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

[black smoke signals]

I haven’t had a chance to go talk to this firewood seller in FT Collins about why he doesn’t recommend burning Hedge wood in inserts surly this isn’t true especially for BK inserts?
Osage Orange (Hedge): One of the hottest burning hardwoods available and the Best Bang for the Buck! Does have some sparking. Produces a tremendous amount of heat output, we recommend burning this wood with a softwood for ease of starting. Use in an Enclosed Fireplace or Stove and not in an insert. This will allow you to enjoy all the great heating benefits without the fire becoming too intense. Btu 32!
$520 per cord picked up

 

[webby3650]

When I was driving through northern Italy, few years back, going through the small towns I would see home hardware store/yards with metal cages full of firewood stacked 40’ high. It was good to see.

Webby, are you Italian? I like the set up.

Nope.
I got the idea from a buddy that has an outdoor boiler, he goes through so much wood he never had time to stack it, so he’s just toss a load in a few of these baskets when he had time.

 

[webby3650]

I haven’t had a chance to go talk to this firewood seller in FT Collins about why he doesn’t recommend burning Hedge wood in inserts surly this isn’t true especially for BK inserts?
Osage Orange (Hedge): One of the hottest burning hardwoods available and the Best Bang for the Buck! Does have some sparking. Produces a tremendous amount of heat output, we recommend burning this wood with a softwood for ease of starting. Use in an Enclosed Fireplace or Stove and not in an insert. This will allow you to enjoy all the great heating benefits without the fire becoming too intense. Btu 32!
$520 per cord picked up

Hedge would be fine to burn. Old timers advised against it because it would “melt your stove down” in reality, their stoves were just uncontrollable.
Many people mistakenly call a zero clearance Fireplace an insert. I assume that’s what he means.

 

[showrguy]

We were in a Stage 2 Fire Ban most of the Summer here in Colorado. The Fire ban restricted burning all the way down to the point the only grill/BBQ you could fire was a gas fired one. We moved a road culvert in Oct last year on a 3 acre piece of property we purchased....and it never flowed a drop until September this year. Our 90+ year old neighbors said it was the driest they'd seen in their 45+ years here. Smokiest Summer here by far as well. Horrible visibility and air quality.

But the wood IS dry.

Smokey, visibility, and air quality might have more to do with all the whacky weed smokers that migrated to your state in the last few years ??

 

[Highbeam]

Smokey, visibility, and air quality might have more to do with all the whacky weed smokers that migrated to your state in the last few years ??

That stuff is everywhere now. Almost. My dog likes it!

Really Smokey on the west coast too. Seems like an annual thing.

I gave up on burning bark in the nc30 and had an outdoor fire.

 

[Ashful]

That dog is so ugly it’s cute. [emoji14]

 

[bholler]

I like pugs. We have and always have had big dogs. But pugs think they are big dogs. If we ever get a small dog it will probably be a pug or something similar.

 

[MtnBURN]

Smokey, visibility, and air quality might have more to do with all the whacky weed smokers that migrated to your state in the last few years ??

LOL...I resemble that remark.....though I have been here 35 years...long before freedom came to town. It's definitely not the end of the world...and it's certainly no more of an impact...not even close...than having legal alcohol for sale or a bar on most every corner.

There's A LOT of pot in this state...but not THAT much. (enough to fill the sky with smoke) Folks ARE tryin' though...believe me.

Bringing it back on topic....those stems make great kindling/fire starters.

 

[ratsrepus]

Im getting 24 hrs per load on the ashford, not even packing it super tight. It would produce heat for 30, but better relight at 24. Can any other stove give these results.

 

[chemie]

Im getting 24 hrs per load on the ashford, not even packing it super tight. It would produce heat for 30, but better relight at 24. Can any other stove give these results.

What are you burning?

 

[black smoke signals]

Bringing it back wood pro trivia? Recent post Hedge wood 32 btu I currently burn low 16 BTU Spruce and Elm in my BK insert. If I burn high btu oak and hedge doesn’t this raise combustor temperature to a higher level at the cat probe?

 

[kf6hap]

Some woods will provide more particulates and gasses for the combustor to react with resulting in a higher cat temp. The thermostat will react trying to maintain temperature set-point to control the burn producing a relatively even heat output. The end result is fast and slow burning woods will produce similar (not exactly, but close) heat outputs when burned at the same thermostat set point. All bets are off if you are burning rags soaked in gasoline tho...

 

[Highbeam]

Some woods will provide more particulates and gasses for the combustor to react with resulting in a higher cat temp. The thermostat will react trying to maintain temperature set-point to control the burn producing a relatively even heat output. The end result is fast and slow burning woods will produce similar (not exactly, but close) heat outputs when burned at the same thermostat set point. All bets are off if you are burning rags soaked in gasoline tho...

Or oily red cedar. Man that cat loves cedar. The thermostat can only close so far and then the cat has to eat up whatever comes its way. So if the wood is oily or pitchy, the stove temp will climb on a closed stat though I've never had it climb very much. If the stat flapper hasn't fully closed then it is still in full control of the stove's output and wood species doesn't matter much except for length of burn due to fuel btu density.

 

[Highbeam]

If I burn high btu oak and hedge doesn’t this raise combustor temperature to a higher level at the cat probe?

Not necessarily. The BK system uses primary combustion and then catalytic combustion for the "secondary" burn. Denser wood has more energy per cubic foot and so has more heat energy available per cubic foot. As KF6hap says, different woods burn differently and the ratio of combustion occurring as primary vs. secondary can vary among species.

 

[ratsrepus]

What are you burning?

Oak, some ash,

 

[Patapsco Mike]

My cap is pretty black by the end of the year, but my chimney is pretty clean. I never get more then a cup or 2 of crap out of it. Usually takes a few months of no burning before my cap starts to look clean.

As a fairly long time BK burner I can say that the BK makes a mess of my cap every year. It's been that way since I first burned it. Flue is clean and clear after a full year of burning, but the bird shield thing on my cap gets so clogged with creosote that it starts to affect my burns. I need to clean the cap on average once mid-winter and I get several cups of crunchy black goo. I even get chunks of creosote falling off the cap onto my roof from time to time during the winter.

I find it to be a mild inconvenience. It's not a hazard as it's only the last foot or so of the air path so no way for it to catch fire. Still love my stove and wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[jetsam]

I always have crunchy crud in my pipe, but I burn in ways I wouldn't recommend to anyone to anyone (wet wood, ultra-low 24/7 burns through shoulder season). The price you have to pay is frequent sweeping, which only takes a few minutes once the flue gets cool enough to do it.

I hit it twice a year (end of shoulder season/beginning of winter, then again at the end of the spring shoulder season when I shut down the stove for the year). I'll also do it opportunistically any time I the pipe cools off enough that it won't melt my brush- maybe a warm spell, stove maintenance, etc. It probably gets 3-4 sweepings a year when you count the unscheduled ones.

At first I cooled off the stove all the way, emptied the firebox, swept the flue, put a work light in there for inspection, shopvacced out every speck.... now I sweep it, brush all the crud into the firebox, and burn it again. One trip up, and it is a pretty quick one at that.

 

[Highbeam]

I always have crunchy crud in my pipe, but I burn in ways I wouldn't recommend to anyone to anyone (wet wood, ultra-low 24/7 burns through shoulder season). The price you have to pay is frequent sweeping, which only takes a few minutes once the flue gets cool enough to do it.

I hit it twice a year (end of shoulder season/beginning of winter, then again at the end of the spring shoulder season when I shut down the stove for the year). I'll also do it opportunistically any time I the pipe cools off enough that it won't melt my brush- maybe a warm spell, stove maintenance, etc. It probably gets 3-4 sweepings a year when you count the unscheduled ones.

At first I cooled off the stove all the way, emptied the firebox, swept the flue, put a work light in there for inspection, shopvacced out every speck.... now I sweep it, brush all the crud into the firebox, and burn it again. One trip up, and it is a pretty quick one at that.

Are you removing the flue from the stove to clean debris out from behind the cat? That's the part that takes the longest for me. I do it anyways even though I can suck almost all of it out with proper vacuum technique. I worry that the small sheet metal screws into the flue pieces may wear out and strip.

 

[Niko]

So i have a blaze king king ultra. I purchased a cat from firecat and this thing does not look new nor does it have the lip that I have read about. It has stains and some type of greenish depsotes also it jas plenty of dings.. some of the fins are bent also.

 

[Ashful]

Geez, you guys. Gooey stuff on your chimney cap? I’m burning more wood than most, and have never had that. Some black crunchy stuff, sure... but never sticky tar. I have a screen atop each chimney, 5/8” expanded metal, and have never had issues with build-up on that which would affect draft.

I sweep each flue once per year, in summer. I suppose I get a bit more out of my chimneys than a non-cat might, I wouldn’t know, but it’s never been enough to cause me to want to brush multiple times during the season.

I suspect wood quality is the primary issue, but other than jetsam, no one ever wants to hear that. Jetsam owns his bad wood, like a badge of honor. [emoji16]

 

[BURNard]

So my question is. Can I use compressed wood bricks for fuel in a cat stove? Specifically a Blaze King Ashford 30. Or should I steer clear of them? Thank you.

 

[webby3650]

Geez, you guys. Gooey stuff on your chimney cap? I’m burning more wood than most, and have never had that. Some black crunchy stuff, sure... but never sticky tar. I have a screen atop each chimney, 5/8” expanded metal, and have never had issues with build-up on that which would affect draft.

I sweep each flue once per year, in summer. I suppose I get a bit more out of my chimneys than a non-cat might, I wouldn’t know, but it’s never been enough to cause me to want to brush multiple times during the season.

I suspect wood quality is the primary issue, but other than jetsam, no one ever wants to hear that. Jetsam owns his bad wood, like a badge of honor. [emoji16]

I rarely have much of any build up. I’m about to clean the flue my princess was on all last season, I’ll post some pics when I do.

 

[ratsrepus]

just did both of my chimneys, about a coffee can full from each, nit much if any in the cpas

 

[Highbeam]

Geez, you guys. Gooey stuff on your chimney cap? I’m burning more wood than most, and have never had that. Some black crunchy stuff, sure... but never sticky tar. I have a screen atop each chimney, 5/8” expanded metal, and have never had issues with build-up on that which would affect draft.

I sweep each flue once per year, in summer. I suppose I get a bit more out of my chimneys than a non-cat might, I wouldn’t know, but it’s never been enough to cause me to want to brush multiple times during the season.

I suspect wood quality is the primary issue, but other than jetsam, no one ever wants to hear that. Jetsam owns his bad wood, like a badge of honor. [emoji16]

His exact words were "crunchy black goo" which isn't exactly gooey stuff but I don't know. I've gotten some pretty gross stuff on the chimney cap when the cats start to fail. No wet anything during normal operation. Just black crust.

 

[Highbeam]

So my question is. Can I use compressed wood bricks for fuel in a cat stove? Specifically a Blaze King Ashford 30. Or should I steer clear of them? Thank you.

Yes. Only those bricks made of 100% wood though.