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

[Woody Stover]

gona clean the baffle good

Baffle?

 

[kennyp2339]

Baffle?

All done, got about a 12oz of fine black powder, I'll called it the baffle but meant by-pass chamber, everything looks good to go.

 

[MtnBURN]

Like Ashful....this forum led me to BK stoves and thus...to eventually purchase (3) BK stoves. 3 years of hassle-free operation and not a single heating bill in sight. No..they aren't perfect. No mass produced item is. However, for us, they fit our needs and perform as we had hoped they would and then some.

After reading the last 10 pages I checked my flues for creosote. House burns the most so had the most buildup...but it was onloy 1/8 thick veneer running up the pipe. Most of the gunk was on the inside of the top of the cap...all of which came off/down with a small tap on the cap.

Neither of the other 2 stoves had much buildup. Certainly not anythng to be concerned about. It was an interesting look-see because I've been burning more oak and pine...both of which are far more smoky than the cottonwood I've used primarily over the last 3 years.

No regrets here. Yes...there are other stoves...with differing performances/perks/pros/cons. I don't own those stoves though...so..um...really don't worry about such things. I DO tell the folks I know who burn wood about my BK's though...and show em off when I can. My neighbor said he loved it...then bought something different cus he got sucked into what the wife wanted as far as "looks"...not what would heat the house. He also bought 8 cords of wood to fill it with...keeping more wood stacked and ready by his stove PER NIGHT than I use in a couple of days...but hey...different stokes.

I just smile when his wife tells me she has to reload it every night when she gets up to pee.

 

[jetsam]

I just smile when his wife tells me she has to reload it every night when she gets up to pee.

Pretty and functional aren't by definition mutually exclusive... but it's true often enough that it's a sensible starting assumption.

When I take something apart, I can sometimes just tell that someone somewhere told their engineers to take a prototype and go revise it to be prettier. My wife has this very expensive German vacuum cleaner (a Miele) whose engineers I weep for every time I have to fix the crappy thing, which is frequently.

Then again, sometimes pretty and functional do overlap nicely.

 

[MtnBURN]

Well there goes the sensible...LOL. It is...however....a great example of how we can see the same thing far differently.

As far as my story re the neighbors stove....no fuction was considered....it was all about how the stove looked.....and now...if the seat is up or not.

 

[Diabel]

I am back at the lake playing with the Princess. I started this load at noon today. Will see what it will yield.

 

[jetsam]

View attachment 236390 I am back at the lake playing with the Princess. I started this load at noon today. Will see what it will yield.

I guess heat and ashes. Next question!

 

[Diabel]

I guess heat and ashes. Next question!

Got that right...that is for sure!

 

[drhiii]

I'd take the door off (it just lifts up) and lay a straightedge across the back of the door and the gasket knife on the stove at various points to see if they are both flat.

The adjustment for the door is in the latch, which is adjustable. Overtightening that could conceivably make a gap on the left side worse.

Are you sure the replacement latch is defective? It is meant to have a range of adjustment, so getting a new one that is loose sounds quite normal.

(Also, check the instructions for your moisture meter. The readings you are getting are very unlikely, but that is not relevant to the smoke smell.)

Thankx for the response. Yes, have had the doors, two of them, off the stove perhaps 20 times measuring edges, etc. I should not have used the word 'defective'. I should have remembered after two gasket replacements in the last month that the two bolts that hold the latch onto the door could be accessible with needle nose pliers. Was able to tighten the latch box and it reduced the play about 50%. The latch still has a fair amount of play, but I understand what you mean about overtightening which could cause the opposite side near the hinges. I will bring attention to this idea. Admit that across two separate doors hence two separate latches, the odds would be against this but hey, I am having to look at anything.

I appreciate any ideas at this point. tx

 

[drstorm]

Have you tried loading it up and letting it burn on high for an extended time? I once had a smoke smell for awhile and after much investigation believe it was the gasket wicking the smell into the room.I burn a lot of compressed sawdust logs and a few times they have fallen into the glass as they expand.As they sit there and burn down against the glass and early on while the gasket was not as quite compressed the smell would be there.I know its a long shot but you are asking for any ideas,well burn a good load or two to obliterate anything possibly sitting on the glass/gasket.Maybe you need the gasket to compress a while instead of changing it all the time.

 

[drhiii]

@aaronk25 came up with a theory that with a tall chimney and high draft, air flow from the air wash may be altered causing smoke to be pushed against the upper area of the door and smoke could escape there.
I think it was touched upon at one point, but I don't quite understand how this can happen even at low draft settings, which apparently it does. It seems to me that while there may be potential high vacuum at the flue exit, a low draft setting would only allow air to come in the air wash at low speed, and it would move down the glass in the same manner as it would with the draft more open on a shorter chimney with the correct draft.
At any rate, you can either get a manometer to check your draft and make sure it is within spec, or just go ahead and install a key damper into the connector pipe above the flue exit and see if that helps.

I have thought about this idea a often. When the stove is running with the damper open, there is less but still smoke smell. When attempting to engage the cat with ample air into the firebox, the smoke smell increases. When attempting to dial the air intake back to reduce the air, the smoke smell really increases. Which is perplexing because one would think reducing the air flow would reduce the air pressure into the firebox, thereby reducing the smoke smell exiting the stove. The opposite happens.

Yes, I could bring in a manometer and measure. At 25-26' of flue, am fairly certain I have ample draft. But that raises a question.. regardless of the draft, the door and gasket seals should prevent smoke smell from entering the domain yes? Unless there is some unusual amount of negative air pressure, and this smoke smell characteristic occurs when I have windows and doors open on the ground floor.

Also, I did install a key damper at one point but the behaviour was the same regardless. It has been a constant head scratcher.

Tx for the reply.

 

[drstorm]

I swept my flue today for the second time this season and brushed the cat a little.
This is my third year burning with the original cat and have been seeing a good amount of smoke this year so its been making me nervous.
Even with that,I cant really say that I have all that much creosote.I expected much worse by the looks of the smoke but so far I guess the cat is still doing its job.Is burn time as good an indicator as creosote is for realizing its time for a new cat?
My burn times are still good and it stays active,just smokes a lot and I'm sure the cat is close to that 10,000 hour mark.Have any of you ever had a moment when you knew it was time or is it just a long gradual decline in performance?

 

[drhiii]

@drhiii what about taking paper and taping it all around the door gasket and then taking a pencil and hitting the knife edge with the graphite and then closing the door to see where the weakness is, the heavy spots should leave a darker line on the paper.

Yes, I will try this. I did a flue sweep yesterday, cleaning everything. I had tried to introduce washers onto the hinges, several times, adjusting the height of the door. In the several adjustments to this, it never made a diff. But last eve, for the first time, I tried it again on the new replacement door, and it seemed to have an affect. Reducing the smoke smell by about 50%.

This is the first time in 3 months of a myriad of testing, trying things, etc.. that a reduction in smoke smell has occurred. Otherwise, I have to run the damper open 100% of the time.

I am at such a loss for what is really simple... am awaiting more ideas from BK, but I now may take the original door and jury rig a fat fat fat gasket and volumes of sealant. I am at a loss so have to try anything at this point. After all this tho, I do suspect the design tolerances for the door and hinge assembly are not true. What else can it be? Two doors, same problem. In fact, the replacement door that came in 5 days ago... the smoke smell is actually worse than the original door and then two replaced gasket efforts I affected.

Onward.

 

[drhiii]

Have you tried loading it up and letting it burn on high for an extended time? I once had a smoke smell for awhile and after much investigation believe it was the gasket wicking the smell into the room.I burn a lot of compressed sawdust logs and a few times they have fallen into the glass as they expand.As they sit there and burn down against the glass and early on while the gasket was not as quite compressed the smell would be there.I know its a long shot but you are asking for any ideas,well burn a good load or two to obliterate anything possibly sitting on the glass/gasket.Maybe you need the gasket to compress a while instead of changing it all the time.

Yessir... I have run periodic high burns to try and manage the creosote buildup. And yes, am mindful of how I load wood. I always leave an inch or two in back to allow for air flow to circulate along the back of the stove and along the top. And am mindful of loading to reduce wood falling onto the glass. Have been pretty diligent about that.,

And I appreciate your ideas yes. On the changing the gaskets... the original door came on the new stove. It stayed on for what yes, would be a burn in period. The original stayed on for two months before I attempted the first reinstalled gasket. Each subsequent gasket replacement remained in place for a month. This last one is on a replacement door from BK.

Tx for the continuing ideas. I know this is boring for this forum. Just am trying one more time to come at this.

 

[drhiii]

I feel feel for you sir, I must be a frustrating experience and I hope you stay with it and get her going. Now did you check to see if your wife stuffed a rag in the chimney like the other fellow who was having issues?

Hah... no stuffed rag. She is staying from managing this stove until it is operating properly.

I just did a sweep and scoped the flue so no bodies, rags, etc. It is pristine tho I don't think I would eat off the surface.

 

[drhiii]

What are the temps there?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Temps have been unseasonably warm during the day. 40s, 50s, and now and then 60s. Finally today not going above the 30s during the day. Nights are 30s and 40s. Just hasn't been very cold. But that is changing.

And honestly, this area (Pikes Peak is a large vista from the back porch) is not that cold. Yeah, it will drop into the single digits often, and below zero... but overall it is somewhat temperate imo. Easy house to heat.

 

[drstorm]

Yessir... I have run periodic high burns to try and manage the creosote buildup. And yes, am mindful of how I load wood. I always leave an inch or two in back to allow for air flow to circulate along the back of the stove and along the top. And am mindful of loading to reduce wood falling onto the glass. Have been pretty diligent about that.,

And I appreciate your ideas yes. On the changing the gaskets... the original door came on the new stove. It stayed on for what yes, would be a burn in period. The original stayed on for two months before I attempted the first reinstalled gasket. Each subsequent gasket replacement remained in place for a month. This last one is on a replacement door from BK.

Tx for the continuing ideas. I know this is boring for this forum. Just am trying one more time to come at this.

Not boring at all.Most everyone is here to help, or at least try to.

 

[lsucet]

Okay, try this. On reloads rake to the front the coals. If you have a flue probe, monitor the flue temp and keep it around 400 to 500 max. Internal Temp. Dial it to the low setting for you setup in multiple steps no just one or two steps. Closing/adjusting the air you can control the flue temp from keep climbing. See if that helps with the smell.

 

[Highbeam]

I swept my flue today for the second time this season and brushed the cat a little.
This is my third year burning with the original cat and have been seeing a good amount of smoke this year so its been making me nervous.
Even with that,I cant really say that I have all that much creosote.I expected much worse by the looks of the smoke but so far I guess the cat is still doing its job.Is burn time as good an indicator as creosote is for realizing its time for a new cat?
My burn times are still good and it stays active,just smokes a lot and I'm sure the cat is close to that 10,000 hour mark.Have any of you ever had a moment when you knew it was time or is it just a long gradual decline in performance?

When mine have died it was rather sudden. I was in denial over the last couple of months because I could compensate somewhat by increasing the thermostat setting. That reduced burn times but made more heat and cleaned up the smoke a little.

Then when you finally break down and replace the cat you feel dumb for suffering for so long. The new cat is incredible.

 

[drstorm]

When mine have died it was rather sudden. I was in denial over the last couple of months because I could compensate somewhat by increasing the thermostat setting. That reduced burn times but made more heat and cleaned up the smoke a little.

Then when you finally break down and replace the cat you feel dumb for suffering for so long. The new cat is incredible.

Interesting.
I still get the burn time but I also get more smoke than I remember at every point in the burn besides bypass open and end of burn.
I've obsessed over steam vs smoke , wet wood (same results with compressed bricks and 2x4s etc).
Maybe a gasket leak around the cat or the bypass, but nothing I can observe.
My setting still works as it did in the beginning.The cruise sits at about 15:10 military time.Only change is observable smoke.Does the BK cat probe struggle to maintain active range as it wanes?
Mine has not ...
Regardless, I still have my BK "10 year warranty certificate" to claim when I throw the towel in.
And as I have said prior, I have done the math and know the under over hours on my cat sits right around the magical 10,000 hour mark.

 

[Highbeam]

As long as the cat meter reads “zero” when cold I believe it to be functional. I replaced my oem cat meter with the condar equivalent that has numbers. Numbers are fun.

 

[ratsrepus]

where did you find that highbeam, I looked on codars website and found a 3cx-2 2 inch probe says its for some BK models

 

[kf6hap]

drhiii Are the replacement gaskets you used the same diameter as the original? I went through much of what you are going through with the "smoke smell" issue with my Ashford. The fix was an oversized gasket and some hinge side shims. Dream stove now. I dealt with the smoke smell issue for a very long time until BK came up with a fix. The wait was absolutely worth it.

I used this to prove it was the door gasket that was -somehow- leaking. The door was extremely tight -dollar bill tearing tight- but still leaked smoke smell. After placing this gasket atop the original the smell was almost gone. It is a temporary fix but proves the leak source.

 

[Highbeam]

where did you find that highbeam, I looked on codars website and found a 3cx-2 2 inch probe says its for some BK models

Ordered right from condar. I have four different thermometers from them. They’ve been quite good.

 

[drstorm]

As long as the cat meter reads “zero” when cold I believe it to be functional. I replaced my oem cat meter with the condar equivalent that has numbers. Numbers are fun.

Would you accept 65-70? Zero may take a bit of work in here....