2019-20 Blaze King Performance Thread Part 1 (Everything BK)

[ratsrepus]

just install it and burn it inside. This Tom foolery of driveway burns is a lot of wasted effort in my experience. The paint burn off is just not that bad.

Exactly, waste of time

 

[ratsrepus]

what did BK do to become 2020 compliant? Probably nothing.

 

[Woody Stover]

The newly tested and approved 2020 models from all brands may or may not have received modifications to gain approval. It's not always obvious since different emissions ratings may be due to test method, luck, or design changes.

what did BK do to become 2020 compliant? Probably nothing.

Like Highbeam said, they have to re-test to get the 2020 certificate. If you mean "what did they change..probably nothing," then yes, it's hard to believe that the cat stoves which are already way under 2.0 are going to flunk a re-rest, regardless of test method or luck.

I'm on the verge of quitting the job I've got, and I certainly don't want another one.

When I'm in Maine next time, I'd like to hold a Hearth.com conference. Find a nice pub, pull up chairs, pitcher of beer and discuss these exact topics.

Now, if you can line me up with a job like that, where I'd go around to different bars to talk stoves and drink beer, scotch and bourbon, then maybe I'll hang on a few more years before I retire!

 

[kennyp2339]

Now, if you can line me up with a job like that

Don't forget when things get stressful you get time away to go fishing and hunting to. Lol, I could never do Chris's job he's always on the go and never home, I like sleeping in my own bed, I would never last.

 

[Kwehme09]

Just typing out my BK experience and how my stove is running so far this year:

I'm going into my 5th winter running my Sirroco 20. It is our primary and almost exclusive heat source. Our daughter's bedroom has a small propane Rinnai to keep her room warm with the door shut, and to also serve as a primary backup if we go away in the winter. The house is split level with the woodstove at the stair landing at the midlevel. This area is what we call the mudroom and has the entry, laundry, and a bathroom. Bedrooms are downstairs, open living space and kitchen are upstairs. +/- 1400SF in total. 400SF was added this fall and so far the Sirroco is still heating the whole house no problem.

We only have about 10 feet of chimney stack, straight up; 5' interior and 5' exterior; draft has never been a problem, even on the windiest of days. We burn a mix of New England hardwood, oak, maple, beech, birch, and ash, with a little hemlock mixed in now and again. It's always really well seasoned. It will often sit log length for a year, and then cut, split, stacked and covered for another 1 to 4 years. We do it all ourselves. We burn a little over 2 cord a year, without ever trying to conserve. Propane use is well under 100 gallons a year.

We don't put much effort or thought into burn times. Before bed is primarily when we fill it up good, and we supplement/maintain in the morning, or when we get home from work. We typically keep it set for a slow burn. which is about 1/4+ from wide open for us, but we will run it close to wide open if we want to bring the house temp up quickly when we first get home on a cold day. We never shut it more than that 1/4+, which I attribute to my short stack, but it doesn't seem like its a problem in any way. Our chimney stays very clean with little effort. I've checked my CAT a few times and it's always clean. I think I've adjusted my door latch twice in 5 years, but I might do it again soon even though I haven't noticed an issue.

The stove is so easy. We really hardly need to think about it. We don't even fight about how to run it!

Things I'd change:

- If money were no object I'd get a 30 tomorrow instead. Even though I don't really need more heat, I'd like more room in the box and a little more flexibility with wood length. I'd move the 20 to my workshop in the "barn."
- I wouldn't bother with a fan, we hardly ever use ours.
- I'm going to add an OAK, as we've tightened the house and added a big kitchen hood fan.
- I may extend my chimney when I have free time, as I think we are probably in the low end of draft. The only reason I haven't is because I'd have to add supports back to my roof for it, and that's a little more work.

 

[unimog1300]

I bought 2 K type thermocouples with a controller and an alarm / buzzer for over temp from Auber this week for the Princess insert we installed last March. One is going in place of the BK thermometer probe to get a real temp on the cat. The other one I want to put in the insulated liner to see what temps I'm running there. It will be held in place by a clamp around the diameter of the liner. This one will only go in about 1" maybe inside the liner. I know that's not the ideal depth but it's more info than I currently get. Plus I should still be able to get the Soot Eater in there to clean without any issues. I see most recommendations for free standing stoves for the flue temp monitoring is suggested to be 18" above the stove. Should I follow this same guideline for an insert?

Doing the block off plate and insulating the inside of the fireplace at the same time. The chimney is outside and 7' wide 25' tall so lots of mass to suck away heat. Pick up the rest of the Roxul this morning. Looks like there's plenty of room for several inches of insulation on all sides.

 

[ethanhudson]

Cricket city. Do you know for sure which model you got, the KE1107, or the "40," whatever its model number is? They only have the old version on their website. I obviously don't know, just tossing it out there but the Veep could be keeping mum due to the plant or dealers trying to clear old inventory before May, when they will no longer be able to sell them. If the new version has major improvements, that doesn't help them move old stoves. I thought Highbeam said the new stove was 3.5 cu.ft. Maybe they did that to get it to run on a 6" liner, or they made a styling change, or...? Obviously, non of the BKs (or the Woodstocks, Highbeam ) have to change anything, as they are all under the 2020 2.0 particulate limit, or am is missing something?

I don't know for sure, my dealer is a little less sophisticated than I'd like, but they're the only one in the area. They never provided an invoice or packing slip or anything for the stove. Been to their shop twice in person (it's about an hour away) but placed my order over the phone, took about a month from the time I ordered it until it arrived. I'm going to pick it up this afternoon or tomorrow, so I guess I'll find out what particular model it is then...

 

[Highbeam]

I don't know for sure, my dealer is a little less sophisticated than I'd like, but they're the only one in the area. They never provided an invoice or packing slip or anything for the stove. Been to their shop twice in person (it's about an hour away) but placed my order over the phone, took about a month from the time I ordered it until it arrived. I'm going to pick it up this afternoon or tomorrow, so I guess I'll find out what particular model it is then...

The old king had excellent performance specifications. I can’t imagine the new one being anything more than very slightly better in ways that won’t actually matter. In fact, it’s just as likely that the new king performs worse because the primary reason for any changes was for the sake of some trivial emissions rating.

 

[Ashful]

Yes, inquiring minds want to know. But 80% of my questions on the forum go unanswered so I'm not holding my breath.

That’s just because 80% of the forum has you on their ignore list, for past infractions. [emoji14]

 

[Woody Stover]

We only have about 10 feet of chimney stack, straight up; 5' interior and 5' exterior; draft has never been a problem...I've checked my CAT a few times and it's always clean....If money were no object I'd get a 30 tomorrow instead. Even though I don't really need more heat, I'd like more room in the box and a little more flexibility with wood length....I wouldn't bother with a fan, we hardly ever use ours.

Sounds like it's handling your heating needs very well.
Maybe the 20 series is less prone to smoke smell issues, because that's a pretty short stack!
Is that a ceramic combustor? I'd think you'd at least have to dust it once in a while. Original cat? Still lighting off strong? You have to be putting a lot of hours on it each year, where you live.
What length splits can you fit? I assume you load N-S?
A blower is nice for re-gaining room temp faster, but if you're around to re-load when you need to, no problem. It's also handy if you have to move warm air to remote areas. But it sounds like the stove is central, and the layout isn't too spread out. Since the bedrooms are downstairs, it's probably OK if not as much heat makes it down there (with your daughter's room having a heater.)

That’s just because 80% of the forum has you on their ignore list, for past infractions.

80% of BKers, for sure.

 

[Kwehme09]

Sounds like it's handling your heating needs very well.
Maybe the 20 series is less prone to smoke smell issues, because that's a pretty short stack!
Is that a ceramic combustor? I'd think you'd at least have to dust it once in a while. Original cat? Still lighting off strong? You have to be putting a lot of hours on it each year, where you live.
What length splits can you fit? I assume you load N-S?
A blower is nice for re-gaining room temp faster, but if you're around to re-load when you need to, no problem. It's also handy if you have to move warm air to remote areas. But it sounds like the stove is central, and the layout isn't too spread out. Since the bedrooms are downstairs, it's probably OK if not as much heat makes it down there (with your daughter's room having a heater.)

I was surprised the short stack worked so well. I was prepared for it not to. It makes startups a little hard in the shoulder seasons, but otherwise no problem. I'll extend it once I cross off a few other projects. We do load N-S and it can fit 16" sticks, with a little margin for error. There's surprisingly little headroom for the logs, which is probably my biggest and only complaint about the stove. It makes it hard to do a full load with big splits. It is the original CAT and yes it does need some dust outs, but hardly. It lights off great. Once it's going I can hardly tell the fire is going from outside. Its longevity has been awesome. I attribute it mostly to the quality of our firewood. I don't mess around with partially seasoned wood; dry wood is the most frequent piece of advice I give to wood burners, and its the most common problem I find when people have trouble.

 

[SpaceBus]

I was surprised the short stack worked so well. I was prepared for it not to. It makes startups a little hard in the shoulder seasons, but otherwise no problem. I'll extend it once I cross off a few other projects. We do load N-S and it can fit 16" sticks, with a little margin for error. There's surprisingly little headroom for the logs, which is probably my biggest and only complaint about the stove. It makes it hard to do a full load with big splits. It is the original CAT and yes it does need some dust outs, but hardly. It lights off great. Once it's going I can hardly tell the fire is going from outside. Its longevity has been awesome. I attribute it mostly to the quality of our firewood. I don't mess around with partially seasoned wood; dry wood is the most frequent piece of advice I give to wood burners, and its the most common problem I find when people have trouble.

I bet the relatively low draft is also working well for your cat. From what I've seen on here high draft tends to wear the cat faster and fill it with ash. Sounds like you have a near optimum setup.

 

[MissMac]

Ohh man, you’re missing out then. It’s really nice.
I push all the coals and ash to the back, pull the plug and rake as much ash as I can while leaving the coals behind. Then I leave the hot coals and ash in the pan to cool until a few weeks later when I repeat the process. An ash hoe works very well for this. When you drop the plug back in, just make sure there’s no chucks of coal sitting in the rim, drop the plug and scatter the remaining coals and ash out on the floor.

This might sound naive, but i’m still learning tricks from you fellas. Webby are you saying that you rake hot ash into your pan after a load has pretty much burnt up, and then just leave the hot ash in the drawer until cold? And then sometime later, you remove the ash drawer to dump the ash while the stove is still burning? Is this all safe to do? Cause this would save me a lot of hassle moving forward if i could copy-cat that safely.

 

[webby3650]

This might sound naive, but i’m still learning tricks from you fellas. Webby are you saying that you rake hot ash into your pan after a load has pretty much burnt up, and then just leave the hot ash in the drawer until cold? And then sometime later, you remove the ash drawer to dump the ash while the stove is still burning? Is this all safe to do? Cause this would save me a lot of hassle moving forward if i could copy-cat that safely.

Correct. Why would that not be safe?

 

[MissMac]

Correct. Why would that not be safe?

Oh i honestly don’t know? I thought maybe leaving hot ash in there would be an issue, and to be honest with you i thought you should only use the drawer with cold ash - but i’m still learning like i said. I also thought that you couldn’t remove the drawer with a fire going because of the extra oxygen that might be introduced to the fire box? But thank you for teaching me something new!

 

[webby3650]

Oh i honestly don’t know? I thought maybe leaving hot ash in there would be an issue, and to be honest with you i thought you should only use the drawer with cold ash - but i’m still learning like i said. I also thought that you couldn’t remove the drawer with a fire going because of the extra oxygen that might be introduced to the fire box? But thank you for teaching me something new!

I prefer this method, when I dump the coals they aren’t hot, and I’m keeping what energy that’s stored in the hot ash and coals in the house. You can remove the ash bucket with a fire going as long as the plug is in place.

 

[Woody Stover]

dry wood is the most frequent piece of advice I give to wood burners, and its the most common problem I find when people have trouble.

Preachin' the gospel 'round the 'hood. Good man!

you rake hot ash into your pan after a load has pretty much burnt up, and then just leave the hot ash in the drawer until cold? And then sometime later, you remove the ash drawer to dump the ash while the stove is still burning? Is this all safe to do? Cause this would save me a lot of hassle moving forward if i could copy-cat that safely.

I have to close and latch the ash door if I remove the pan while the stove is running, so I don't get the 'forge effect' on coals in the stove and possibly crack the cast iron grate in the floor of my stove. In your case, I don't think you have those issues.
I figure that if I stir down the ash and leave what few small coals get through the grate in the stove to burn down, I'll keep a little more heat in the stove.

 

[ethanhudson]

I don't know for sure, my dealer is a little less sophisticated than I'd like, but they're the only one in the area. They never provided an invoice or packing slip or anything for the stove. Been to their shop twice in person (it's about an hour away) but placed my order over the phone, took about a month from the time I ordered it until it arrived. I'm going to pick it up this afternoon or tomorrow, so I guess I'll find out what particular model it is then...

Ke1107. Will follow up as the install progresses...

 

[Ashful]

Webby are you saying that you rake hot ash into your pan after a load has pretty much burnt up, and then just leave the hot ash in the drawer until cold? And then sometime later, you remove the ash drawer to dump the ash while the stove is still burning? Is this all safe to do? Cause this would save me a lot of hassle moving forward if i could copy-cat that safely.

I do this, as well. I only empty the ash pan immediately before the next time I need to fill it, so it is basically always full. It beats dealing with a pan full of hot coals.

 

[Dieselhead]

The Smoldering coals will not be able to vent into the stove/flue and the CO from said coals can potentially creep into your living space. I’d be wary of doing it this way. Not to mention the heat produced from the smoldering coals will put heat a lot closer to potential combustible floor framing/etc then if they were sitting in your firebox.

 

[Ashful]

The Smoldering coals will not be able to vent into the stove/flue and the CO from said coals can potentially creep into your living space. I’d be wary of doing it this way. Not to mention the heat produced from the smoldering coals will put heat a lot closer to potential combustible floor framing/etc then if they were sitting in your firebox.

I’m in 6000 sq ft of leaky old 1730’s construction, so no concern with the minuscule amount of CO given off by the minimal amount of hot coals that make it thru my aforementioned drain grate. But in theory, you are right... judge your own situation accordingly.

 

[Dieselhead]

I’m in 6000 sq ft of leaky old 1730’s construction, so no concern with the minuscule amount of CO given off by the minimal amount of hot coals that make it thru my aforementioned drain grate. But in theory, you are right... judge your own situation accordingly.

I err on the side of caution, after all it’s dangerous enough to invite fire into your home, which our families and pets live in. Will we be home when the CO detector goes off? I don’t know. My pets will be though. In my line of work I have seen so many senseless and preventable deaths due to fire, and CO, I like to keep the chances down to an absolute minimum.

 

[Poindexter]

FWIW i keep my ashpan full for likely a trivial not measurable amount of added insulation. Back in the day folks would load a metal bucket with hot coals and ash and take it to bed with them in their leaky old houses. I have multiple CO detectors in the house, but I do make an effort to not push much in the way of burning coals through the little door down into the ash drawer.

 

[Highbeam]

Weird. I immediately take the ashes out and dump them in the garden. I thought it was a well known CO danger to have a bucket full of smoldering coals in the house.

 

[Jacub]

I'm to get my BK installed next month. I have an existing clay liner (never used) in the chimney stack. The idea is to drop a liner down. However, I am told that an insulated liner will not fit and we will simply forgo insulation. I understand this is perhaps not the best idea. The ID of the clay liner (rectangular) is 9"x6.9". What should I do?

From ground level (the hearth pad) the chimney is approximately 22 feet in height. Half of it is exposed to the elements. I am in Canada.

Thank you.