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

[coutufr]

A face cord is 8’ x 4’ x 16 inches which is 1/3 of a full cord. You can also see people selling a facecord of 18 inches logs or other log sizes for example. I scavenge all my firewood and the way it is cut is usually very irregular. I only cut a piece if it will not fit into my BK Ashford. Longer pieces I will split smaller so it get in diagonally.

 

[Ashful]

Still burning 24x7 on the east coast, no end in sight. Lows in the 30s all week week. That new cat lets me turn the dial down all the way and stay active.

I DID break out the motorcycle to get to work today! Woo!

80F here, yesterday and today, but diving back down on Sunday. Gotta move some wood up to the house tonight, if I can get the other 30 yards of mulch put down today, and get 3 acres of mowing done.

Yeah... that wood’s not getting moved.

 

[Ashful]

Still shoulder season burning. Mostly just a morning fire.

I’ve never done the morning fire thing. What’s the logic there, begreen?

I always light up before bed, when doing smaller batch burns in shoulder season, so I can wake up to a warm house. If I lit up in morning, it seems I’d wake up to a cold house, and then be too warm all day.

I’m also in a rush to get out of the house in the morning, but I think you said you’re retired.

 

[kf6hap]

If the previous day was sunny, the house is warm but somewhat cool in the morning an occasional morning fire makes sense where I live. An evening fire would make it too hot, even for the chicks. They will be relocated from the stove room to the hen house next week end. Here May 15 is the no frost cut-off date.

 

[Highbeam]

When you have to reload the stove three times a day under normal conditions it is easy to label them morning, afternoon, and evening fires even if they’re just reloads. This thread is dominated by bk users that aren’t familiar with as much loading.

In my noncat days I had to adjust the time between fires to accommodate the heat load. Sometimes that meant one per day. Sometimes once every other day. 3x per day.

As spring arrives pulse and glide, plus trying to use the thermal mass crutch is about all you can do until you give up and let the furnace take over if you have one.

 

[begreen]

I’ve never done the morning fire thing. What’s the logic there, begreen?

I always light up before bed, when doing smaller batch burns in shoulder season, so I can wake up to a warm house. If I lit up in morning, it seems I’d wake up to a cold house, and then be too warm all day.

I’m also in a rush to get out of the house in the morning, but I think you said you’re retired.

Shoulder season burning. We have very different house structures and requirements. We like sleeping cooler. Stove is right below the bedroom so in milder weather I let the fire peter out in the evening. I'm up early. The morning fire warms up the house quickly and lasts most of the day. If it's cold and wet outside I may add a log or two later on during the day. If it's sunny we may not have any fire. The sun warms up the house pretty quickly in spring while the angle is still low enough to shine under the eaves. In our long, cooler shoulder season weather we are loading the stove twice a day, around 7am and pm. In below freezing weather that becomes 3 times a day.

 

[webby3650]

Decided to clean my flue today since it’s so warm. Back down to below freezing tomorrow night....

I’ll Be honest, I’ve burned junk wood for the first time in a long time. We moved in April, so my wood was far from seasoned this year. The stove was able to heat the main floor, although a struggle with the wood at times, we were warm. I didn’t get much out of the chimney. I did include pictures to show the importance of pulling the pipe on a BK to access the area behind the catalyst. Lots of build up there after only 1 season.
Overall I’m very impressed how well the stove handled the less than stellar wood. I’ve expressed my feelings about the fact that a BK can handle under seasoned wood better than most stoves holds true. With dryer wood the results are much better, but the stove can handle wood on the wetter side too.

 

[huauqui]

We had 86 Friday at 2 pm and sleet by 11 pm. My daughter lives up by Creighton NE and they had a high of about 68 friday and a storm came through with snow and started blowing like nuts. They are expecting as much as 13 inches of snow before the storm that started last night ends this evening.

My wife thought I was nuts starting the stove at 8 last night when the house was still 74 degrees but I was glad I caught it before it dropped and was able to do a nice low slow burn overnight. When I got up this morning the house was still 73 with 40+ MPH winds and about 38 degrees outside. Today the front porch is a sheet of ice and I just reloaded the stove. Should be good till tomorrow. This weather has the farmers going nuts. I however am seeing the light at the end of this burning season. As a big plus I should have a nice bit of wood that I anticipated burning this year left over even though it was a very cold year.

 

[allan5oh]

Farmers want moisture after seeding not before.

 

[jetsam]

Decided to clean my flue today since it’s so warm. Back down to below freezing tomorrow night....

I’ll Be honest, I’ve burned junk wood for the first time in a long time. We moved in April, so my wood was far from seasoned this year. The stove was able to heat the main floor, although a struggle with the wood at times, we were warm. I didn’t get much out of the chimney. I did include pictures to show the importance of pulling the pipe on a BK to access the area behind the catalyst. Lots of build up there after only 1 season.
Overall I’m very impressed how well the stove handled the less than stellar wood. I’ve expressed my feelings about the fact that a BK can handle under seasoned wood better than most stoves holds true. With dryer wood the results are much better, but the stove can handle wood on the wetter side too.

My stove does fine with wet wood, especially on top of dry wood. I am right now burning (boiling?) a load of rotten deadfall pine that I cleared off a trail today. There's some kind of local ant that is just merciless when it gets into a pine tree. Turns the whole base of the trunk into swiss cheese.

For anyone who is inspired to go burn wet wood, it doesn't work the same- you have to keep your cat active to keep the flue warm, which happens at a different place on the dial with different fuel. Check and sweep your flue frequently.

 

[Shayne]

Don't feel bad; I've been trying to pin that one down for years. Cat manufacturers say 10-12k hours. Everyone seems to agree that performance degrades with usage, and there's not a standard for what 'dead' is. I was unhappy with my cat after 2.25 years (12k-14k) hours and replaced it; BKVP ran the same cat for 18 years, and I assume he burns full time.

Right now my policy is "Just use it until you are not willing to accept its shoulder season performance anymore; give it a vinegar bath before junking it."

Thanks that is what I thought, it will come down to preference, however, efficiency has become important with the changes that we see. Mine burns clean with hard wood and this stove is enjoyable with less load maintenance which makes up for the other, so far. 10 to 12,000 is the cat manufactures recommendations, wonder if this would be under ideal conditions or average. You pushed yours a bit more; was it noticeable when replaced that it was time? What decrease in shoulder times/load did you get at the end?

This is the time of the season where I noted it changed a bit from last fall. When you have it at a good clip she is still burning clean and well but what is noted at the low setting could be occurring? If it is a slow constant degradation 18 years I would say may be pushing it a bit at 80,000 hours.

Hmm, in shoulder season, yes. In winter when you are running the stove harder, you may see worse emissions and less heat from a poorly-performing cat, but you won't need to run the stove harder to keep it active since the firebox is much hotter than the cat needs it to be anyway.

My advice would be to just buy a spare cat and a couple gaskets after a couple years. They won't go bad, and you will be ready when you decide it's time.

I have a spare cat in the basement as I knew this was a consumable when I bought the stove and we enjoy wood heat. Hope they do not have a short shelf life.

The vinegar bath how many more hours should you get on the cat if you go through this process, worth it? Knowing me I will slap the new one in and bath and cook the other, wrap and shelve it. Then when it is time to do it again I will say if your gonna do it might as well slap a new one in. For another couple of thousand hours (1/2 season) many be not.

Appreciate the responses. Here's your new tractor; no sorry we do not provide a maintenance schedule any more.

Regards

 

[kennyp2339]

Got the princess back up and running, mostly cloudy with rain later, temp is at 38deg and its breezy. House is the coldest it has been all winter, 62deg inside.
The thing I noticed was I did my last load Wednesday evening, haven't burnt anything since, ash base was still luke warm 72 hours later.

 

[Cast Iron]

For the non shoulder burners here is the rationale: in non palm tree temperate northern regions ( not Philly or south ) Spring mornings can be well below freezing, evenings the same. Our April days could be in the 50's F or above. So the so-called "shoulder" burns for quick, hot fires to warm the little buns just until the sun heats the house. In the cooler evenings another quick hot fire when the temps drop.
For shoulder burns most use softwoods, or the "junk" firewood that is not used for serious 24/7 winter heating.
That's it Ash,. How'd we do ?
And, BTW, today's forecast is sleet, snow, freezing rain depending on altitude. Not in Philly.

 

[jetsam]

Thanks that is what I thought, it will come down to preference, however, efficiency has become important with the changes that we see. Mine burns clean with hard wood and this stove is enjoyable with less load maintenance which makes up for the other, so far. 10 to 12,000 is the cat manufactures recommendations, wonder if this would be under ideal conditions or average. You pushed yours a bit more; was it noticeable when replaced that it was time? What decrease in shoulder times/load did you get at the end?

This is the time of the season where I noted it changed a bit from last fall. When you have it at a good clip she is still burning clean and well but what is noted at the low setting could be occurring? If it is a slow constant degradation 18 years I would say may be pushing it a bit at 80,000 hours.



I have a spare cat in the basement as I knew this was a consumable when I bought the stove and we enjoy wood heat. Hope they do not have a short shelf life.

The vinegar bath how many more hours should you get on the cat if you go through this process, worth it? Knowing me I will slap the new one in and bath and cook the other, wrap and shelve it. Then when it is time to do it again I will say if your gonna do it might as well slap a new one in. For another couple of thousand hours (1/2 season) many be not.

Appreciate the responses. Here's your new tractor; no sorry we do not provide a maintenance schedule any more.

Regards

I don't doubt that the original cat that came with the stove would work fine in midwinter for 20 years. I would even use it that way, but it costs me $10 in gasket every time I change the cat.

That's $20 a year to add 33% to the lifespan of a $200 cat. With a 33% boost, the shoulder season cat lives 3 years, at a cost of $60 in gaskets, and saving $66 in replacement cat costs. Doesn't add up for me.

 

[Diabel]

I need to make my decision on the Princess this week (10% off till Fri). Should I go for the base (classic) model with blowers, side shields (I need to tuck it in as close to the wall as possible). Skip the ashpan.... or the ultra model (that stands quite a bit higher).

I will never have the need to remove the hot ash from it since this is a weekend lake house and I will be burning Fri through Sun, then cold stove for few days until Fri.

Plus, I finally saw the Princess in person and the ash plug looked horrible! It did not fit the hole no matter what I tried, the bricks did not align at all! Perhaps this was a 4:59pm Fri production......

The price difference between the classic and the ultra is not significant at all....

 

[webby3650]

I need to make my decision on the Princess this week (10% off till Fri). Should I go for the base (classic) model with blowers, side shields (I need to tuck it in as close to the wall as possible). Skip the ashpan.... or the ultra model (that stands quite a bit higher).

I will never have the need to remove the hot ash from it since this is a weekend lake house and I will be burning Fri through Sun, then cold stove for few days until Fri.

Plus, I finally saw the Princess in person and the ash plug looked horrible! It did not fit the hole no matter what I tried, the bricks did not align at all! Perhaps this was a 4:59pm Fri production......

The price difference between the classic and the ultra is not significant at all....

I’m not sure what was going on with the ash plug? It’s common for the bricks and plug to get all out of place during shipping, sounds like the shop keeper didn’t get them back into place. I personally like the look of the ultra much better. The ashpan works pretty well, beats the heck out of shoveling...

 

[Diabel]

I’m not sure what was going on with the ash plug? It’s common for the bricks and plug to get all out of place during shipping, sounds like the shop keeper didn’t get them back into place. I personally like the look of the ultra much better. The ashpan works pretty well, beats the heck out of shoveling...

Yes
The bricks looked misaligned, possibly due to shipping. 160.00 for the ash pan....again not a huge amount. Ultra all black with the works might be the way to go. OAK is the last dilemma......

I appreciate any input from the pros.....

Bloody freezing rain here.....the hated (not by me) VC is chugging along munching on hemlock keeping this 3k house toasty.

 

[Diabel]

Happy stove.

 

[Highbeam]

Ultra for sure if price is close. It looks a whole lot more normal since the face is cut more square. Side shields and ash pan are included. My ultra ash plug sits in the hole just fine.

Oak is easy to add later but I like mine.

 

[BKVP]

No burning in Walla Walla. In middle of remodel of house, so doors are open all day!

BeGreen...keep this rain crap on your side of the mountain...please.

 

[begreen]

No burning in Walla Walla. In middle of remodel of house, so doors are open all day!

BeGreen...keep this rain crap on your side of the mountain...please.

LOL Would that I have that power. We broke a record yesterday, and not by a little. Today Portland's getting it.

 

[jetsam]

High of 40 and rain all day on the other coast. *grumble*

 

[webby3650]

High tomorrow in the upper 30’s with snow, here in palm tree country...

 

[begreen]

High tomorrow in the upper 30’s with snow, here in palm tree country...

Wait a few days.

 

[Cast Iron]

View attachment 225812 View attachment 225813 View attachment 225814
Happy stove.

There must be a hearthnet punishment for permitting this on a BK forum ! "Happy stove " indeed .