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

[lsucet]

Yes just the cat. No Flames and no other glowing metal.

Consider it normal.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes just the cat. No Flames and no other glowing metal.

That’s good. It doesn’t have to glow but is so common that many people worry when their cat isn’t glowing. I run on low most of the time and the dang thing glows a lot. Pretty cool.

 

[kenmal]

Consider it normal.

Normal? New to this stove yet only running since end of Dec., First time I had that high of temps at a 3 o'clock setting. Tonight's load running around 2 o'clock and the cat has a good glow to it , cat temp is hanging around 2 o'clock , Granted it has been sometime running it at 2 , cat temp would usually run around 11-12 at that setting. I did do dollar test and checked the glass and all is good on that front.

 

[kenmal]

That’s good. It doesn’t have to glow but is so common that many people worry when their cat isn’t glowing. I run on low most of the time and the dang thing glows a lot. Pretty cool.

So don't worry about it is what your saying? I was getting use to the no glow running on low and now there is a glow.

 

[lsucet]

Normal? New to this stove yet only running since end of Dec., First time I had that high of temps at a 3 o'clock setting. Tonight's load running around 2 o'clock and the cat has a good glow to it , cat temp is hanging around 2 o'clock , Granted it has been sometime running it at 2 , cat temp would usually run around 11-12 at that setting. I did do dollar test and checked the glass and all is good on that front.

New cats are super active for awhile and it will settle down after awhile. They do that. I still seeing mine once in a while lighting like a nightlight and it is its fourth season. No worries here. I run my stoves on low 90% of the time and get that glowing at different time of the burn.

 

[Highbeam]

So don't worry about it is what your saying? I was getting use to the no glow running on low and now there is a glow.

Totally normal for the cat to glow for the majority of the burn.

 

[Woody Stover]

I'd never hear the end of this if it was happening in our house.

I would see the end of it pretty damned quick..

 

[AlbergSteve]

I'd never hear the end of this if it was happening in our house.

Yeah, unfortunately I'm the "sensitive" one. We've had friends over and they love the "cozy, smokey feeling" - drives me nuts.

 

[Woody Stover]

I was getting use to the no glow running on low and now there is a glow.

You might have just gotten into some drier wood...

 

[Niko]

so for around 5 years I have owned my BK King and have enjoyed wood burning a lot. it took awhile to understand the stove but I am better at it. In NY i only burn 4-6 month of the years at the all depends on how cold it is. But it seems to me that the thermostat temp setting is not always consistent. Do they have a replacement life? MY cat is new to this season and instead of a dollar bill i use a plane piece of paper to the gasket test which passes. my pipe is exactly what BK asks for in the manual and my wood moisture is good.

• SO this is what i am experiencing during my burning. The thermostat seems to be closing itself slightly during burns as i notice it wont be where i left it 12 hrs later. I do not have at all constant low burn times. My cat is usually inactive and when i do increase the Thermostat a little the stove goes really into the active zone and then doesn't even lower itself to at least give me the understanding of a slow burn time. This is happening roughly 65% of the time maybe more. I usually keep the stove around the R of normal on the thermostat. but when i come home later after work i would see it a little closer to the O, so i would turn it up to M and 8 hrs later my wood is done and my temperature in the room spikes like crazy. I have a small little battery powerd thermostat that lets my now the hi and lo temps in the room and records them. I have done the adjustments to the thermostat on the BK usually every year but im not getting the results i guess. Not sure if i doing something wrong or what.. Is it time for a new thermostat? i posted some videos of the stove cold so everyone can see whats going on...

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[rdust]

The flapper should be nearly straight up when it’s on 3 1/2. That set screw should be the stop for high if I’m remembering right. Blaze king used to have a pdf on their site for adjusting the stat but the link is dead. I’m thinking the set screw/collar has slipped in some way.

@BKVP can you provide a working link to the document?

Found this post about the Tstat from BKVP. Sounds like the knob might have slipped, that can be adjusted in the field, if the collar has moved it needs to be recalibrated.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...ead-everything-bk.145814/page-49#post-2020249

I’d start by setting the knob as described in the linked post.

 

[unimog1300]

Had a post last fall about the old slammer install insert we were using and was advised it was dangerous to use so we started searching for a new insert. The BK Princess was what we ended up buying.

Made a deposit to get it ordered on 1/31/19 and was informed there were no new PI in stock. The new 2020 compliant ones were being manufactured currently. It came in the around 3/8 or a little later. We picked it up on the 3/16 which is a 6.5 hour round trip to the dealer and back. Had the PI and an insulated 6" liner installed on 3/18. That's as far as we got....we ordered the satin Nickle door to help the appearance some and the door won't be here until 3/25 with UPS. So I have a couple questions/observations if anyone can help me out.

1. The thermostat when set to low will not fully close the little door against the opening where the air is drawn in. Setting the knob to high moves the door open more but the travel stops 3 dots below high. I think this is not right. It's like the set screw in the knob needs to be loosened and the shaft rotated to allow the little door to fully close against the opening and then set the knob to "low" and tighten the set screw, then I think "high" will be right. I don't really want to start my first fire tomorrow with it set like it is. I see no way to throttle it back as it is.

2. The cat thermometer won't sit flush(flat) with the top of the insert. The one on display at the dealer didn't sit flat either. The instructions show the thermometer put on last of the parts during assembly. My concern is this shoves the end of the probe several inches back away from the cat because of the angle, not sure if this an issue or not. My goal is to try and get something from Auber to replace the thermometer and have a real temp displayed showing actual cat temps in fairly real time. Is the current position of the thermometer an issue for now until I can find something from Auber?

3. Having read the manual several times on the PI since unpacking it I'm looking for input on dimensional lumber use. The manual says not to do it because it could cause an over fire. Here's my take on this which is probably off in some or all aspects. I think the don't use dimensional lumber warning is because you'd think people would load the firebox up with cut off 2x4, 1x2, and all other sizes of lumber or at least small non uniform pieces. This to me is the issue, as there is so much surface area exposed to burn, at least that's what I read on here to try and slow down traditional wood consumption. I have access to DF dimensional lumber cut offs that are free. I can stack them in the firebox so it is one big chunk, or some varying size/chunk that leaves literately no space anywhere other than the outer edges. Is this a different scenario that's safe enough to burn? In my mind it covers the issue of exposed surface area completely, only the top and sides are exposed. This would be a great alternative for me in shoulder season and the effort to get dry CSS wood ready.

Thanks for any suggestions you might offer. There's a wealth of knowledgeable people on here willing to help out and I'm appreciative of that. I've learned more about "fire" than I ever thought there was to know!!

Thanks,
Steve

 

[jetsam]

1. The thermostat when set to low will not fully close the little door against the opening where the air is drawn in. Setting the knob to high moves the door open more but the travel stops 3 dots below high. I think this is not right. It's like the set screw in the knob needs to be loosened and the shaft rotated to allow the little door to fully close against the opening and then set the knob to "low" and tighten the set screw, then I think "high" will be right. I don't really want to start my first fire tomorrow with it set like it is. I see no way to throttle it back as it is.


3. Having read the manual several times on the PI since unpacking it I'm looking for input on dimensional lumber use. The manual says not to do it because it could cause an over fire. Here's my take on this which is probably off in some or all aspects. I think the don't use dimensional lumber warning is because you'd think people would load the firebox up with cut off 2x4, 1x2, and all other sizes of lumber or at least small non uniform pieces. This to me is the issue, as there is so much surface area exposed to burn, at least that's what I read on here to try and slow down traditional wood consumption. I have access to DF dimensional lumber cut offs that are free. I can stack them in the firebox so it is one big chunk, or some varying size/chunk that leaves literately no space anywhere other than the outer edges. Is this a different scenario that's safe enough to burn? In my mind it covers the issue of exposed surface area completely, only the top and sides are exposed. This would be a great alternative for me in shoulder season and the effort to get dry CSS wood ready.

Thanks for any suggestions you might offer. There's a wealth of knowledgeable people on here willing to help out and I'm appreciative of that. I've learned more about "fire" than I ever thought there was to know!!

Thanks,
Steve

View attachment 242648

1. No touchy. Thermostats are individually factory calibrated. The flapper should not be closed when the thermostat is on minimum and the stove is cold. When the stove warms up, it will close.

2. I have the older model and my probe's in a big hole. Not sure on this one.

3. I would not be afraid to burn doug fir cutoffs just chucked into a hot stove in my PI, but I know my gaskets are good and I know my thermostat will shut down an inferno to a black box if I turn the dial.

On a new unit I would not yet have this confidence. I would start with cordwood and start to mix in cutoffs as you gain confidence in the stove. Do a dollar bill test before you start, and make sure it shuts down from hot fire to black box on demand.

I burn full loads of splitter shavings and sticks and such a couple times every year, and the air control on that stove is such that I can snuff it down to a black box any time with the turn of a knob, even with a crazy load like that- but I wouldn't trust a different Princess to do that until I knew its gaskets and thermostat were in good order.

I think you will arrive at the conclusion that you can safely burn your cutoffs, but don't start with that assumption.

 

[Highbeam]

Had a post last fall about the old slammer install insert we were using and was advised it was dangerous to use so we started searching for a new insert. The BK Princess was what we ended up buying.

Made a deposit to get it ordered on 1/31/19 and was informed there were no new PI in stock. The new 2020 compliant ones were being manufactured currently. It came in the around 3/8 or a little later. We picked it up on the 3/16 which is a 6.5 hour round trip to the dealer and back. Had the PI and an insulated 6" liner installed on 3/18. That's as far as we got....we ordered the satin Nickle door to help the appearance some and the door won't be here until 3/25 with UPS. So I have a couple questions/observations if anyone can help me out.

1. The thermostat when set to low will not fully close the little door against the opening where the air is drawn in. Setting the knob to high moves the door open more but the travel stops 3 dots below high. I think this is not right. It's like the set screw in the knob needs to be loosened and the shaft rotated to allow the little door to fully close against the opening and then set the knob to "low" and tighten the set screw, then I think "high" will be right. I don't really want to start my first fire tomorrow with it set like it is. I see no way to throttle it back as it is.

2. The cat thermometer won't sit flush(flat) with the top of the insert. The one on display at the dealer didn't sit flat either. The instructions show the thermometer put on last of the parts during assembly. My concern is this shoves the end of the probe several inches back away from the cat because of the angle, not sure if this an issue or not. My goal is to try and get something from Auber to replace the thermometer and have a real temp displayed showing actual cat temps in fairly real time. Is the current position of the thermometer an issue for now until I can find something from Auber?

3. Having read the manual several times on the PI since unpacking it I'm looking for input on dimensional lumber use. The manual says not to do it because it could cause an over fire. Here's my take on this which is probably off in some or all aspects. I think the don't use dimensional lumber warning is because you'd think people would load the firebox up with cut off 2x4, 1x2, and all other sizes of lumber or at least small non uniform pieces. This to me is the issue, as there is so much surface area exposed to burn, at least that's what I read on here to try and slow down traditional wood consumption. I have access to DF dimensional lumber cut offs that are free. I can stack them in the firebox so it is one big chunk, or some varying size/chunk that leaves literately no space anywhere other than the outer edges. Is this a different scenario that's safe enough to burn? In my mind it covers the issue of exposed surface area completely, only the top and sides are exposed. This would be a great alternative for me in shoulder season and the effort to get dry CSS wood ready.

Thanks for any suggestions you might offer. There's a wealth of knowledgeable people on here willing to help out and I'm appreciative of that. I've learned more about "fire" than I ever thought there was to know!!

Thanks,
Steve

View attachment 242648

Nobody has experience with that stove yet. It’s a brand new model.

 

[Highbeam]

so for around 5 years I have owned my BK King and have enjoyed wood burning a lot. it took awhile to understand the stove but I am better at it. In NY i only burn 4-6 month of the years at the all depends on how cold it is. But it seems to me that the thermostat temp setting is not always consistent. Do they have a replacement life? MY cat is new to this season and instead of a dollar bill i use a plane piece of paper to the gasket test which passes. my pipe is exactly what BK asks for in the manual and my wood moisture is good.

• SO this is what i am experiencing during my burning. The thermostat seems to be closing itself slightly during burns as i notice it wont be where i left it 12 hrs later. I do not have at all constant low burn times. My cat is usually inactive and when i do increase the Thermostat a little the stove goes really into the active zone and then doesn't even lower itself to at least give me the understanding of a slow burn time. This is happening roughly 65% of the time maybe more. I usually keep the stove around the R of normal on the thermostat. but when i come home later after work i would see it a little closer to the O, so i would turn it up to M and 8 hrs later my wood is done and my temperature in the room spikes like crazy. I have a small little battery powerd thermostat that lets my now the hi and lo temps in the room and records them. I have done the adjustments to the thermostat on the BK usually every year but im not getting the results i guess. Not sure if i doing something wrong or what.. Is it time for a new thermostat? i posted some videos of the stove cold so everyone can see whats going on...

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The setting should not wander. There are ways to tighten the tension on the knob so it doesn’t drift. Most of us have the opposite problem where the knob gets too tight and rough.

What about the thermostat have you been “adjusting” annually? That should not be needed.

As suggested, set the knob so that at full high setting the pointer is straight down. Then adjust the tension on the knob shaft so that it doesn’t drift which is weird. Finally, blow out the throttle blade and blade shaft pivot area. That’s all you can do.

 

[Woody Stover]

This to me is the issue, as there is so much surface area exposed to burn

That fire looks to be white hot...turn it down!

 

[unimog1300]

Jetsam, thanks for the reply. I'll watch the stat setting tomorrow and see if the little air door does close once I get a fire going. The DF cutoffs I'll wait on to try for a bit. My CSS wood is marginal, probably 25-28% on a fresh split at room temp after 24 hours indoors.

Woody, it's real white hot Styrofoam..... Cold air block.

I found some Ecobricks at a TSC in MO on the way home after picking up the Princess. They are the 6 to a pack and I got 30 packs of them on sale. Thought I could add a couple with each load of my marginal wood to get thru this season until I can get some wood ready for next season.

Also I'll be adding a block off plate and insulating it and the back wall of the outside chimney. It's a big brick one with lots of mass

Thanks for the replies.

 

[BKVP]

The flapper should be nearly straight up when it’s on 3 1/2. That set screw should be the stop for high if I’m remembering right. Blaze king used to have a pdf on their site for adjusting the stat but the link is dead. I’m thinking the set screw/collar has slipped in some way.

@BKVP can you provide a working link to the document?

Found this post about the Tstat from BKVP. Sounds like the knob might have slipped, that can be adjusted in the field, if the collar has moved it needs to be recalibrated.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...ead-everything-bk.145814/page-49#post-2020249

I’d start by setting the knob as described in the linked post.

The blade angle cannot be adjusted in the field. There are specific parameters that are necessary for each model. Turn the knob clockwise until it stops. The white line should be pointed straight down. If it is not, loosen the allen head set screw in the knob and turn clockwise until it is. Tighten screw.

 

[shoot-straight]

four years in with my ashford and my stat is acting off too. it does feel a bit gritty, and it doesnt close on its own like it should sometimes. its an alcove install, i will wait till the season is over, pull it out and pull the cover and vaccum it good. maybe some graphite on some moving parts? no grease, that will just collect more crap.

 

[moresnow]

Guess I got complacent on vacuuming my cat this season. A couple weeks ago I was running in a new load with the bypass still open. Closed the bypass and almost snuffed the fire! When that load was done I let the stove go cold. Upon inspection I found that the cat was plugged over much of the available area. Not a huge deal as the pipe was due for cleaning anyway. I vac'd both the front and rear of the cat. Huge difference in performance. Something to consider if you have not payed attention to your cat lately.

 

[unimog1300]

Just wanted to report back how the new BK Princess insert is doing after 8 days.
Got the door installed a week ago yesterday. Adjusted the latch and ran the dollar bill test until it was right. Will have to readjust at some point as the door seems to be settling in to the door gasket. Started the first fire with the small load as mentioned in the manual then a bigger one after that. Anticipated bad smell from the paint curing and it did smell but not anything like I was expecting. Opened a door for about 15 minutes then closed it and fired up the ozone machine and that took care of it after a while.

This is sure different in all aspects compared to the old insert we took out. All the wasted heat(slammer install), wood usage(figured one split per hour), and ash clean out(sometimes pulling out almost two 5 gallon buckets full) are gone now. It's like going from a Model T to a new Corvette or so it seems. Only thing the same is they burn wood inside both of them.

So I have some comments/observations/questions.

1. Getting the cat up to temp seems easy to do and not much time(to me) to get there.
2. It is crazy how long a few pieces of wood burn and put out usable heat.
3. Have been burning 24/7 since 3/25 and pulled out less than half of a three gallon bucket of ash.
4. My CSS wood is marginal as I've said and both lower bottom corners of the glass get pretty black about 5" up and across the bottom. Cleaned it once so far with some ash on a damp paper towel.
5. We have NEVER had so many blue flames!! It's all the time, right now it's solid blue flame off the back of the wood in back of the firebox. Can count on one hand probably how many times we had blue flames in the old insert.
6. Bought some Eco Bricks(6 to a pack) at TSC on the way home from picking up the PI. I raked the coals forward about halfway to load the Eco Bricks. Wasn't sure how many to run the first time so loaded 6 N/S against the back wall and pushed the ashes back to the front of the Eco Bricks. Put small(3"-4") Ash rounds N/S for overnight. Set it a little below half on the tstat, fan on high. 8:00 the next morning the Ash was gone but the Eco Bricks were still glowing red across the back wall. Went to reload and the Eco Bricks were solid as when they were put in. Loaded 7 on top of the first row of bricks and threw in almost two 5 gallon buckets of splits cut to length(16", old insert would do almost 24"). They ranged in size from 2" to 6". Ran all day like this a little above half on tstat. Time to reload that evening and the very bottom row of Eco Bricks were mostly solid with the upper row fairly burned up but still some 4-5" solid chunks left. Nuts....
7. Never thought this would heat our house but be a good supplement. So no expectations of being let down next winter.
8. Getting great secondaries which are cool to watch, probably on about each load for different lengths of time. Maybe saw those twice in the old insert.
9. STT are from 300*-700*+ throughout the burn cycle. Best I ever got comfortably on the old insert was upper 200's.
10. Going to have to come up with a new air circulation plan for the house with this insert. The old insert had 580 cfm of air output and this one seems to be about half that. Old one had the air outlet probably 6" farther into to the room and deflected downward, new one is basically going straight up the brick face of the chimney. It makes the upstairs about 6*-10* warmer and a couple of places on the main floor that much cooler. Living room ceiling is peaked and 20-21' tall with two ceiling fans that run 24/7/365. One is going down and the other is going upwards currently.

First question:
1. Ran N/S load the first few times then ran E/W. Seems to be E/W lasts longer? Or is that my imagination? Assuming it blocks the air flow in that orientation.
2. After cat thermometer gets into the active zone how long does it take to clean up the smoke out of the chimney?
3. Ran 4 pieces of DF 2"X8"X10" across the back wall E/W stacked on top of each other like a solid block. Burned for 6 hours before I reloaded, set on a low setting putting out decent heat and still barely active cat before reloading. The cat temp was half way into the active zone but still could see some faint smoke out the chimney. It was too warm to be steam, upper 40's. Should the cat eat all the smoke?
4. I loaded 12 Eco Bricks on bed of coals, N/S along the back wall 2 rows high. Got it up to temp and set the tstat to high, fan on high and watched it for an hour or more to check the STT. Climbed up to the upper 700's (IR gun). Cut the tstat back about 2 dots and I could hear the little air door hit the bottom. It must have been heading closed from the temps I'm guessing. What's too high a temp for STT?
5. The manual says run the fan on low for a low tstat setting and high for a high tstat setting and so on. I've been running the fan on high for about everything, cat still in active zone always. I want it to strip off as much heat as it can if I need the heat even if the tstat is on a lower setting. Any issues with doing that?

Well that should do it for now sorry about the length, lots to learn with this new insert. We feel it was money well spent considering how old the other one was and being unsafe. Thanks to all of you who told me it was unsafe...we were just cruising along not knowing any better, so thanks.

Steve

 

[moresnow]

@unimog1300 Sounds like you are figuring out what makes this stove go. Not sure what the general consensus is but I never run my stove (different model BK) over 650 STT. You mentioned upper 700's. Hopefully we will here from others on this.

As far as encouraging heat movement. Look into pushing cold dense air from the colder parts of the house towards the stove room. It will displace the lighter warm air. Works for me. Small floor fan. Worth researching here.

 

[Ashful]

1. Ran N/S load the first few times then ran E/W. Seems to be E/W lasts longer? Or is that my imagination? Assuming it blocks the air flow in that orientation.

I think it’s your imagination, or at most, an observation that one orientation lasts longer at a given t’stat setting. But remember, most can turn their stat down to a stall point in any loading orientation, so there should always be a setting where you can make the one load orientation match the other.

Like most, I prefer NS loading, it’s easier to get the stove completely filled, without anything rolling out at me.

5. The manual says run the fan on low for a low tstat setting and high for a high tstat setting and so on. I've been running the fan on high for about everything, cat still in active zone always. I want it to strip off as much heat as it can if I need the heat even if the tstat is on a lower setting. Any issues with doing that?

I can see why the manual says this, as most don’t need a screaming fan on a loafing stove, and most ripping on high are trying to move maximum heat. But some houses might dictate you always keep that fan above medium, to push hot air into an adjacent room, even when running the stove lower. Nothing wrong with that, but I might hesitate to try and eek out a 30+ hour burn with the fans screaming high, it will affect thermostat behavior and maybe even combustor temperature.

 

[Highbeam]

I suggest you not even measure stove top temperature on a bk. The reason this measurement is a waste of time is because you have a 1500 degree cat right under the stove top. That little bugger is pretty much always the same temperature so there’s a hot spot above it. That hot spot gets bigger at higher stove output but not much hotter.

The thermostat is what keeps the stove at a safe temperature. Pay attention to gasket maintenance and just run it.

 

[begreen]

That hot spot gets bigger at higher stove output but not much hotter.

What makes the hot spot 'bigger' but not hotter?