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

[kenmal]

Took the cat out and it was plugged again, so I cleaned it 50/50 vinegar/water.
It still does not seem correct. Seems I have to run the thermostat @ 3:30 to keep it going.
With running it at that Stove top temp hits 700 and that cat prob sits around 4:00
It I set the thermostat to 3:15 the cat prob temp dropped to 11:00 after 2 hours and the stove top is 400. If I leave it at this setting it will hit inactive/active after a few more hours and there would still be half a load of wood yet.
One thing I did notice is that the wood seems to burning down the center and not horse show shaped like it was before. There is about 4" or so of wood on each side that is halfway up that looks as it is not getting burned, If the thermostat is turned up get get flames going it does catch but I have to leave the thermostat turned up.
could I have foobar my cat? or something else?

 

[Highbeam]

Took the cat out and it was plugged again, so I cleaned it 50/50 vinegar/water.
It still does not seem correct. Seems I have to run the thermostat @ 3:30 to keep it going.
With running it at that Stove top temp hits 700 and that cat prob sits around 4:00
It I set the thermostat to 3:15 the cat prob temp dropped to 11:00 after 2 hours and the stove top is 400. If I leave it at this setting it will hit inactive/active after a few more hours and there would still be half a load of wood yet.
One thing I did notice is that the wood seems to burning down the center and not horse show shaped like it was before. There is about 4" or so of wood on each side that is halfway up that looks as it is not getting burned, If the thermostat is turned up get get flames going it does catch but I have to leave the thermostat turned up.
could I have foobar my cat? or something else?

At this point you have a clean and clear cat, clean and clear chimney, known good fuel, but you need to turn the stat way higher than usual to get the same amount of heat.

I forget how many hours you have on the cat but they don’t last forever. All this futzing around with vinegar and your time, a new ceramic cat is just 200$. If you’ve got 2-3 seasons on this one it’s not worth much effort to clean.

 

[BKVP]

At this point you have a clean and clear cat, clean and clear chimney, known good fuel, but you need to turn the stat way higher than usual to get the same amount of heat.

I forget how many hours you have on the cat but they don’t last forever. All this futzing around with vinegar and your time, a new ceramic cat is just 200$. If you’ve got 2-3 seasons on this one it’s not worth much effort to clean.

If you stove has an ash plug, make certain it is sealing. Burning in center could be indicative of air leak.

 

[kenmal]

At this point you have a clean and clear cat, clean and clear chimney, known good fuel, but you need to turn the stat way higher than usual to get the same amount of heat.

I forget how many hours you have on the cat but they don’t last forever. All this futzing around with vinegar and your time, a new ceramic cat is just 200$. If you’ve got 2-3 seasons on this one it’s not worth much effort to clean.

Going on second season on the cat, I did order a new cat when I order the gasket. Just in case.

If you stove has an ash plug, make certain it is sealing. Burning in center could be indicative of air leak.

When the stove was cold I did clean around the ash plug, but I can do it again.
Door passes bill test and glass does not move. Was not sure how to check the bypass so I did dollar bill test on the spots i could get to and that was tight.
Any place else to check?

 

[Highbeam]

Going on second season on the cat, I did order a new cat when I order the gasket. Just in case.


When the stove was cold I did clean around the ash plug, but I can do it again.
Door passes bill test and glass does not move. Was not sure how to check the bypass so I did dollar bill test on the spots i could get to and that was tight.
Any place else to check?

Definitely too early for a normal death of cat.

 

[kenmal]

Definitely too early for a normal death of cat.

I wold agree, I am not convinced it is the cat.
Just loaded it , took the ash plug out and cleaned around the ash hole .

 

[aaronk25]

Well finally got away from 20-19% moisture content maple and on to a load of 13-14%! Wow what a difference a few percentage points can make!

Previous to get a nice flame spread and per the manual I had to dampen down to .05-.06max (on high setting) on the manometer. Now I’m dampen down to .03 and change maybe .035, and I think, but not certain I’m actually making more heat. What a difference wood makes.

The difference appears to be a honest 7-8 hours of full heat on high vs, 5-6. (Fans on high too).

Just checked and house is holding 70f it’s -4f with some wind -15f wind chill. 2000sq ft, including garage tuck under and with service door open to garage that is holding 60f! This Bk princess rocks!


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[kenmal]

@BKVP seems to be correct on the leak, Finely found one, the stove pipe backside near the seam where the telescoping pipes come together. Put some high temp tape around that and stove held the night. Thanks everyone for all the input..

 

[Ashful]

@BKVP seems to be correct on the leak, Finely found one, the stove pipe backside near the seam where the telescoping pipes come together. Put some high temp tape around that and stove held the night. Thanks everyone for all the input..

If it’s double wall, that seam in the telescoping joint is irrelevant. Heck, even if it’s single wall, I’m not sure a venting leak would cause the issues you’re seeing.

It sounds like you have a leak in your stove. The ash plug is always the first place to look, and the door and glass seals after that. But if they all check out okay, I’d be removing brick and checking welds. We have seen one or two BKs get out into the wild with missing or incomplete welds. Surely a rare exception, but it has happened.

You sure a little weld splatter or other imperfection isn’t preventing the plug from dropping in all the way? On my Ashford the plug ends up flush with the brick in the floor, and it takes some finagling to get it in right, but they eventually drop in. I also always rake some fine ash over the plug after it’s back in, to ensure a full seal.

 

[kenmal]

The plug in my stove sits just a little lower than the brick. It is possible that it may not have been seated all the way , it started acting goofy maybe a 3 weeks ago. I will see what happens with the rest of this load and the next. But so far so good.

 

[BKVP]

Going on second season on the cat, I did order a new cat when I order the gasket. Just in case.


When the stove was cold I did clean around the ash plug, but I can do it again.
Door passes bill test and glass does not move. Was not sure how to check the bypass so I did dollar bill test on the spots i could get to and that was tight.
Any place else to check?

Leave some ashes in bottom. It helps protect the layer of bricks in the bottom. Ash plug will then be less likely to be askew.

 

[Kwehme09]

I am going to try and ask this question without opening a can of worms. We'll see. I'm sure it's been discussed at length before.

For a long slow burn, where do most of you set your thermostat dial? On my stove, wide open is 7 on a clock. Rotating counter-clockwise, my "closed" setting is about 4 on a clock, maybe 3:30. This is the setting where I can set my stove, under normal conditions (full box, dry wood, brought up to a good temp/burn) and have the stove do it lowest, slowest burn while still staying in the burn-zone with an engaged cat.

Is there much variation in this with folks? If so, what are the factors that cause this variation; draft? wood? stove model?

Mainly just curious. Boy, this would be way easier to discuss wit numbers on the dial ;-).

 

[Rob711]

3:15ish for me. After a good char on a reload cat glowing I tried 3:00 last night. Black glass and cat went out, it was about 45 degrees though. I wonder if anyone can keep cat active at say 1:00. At that point it’s not getting any air. On my ashford insert anyway

 

[Highbeam]

Even with the stat totally on the the cold stop, there is still a hole either in the throttle plate or elsewhere letting in the minimum amount of air to satisfy the epa. On my princess the hole is in the actual throttle plate. There are a few members here with strong enough draft that they can “ride the hole” for a whole load.

Myself, my install, I can’t go below about 2 o’clock without flue temperatures dropping below the condensation point and making a mess. My lower limit is not entirely driven by the cat falling to inactive but by flue temps.

With big chunks of dry Doug fir, my minimum setting is a little more clockwise.

 

[moresnow]

Is there much variation in this with folks? If so, what are the factors that cause this variation; draft? wood? stove model?

Is there much variation in this with folks? Yes. Plenty. Normal.


draft? Yes. Certainly. Normal.


wood? Yes. Huge relationship. Mostly M/C related in my experience. More so than wood variety.

stove model? Not as meaningful. Each stove/install regulates your stat set points individually.

This is my take on your questions. Based on my personnel stove install and use compared to others in my group.

And my slow and low set point is + or Minus 15 minutes of 3 o'clock. For what it's worth!

 

[aaronk25]

I am going to try and ask this question without opening a can of worms. We'll see. I'm sure it's been discussed at length before.

For a long slow burn, where do most of you set your thermostat dial? On my stove, wide open is 7 on a clock. Rotating counter-clockwise, my "closed" setting is about 4 on a clock, maybe 3:30. This is the setting where I can set my stove, under normal conditions (full box, dry wood, brought up to a good temp/burn) and have the stove do it lowest, slowest burn while still staying in the burn-zone with an engaged cat.

Is there much variation in this with folks? If so, what are the factors that cause this variation; draft? wood? stove model?

Mainly just curious. Boy, this would be way easier to discuss wit numbers on the dial ;-).

Your knob slipped on the shaft a bit. There is a set screw holding it on. Turn clockwise until it stops then loosen set screw turn knob (but not the shaft) so it faces 6 o’clock and you will be like the rest of us. I had same issue too. Had to reset it.


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[Highbeam]

Is there much variation in this with folks? Yes. Plenty. Normal.


draft? Yes. Certainly. Normal.


wood? Yes. Huge relationship. Mostly M/C related in my experience. More so than wood variety.

stove model? Not as meaningful. Each stove/install regulates your stat set points individually.

This is my take on your questions. Based on my personnel stove install and use compared to others in my group.

And my slow and low set point is + or Minus 15 minutes of 3 o'clock. For what it's worth!

This was allegedly the reasoning behind removing the marks from the stat label. People kept comparing settings and calling BK to ask. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater! Oh well, we will continue to power through this challenge.

 

[Rob711]

I don’t think I have the holes in the plate. I’ve tried to look. When it clicks shut the flames go away immediately.

 

[SpaceBus]

Jotul did it pretty well. Their red was darker, like a cranberry red. That is what is on our 602. Still looking good.

Wow, I bet that is slick. Do you have the old 602?

 

[Alpine1]

I am going to try and ask this question without opening a can of worms. We'll see. I'm sure it's been discussed at length before.

For a long slow burn, where do most of you set your thermostat dial? On my stove, wide open is 7 on a clock. Rotating counter-clockwise, my "closed" setting is about 4 on a clock, maybe 3:30. This is the setting where I can set my stove, under normal conditions (full box, dry wood, brought up to a good temp/burn) and have the stove do it lowest, slowest burn while still staying in the burn-zone with an engaged cat.

Is there much variation in this with folks? If so, what are the factors that cause this variation; draft? wood? stove model?

Mainly just curious. Boy, this would be way easier to discuss wit numbers on the dial ;-).

NEVER mention numbers on the dial... The Great Swoosh War ended only a couple of years ago...

 

[Alpine1]

On a more serious side, my minimum setting is a little more than 3 o’clock in shoulder season, a little less when it’s really cold outside. But there are other variables, most important (for my setting) is split size: bigger splits need a bit more air.

 

[Kwehme09]

I like hearing others' experiences on this. For me, if I turn mine down too low, its usually a very long and slow

NEVER mention numbers on the dial... The Great Swoosh War ended only a couple of years ago...

I know, that last sentence was trolling... I couldn't help myself. My previous active stretch on these forums was 4 or 5 years ago when I was shopping for a Blaze King. I couldn't read anything on these forums about BK without having to sift through endless amounts of drama regarding swoosh v. numbers with this same cast of characters. It took me this long to come back ;-).

With a very small sample size, it seems 3:00, or shall I say mid swoosh, is the most common low and slow setting for folks. With that, why so much extra room to set it even further down if no one ever uses it. I'd love some sort of adjustable stop on the dial, so we can all set our own "All the way down" point. I know its semantics, but the extra range on the dial seems like it would just greaten the learning curve for anyone else to run my stove.

 

[BKVP]

"I couldn't read anything on these forums about BK without having to sift through endless amounts of drama regarding swoosh v. numbers with this same cast of characters."

Like, Like, Like

 

[Diabel]

Mine can cruise at 2:30. I tried 1:00 once and the cat temp went to inactive within 20min. As it gets colder I can likely set it to 2:00 and be ok. At 3:00 - 3:30 I will have quite a bit of active flame happening.

 

[Woody Stover]

NEVER mention numbers on the dial... The Great Swoosh War ended only a couple of years ago...

The swoosh war ended as soon as somebody mentioned "o'clock," which is numbers on the face of the dial. Unless someone has trouble visualizing that, and needs actual numbers..