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

[kf6hap]

After looking at all the problems DRHIII is having, I strongly suspect wet wood. Air tubers can tolerate way more moisture than a cat stove. Later on in the burn the cat snuffs out with steam, the flue gasses stall and it smokes like the Dickens through the joints.


Had to clean the flue and box after 10 days. (from page 62).

 

[jetsam]

After looking at all the problems DRHIII is having, I strongly suspect wet wood. Air tubers can tolerate way more moisture than a cat stove. Later on in the burn the cat snuffs out with steam, the flue gasses stall and it smokes like the Dickens through the joints.

My princess does not smoke through the joints when burning soggy fresh-from-the-woods pine. This may be because it is a steel stove and all the joints are welded. I think you would have to cap the flue in the middle of a burn to get it to smoke.

I hear people talk about how sensitive cats are to wet wood, and I have to look at my Princess and laugh. It hasn't had much fuel that was under 35% yet this year (I haven't touched my woodpiles and have been burning dead stuff out of the woods due to being a year behind on wood gathering).


Here's a little odd from the last haul that has been sitting by the stove for maybe 24 hours.



That little chunk that has been sitting by the stove is quite a bit drier than the bigger stuff that the stove is happily eating.

I do have several cords of dry wood (mostly oak) ready to go, but I want to use as little of it as possible this year, so I won't get into that until it gets cold and stays cold.

(Disclaimer: If you want to burn wet wood, sweep often, burn hot, prepare for frustration if you start fires, your burn times will be reduced greatly, your top heat output will be significantly reduced, and your wood consumption will go up a lot. In short, I don't recommend burning wet wood, but it doesn't ruin your stove or fill your house with smoke. It can fill your flue with creosote if you don't keep it hot, so sweep and inspect often.)

I don't know drhii's fuel situation, but it is not a primary cause of smoke getting into his house.

 

[Ashful]

I have to laugh at the wet wood thing, too. The wood I’m burning now is oak, some of it with punky sapwood which is soaked like a spong. I can literally squeeze water out of it, and it’s sometimes going straight into the stove that way. No issues, the heartwood which makes up most of the mass is dry.

By the time I close the bypass, most of the moisture is baked off, I suspect. I haven’t noticed any hit in performance, other than a much longer time to reach light-off temperature on cold starts.

 

[kf6hap]

Just guessing about his problem. I don't have much high moisture wood in my cat stove. Burn hot is the key, if you must burn wet.

 

[jetsam]

I have to laugh at the wet wood thing, too. The wood I’m burning now is oak, some of it with punky sapwood which is soaked like a spong. I can literally squeeze water out of it, and it’s sometimes going straight into the stove that way. No issues, the heartwood which makes up most of the mass is dry.

By the time I close the bypass, most of the moisture is baked off, I suspect. I haven’t noticed any hit in performance, other than a much longer time to reach light-off temperature on cold starts.

Keep the temperatures up and you can burn through-and-through wet wood too. It is not great, but it is no worse than burning crappy wood in any other kind of stove. It's not a cat-vs-noncat thing.

I think I am not afraid of it because I grew up burning green stuff right out of the woods in smoke dragons, because that's how we did it. We would have had to process a lot less wood and sweep a lot less flues if we'd had hearth.com back then, even if we didn't have EPA stoves yet.

 

[drhiii]

After looking at all the problems DRHIII is having, I strongly suspect wet wood. Air tubers can tolerate way more moisture than a cat stove. Later on in the burn the cat snuffs out with steam, the flue gasses stall and it smokes like the Dickens through the joints.

Had to clean the flue and box after 10 days. (from page 62).

Folks, appreciate the responses. Wanted to post that the stove is coming out. I cannot keep chasing the two major issues.

One last response on the wood quality that is a most recent post. No, wood here is not the problem. Not even close. I can move between ponderosa pine, doug fir, oak, and my main is pinon pine which is excellent wood. This latter has moisture content between 5-11%, having been well seasoned. None of the wood I burn is wet or soaked. I had a bad experience for a few days initially in burning silver maple. It has seasoned for almost 3 years but it produced copious amounts of creosote, so much so I had to sweep the flue and firebox after 10 days. Read in this forum warning away from silver maple… I can attest based on how what happened. I stopped silver maple now in the BKP very qiickly. Just thought to add this tidbit… wood ain’t the prob here.

Appreciate the replies. Won’t post here going forward because none of us needs this. I know BK is a great company and great product. I need to get to a working environment again.

 

[ratsrepus]

There not as dry wood fussy as everyone says. I mean dryer is better no doubt,

 

[fhon]

Wow, I never heard this about silver maple. Is it really that badI? I've got a bunch waiting to be burned.

Unrelated, as I haven't burnt any of the silver maple yet... Is it normal to have so much creasote in the back of the fire box? Does it say anything about how I'm burning?

 

[Rickb]

I love silver maple but mine is dry and has never made my firebox look that bad.

 

[kennyp2339]

Wow, I never heard this about silver maple. Is it really that badI? I've got a bunch waiting to be burned.

Unrelated, as I haven't burnt any of the silver maple yet... Is it normal to have so much creasote in the back of the fire box? Does it say anything about how I'm burning?

Yea its pretty bad stuff, I'll swing by and take that silver maple off your hands
I have said this before and I'll say it again, if I was left with only one type of wood to burn I would choose silver maple, its splits good, dries out pretty fast and burns well.

 

[lsucet]

Wow, I never heard this about silver maple. Is it really that badI? I've got a bunch waiting to be burned.

Unrelated, as I haven't burnt any of the silver maple yet... Is it normal to have so much creasote in the back of the fire box? Does it say anything about how I'm burning?

You need a good hot burn body. lol. scrape it.

 

[fhon]

I love silver maple but mine is dry and has never made my firebox look that bad.

Well that's from mainly oak and black walnut so what's that saying?!?

 

[Highbeam]

Wow, I never heard this about silver maple. Is it really that badI? I've got a bunch waiting to be burned.

Unrelated, as I haven't burnt any of the silver maple yet... Is it normal to have so much creasote in the back of the fire box? Does it say anything about how I'm burning?

It is false to think that silver maple is “bad”. Like any natural wood, dry it and burn it. People come up with all kinds of bogus about different wood species.

My firebox looks just like that in the back corners. It’s the result of burning low and slow. It will bake, shrink, and peel off on its own with a hotter fire even though the glass will stay blackened. I usually notice the center rear flaking off first. I try to burn it all off and even scrape it with a kindling stick before the summer slumber.

 

[prezes13]

I don’t have a blaze king stove and don’t have much knowledge about it. Fact that there seems to be excessive amo of creo produced points towards few problems.
Wet wood - according to the op is not on issue.
Smoldering Fire - unlikely if he goes tghrough a load in 5 hours
Bad cat?
Leaky gasket around the cat?

 

[Ashful]

Wow, I never heard this about silver maple. Is it really that badI? I've got a bunch waiting to be burned.

Unrelated, as I haven't burnt any of the silver maple yet... Is it normal to have so much creasote in the back of the fire box? Does it say anything about how I'm burning?

Silver maples make crappy yard trees, they grow like weeds, proliferate like dandelions, and self-destruct under snow load when they mature. I have a few large in my back yard, up to 4 ft. diameter, and they're just a friggin' mess. But they burn like any other medium-BTU wood.

 

[chemie]

Here's a little odd from the last haul that has been sitting by the stove for maybe 24 hours.

View attachment 234162

That little chunk that has been sitting by the stove is quite a bit drier than the bigger stuff that the stove is happily eating.

Do you find it keeping wood close by the stove for a day or two helps lowering MC of the wood 2-3 %?

 

[jetsam]

Do you find it keeping wood close by the stove for a day or two helps lowering MC of the wood 2-3 %?

I don't know about that, but it definitely reduces the surface moisture and helps it catch more easily.

I suppose small/thin splits might dry out a little in the middle, but probably not a whole ton.

The difference in moisture at the very surface of the wood is large after a day by the stove.

 

[Boxer]

I put off buying a Blaze King for years because I always heard if your wood wasn’t 100% it absolutely would not work.
I was behind on wood this year because of a move to a new house. I’m burning Hickory that was cut early in the Spring. We have had the most miserable, rainy humid year I can remember ever. I split everything on the small side and stacked it in the open. It’s still far from what I would call perfect wood but this thing just burns it like a champ.
Without a doubt I think this stove burns questionable wood better than anything I have ever used before. We have been burning since mid October and the chimney, firebox and glass have stayed clean. I can say I’m definitely not getting any smoke spillage and am having no problem idling it back for a long burn. Looking forward to next year so I can see what some seasoned wood will do.

 

[kf6hap]

I cut, split, stack and burn the same year. Just get done early in spring and split on the small side. Pine, oak, cedar and madrone mostly.

 

[claybe]

Folks, appreciate the responses. Wanted to post that the stove is coming out. I cannot keep chasing the two major issues.

One last response on the wood quality that is a most recent post. No, wood here is not the problem. Not even close. I can move between ponderosa pine, doug fir, oak, and my main is pinon pine which is excellent wood. This latter has moisture content between 5-11%, having been well seasoned. None of the wood I burn is wet or soaked. I had a bad experience for a few days initially in burning silver maple. It has seasoned for almost 3 years but it produced copious amounts of creosote, so much so I had to sweep the flue and firebox after 10 days. Read in this forum warning away from silver maple… I can attest based on how what happened. I stopped silver maple now in the BKP very qiickly. Just thought to add this tidbit… wood ain’t the prob here.

Appreciate the replies. Won’t post here going forward because none of us needs this. I know BK is a great company and great product. I need to get to a working environment again.

You might have the stove out already, but I used to get a smoke smell too and still do sometimes. I can’t run mine really low like others here do due to draft issues but here’s what I do. When I get in the active zone I close the bypass. Then to turn down the thermostat, I turn it to 1/2 throttle for about 10 minutes and then turn it down “quick” until I hear the flapper click and figure out where that is, then I turn it up so the flapper is not closed. If I close the flapper I get a smoke smell. The thermostat will adjust over the time of the fire. Also, I wouldn’t expect 20 hour burns unless it’s shoulder season. I get 8-12 hours with my princess. Just some other thoughts from a fellow Coloradan...and BKVP can and will help you! Good luck.

 

[MissMac]

The lag on the cat meter works both ways. Really, just know it is not broken if it’s not glowing. Keep the meter in the active zone and enjoy a beverage.

Yup all good, not worried about it. Just happened to notice the other day that after a couple of hours on high with the needle at about 2 o.c. that the cat wasn’t glowing, and i just thought it was odd because of how hot the stove was.

 

[MissMac]

Wow, I never heard this about silver maple. Is it really that badI? I've got a bunch waiting to be burned.

Unrelated, as I haven't burnt any of the silver maple yet... Is it normal to have so much creasote in the back of the fire box? Does it say anything about how I'm burning?

Mine looks similar.

 

[Ashful]

I have creo in the back of the box on the stove I run in 24 hour batch mode, but the one I run in 12-hour batch mode is much cleaner. So, yes, I think it does say something about how you’re burning. But I wouldn’t say it’s bad, everything downstream if the cat should still be clean, as long as you keep it in the active.

 

[chazcarr]

Been a few days running and I have a few questions about my BKP insert.

1) Is the fan really loud for anyone else?
2) When I close it down for the longer burns, it whistles, is that bad?
3) The max burn time I seem to be getting is only 8 hours. Not much better than the Regency I had. What is the deal? What should I be considering here? I have the fan and the stat at the same level (one click from fully low).
4) When the wind blows outside, I can hear it near the stat. Is that a normal thing or is the seal in the chimney not tight enough?

Thanks in advance, I really want to be able to load up around 8-9pm and wake up to an active cat around 7am. That is why I purchased this stove, and yet I haven't been able to do that yet.

 

[lsucet]

Been a few days running and I have a few questions about my BKP insert.

1) Is the fan really loud for anyone else?
2) When I close it down for the longer burns, it whistles, is that bad?
3) The max burn time I seem to be getting is only 8 hours. Not much better than the Regency I had. What is the deal? What should I be considering here? I have the fan and the stat at the same level (one click from fully low).
4) When the wind blows outside, I can hear it near the stat. Is that a normal thing or is the seal in the chimney not tight enough?

Thanks in advance, I really want to be able to load up around 8-9pm and wake up to an active cat around 7am. That is why I purchased this stove, and yet I haven't been able to do that yet.

Give a little more of info about your setup in general. How tall is the chimney? Is it giving you enough heat during those 8 hrs burn? etc.