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

[Woody Stover]

I am curious why you are giving advice on how to run a stove you dont know with wood you dont burn.

Well, this is what he said:

The only problem I've had is tons of smoke from the chimney. But I think I've solved that by packing the wood in so there's no airflow between splits. That way it can only burn from the front. It seems like if they're too loosely stacked in there it's burning too much surface area at once. Therefore too much smoke for the cat to handle.

He thinks he's preventing too much smoke by slowing down how much wood catches quickly on a new load. Therefore I gave him some methods I have used to limit the amount of gassing early in the burn, with several other cat stoves I have burned over the years. So I wasn't telling him "how to run" his stove as you seem to think I was, just telling him how to get less wood burning.
As far as the Walnut possibly making more smoke, I clearly stated that "I'm really just guessing here." I have burned some but I didn't closely watch the stack at the time. And it was a top that I found, that was lying out there for twenty years. I just threw it out there so maybe someone who has burned more Walnut might comment on the amount of smoke. I'm not sure why you would have a problem with anything I've said I response to him..?
If you have followed the BK threads for a while, you know that questions about smoke have popped up from time to time, with no definite conclusions being drawn. If his cat is glowing brightly like he said, I'm not sure why he would be seeing smoke that is "pretty much nonstop."

this is one part of the design/performance that could be improved. Not saying it’s possible to have a low burn rate and clear exhaust but I sure would like to have both.

 

[webby3650]

My burn times are due to my btu load. I can get longer burns if i dont care about heating my house.

I hear that. My new house is hard to heat too...

 

[kf6hap]

If his cat is glowing brightly like he said, I'm not sure why he would be seeing smoke that is "pretty much nonstop."

The combustion process is creating more smoke than the cat can catalyze. Bigger splits and tighter packing might help.

 

[BKVP]

@webby3650 @BKVP
Replacing the glass gasket on my Princess, do I need to keep this “padding” type material that is under the glass retainers? Most of its in decent shape but a couple spots have tears.

View attachment 234549

Yes...or you have an air leak.

 

[rdust]

Yes...or you have an air leak.

Can you provide a part number? The manual does not show or mention it.

I pulled it out since it was tore in multiple spots. I figured it was to keep the glass retainers from rubbing on the brass door. Without it I figured the glass retainers would be tighter on the glass gasket without it. I watched some videos on YouTube and didn’t see it on the black princess door. Stove seemed to turn down fine without it but if I need it I’ll order the gaskets again and redo it.

 

[BKVP]

I'll get part number Monday...

 

[chemie]

During warm up, tons of white smoke/steam. After cat engagement and about a half hour of settling down the color goes blue and then clear I just get the occasional blue stream after that when the stat opens.

Is that the smoke situation you see @fhon ? Or is it nonstop from ignition to the last coal?

My noncat is clear within just a few minutes of ignition and never makes visible smoke. Tons of wasted heat up the flue and tons of dilution air keep it looking good!

The bk is not perfect, this is one part of the design/performance that could be improved. Not saying it’s possible to have a low burn rate and clear exhaust but I sure would like to have both.

I see sometimes black smoke when the bypass is on until cat foes into the active zone. After the cat is engaged the smoke becomes initially white then disappear. It takes sometime to load the stove, especially with irregular shaped, ugly pieces. Could this be reason for black smoke?
Is black smoke normal?

 

[Highbeam]

I see sometimes black smoke when the bypass is on until cat foes into the active zone. After the cat is engaged the smoke becomes initially white then disappear. It takes sometime to load the stove, especially with irregular shaped, ugly pieces. Could this be reason for black smoke?
Is black smoke normal?

I don’t get black smoke ever. Not even sure how to try and get black other than burning styrofoam.

 

[Highbeam]

Can you provide a part number? The manual does not show or mention it.

I pulled it out since it was tore in multiple spots. I figured it was to keep the glass retainers from rubbing on the brass door. Without it I figured the glass retainers would be tighter on the glass gasket without it. I watched some videos on YouTube and didn’t see it on the black princess door. Stove seemed to turn down fine without it but if I need it I’ll order the gaskets again and redo it.

I had the white junk in my silver door. There was a rock stuck in there between the retainer and the white junk. So glad I got it out which allowed the retainer to lay down nice and flat.

 

[kf6hap]

The "black smoke" problem.

Steam or white smoke can appear black depending on how the smoke is viewed. If possible, walk completely around your house and view the smoke from different angles. Magically the black smoke will turn white unless it actually is laden with particulates.

This is like differentiating real gold from fool's gold in your pan. It all depends on the viewing angle. Real gold appears golden from all angles. Real black smoke appears black from all angles too.

Your perception of the "smoke" -black or white- depends entirely on the contrast ratio between the smoke and sky and this ratio can change with the viewing angle during the daylight hours.

This is why so some people think their stove is belching out pollution for the full burn when in fact what they are actually seeing is water vapor that is being displayed by the wood's contained moisture and moisture created by the catalytic combustion process.

Differentiating steam from smoke can sometimes be difficult under certain climatic conditions. Per cent humidity, barometric pressure, temperature, bright sky VS dark sky and lighting angle all play a part in stack gas perception.

Steam can -sometimes- appear some distance away from the flue cap creating a gap. Steam also disappears more abruptly than smoke but this is not always easy to see due to lighting and viewing angle.

An air tube stove might appear to smoke less than a cat stove because the catalytic combustor creates water vapor. Air tube stoves run far hotter stack gasses so the contained water vapor is more transparent.

A properly operating cat stove fed good wood will smoke for a limited time during startup/reload.

This is my take on the "my stove is smoking all the time" problem.

 

[ratsrepus]

without mentioning any names, it was said that once the cat gets down close to the in active zone it wont heat their house any more. Well Ive been right at that number sense I got up this morning, still going 28 hrs, house is 77.

 

[rdust]

without mentioning any names, it was said that once the cat gets down close to the in active zone it wont heat their house any more. Well Ive been right at that number sense I got up this morning, still going 28 hrs, house is 77.

It was also 50 here in MI today, just saying.

I was around 24 hrs on a load of soft maple and other junk with the cat around the 500* mark. That ain’t heating this place on a winter day but with this warm up it was plenty.

 

[Woody Stover]

Differentiating steam from smoke can sometimes be difficult

If you can find a spot where the "smoke" is blowing down, like on the leeward side of the roof, you can sometimes determine what it is by the smell.

 

[kf6hap]

If you can find a spot where the "smoke" is blowing down, like on the leeward side of the roof, you can sometimes determine what it is by the smell.

Yes, cat smoke smells like burning coal. Sometimes when my wife and I go outside she will say our stove is smoking and I would say no, it is our neighbors. Dang pre EPA smoke dragon. Last year he replaced it with a propane stove. The air is a lot better for it. Towards the end of his burning career he burned those compressed sawdust jobs. They can smoke too.

 

[Woody Stover]

It was also 50 here in MI today, just saying. I was around 24 hrs on a load of soft maple and other junk

I put three Cherry 4-5" splits in this morning. I'm in excess of a 12-hr. burn and it's 75 in here. [We did bake something in the oven earlier..]

 

[prezes13]

I was burning some cedar in my fire pit and smoke was black. So maybe different spices of wood can make black smoke?

 

[Diabel]

without mentioning any names, it was said that once the cat gets down close to the in active zone it wont heat their house any more. Well Ive been right at that number sense I got up this morning, still going 28 hrs, house is 77.

It was likely me. Every house is different. My Princess performs as expected. There is no alien tech here however.

 

[dpp5000]

I have a new king ultra. Been burning for about 2 weeks now. For the most part it seems to be functioning well. But I have 2 issues. First, the last couple of days were relatively warm (high 40s). When I try to turn the thermostat down past the 3:00 position I get a slight smoke smell and the cat will eventually drop out of active. I have 14’ of class a double wall insulated to the ceiling support box with about 3.5’ past the roofline and about 4.5’ from the ceiling support box to the stove with 2 45’s for an offset. The 45’s are 2’ above the stove. That was as high as I can get them. Wood is 3 years old, kept in a covered woodshed and is mostly hickory and maple. I’m thinking I should check the door gasket first and if it is tight I may need to add height to the chimney for more draft. Does this sound right to everyone?
The second issue is that the paint on the top of the door is peeling and seems to be getting a little worse each day. I’m thinking maybe the surface was not prepped properly and I know it could be painted but I bought the stove new and do not think I should have to paint it. Any help with these issues would be greatly appreciated, especially from BKVP.

 

[Rickb]

I have a new king ultra. Been burning for about 2 weeks now. For the most part it seems to be functioning well. But I have 2 issues. First, the last couple of days were relatively warm (high 40s). When I try to turn the thermostat down past the 3:00 position I get a slight smoke smell and the cat will eventually drop out of active. I have 14’ of class a double wall insulated to the ceiling support box with about 3.5’ past the roofline and about 4.5’ from the ceiling support box to the stove with 2 45’s for an offset. The 45’s are 2’ above the stove. That was as high as I can get them. Wood is 3 years old, kept in a covered woodshed and is mostly hickory and maple. I’m thinking I should check the door gasket first and if it is tight I may need to add height to the chimney for more draft. Does this sound right to everyone?
The second issue is that the paint on the top of the door is peeling and seems to be getting a little worse each day. I’m thinking maybe the surface was not prepped properly and I know it could be painted but I bought the stove new and do not think I should have to paint it. Any help with these issues would be greatly appreciated, especially from BKVP.

Sounds like draft might be a little low in the warmer temps.

I would contact your dealer about the door. I would think they will swap out the door for you.

 

[dpp5000]

Thanks Rickb, maybe a few more feet on the stack would get me some more draft then?

 

[Rickb]

It usually helps. You can try it with some cheap single wall pipe just to test it.

 

[lsucet]

Thanks Rickb, maybe a few more feet on the stack would get me some more draft then?

Did you checked if the knob stop at 6 o'clock when turn clockwise. Should be pointing to the floor. If it goes pass 6 o'clock it will need adjustment. Another thing is that low settings is not the same for everybody. It depends on setup but check the dial.

 

[dpp5000]

The dial is at the 6:00 position when turned all the way clockwise. When I have the stove turned down as low as I can without the cat dropping out (about 3:15 position) the surface temperature right next to the cat thermometer is about 350 to 400 degrees according to the inexpensive infrared thermometer I have. When the thermostat is in the 6:00 position it is >650 degrees (my thermometer’s limit).

 

[lsucet]

The dial is at the 6:00 position when turned all the way clockwise. When I have the stove turned down as low as I can without the cat dropping out (about 3:15 position) the surface temperature right next to the cat thermometer is about 350 to 400 degrees according to the inexpensive infrared thermometer I have. When the thermostat is in the 6:00 position it is >650 degrees (my thermometer’s limit).

If it stops rock solid at 6 then it is okay. Like mentioned before the low is that the same for everyone but you always can try adding 2 to 3 ft more section and see if that helps.

 

[webby3650]

Sounds like draft might be a little low in the warmer temps.

I would contact your dealer about the door. I would think they will swap out the door for you.

There’s no reason to swap the door. The dealer could just repaint the door. Most new stoves need a little touch up, some right out of the crate.