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

[showrguy]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks to all the great input from members here I have recently switched to a Blaze King Princess Ultra. We’re only just recently getting some nice cold days but I think it was a great decision. So, thank you all again for your help.

Since this is my first year using it I was hoping I could get some insight from some of you with experience with them. I’ve read the manual and a bunch of older posts but I’m still left with a few questions and some smoke.

I’ll just list out the questions to make it easier for those reading:

• After reading it seems its normal to have no flames when choking it down for long burns. But should you have the wood still glowing brightly? How dull and dead looking do you let it get?

• Is it normal for the combustor to start lighting the smoke in front of it before it passes through?

• How full are you filling you BK for long burns? Any pictures?

• Should I have no smoke at all when shutting the bypass? I’ve been getting a decent amount of smoke even though the bypass is closed and the combustor is glowing.

Thanks in advance.

Pack the stove full for now and see how you do for burn times, after you have a handle on that you can adjust your load to fit your schedule..

It's normal to see smoke/steam after shutting the bipass, usually 15-30 minutes later you won't for the rest of the burn..

Where are you in Pa. ??

 

[chemie]

I use quite a bit of black locust and find it burns very hot and very long! No odd smell noticed here. Don't hesitate, burn away I say

Does it season fast? The tree I cut is fallen dead tree. The highest MC content I have seen %27 , mostly close to 20 %.

 

[chemie]

It does smell different and bad IMO, but not awful. I wouldn’t roast marshmallows over it but for pure heat, it’s hard to beat Black Locust. The smell shouldn’t invade your home or be off putting enough to cause you to dread reloading the stove.

I like the smell of the split but didn’t use them yet. Waiting for very cold weather to use them .

 

[redktmrider]

I wasn’t aware there was an Ashford+Alderlea stove owner on the forum. Two of the most beloved convective cast clad stoves in the same house. How do they compare?

I really like the extended burn times and somewhat unsupervised operation of the Blaze King, but to watch it burn is like staring at the wall. The Alderlea is more enjoying to watch. I was thinking of replacing the Alderlea with a Princess, but would miss the flame show.
Even at higher air settings, the BK lacks the dancing of the flame that the reburn technology of the Alderlea adds. ( just my opinion)

I believe the the Alderlea is a little harder to operate at the beginning of the burn cycle. I was having problems with it getting too hot, so I recently added a digital thermometer and flue probe to the Alderlea( an insert), making its operation a bit easier, but the thermostatic operation of the Blaze King wins hands down. I think all stoves would benefit from thermostatic control.

On burn time front, the Alderlea has no hope of meeting the BK times, but I am OK with that as the Alderlea is a supplemental heater used for when the temps require more heat than the BK can provide. ( I"m heating roughly 3000 Sq ft.)

On the maintenance front, the BK loses to the Alderlea due to the added care of the bypass door and gasket, even though the Aldelea has to have the baffle removed for bottom to top sweeping. I haven't replaced a cat yet on the BK, but that is an extra expense.

I haven't had my Blaze King long enough to compare durability, but both are known for their long lasting quality.

Overall, both are great stoves with different strengths and weaknesses. If was limited to one stove, I would probably pick the BK due to its superior burn times. It will be really interesting to see how the cat/reburn hybrids fare in the future, as they combine both technologies.

 

[Nigel459]

Does it season fast? The tree I cut is fallen dead tree. The highest MC content I have seen %27 , mostly close to 20 %.

Yes, in my experience I've been surprised at how fast black locust has seasoned. Faster than hard maple and oak, though not quite as fast as ash. Some of our standing dead BL comes in at under 20%, and if it's a tad high it does seem to season relatively quickly considering how dense it is.

 

[Nigel459]

Thanks a bunch Nigel. Being completely dark is hard to wrap my head around. These stove are definitely different.

Too much smoke for the combustor to handle was my first thought, but does that mean I'm not doing a good job starting the load?

Yeah, as one member said to me a year or so ago, "Welcome to the black box club!" Sounded kinda boring/dull at first but I wouldn't trade my BK for any other stove I've run. (Well maybe I'd try a Woodstock Keystone for the same space if it were given to me haha.) And you can always turn it up for a nice fire view.

There's been some discussion here about the smoke and "char" time at reload/start up. Some say the longer you run on high to char with cat engaged (20-30 mins per the manual) the less likely of a stall as well as the longer the burn. I bet it depends on the MC, species of wood, etc. and you'll figure out what works for you after too long. The alien tech has many factors.

I'd first try to determine if it really is smoke (dark, doesn't dissipate very quickly) or steam (light grey ish, dissipates, more visible on damp days). I really rarely see smoke.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Yes, in my experience I've been surprised at how fast black locust has seasoned. Faster than hard maple and oak, though not quite as fast as ash. Some of our standing dead BL comes in at under 20%, and if it's a tad high it does seem to season relatively quickly considering how dense it is.

I had just the opposite happen to me this summer, to my surprise. I CSS some green fir, cedar and black locust and stacked it all in the same row. At the end of September, the fir and cedar were under 18% - the BL was still at 35%!

 

[chemie]

Yes, in my experience I've been surprised at how fast black locust has seasoned. Faster than hard maple and oak, though not quite as fast as ash. Some of our standing dead BL comes in at under 20%, and if it's a tad high it does seem to season relatively quickly considering how dense it is.

Do you have any data about how fast they go from upper 20s to below 20 % MC?

 

[Diabel]

Y

Do you have any data about how fast they go from upper 20s to below 20 % MC?

You will be disappointed if you try to burn your scroungeed BL this year. Do not ask me how I know.....

I was in your shoes few years ago....

 

[showrguy]

Do you have any data about how fast they go from upper 20s to below 20 % MC?

If you set your oven to 160* insert wood, it should be ready in 3-6 days..

 

[chemie]

Y


You will be disappointed if you try to burn your scroungeed BL this year. Do not ask me how I know.....

I was in your shoes few years ago....

Was the wood from fresh cut or fallen dead tree?

 

[Nigel459]

I had just the opposite happen to me this summer, to my surprise. I CSS some green fir, cedar and black locust and stacked it all in the same row. At the end of September, the fir and cedar were under 18% - the BL was still at 35%!

Aw cmon now, that's not fair, putting up a hardwood, one of the densest no less, against softwood for drying time! Fir and cedar especially!

 

[Diabel]

Was the wood from fresh cut or fallen dead tree?

Dead standing.

I know how excited you are. Be patient, I realize you do not have much space. I do not have much space in the city neither. That is why I bought land 1h outside the city to process and store wood. The wife calls it a lake house, me a wood processing station!

Talk about ROI!!

 

[chemie]

Dead standing.

I know how excited you are. Be patient, I realize you do not have much space. I do not have much space in the city neither. That is why I bought land 1h outside the city to process and store wood. The wife calls it a lake house, me a wood processing station!

Talk about ROI!!

I am 100% sure that it wouldn’t yield a good ROI!
I’m trying to be positive that I would be able to use the black locust in February/March

 

[Diabel]

You should start a new BL thread in the wood shed, you will get tons of comments.
All I remember, my BL did not burn well after 12mc seasoning. After 4yrs, it rocked!

 

[jetsam]

I just found a wood stack out back from the previous owner... little pine rounds stuck in between two trees on the edge of the woods. The pine was a spongy mess, mostly water and bugs. Under the pine was some locust, and it was still rock solid. I don't know how many years it sat uncovered with that spongy rotten pine on top of it, but most of the locust even still had bark on it and didn't appear even slightly rotten or punky.

It must make great posts!

 

[Tar12]

I had just the opposite happen to me this summer, to my surprise. I CSS some green fir, cedar and black locust and stacked it all in the same row. At the end of September, the fir and cedar were under 18% - the BL was still at 35%!

Locust has always taken a long time for me to season...but oh so worth it!

 

[Wolves1]

I am not a BK owner but I have to say BK owners have to be the most dedicated group of people to wood burning and working together to find the most optimum burning in whatever situation. Would love to pick your brain on the blower when you use it,don’t use it or mix.

 

[fhon]

Pack the stove full for now and see how you do for burn times, after you have a handle on that you can adjust your load to fit your schedule..

It's normal to see smoke/steam after shutting the bipass, usually 15-30 minutes later you won't for the rest of the burn..

Where are you in Pa. ??

Ok. Thanks a bunch. That makes me feel better. I wish I could easily tell the difference between smoke and steam.

I'm near York.

 

[bholler]

Ok. Thanks a bunch. That makes me feel better. I wish I could easily tell the difference between smoke and steam.

I'm near York.

Steam dissipates pretty quickly smoke does not.

 

[ratsrepus]

I am not a BK owner but I have to say BK owners have to be the most dedicated group of people to wood burning and working together to find the most optimum burning in whatever situation. Would love to pick your brain on the blower when you use it,don’t use it or mix.

We just had this conversation a few days ago, opinions seem to vary on fan use. I run them when I need to bring the house up to temp, say like in the morning. Now were talking free standing stove aren't we? I guess if you have an insert they need to be run all the time, but free standing Not. I have been told by the Gods of fire here that your wood burns up faster the fans running.

 

[tarzan]

I am not a BK owner but I have to say BK owners have to be the most dedicated group of people to wood burning and working together to find the most optimum burning in whatever situation. Would love to pick your brain on the blower when you use it,don’t use it or mix.

Fans are the only way for me when I’m heating solely with the wood stove. The difference in heat displacement in this 1,600sqf doublewide is great enough that I wouldn’t even consider owning a stove without fans.

That being said, since I’ve been dabbling in this forbidden heat pump/electric furnace witchcraftery and only running the wood stove to assist once outside temps drop into the 20’s or lower, I’m finding that running the stove without the fans on and relying on the heat vents and cold air return to distribute heat evenly works well.

 

[chemie]

Fans are the only way for me when I’m heating solely with the wood stove. The difference in heat displacement in this 1,600sqf doublewide is great enough that I wouldn’t even consider owning a stove without fans.

That being said, since I’ve been dabbling in this forbidden heat pump/electric furnace witchcraftery and only running the wood stove to assist once outside temps drop into the 20’s or lower, I’m finding that running the stove without the fans on and relying on the heat vents and cold air return to distribute heat evenly works well.

How do you do that?
Put the HVAC on fan mode and circulate?
I have gas furnace but haven’t used it this season yet. The weather was coldest yesterday and last night so far but AF25 insert was enough to heat the whole house with fan on/off half the time.We have loaded it every 10-12 hours with not so perfectly fit pine, cherry, and maple ( sugar , I think).
It is about 2500 sq feet colonial house.

 

[MissMac]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks to all the great input from members here I have recently switched to a Blaze King Princess Ultra. We’re only just recently getting some nice cold days but I think it was a great decision. So, thank you all again for your help.

Since this is my first year using it I was hoping I could get some insight from some of you with experience with them. I’ve read the manual and a bunch of older posts but I’m still left with a few questions and some smoke.

I’ll just list out the questions to make it easier for those reading:

• After reading it seems its normal to have no flames when choking it down for long burns. But should you have the wood still glowing brightly? How dull and dead looking do you let it get?

• Is it normal for the combustor to start lighting the smoke in front of it before it passes through?

• How full are you filling you BK for long burns? Any pictures?

• Should I have no smoke at all when shutting the bypass? I’ve been getting a decent amount of smoke even though the bypass is closed and the combustor is glowing.

Thanks in advance.

My stove will produce smoke on and off throughout the burn cycle. Sometimes only for the first 40-60 minutes after reload, sometimes for the first few hours. I think split size can impact, if you are feeding the cat more than it can chew. Other times I don’t know why it smokes but it does. Not a lot, but some for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tarzan]

How do you do that?
Put the HVAC on fan mode and circulate?
I have gas furnace but haven’t used it this season yet. The weather was coldest yesterday and last night so far but AF25 insert was enough to heat the whole house with fan on/off half the time.We have loaded it every 10-12 hours with not so perfectly fit pine, cherry, and maple ( sugar , I think).
It is about 2500 sq feet colonial house.

When temps are cold enough for us to run the wood stove now, I run it similar to Ashfuls method. I don’t depend on it as my only heat source. Rather, I just set it for a 24 hour burn, more or less, and let it run in conjunction with the electric heat. The natural on/off cycling of the electric heat results in enough air movement throughout the house that it evens out the heat from the stove without the stove fans running.

Note, my house is leaky and has little solar gain so my parameters are unique to me. My post was just an explanation of my experience with or without the stove fans.