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

[steve62]

Just ordered a Blaze king king classic. Got it on sale with free fan kit $3169.00 Canadian. I have been wanting one for awhile finally pulled the trigger.
I have been running a RSF for the last 10 years. We will see how long it takes me to get use to the Blaze king.

 

[drstorm]

Just ordered a Blaze king king classic. Got it on sale with free fan kit $3169.00 Canadian. I have been wanting one for awhile finally pulled the trigger.
I have been running a RSF for the last 10 years. We will see how long it takes me to get use to the Blaze king.

Welcome.

 

[pjohnson]

Just ordered a Blaze king king classic. Got it on sale with free fan kit $3169.00 Canadian. I have been wanting one for awhile finally pulled the trigger.
I have been running a RSF for the last 10 years. We will see how long it takes me to get use to the Blaze king.

Congrats sounds like a good deal. I just installed a new King a few weeks ago and I predict it wont take more then one reload to start liking it. Been keeping my little cabin warm reloading every 18 to 20 hours. I don't stuff it too full.

 

[ratsrepus]

thats a good price, especially Canadian.

 

[allan5oh]

Just ordered a Blaze king king classic. Got it on sale with free fan kit $3169.00 Canadian. I have been wanting one for awhile finally pulled the trigger.
I have been running a RSF for the last 10 years. We will see how long it takes me to get use to the Blaze king.

Im thinking about one of those for the shop. Where did you buy it? Welcome to the BK club!

 

[steve62]

I bought it from a store in Burns Lake. Called starland

 

[Ryan723]

Hi all,

I want to up the spares i have on hand. One of which is a door gasket for my Ashford 30 (label on stove back is AF30, not 30.1 if that matters?).

I know there was talk of a 'thicker' gasket as a solution for some with the 'smoke smell'.

Can anyone point me towards the 'best' current understanding of door gasket for my stove?

The 'archived' AF30 Manual looks to say: "PN: 0186-6ft Door Gasket 7/8” round - 6 ft"
The latest AF30.2 Manual shows: "PN: 155.0186-6ft GASKET 7/8 RND BLK MID / FT - 6ft"

I don't know if the "MID" above in the later manual specifies something different?

I was about to order 2 of thesebroken link removed to https://www.hechlers.com/product/78-blaze-king-wood-stove-door-gasket-6ft-0186/) and replace it at the end of this season as a maintenance item or sooner if needed. And a second so I have a spare on hand for the future. But i wanted to make sure there wasn't a better/updated option out there?

Thanks guys!

 

[green pacific]

hello all,

I came here to ask more or less the same question. On my Ashford 30, I have always had a knob that travelled between 12 noon (least or emergency setting, should suffocate the fire) and 6 o'clock (max). I have been using this lovely woodstove for three winters and have been through the "oh no!!" of the little recessed screw slipping and finding that there was no grip on the dial at all, it just swung 'round the shaft. ... But this is different. Now it is possible for me to dial it "open" to about 8 o'clock and dial it closed to about 9 o'clock in the other (least air) direction. that's a lot more play than ever before but it is gripping the shaft and is working to turn the thermostat up and down .... But I'm lost! Usually I run the Ashford between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock, depending on the weather (it can be quite mild here, 50F eg) most often at 4 o'clock.

I have played with the screw (5/64 key) to no avail. This happened quite suddenly over the last few days; at first I thought I was imagining it.

thanks for any hints,
green pacific

Blaze King Ashford 30 (2015)

 

[lsucet]

Turn the dial clockwise till it stops, then release the screw and point it at 6 o'clock pointing to the floor. Tight the screw. It should be calibrated at this point.

 

[lsucet]

hello all,

I came here to ask more or less the same question. On my Ashford 30, I have always had a knob that travelled between 12 noon (least or emergency setting, should suffocate the fire) and 6 o'clock (max). I have been using this lovely woodstove for three winters and have been through the "oh no!!" of the little recessed screw slipping and finding that there was no grip on the dial at all, it just swung 'round the shaft. ... But this is different. Now it is possible for me to dial it "open" to about 8 o'clock and dial it closed to about 9 o'clock in the other (least air) direction. that's a lot more play than ever before but it is gripping the shaft and is working to turn the thermostat up and down .... But I'm lost! Usually I run the Ashford between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock, depending on the weather (it can be quite mild here, 50F eg) most often at 4 o'clock.

I have played with the screw (5/64 key) to no avail. This happened quite suddenly over the last few days; at first I thought I was imagining it.

thanks for any hints,
green pacific

Blaze King Ashford 30 (2015)

I know you said it is grabbing the shaft but I will calibrate it and if it still doing it, possibly something wrong with the thermostat assembly? Maybe there is a point on the shaft the it slips.

 

[fordhacker]

Okay BK world looking for some in sight on real world heating of the BK King and I am certain some of you turned in your old smoke dragons for the BK and can offer some assistance on my current situation as it is the first smoke dragon I have burned but wood has been the sole source of heat in my life. I have a 50x55 pole barn shop with 14' side walls, ceiling is insulated with 2" spray foam, walls are R5 insulated and as I have time sections (aka behind the stove are R19 insulated. I picked up this stove first of its size but 5th in my group of friends. Really a bad ass stove to warm the shop from 45 to 75 in a hurry. For an all day/night burn it burns so low 150/200 degrees on dry cured elm (have 12 acres to cut down around the farm so need to get it burned) and to maintain shop at 60 degrees that that chimney gets a ton of creosote. Current set up shown in picture. (fyi the guy hugging the stove is 6'5" 325lbs)

There is no chimney damper, would this help? Stove is air tight and can shut down.

Would the BK King heat a building this size and last for 12-16 hours?
Anything you can think of that would be better for the chimney?

 

[Ashful]

Wood stoves are wood stoves, in that they all hold a fixed load of BTU’s (eg. 75 lb. of firewood), and control the release rate of those BTU’s. The primary difference between the King and what you’re running now, with regard to how you’re already doing things, is that you’ll be able to run the desired burn rates without the chimney creosote. As long as you keep that combustor running in the active region, your chimney should stay pretty clean.

The King will likely fall short of your current rig for quickly bringing a cold shop up to temperature, but will easily outperform what you have now for keeping things at the desired temperature over long runs.

The King should also have much better efficiency over the Lincoln, at all burn rates, but particularly on lower settings. This should pay back in a lower overall consumption of wood, which means less hours harvesting, splitting, stacking, and loading.

 

[moresnow]

Shop evny With the 14' sidewalls I'd be contemplating a wood furnace. Large! You have a tremendous amount of cubic feet to heat! Heating a area that big is beyond my knowledge base. Others will be chiming in.

On the other hand you may be able to sell your current unit to a deep sea research project.....

 

[fordhacker]

Shop evny With the 14' sidewalls I'd be contemplating a wood furnace. Large! You have a tremendous amount of cubic feet to heat! Heating a area that big is beyond my knowledge base. Others will be chiming in.

On the other hand you may be able to sell your current unit to a deep sea research project.....

Had an outdoor wood furnace the "fireball" cut firewood in 1/2 if not more!

 

[fordhacker]

Wood stoves are wood stoves, in that they all hold a fixed load of BTU’s (eg. 75 lb. of firewood), and control the release rate of those BTU’s. The primary difference between the King and what you’re running now, with regard to how you’re already doing things, is that you’ll be able to run the desired burn rates without the chimney creosote. As long as you keep that combustor running in the active region, your chimney should stay pretty clean.

The King will likely fall short of your current rig for quickly bringing a cold shop up to temperature, but will easily outperform what you have now for keeping things at the desired temperature over long runs.

The King should also have much better efficiency over the Lincoln, at all burn rates, but particularly on lower settings. This should pay back in a lower overall consumption of wood, which means less hours harvesting, splitting, stacking, and loading.

I burn 24/7 in the house and shop, if it would maintain 55-65 degrees and burn 12 + hours it would be worth the money.

 

[jetsam]

Well, if you switch, you will get more BTUs from your wood since you are gaining secondary combustion. You will probably lose significant high end heat output. The King is a beast but that old stove is a monster!

I would say the King will do much better at holding temps, that monster smoke dragon will do better at fast warmups.

The King also wins for heating up your lunch unless you tack weld a pot to the stove.

Can you run a new flue and have both? That old stove is so cool. You could burn both stoves in their sweet spots (King goes low 24/7, great ball of fire burns high as needed).

The King will burn for 48 hours, so your 12 hour requirement is a piece of cake. The question is whether the heat output on a 12 hour setting meets your BTU load.

One great thing about the BK is its flexibility to meet your schedule and heating demands. You can just change the temp greatly at any time in either direction by turning a dial. You can load any time, in any amount, without babysitting or risking overfire. Want to put in a quarter load of dry pine 8 hours into a 24 hour burn? That will be fine. This works out awesome for an hard working stove, because you can always top it off when you are leaving, and set the thermostat for what time you are coming back. (Some practice required.) During cold snaps when my stove is suddenly too small for the job, I set my thermostat to match my away time, and let the BTUs fall where they may. Make it up with a hot fire when I get back.

 

[ratsrepus]

thats an old Russian Sputnik

 

[Ashful]

I burn 24/7 in the house and shop, if it would maintain 55-65 degrees and burn 12 + hours it would be worth the money.

The efficiency of the King is 82 - 88%, depending on burn rate and other factors, and the efficiency of that Lincoln may only be 65%. So you’re possibly looking at being able to maintain the same temperature with a burn time approximately 30% longer than your current rig.

Are you able to keep the shop at your desired temp on 8 hour burns, with the current rig? If so, the King might do it on 12 hour burn cycles. It all comes down to just the effiency between the two, in your present situation.

The other advantages come in fall and spring, when you need some heat, but not the full output of the stove. That’s when you can set the King to cruise slow and low, and do 24 or 36 hour reloads.

 

[fordhacker]

The efficiency of the King is 82 - 88%, depending on burn rate and other factors, and the efficiency of that Lincoln may only be 65%. So you’re possibly looking at being able to maintain the same temperature with a burn time approximately 30% longer than your current rig.

Are you able to keep the shop at your desired temp on 8 hour burns, with the current rig? If so, the King might do it on 12 hour burn cycles. It all comes down to just the effiency between the two, in your present situation.

The other advantages come in fall and spring, when you need some heat, but not the full output of the stove. That’s when you can set the King to cruise slow and low, and do 24 or 36 hour reloads.

Fully loaded this stove will run 20-24 hours maintaining the shop at desired 62 degrees. 1/4 loaded it will keep shop at 55 degrees for 12 hours with coals to restart. filled a 275 gallon tote full of wood friday evening and will see how long that lasts, I have about 2 foot of wood left in the bottom of it as of this morning and will calculate cubic feet of firewood used in x days and figure out if the BK king would keep up

 

[Highbeam]

The efficiency of the King is 82 - 88%, depending on burn rate and other factors, and the efficiency of that Lincoln may only be 65%. So you’re possibly looking at being able to maintain the same temperature with a burn time approximately 30% longer than your current rig.

Doesn't that depend entirely on how large the Lincoln is? If it's a 10 cubic foot firebox then even at 50% efficiency it will deliver more heat to the space.

 

[jetsam]

thats an old Russian Sputnik

Oh, jeez, someone look inside and see if the dog is ok.

 

[jetsam]

The efficiency of the King is 82 - 88%, depending on burn rate and other factors, and the efficiency of that Lincoln may only be 65%. So you’re possibly looking at being able to maintain the same temperature with a burn time approximately 30% longer than your current rig.

Are you able to keep the shop at your desired temp on 8 hour burns, with the current rig? If so, the King might do it on 12 hour burn cycles. It all comes down to just the effiency between the two, in your present situation.

The other advantages come in fall and spring, when you need some heat, but not the full output of the stove. That’s when you can set the King to cruise slow and low, and do 24 or 36 hour reloads.

He's burning the sputnik low enough to have creosote problems, so he is probably not seeing near 65% efficiency. Smoke dragons had a huge efficiency boost at high burn because that red hot firebox had a certain amount of accidental secondary action. (Entirely accidental at first, then they started adding baffles and stainless grids and stuff to try to do it on purpose.)

I know you know this stuff, just posting for the younguns.

(As a side note, I keep looking at that tree-wrecking ball. I have never seen one before and I think I love it. Still rather have a king as a practical heater, but how cool is the Steely Orb Of Flames?)

 

[jetsam]

 

[Ashful]

Doesn't that depend entirely on how large the Lincoln is? If it's a 10 cubic foot firebox then even at 50% efficiency it will deliver more heat to the space.

You are correct. I had neglected the size difference, I didn’t realize the Lincoln was much larger than the King.

 

[BKVP]

You need a wood furnace. I do not believe the King will bring your shop up to temp in a way that the current unit will. There are forums here in Hearth.co that will help you with the correct/best model for your application.

I love that old unit. I think it would make a great project...like turning it into a clean burn model.