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

[Ashful]

If you dropped a toothpick on top of the stove and walked away, would you be able to smell it an hour later? Maybe the whole difference here is people with really sensitive noses.

Then again, that ledge is cooler than the stovetop...

We are talking about a different ledge, or a different stove! The spot I’m talking about gets quite hot, I’ll get a photo when I reload stove no.2 later tonight.

My nose is garbage, too many years of working on hot rods and racing boats, with noxious paints and solvents.

 

[jetsam]

Different stove for sure, but I am questioning whether dropping a toothpick sized scrap on the hottest part of the stovetop would generate enough smoke for people to complain about.

 

[chemie]

I realized that recently my cat gloves on the both ends and not in the middle. This keeps happening very often. Does it mean it is clogged in the middle or something is wrong?

 

[lsucet]

I realized that recently my cat gloves on the both ends and not in the middle. This keeps happening very often. Does it mean it is clogged in the middle or something is wrong?

Do you load it N/S or E/W? It is ceramic or SS?

 

[Ashful]

Different stove for sure, but I am questioning whether dropping a toothpick sized scrap on the hottest part of the stovetop would generate enough smoke for people to complain about.

Crap, I forgot to get a photo when I loaded. Three more chances tomorrow.

Do you load it N/S or E/W? It is ceramic or SS?

Now I can't wait to see how you're going to tie the temperature profile across with width of his cat to N/S vs. E/W loading!

 

[lsucet]

Crap, I forgot to get a photo when I loaded. Three more chances tomorrow.

Now I can't wait to see how you're going to tie the temperature profile across with width of his cat to N/S vs. E/W loading!

Lol. Well, E/W, sometimes if the fire catches at the end of the logs first it can give you that, including N/S when the load catches on one side more first, you can have that effect.
Also sometimes the wood is outgassing more in one side and the cat light up on that side more than the rest of it across. My experience BTW.

 

[lsucet]

Crap, I forgot to get a photo when I loaded. Three more chances tomorrow.

Now I can't wait to see how you're going to tie the temperature profile across with width of his cat to N/S vs. E/W loading!

You also can do a test and place wood on one side of the box and light it up. You will see.

 

[MTASH]

I saw an interesting phenomenon last night before I headed off to bed. Loaded the stove, charred for 20 minutes, turned down to about 4 o'clock. about and hour later as I walked by on my way to bed in the dark I saw a bright orange reflection on the floor in front of the stove. The rest of the stove load was its typical black picture with a few dull red coals. When I looked at the cat there were full on flames dancing across the face of the cat and it was bright orange like I'd never seen before. This went on for a few minutes until I turned the stat back to 3 o'clock and they disappeared. I thought flame impingement was bad for the cat, or does that just apply to ceramic cats?

Since you brought this up, I checked mine last night. Exactly the same circumstances - I burn on high after loading to allow the full load to catch, then turn down about halfway between high and my cruise setting for a while. This is how I typically operate the stove before the final turn down to cruise.

At this intermediate setting, I often get a secondary flame show beneath the cat, similar to what you see on a tube stove. I waited for a pause in the flame show to look up at the cat and saw the exact same thing as in your video. There was some flame activity behind the shield but it was intermittent.

I don't know if this is a problem or not. The only place that flame impingement is mentioned in the manual is under the trouble shooting section for catalyst peeling when temperatures exceed 1800 degrees at the combustor. I've never seen my cat probe go above about 2/3 of the way into the active zone under any circumstance.

 

[SuperJ]

Since you brought this up, I checked mine last night. Exactly the same circumstances - I burn on high after loading to allow the full load to catch, then turn down about halfway between high and my cruise setting for a while. This is how I typically operate the stove before the final turn down to cruise.

At this intermediate setting, I often get a secondary flame show beneath the cat, similar to what you see on a tube stove. I waited for a pause in the flame show to look up at the cat and saw the exact same thing as in your video. There was some flame activity behind the shield but it was intermittent.

I don't know if this is a problem or not. The only place that flame impingement is mentioned in the manual is under the trouble shooting section for catalyst peeling when temperatures exceed 1800 degrees at the combustor. I've never seen my cat probe go above about 2/3 of the way into the active zone under any circumstance.

It seems like it's possible to do this if you turn it down quickly, after charring a fresh load of fuel. The wood is still offgassing flammables a high rate, but there isn't enough air to burn them in the firebox (think running an engine rich). I think it's best to do a slow stepped turn down so everything cools off so the offgas rate matches the air rate, that way you'll get a nice clean burn.

 

[jetsam]

It seems like that would be really common when the wood is offgassing and the stove is set low enough that it is not doing rolling secondaries. The wood gas hits the hot cat, and whoosh.

I could ask my dogs; they have a perfect viewing angle and they spend all day there.

 

[AlbergSteve]

I've never seen my cat probe go above about 2/3 of the way into the active zone under any circumstance.

Same here, I've never seen it above 2-230 o'clock on the thermo.

 

[MTASH]

It seems like it's possible to do this if you turn it down quickly, after charring a fresh load of fuel. The wood is still offgassing flammables a high rate, but there isn't enough air to burn them in the firebox (think running an engine rich). I think it's best to do a slow stepped turn down so everything cools off so the offgas rate matches the air rate, that way you'll get a nice clean burn.

That's exactly why I do a 2-step turn down. If I went straight to cruise setting, there would be more smoldering with no active flame at all. The first step is where I get the secondary flames.

 

[Highbeam]

I realized that recently my cat gloves on the both ends and not in the middle. This keeps happening very often. Does it mean it is clogged in the middle or something is wrong?

Right behind your cat is a steel curtain that blocks a straight shot from the middle of the cat to the flue. The curtain is not very big though and probably corresponds with the dark area you are seeing. The sides of the cat get a more direct shot at the flue so I believe that there is less flow resistance on the sides and so more fuel is burned there.

 

[chemie]

Right behind your cat is a steel curtain that blocks a straight shot from the middle of the cat to the flue. The curtain is not very big though and probably corresponds with the dark area you are seeing. The sides of the cat get a more direct shot at the flue so I believe that there is less flow resistance on the sides and so more fuel is burned there.

I realized that dark middle cat happens more often when I use kiln dried,with very low MC wood. Last night, I mixed the super dry wood with not properly seasoned wood ( MC around 25 -27 %) and I observed glowing cat everywhere. I am guessing there was not enough of off gassing with so low MC wood to activate Pd/Pt particles in the cat. I wonder if anyone observed similar thing with wood bricks that I hear have very low MC.

 

[lsucet]

I realized that dark middle cat happens more often when I use kiln dried,with very low MC wood. Last night, I mixed the super dry wood with not properly seasoned wood ( MC around 25 -27 %) and I observed glowing cat everywhere. I am guessing there was not enough of off gassing with so low MC wood to activate Pd/Pt particles in the cat. I wonder if anyone observed similar thing with wood bricks that I hear have very low MC.

There is nothing like low MC wood. Actually that is what the cat like the most. The dryers the wood the most active cat you get and hotter burn. Load it full and packed, they love that. Remember the cat doesn't need to be light up to be working.

 

[Highbeam]

There is nothing like low MC wood. Actually that is what the cat like the most. The dryers the wood the most active cat you get and hotter burn. Load it full and packed, they love that. Remember the cat doesn't need to be light up to be working.

Apparently it can be too dry and overwhelm the cat. So there is a range of desirable wood dryness. Most of us won't ever get to the too-dry point.

 

[lsucet]

Apparently it can be too dry and overwhelm the cat. So there is a range of desirable wood dryness. Most of us won't ever get to the too-dry point.

Yeah. A little more emissions with dry wood at startups and reloads but catch instantly. I noticed it burning pine at 7-8 % of MC, but get some good heat out of it. Char, takes less time. once on low, emissions are low/good and lot of heat from the cat. lol

 

[Ashful]

Apparently it can be too dry and overwhelm the cat. So there is a range of desirable wood dryness. Most of us won't ever get to the too-dry point.

... unless you're Poindexter.

 

[moresnow]

... unless you're Poindexter.

Is it just me or has he been rather quiet this season?

 

[jetsam]

Last I heard from him there was a lot of talk about keeping his wife scantily-clad, and then.... silence...

 

[Ashful]

Is it just me or has he been rather quiet this season?

People come, people go. You have to be pretty boring to hang around this joint for more than 5 years. [emoji12]

 

[jetsam]

People come, people go. You have to be pretty boring to hang around this joint for more than 5 years.

Didn't you mean to say more than 7 years?

(And look at all those valuable Trophy Points! You should have 'em send you your trophy!)

 

[spudman99]

Ok, this thread has become somewhat quiet recently. Are we now in what is called the "shoulder season"? I realize the Wisconsin and northern tier folks are still in winter, but March is here and things are starting to melt.

If you are, tell us about how your burning habits have changed. Wood species, size of splits, load size, burn times, ash cleanouts, flue top build up this late in season, etc.

Helpful to new burners, and to those looking to purchase or install a BK.

 

[Ashful]

Mid-season:

Load Ashford no.1 twice per day
- set dial for 12 hour burn
Load Ashford no.2 once per day
- set dial for 24 hour burn

Shoulder season:

Load Ashford no.1 twice per day, but intentionally a little lazy in the Tetris
- set dial for 12 hour burn
Load Ashford no.2 half full each evening
- set dial for overnight burn

May/June:

Load Ashford no.1 for overnights only

Due to living in a house built of roughly 1 million pounds of stone (actual estimate) with no interior insulation, I’m the last around this climate zone to start burning in fall, and the last to stop in spring.

 

[Highbeam]

I found that dry wood from a shed is much drier than three year old wood stored top covered on pallets. You just can’t stop the sides from getting wet and the top covers dribble into the stacks. Wood sheds are awesome!

Drier wood smokes less and burns cleaner in the cat stove. The noncat doesn’t really care.

This year I’m having more problems with dry grit falling down the vertical chimney and piling up on the bypass plate. Then fouling the gasket when I open the bypass. It’s like coffee grounds. I’ve gotten some odd burns on the top of my hand when trying to sweep the bypass gasket clean. Anybody else do this?