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

[Highbeam]

Pics of the blower please! I’m obsessed with BK.

There are two axial fans down low in back. Here’s a quick pic.

 

[Highbeam]

Another from down low

 

[Woody Stover]

I ran a Lopi, not a cheap tube stove, my BK runs laps around it. The BK stoves are controllable/predictable not many stoves act the same load after load no matter how you load them.

I can give up a little predictability, as long as I can control the stove enough to prevent trouble. I want a non-cat for a backup; It might run for many years after a cat stove would need another cat...

There are two axial fans down low in back.

Why do they need two? That's unusual isn't it?

 

[Highbeam]

I can give up a little predictability, as long as I can control the stove enough to prevent trouble. I want a non-cat for a backup; It might run for many years after a cat stove would need another cat...
Why do they need two? That's unusual isn't it?

Why two? Well, they are rated for way more flow than most. I suspect it had to do with the back middle of the stove being occupied by the thermostat assembly and intake system.

The small axial fans look like computer fans and are relatively quiet. Maybe that’s why.

They work.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Is that an outside air kit @Highbeam ?

 

[Highbeam]

I just looked to see how wimpy your winter was right now, and to my surprise, not all that wimpy. You might even have some snow to deal with.

Foot of snow on the roof. We expect 12 degrees tonight. Another 8” Monday. Hubs are locked in and block heater is plugged in. Both stoves hot.

Honestly we’re usually warmer and wimpier!

My last two noncats in this house were very expensive and according to the manufacturers “efficient “. Lopi freedom bay and hearthstone heritage. Now an nc30 noncat in the shop. A Woodstock or bk cat are worlds better than any noncat in my home application!

 

[Highbeam]

Is that an outside air kit @Highbeam ?

Of course. Required by law but I also think it’s a great idea. Mine draws air from the vented crawlspace under my floor.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Of course. Required by law but I also think it’s a great idea. Mine draws air from the vented crawlspace under my floor.

Required by law where, Washington? I thought you guys were lax when it came to codes.

 

[Highbeam]

Required by law where, Washington? I thought you guys were lax when it came to codes.

Yeah, I’m in Washington. Would have failed inspection without the oak. I don’t recall which states or countries require it. I do not live in a mobile home but that might trigger the requirement as well.

I’m a fan but sometimes it’s impossible to install an oak like in a basement or if your on a slab.

 

[Woody Stover]

My last two noncats...Lopi freedom bay and hearthstone heritage. Now an nc30 noncat

What?? I didn't know you had another non-cat, a Liberty with a jacket. That is supposed to be a good stove, although a hot burner that chews through wood unless you tweak it. That was probably before your tweaking days, though...?

Washington? I thought you guys were lax when it came to codes.

Not in Seattle...that place is rife with members of the Democratic Party.

vented crawlspace under my floor.

With that much sky water falling, I don't guess anyone has a basement...

 

[Highbeam]

What?? I didn't know you had another non-cat, a Liberty with a jacket. That is supposed to be a good stove, although a hot burner that chews through wood unless you tweak it. That was probably before your tweaking days, though...?
Not in Seattle...that place is rife with members of the Democratic Party.
With that much sky water falling, I don't guess anyone has a basement...

I don’t live in Seattle. I’m about an hour away into the mountains but yes, this state seems to be very blue. Basements are rare unless you’re on a hill with a daylight basement.

 

[AlbergSteve]

You BK folk act like it's a big deal to start a fire.

Of course it's a big deal, we only get to do it two or three times a season!

 

[Ashful]

I ran a Lopi, not a cheap tube stove, my BK runs laps around it. The BK stoves are controllable/predictable not many stoves act the same load after load no matter how you load them. I could add wood with a 600* stove top without fear of it going nuclear if I wanted to.

The timing on this comment can’t be passed up. I’ve been burning two stoves x8 years, and this is the first time I’ve done this:

This morning, is stuffed the BK on 30 feet of chimney with a full load of oak on coals, closed the door, set a timer, and walked away. Bypass open, key damper open wide. My phone timer to close the bypass and key damper went off six minutes later, but I was at the far end of our house making coffee, so I shut it off figuring I’d go check the stove in a minute.

Well, I’m sure you see where this is going, by now. I’m going about my Sunday routine, cleaning up the kitchen while making pancakes and sausages for the kids for about 45 minutes, when I walk by the door to the wing of the house containing that stove, and I smell hot stove paint.

I run in to see a white-hot raging fire, the paint on the stove literally smoking, and my flue probe at 1400F. Flue pressure had pegged the manometer at 0.25”WC. I close the bypass and thermostat, set the key damper to its usual setting, and the stove calms right down to a normal burn in less than 30 seconds. I can’t even imagine how a non-cat owner would fare in this situation, having let the stove top wide open more than 45 minutes, I think it’d be a guaranteed runaway.

@BKVP and @bholler, what do I need to do to check out my stove and rig? I hear so much talk about bypass retainers, but I can’t find any such thing on the Ashford 30.1. All seems to be running normal now, other than the fact my house smells like I just broke in a new stove and pipe.

My wife was sitting right in front of the stove sorting mail thru this entire episode. Yeah, she’s not very observant of her surroundings.

 

[bholler]

The timing on this comment can’t be passed up. I’ve been burning two stoves x8 years, and this is the first time I’ve done this:

This morning, is stuffed the BK on 30 feet of chimney with a full load of oak on coals, closed the door, set a time, and walked away. Bypass open, key damper open wide. My timer to close the bypass and key damper went off six minutes later, but I was at the far end of our house making coffee, so I shut it off figuring I’d go check the stove in a minute.

Well, I’m sure you see where this is going, by now. I’m going about my Sunday routine, cleaning up the kitchen while making pancakes and sausages for the kids for about 45 minutes, when I walk by the door to the wing of the house containing that stove, and I smell hot stove paint.

I run in to see a white-hot raging fire, the paint on the stove literally smoking, and my glue probe at 1400F. Flue pressure had pegged the manometer at 0.25”WC. I close the bypass and thermostat, set the key damper to its usual setting, and the stove calms right down to a normal burn in less than 30 seconds. I can’t even imagine how a non-cat owner would fare in this situation, having let the stove top wide open more than 45 minutes, I think it’d be a guaranteed runaway.

@BKVP and @bholler, what do I need to do to check out my stove and rig? I hear so much talk about bypass retainers, but I can’t find any such thing on the Ashford 30.1. All seems to be running normal now, other than the fact my house smells like I just broke in a new stove and pipe.

My wife was sitting right in front of the stove sorting mail thru this entire episode. Yeah, she’s not very observant of her surroundings.

I'll let bkvp answer about the stove. But the chimney should be fine 1400 is above the normal operating range but we'll within the upper limits. So as long as you don't make a habit of doing this the chimney will be fine

 

[Ashful]

Oh, and @bholler, I had just cleaned the chimney six days earlier, so likely not much fuel for a chimney fire. It was not making any sound when I went into the room, but did start making a rushing sound AFTER I closed the key damper, but I’m not seeing how there could have been enough fuel in there to support much of a chimney fire. It stopped 30 seconds after closing down.

The rushing sound after closing key might have just been the 0.25”WC sucking exhaust past the closed damper.

 

[Richard Pryor]

I’ll ask this question again as it didn’t get an answer. My installer is coming tomorrow and I have heard here talks of too much draft. What is too much draft, how do you avoid it and are there things I need to ensure my installer does/knows when installing for a Princess?

 

[Ashful]

I’ll ask this question again as it didn’t get an answer. My installer is coming tomorrow and I have heard here talks of too much draft. What is too much draft, how do you avoid it and are there things I need to ensure my installer does/knows when installing for a Princess?

Probably not any issue on the Princess, but a few of us with the newer 30 boxes have clogged combustors with fly ash. Those of us experiencing this seem to have taller/stronger drafting chimneys. It is easily resolved with a key damper, on a freestanding setup, it’s a little tougher with inserts.

We have only seen one Princess owner claim a clogged cat. I wouldn’t jump to assume that’s a result of too much draft, unless others turn up with similar circumstances. The Princess is an old and proven design, I don’t think there is much that’s not already known about their performance.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Why did you go with the Ashford and not the Princess, @Ashful, looks?

 

[Alpine1]

I’ll ask this question again as it didn’t get an answer. My installer is coming tomorrow and I have heard here talks of too much draft. What is too much draft, how do you avoid it and are there things I need to ensure my installer does/knows when installing for a Princess?

For every stove (at least here in Europe) the manufacturer gives specific manometer readings for optimal performance. Too much draft is usually due to high chimneys: lots of heat goes up the chimney, and the stove gets less manageable (risk of over firing). Not enough draft and you have smoke spillage on reloading, possibly smoke smell during the burn and poor performance. A professional installer can (and should) measure draft and give advice.

 

[Ashful]

Why did you go with the Ashford and not the Princess, @Ashful, looks?

Primarily, yes. However there was a secondary benefit, which I (sadly) did not realize until after I installed the Ashfords. Their cast over steel box design makes them primarily convective heaters, and that works much better in my house. Serendipity.

 

[kennyp2339]

I'm a high drafter, .18 for the princess, key damper installed and back to manageable levels of .08 or so, now that I have the draft figured out this stove is great to run, enjoying awesome heat (at lower settings) and longer burn times then the average stove out on the market.

 

[Sawset]

For every stove (at least here in Europe) the manufacturer gives specific manometer readings for optimal performance. Too much draft is usually due to high chimneys: lots of heat goes up the chimney, and the stove gets less manageable (risk of over firing). Not enough draft and you have smoke spillage on reloading, possibly smoke smell during the burn and poor performance. A professional installer can (and should) measure draft and give advice.

Draft varies with temperature. How is that handled in their recommendations. The attached pressure is in Pa, multiply by .004 to get Inches-H20

 

[lsucet]

I found this at Home Depot on clearance for $7.00 and it works like a champ separating coals from the ash when removing ashes on hot stove.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Draft varies with temperature. How is that handled in their recommendations. The attached pressure is in Pa, multiply by .004 to get Inches-H20

I don’t understand this graph. How do I measure draft? How do I ensure my install is legit? What is Pa and H2O.

 

[BKVP]

Well, first it's not a "non cat" that would have such a concern...it's a stove without a thermostat.

Second, the paint curing smell has also happened when a poor drafting chimney is corrected and the stove connected to it now is properly drafting...and hits a new peak operating temperature.

Third, the retainers are certainly fine. They can fail when repeated high temps are achieved with bypass open.

Look inside the stove with a flashlight. Aim the light at the bypass plate...bottom side. With bypass closed and cammed over, is the plate appear to have a flat mating surface? If bypass retainers were damaged, extremely rare by the way, they would sag down and would look "droopy" of sorts.

I'm in KOP Thursday, Friday and Saturday until noon. Anyone makes it, free drink and appetizers! Just PM me....and you don't have to own a BK, so long as you are part of the Hearth family!