends.

the only way to do that is not go with the parlor. I believe the other princesses are a little lower or re-due my whole chimney set up which ain gonna happen. Will have more with the ashford also i assume

 

[black smoke signals]

Size your new stove to your large house and ceiling and do exactly what OEM says simple no problem

 

[ratsrepus]

What is the total length of the chimney?

approx 20 ft clean out tee to cap

 

[ratsrepus]

Size your new stove to your large house and ceiling and do exactly what OEM says simple no problem

those are my intentions.

 

[lsucet]

approx 20 ft clean out tee to cap

It should work. I know it can be a tough decision

 

[ratsrepus]

It should work. I know it can be a tough decision

The decision has been made, I'm going with some type of BK product by hook or crook. Tired of throwing wood away

 

[Alpine1]

@ratsrepus i have installed my Ashford barely meeting BK specifications. The best advice came from this forum: if you are at the minimum spec, try for a winter and see what you’ll get. You can always upgrade later. Now I’m sure that if I add a couple (or three) ft of chimney height I could burn even lower and slower than I’m doing now, but I have no need for such extreme performances. I call myself happy and lucky with my 24hrs burns on low.

 

[kf6hap]

1. For decades, I always thought a stove with a back boiler, holding tank and radiators would be the very best way to go for extended, even, no electricity heating. The BKs have changed my mind.

 

[BKVP]

Sure is loud! I ran a load on high in the wee hours this morning now that we're firmly in minus 40*C territory, and it was clanging every 4-5 minutes - 2 hours into the burn. @BKVP suggested maybe a baffle? it'd be nice if the stove wasn't making so much noise, but i am so thankful for the wood heat right now - in this kind of weather the propane furnace doesn't even really shut off!

Check flame shield. Is it sitting on top of tabs, or down behind? The baffles are above the brick, left and right sides. They have 3-4 stitch welds. When it warms up, look inside to see if baffles are flat or loaded under pressure....

 

[lsucet]

Good to hear that. Very good point. Countless times I have that last split that I can make it fit, but cause I always get scared of putting pressure to the sides or the top framing, it stays out for next load.

 

[shoot-straight]

I really think my loud noise is my flame shield. It's a bang then a rattle. I think it twists a bit when it heats/cools

 

[kf6hap]

I really think my loud noise is my flame shield. It's a bang then a rattle. I think it twists a bit when it heats/cools

I took mine out and stepped on it to bend it straight. Yours might be a little warped.

 

[becasunshine]

The decision has been made, I'm going with some type of BK product by hook or crook. Tired of throwing wood away

If I were to stray from BK...

... right now the strongest contender would be the Hwam Classic 7 with the oven up top.

IIRC, there was a Hwam or similar at the wood stove competition in Washington D.C. back in 2013. I do not have this firmly in my memory, perhaps some of you do. I seem to remember that the Hwam (or similar) cylindrical stove was quite sharp looking but 1. It was more expensive than the Wood Stock Ideal Steel (which was our strong contender at that moment) and, as I later found out, more expensive than the BK Princess, 2. Wasn't yet widely available in the U.S. (if it was available in the U.S. at that moment at all, I cannot remember, and 3. Wasn't quite as large as the Classic 7 is, or at least did not have the capacity to heat enough square footage for us.

I was looking up stoves with ovens for a friend, and ran across the Hwam Classic 7, with that built in oven, the fire wood box at the bottom, AN ASH PAN FOR THOSE THAT LOVE ASH PANS, it's got it all! Plus BTU/square footage capacity.

It requires a greater clearance to the wall (10", and I did not see/could not find reference to a rear shield option or closer clearance capabilities) so that would be one disadvantage for us. However, the stove itself is not as deep as a Princess, so the overall footprint of the stove and the hearth *might* not be any larger (I don't really know, but maybe not.)

Intriguing...

... does not appear to be a CAT stove, but qualifies as an EPA exempt cook stove.

I do not really understand the whole "autopilot" thing.

Not planning to give up the Princess anytime soon, but I found this other stove intriguing.

 

[jetsam]

I think my cheater stove would be either a Sequoia or that new room-thermostat Adventure 3, just to see how the thermostat works!

I would probably like the sequoia fine all winter and bitterly wish for my BK back all spring and fall!

 

[tarzan]

Door tag alert on Bk stove handles you need to check it I found showroom stoves that needed adjustment and failed dollar bill check! I would do what Bk recommend no 90degree bends 45 better.

My Princess came off the showroom floor needing the door latch adjusted as it sat. By the end of the first season I was fluffing the gasket with a straightend paper clip to limp it along until I could replace the gasket.

Third season with the replacement though.

 

[MissMac]

Check flame shield. Is it sitting on top of tabs, or down behind? The baffles are above the brick, left and right sides. They have 3-4 stitch welds. When it warms up, look inside to see if baffles are flat or loaded under pressure....

Flame shield is sitting where it should be - down flush behind the tabs. What do you mean by loaded under pressure? I do fill up my fire box on reloads, but what specifically would constitute loaded under pressure (what should i be looking for?). It looks like the plate is touching the air wash tube on the left side of the box, but there's a bit of a gap between the baffle and air wash tube on the right side.

 

[BKVP]

Flame shield should sit on tabs, not dropped down behind.