2018-19 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 2 (Everything BK)

[jetsam]

Yeah, these recent posts around this forum, about feeding a few scraps at a time don’t make any sense at all to me. Pack that thing to the gills, and set your thermostat, accordingly. Maximum efficiency is achieved when you don’t open that door for 30 hours, not when you throw a few new scraps in every 60 - 120 minutes.

I am 5/7ths good, then.

I touch the stove once or twice a day on work days, and on days off I open the door to poke the fire every time I walk past.

 

[kf6hap]

Ya sorry, you misunderstood me. Yes, run it on high. I meant that if you bought a stove that cranked out so much heat on high that you avoided running it wide open, then maybe your stove is oversized. I run my stove on high lots.

Running it on high does clean out the gunk, like a self-cleaning oven. The load char does that for me without overheating the room as the Ashford is 500 pounds of steel and Iron. Being more of a convective rather than radiant stove assists a lot in not "scorching" the stove room. It is a steel box covered with cast iron plates with an air gap between the two.

Wondering when the Ashford 40 is coming out........

 

[Ashful]

I run my stove wide open sometimes, so there is somebody out there who does it.

Only most evenings, on colder weeks, and most weekends. @webby3650 runs his wide open thru the coldest months of every winter, nearly 24/7.

I am 5/7ths good, then.
I touch the stove once or twice a day on work days, and on days off I open the door to poke the fire every time I walk past.

Yeah, I wasn't saying I'm running those 30 hour burns all the time, but I believe that is when max efficiency is achieved. I do 2 or 2.5 loads per day in one stove, one per day in the other, as long as outdoor temps are below 45F. If it's above 45F and sunny, I'll let the "once per day" stove go out. I keep burning the "twice per day" stove up to 65F outdoor temps, but will drop back to one load per day if highs are above 55F.

Wondering when the Ashford 40 is coming out........

Assuming I could at least pretend to meet the clearances, which is not guaranteed with my wood lintels and door jambs, I would be the first customer. Of course, they would have to match my doilies.

 

[Highbeam]

Running it on high does clean out the gunk, like a self-cleaning oven. The load char does that for me without overheating the room as the Ashford is 500 pounds of steel and Iron. Being more of a convective rather than radiant stove assists a lot in not "scorching" the stove room. It is a steel box covered with cast iron plates with an air gap between the two.

Wondering when the Ashford 40 is coming out........

When the 20/30 boxes were being developed there were many of us hoping for it to be a 30 and 40 box, both on a 6” flue. Same thing happened with the Woodstock PH model that was supposed to be wonderful. All are undersized.

There was that princess 35 seen on the epa testing roster...

 

[kf6hap]

Only most evenings, on colder weeks, and most weekends. @webby3650 runs his wide open thru the coldest months of every winter, nearly 24/7.

Correct me if I am wrong, but might not running air tubers at full be a little hazardous? Some thermostatic units do exist but from what I gather they only moderate the rage. As the flue gets hotter it pulls more air through causing a runaway condition. Newer stoves might be immune tho...

 

[bholler]

Correct me if I am wrong, but might not running air tubers at full be a little hazardous? Some thermostatic units do exist but from what I gather they only moderate the rage. As the flue gets hotter it pulls more air through causing a runaway condition. Newer stoves might be immune tho...

Well yes with any stove that does not have thermostatic control running wide open will over fire the stove. It doesn't matter if it is a tube stove or not. It will also not give you as much heat.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Went out with family for dinner and drinks last night so I loaded the stove early yesterday knowing that we had warnings of a severe cold front rolling in overnight. Loaded at 4 pm yesterday and at 4:30 set the thermostat to the usual 3oclock setting. Didn't even look at the stove last night when the wife carried me to bed. The pics are our temps this morning. I know that every situation is different but I keep hearing how BK's are only different than any other stove in shoulder season. I'm not sure that many other types of stoves would give me these inside temps after 15+ hrs and at least another 4 or 5 in the tank. Gotta love it.

What I'd do for a couple of cooler days and a skiff of snow! We've had almost record high temps (11C) in the last couple of weeks and the rain here this morning has been biblical.

 

[shoot-straight]

Sometimes it's ok to do one piece at a time. I'm doing a coal burn down this evening so I can Do a full clean out before we go from 50 to 10 deg f in a few hours.

 

[Woody Stover]

Unlike some stoves that might rage out control and have the unit glowing dull red, BKs have a built in BTU limiter: the thermostat. It is set up at the factory to prevent the stove from overheating.

I decided to do a 15 minute timed full throttle glass cleaning burn off on this morning's reload of oak and ash. Returned to clean glass and 895F stove top temperature measured with IR thermometer.

That's pretty close to the temp where metal will start to glow. Definitely too hot, so I would refrain from running full throttle if it was me. I would want to max out about 200* cooler than that.

 

[jetsam]

Only most evenings, on colder weeks, and most weekends. @webby3650 runs his wide open thru the coldest months of every winter, nearly 24/7.

Yeah, I wasn't saying I'm running those 30 hour burns all the time, but I believe that is when max efficiency is achieved. I do 2 or 2.5 loads per day in one stove, one per day in the other, as long as outdoor temps are below 45F. If it's above 45F and sunny, I'll let the "once per day" stove go out. I keep burning the "twice per day" stove up to 65F outdoor temps, but will drop back to one load per day if highs are above 55F.

Assuming I could at least pretend to meet the clearances, which is not guaranteed with my wood lintels and door jambs, I would be the first customer. Of course, they would have to match my doilies.

Be assured that my new 20cf Super King will also not match your doilies.

 

[MissMac]

Okay, here’s a random and perhaps naive question. I have a pot of water on top of my stove to help put some moisture into the air (as do a lot of people i know). I was just looking at it and suddenly wondered if it’s possible that the moist air is getting drawn into the stove or flue pipe? I wonder if it could actually be a thing that the moist air gets drawn through the seams of the stove pipe and creates more moisture in there which could lead to more condensing and possibly more creo deposits? I mean the same amount of smoke is escaping through the cat, so that is a constant, but if you add more moisture to the system - I don’t know? does this sound like a possibility? I’d have to think with all the folks out there who have water simmering on their stove tops that if it was an issue, it would be out there already. Thoughts?

 

[Ashful]

Correct me if I am wrong, but might not running air tubers at full be a little hazardous? Some thermostatic units do exist but from what I gather they only moderate the rage. As the flue gets hotter it pulls more air through causing a runaway condition. Newer stoves might be immune tho...

I'm running two BK's, webby3650 is running one, both wide open on a regular basis. No issues running them wide open, the thermostat manages the overfire condition.

You’ll find more than one post on this forum from BKVP, stating there is no issue running a BK wide open, provided it is in proper working order.

 

[kf6hap]

I would not worry about the stove top steamer as so little will be drawn into the stove. It will be diluted waaay down.

 

[chemie]

Only most evenings, on colder weeks, and most weekends. @webby3650 runs his wide open thru the coldest months of every winter, nearly 24/7.

I have Ashford 25 insert and in cold weather below 30 F, I run it fully open with fan at max almost 24\7. I have been thinking BK never over fires and it is perfectly fine to run it fully open. I hope I am not mistaken.

 

[shoot-straight]

My stat has gotten a bit sluggish for lack of a better term. Im guessing there is maybe a buildup of dust inside- after all it is a vacuum after all, actively sucking air.

Thoughts on just taking cover off and blowing it off if that's the case?

 

[kf6hap]

Vacuum it with a soft brush or use low pressure air to gently clean it as the coating is fragile.

 

[chemie]

I'm running two BK's, webby3650 is running one, both wide open on a regular basis. No issues running them wide open, the thermostat manages the overfire condition.

You’ll find more than one post on this forum from BKVP, stating there is no issue running a BK wide open, provided it is in proper working order.

Good to know since I run it wide open with fan at max almost 24/7 as the weather gets colder and colder.
I always thought BK wouldn’t list a high burn specks or would at least put a warning in their manual about potential of over firing.

 

[kf6hap]

About steel cat cleaning. I always wondered if spraying it down with distilled water in place might be a viable alternative. Let it dry for several hours, then fire it up. It seems better than using compressed air as some of the "smoke coating" might be removed to better expose or unmask the active catalytic compound. I understand it is a very bad Idea for ceramic cats as they need to be removed and slowly baked or bad things will happen.

 

[Highbeam]

I'm running two BK's, webby3650 is running one, both wide open on a regular basis. No issues running them wide open, the thermostat manages the overfire condition.

You’ll find more than one post on this forum from BKVP, stating there is no issue running a BK wide open, provided it is in proper working order.

The cat must be engaged !! But then this is a great safety feature of the bk.

My noncat needs a few more adjustments to get it hot and keep it hot as the stages of wood combustion pass. The adjustments also carry a bit of fear because if I forget it could overfire.

 

[chemie]

PM me your phone number. Perhaps I can help,

I’ve been here only for a few months but seeing a big defender of BK with a sense of humor from a neighbor state opting out for another stove is, in a way, disappointing. Seeing willingness of a personal assistance from the VP of the BK , however, is assuring.
I hope BKVP was able to help Kenny resolved the issue.

 

[Highbeam]

My stat has gotten a bit sluggish for lack of a better term. Im guessing there is maybe a buildup of dust inside- after all it is a vacuum after all, actively sucking air.

Thoughts on just taking cover off and blowing it off if that's the case?

You wrote stat and not cat. I’ll assume you wrote correctly. I have blown off the accessible parts of the thermostat assembly with compressed air. Just under the cover. To access the bimetallic coil you need to actually remove the stat assembly on the freestanding princess. Dust does accumulate. I don’t know if it helps but I’d rather the machinery be clean.

 

[Highbeam]

I’ve been here only for a few months but seeing a big defender of BK with a sense of humor from a neighbor state opting out for another stove is, in a way, disappointing. Seeing willingness of a personal assistance from the VP of the BK , however, is assuring.
I hope BKVP was able to help Kenny resolved the issue.

I’m thinking there was more to the story. Either stove related, or Kenny related.

 

[shoot-straight]

Stat- as in thermostat.

Just heard a very loud noise outside. Not a good sound either. Ran out- my cap blew off my chimney, hit roof, then porch roof, then ground. It's not small or light either. Despite some crazy gusts, I got Up on roof to inspect for damage and try to get it on. Didn't see any notable damage, but wind was way to high to try to get it on. Gonna have to wait. No rain till wed.

I imagine cleaning with the sooteater from the bottom pushed it up and loosened it. It's just 4 bolts pinching the cap by pressure.

 

[darktower007]

I have Ashford 25 insert and in cold weather below 30 F, I run it fully open with fan at max almost 24\7. I have been thinking BK never over fires and it is perfectly fine to run it fully open. I hope I am not mistaken.

Yup.. mines been wide open all day since 9 am still pumping out heat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[aaronk25]

Yup.. mines been wide open all day since 9 am still pumping out heat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Had to back mine princess down today. t -4f this princess in the basement had the house upstairs at 76f. Wife said she was hot! Perfect! That burn ran 8 hours. Lots of heat now that the draft is in spec and not 3x what it’s supposed to be.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro