2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 1 (Everything BK)

[lsucet]

I know the traditional is with kindling and all that. I just put some small splits in diameter on top and center as i stick a piece of super cedar on front. that catches real quick and heat the cat straight up. I dont use kindling, just small pieces as mentioned.

 

[Diabel]

Definitely dirtier than a tube stove.

Naturally, this is only your opinion. BKVP will take notice.

 

[Ashful]

I cant close down anywhere near all the way. But i only have about 20' of chimney and it goes out through the wall to a tee so the draft isnt overly strong at all.

I think I posted this last night, and I'm not sure how it would correlate to the Princess, but I run my Ashfords around 40% on the "swoosh" for a 24 hour burn, or 60% for a 12 hour burn. This would correspond to 1.75 to 2.25 on the old numbers dial. It's pretty easy to stall below 1.25 on the dial, if you don't have strong draft.

if you don't have a dog enjoying the stove then you have the wrong stove!

... or the wrong dog.

I can tell you my cap has more black on it from this short time burning with the bk than it got after a full season with the regency. My flue temps when running low hover right about 250. Which i am sure is below 212 by the time it leaves the top of the chimney.

Flue around 250 sounds normal to me. I've only ever run cat stoves, so I can't compare to non-cat, but yes... I'm used to my screen going black at the beginning of each season. But at least for me, it's just color, I've never had any problem with build-up. I suspect what you're seeing now might be the most you ever see.

 

[Rickb]

Top down, would be..... paper kindling and splits at the bottom. Correct? (Do not feel like going to YouTube).

No next time try search or youtube.... Top down is kindling on top of a load of wood. Hence top down.

 

[bholler]

I think I posted this last night, and I'm not sure how it would correlate to the Princess, but I run my Ashfords around 40% on the "swoosh" for a 24 hour burn, or 60% for a 12 hour burn. This would correspond to 1.75 to 2.25 on the old numbers dial. It's pretty easy to stall below 1.25 on the dial, if you don't have strong draft.


... or the wrong dog.


Flue around 250 sounds normal to me. I've only ever run cat stoves, so I can't compare to non-cat, but yes... I'm used to my screen going black at the beginning of each season. But at least for me, it's just color, I've never had any problem with build-up. I suspect what you're seeing now might be the most you ever see.

250 internal or external?

 

[Diabel]

Flue around 250 sounds normal to me. I've only ever run cat stoves, so I can't compare to non-cat, but yes... I'm used to my screen going black at the beginning of each season. But at least for me, it's just color, I've never had any problem with build-up. I suspect what you're seeing now might be the most you ever see.

I hear what you are saying Ashful.
200 is low.

I remember seeing a vid. from BK where a scruffy dude put his hand over a cut out section of the flue, while the cat was engaged.... (BKVP perhaps.....).
That temp would have to be in the range of 175.

 

[Ashful]

250 internal or external?

Im running a probe on double wall on one stove, and an external thermometer on single wall on the other, so there’s a chance to capture both here. Let me get some photos of each, before counting on my possibly-faulty memory, although I was actually thinking internal when I made that original statement.

First, here’s my stove with the external thermometer on single wall, right now, showing 175F around 22 hours into a burn. You can see cat is still showing active, even with the blowers going, and blowing cool air across that cat probe.



I’ll get a photo of the one with a probe on double wall later tonight, when I fire it back up.

 

[bholler]

Im running a probe on double wall on one stove, and an external thermometer on single wall on the other, so there’s a chance to capture both here. Let me get some photos of each, before counting on my possibly-faulty memory, although I was actually thinking internal when I made that original statement.

First, here’s my stove with the external thermometer on single wall, right now, showing 175F around 22 hours into a burn. You can see cat is still showing active, even with the blowers going, and blowing cool air across that cat probe.

View attachment 231545

I’ll get a photo of the one with a probe on double wall later tonight, when I fire it back up.

Yeah at 22 hours in that doesnt surprise or concern me at all.

 

[Diabel]

Yeah at 22 hours in that doesnt surprise or concern me at all.

True.

Ashful and others what are your flue (probe) temps at sag 4h into the burn?

 

[lsucet]

At the 4h mark it can be at 300 or 500. Depends on when tstat opens or how low/high you are running it. It is just doing its thing

 

[lsucet]

There is no a should be here or there at any specific time through the burn cycle

 

[Mnpellet]

Will not running the fans on my ashford hurt anything? Just asking as they get very hot but would think they are made for that. I’m sure when it gets real cold I will want them but not needed now.

 

[bholler]

There is no a should be here or there at any specific time through the burn cycle

But there is at the end of the burn cycle temps are going to drop off. And you need to get the temps up at the start.

 

[bholler]

Will not running the fans on my ashford hurt anything? Just asking as they get very hot but would think they are made for that. I’m sure when it gets real cold I will want them but not needed now.

No it will not hurt anything. You dont need to run the fan on any woodstove.

 

[Mnpellet]

Thank you

 

[lsucet]

But there is at the end of the burn cycle temps are going to drop off. And you need to get the temps up at the start.

Right but the question was at 4h mark if I understood correctly.

 

[kf6hap]

In the beginning, I was concerned about creosote but have found with my wood and the flue hovering about 250 all is well. I do run it around 200 in the shoulder season but this is later in the burn.

I asked BKVP how low can you go? His reply was try it for 30 days and then inspect the flue. Great advice. Each setup is different so when operating the stove at these low temps it becomes experimental. These stoves can run amazingly low when the outside temp is in the 50s and the flue draw becomes feeble.

 

[bholler]

Right but the question was at 4h mark if I understood correctly.

Yes and i absolutely agree with your first statement. But the way you worded your second one it came off as a general statement nothing about the 4 hr mark.

 

[bholler]

In the beginning, I was concerned about creosote but have found with my wood and the flue hovering about 250 all is well. I do run it around 200 in the shoulder season but this is later in the burn.

I asked BKVP how low can you go? His reply was try it for 30 days and then inspect the flue. Great advice. Each setup is different so when operating the stove at these low temps it becomes experimental. These stoves can run amazingly low when the outside temp is in the 50s and the flue draw becomes feeble.

The few blazekings i clean yearly have way more buildup in than the majority of similarly sized tube stoves.

 

[kf6hap]

The few blazekings i clean yearly have way more buildup in than the majority of similarly sized tube stoves.

That makes sense as the air tubers have to be run hotter or the secondary burn won't happen. If an air tube stove is run as low as a BK one might be advised to check the stack frequently.

This year I got about a quart of dry powdery soot out of my 17' straight 6" stack.

 

[bholler]

That makes sense as the air tubers have to be run hotter or the secondary burn won't happen. If an air tube stove is run as low as a BK one might be advised to check the stack frequently.

This year I got about a quart of dry powdery soot out of my 17' straight 6" stack.

Yes but that creosote can be lit off in the chimney attached to a bk just as easily as it can be in any stove. Especially when the bypass is open.

 

[Dieselhead]

I have found that this year for the first time I can turn my dial down all the way to the stop without losing the cat. I had to check the door gasket again to make sure it wasn't that! I am going to chalk it up to the steel cat.

Won't matter in the winter, but it's real nice in shoulder season.

For whatever reason I have found this year I have gotten more consistent 24hr plus burns too, never really able to in the past. I had this left over after 27hrs which is a new record for me

 

[dh1989]

Stack temperature when turned down (black smoky box) is around 200-250 for me. I get crusty crud at the cap but clean out at the end of the season with the soot eater. I’ve never had more than 1-2 cups of creosote with 2 cords burned per season.

As for starting, I tried a top down and a bottom up start this week. Top down with kindling and fire starter chunk under the cat. The cat temperature takes a while to climb and the load takes longer to catch, but not much smoke during startup. Bottom up catches much faster and seems to send more heat up the flue. This gets the draft roaring like a jet and lights the load in half the time, but the stack is rolling coal smoking out the yard. The flue temperature beats the cat temperature, so once the flue hits 400F I engage the cat and get instant cat glow. The coal rolling ceases instantly and I see nothing but heat waves from the stack.

I think I’m going to run bottom up starts in the shoulder season to help get the draft rolling faster. The instant clean plume is neat to see as well.

 

[kf6hap]

The flue temperature beats the cat temperature, so once the flue hits 400F I engage the cat and get instant cat glow. The coal rolling ceases instantly and I see nothing but heat waves from the stack.

That is how I do it. Red cat in ~15 minutes. Cat needle still on the "I" by "Inactive". The flue probe is what I watch for light-off and very low BTU operation.

 

[AlbergSteve]

I ran a Regency 2400 for 9 years and the most I'd get out of 24' of pipe was less than a cup of fine powder - after TWO seasons.

I'm getting about half a gallon from the Ashford and 16' of pipe, and that's after a mid season clean earlier this year.



Man, I love a flat roof! I don't mind cleaning every two months.