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

[Poindexter]

I am not at all surprised to see two clean plumes. You a seasoned operator with clean dry fuel. It is so basic, but there are lots of folks who cant be bothered.

 

[spudman99]

Did you install the stoppers for Santa's sleigh, or were they already there?

Snow cleats for those who may not know. Keeps the snow and ice from sliding down and piling up on the gutters or from avalanching down the roof and damaging the landscaping or structures below.

 

[Ashful]

Snow cleats for those who may not know. Keeps the snow and ice from sliding down and piling up on the gutters or from avalanching down the roof and damaging the landscaping or structures below.

I suspect Woody knew that, but yes... I did install the third and fourth rows. When I moved in, there were just two rows down at the eves, and the huge ice/snow load of that big roof kept tearing them off. So I added the second two rows half way up the roof.

 

[Indiana wood]

Not sure if this is the right place for me to ask this?
As I continue the learning curve with my bk king. Question? What wood doesn’t produce many coals? Im noticing that when it’s time to clean ashes it’d be much easier if I burned a load of wood that wasn’t so “coal forming” Im burning mainly ash. Im in indiana so midwest hardwoods mainly. I was thinking cherry?

 

[Ashful]

Not sure if this is the right place for me to ask this?
As I continue the learning curve with my bk king. Question? What wood doesn’t produce many coals? Im noticing that when it’s time to clean ashes it’d be much easier if I burned a load of wood that wasn’t so “coal forming” Im burning mainly ash. Im in indiana so midwest hardwoods mainly. I was thinking cherry?

Generally, most soft woods. Some people keep some soft wood (pine, fir, etc.) set aside just for this purpose.

I don't usually bother harvesting or splitting softwoods, so I do the same with hardwoods. With the coals raked to the front, the stove running on high, and two small to medium splits atop that load, you can get plenty of heat out of the stove while burning down the coals over the course of an hour or two.

It's also worth saying that you can manage coal collection to a large degree by simply raking them to the front before each reload, where they'll burn down much quicker. Failure to do this will result in much higher coal accumulation, in my experience. I prefer to do this by plowing the ash toward the back of the stove with an ash rake, which causes the coals to naturally rise to the top. Then I rake them forward, level the bed, and reload.

 

[Poindexter]

Not sure if this is the right place for me to ask this?
As I continue the learning curve with my bk king. Question? What wood doesn’t produce many coals? Im noticing that when it’s time to clean ashes it’d be much easier if I burned a load of wood that wasn’t so “coal forming” Im burning mainly ash. Im in indiana so midwest hardwoods mainly. I was thinking cherry?

Depending on your coal size you can use a coals rake like Ashful mentioned, I have one of those. I have also built two wee baskets from expanded metal. Just four sides of perforated metal, leave the top and front open, put a handle on it. Make the bottom four or five inches square, sides an inch or two tall. I made one from labeled 3/4" inch expanded metal, the other from 1/4" labeled. At Lowes-Depot (dunno about menards or tractor supply) the 3/4" label gets you ovals about 3/4 in the small diameter and maybe an inch, inch and a half in the long diameter. Honestly, I just use the coal rake from the wood stove boutique store now, the other two are on a shelf in the garage.

Depending on your wood selection, there is also time of coaling stage along with coal size to consider. I have been burning spruce exclusively for a few years now. Spruce has a very short coaling stage (time) but makes very large coals (size). In really cold weather I like having a fuel with a short (time) coaling stage so I can fit more wood in the firebox with great regularity.

Because of your enviable wood selection (I have spruces that all burn about the same and birches that all burn about the same) my advice is to learn to burn ash while it is plentiful and cheap. Twenty years from now you won't be able to get it anymore, but there is no sense in letting it go to rot.

Ashful's suggestion is valid. I do the same with spruce in some situations. Open the loading door, rake the coals together, toss a couple more splits of spruce in there to make smoke to feed the combustor, close the loading door, re-engage and run it on high while the coals burn down.

You certainly could bring in a face cord or whatever downed tree of any softwood you can get free or cheap. White pine, red pine, cedar, blue spruce, doesn't matter. If you have it split, stacked and covered on top by mid March 2020 it will be good to go Sept 2020 with some sun and some airflow. A 50 or 60 foot tall spruce with about 12-15 inches diameter breast height (DBH) is going to yield about a half cord if you harvest all the branches over 1.5" diameter along with the trunk.

Your King has a much deeper belly than my Ashford. Mine runs best with a solid inch of ash layer on the floor, and starts getting finicky when the ash layer reaches the bottom of the door frame. With years of practice I have a pretty good idea how thick an ash layer represents one ash bucket worth of new ash on the one inch layer I want to leave behind. When I get there I just rake all the hot coals to the sides, drain a tray full of ashes to the bucket in the drawer, replace the plug, rake the ashes out, spread the coals out and fill er up with fresh splits.

It sounds like you may be looking to pull all the ashes out of a cold stove. When you do that next, keep an eye out for how thick a base layer of ashes you have built up when the stove settles back down.

You will probably have Ash wood figured out before you can season a cord of oak. If you have room, you might bring in a cord of wet green oak and let it season two years. For now Quercus sp. is doing OK in our current standing weather patterns. Coaling stage is long (time) like an epic poem. Fantastic for 24 hour burns in shoulder seasons with low throttle settings.

 

[Poindexter]

Ashful also has a good point about raking coals to the front. It just depends on the weather. I have a day job and can fool with the stove before I go to work in the morning, when I first get home and then I have an open window before bedtime. Ideally, rake the coals to the front so they get good airflow and burn down quick.

If you have a big pile of coals, maybe, rake them sort of frontish and lay a split or two behind them, oriented left to right (EW) and then fill the box with splits with just the end grain showing (NS) - on a level platform of coals and EW splits.

Just keep trying different stuff. You will figure out what works best in your stove at your house with your fuel before Valentine's Day.

 

[zvholk]

So when I reload most of the time my gauge is around 10-11 o’clock, after I put wood in do I leave the bypass open for a few minutes or close the bypass right away and leave the thermostat on high for a while?

 

[Ashful]

The term “rake” applied to this tool is likely confusing. Here’s the implement I use:

 

[spudman99]

It can vary. When you reload, if your cat gauge is still active, then open bypass for a min or 2 (to allow the air to not flow over combustor when opening door to prevent thermal shock). Then open door slowly to allow pressure to equalize and minimize smoke rollout (should be none). Load new wood, if the box is hot, wear welders gloves as you insert pieces, don't want to singe your arm hairs. Close and secure door. I let my reload light off, and then engage cat. If the cat is active it will eat the smoke and produce a clean exhaust. If your wood is above 20%, you might leave it in bypass 5 min or so to bake out some water but otherwise its ok. Combustor active = close bypass.

Keep in mind I have a short experience with burning a BK, hopefully this is prudent and reliable advise.

 

[SpaceBus]

The term “rake” applied to this tool is likely confusing. Here’s the implement I use:

Weird question, but what are the dimensions of the end part of your ash rake/hoe? My cook stove did not come with a scraper and I bought a piece of flat steel from the hardware store since nobody nearby has such a product. An ash rake would perfect for the long skinny morso and cleaning out the cooker if it's short enough.

 

[bholler]

We call that chasing the dragon here, we as with the BK you can set it and forget it.. please excuse my dry humor.

I always just set it and forgot it with my noncats as well. I don't understand why so many think noncats take constant attention.

 

[bholler]

Do cat stoves end up black inside? My defiant had a nice creo costing, but my firebrick stays pretty clean in both of my stoves. The Morso gets a nice coating of fluffy light creo and fly ash, nothing crusty or goey, on pretty much every surface after the firebox. My cooker is basically the same. It all comes off with a wipe and then vacuumed out.

It depends how they are burnt but yes there is typically more creosote buildup in the firebox of a cat stove than a noncat

 

[bholler]

It was just getting light when I left the house this morning, after a fresh reload on one of the stoves. Checked the plume and it was clear! This was 10 minutes after turning down to cruise setting, after the usual 20 minutes on high.

I also got a shot with both chimneys, the one on the left was 10 hours into a 24 hour burn cycle, the one on the right was 30 minutes into a 12-hour burn cycle.

Wow that's a lot of snowguards

 

[Woody Stover]

I should do more maintenance in scraping crusty creo off the inside of the box when I get a chance to let the stove go out. This should also have the added benefit of allowing radiant flame heat to get the stove up to temp faster, and allowing more heat to transfer through into the room when cruising.

Do cat stoves end up black inside? My defiant had a nice creo coating, but my firebrick stays pretty clean in both of my stoves. The Morso gets a nice coating of fluffy light creo and fly ash, nothing crusty or gooey

It depends how they are burnt but yes there is typically more creosote buildup in the firebox of a cat stove than a noncat

Yikes, three cups caked crusty, crispy creo crud carved from combustion chamber!
Yeah, you might think the soapstone would stay cleaner, like firebrick, but I guess it's not as "airy" and is more prone to condensation of the creo. It had glazed creo which I scraped with a stiff putty knife. Other metal parts had more flaky stuff but some of it was pretty thick.
Getting that stuff out has gotta help heat transfer, I'd think..
I hadn't really bothered cleaning the box much over the years, but I'll make that a part of my yearly shut-down ritual henceforth.

 

[Woody Stover]

I always just set it and forgot it with my noncats as well. I don't understand why so many think noncats take constant attention.

I believe he's talking about the greater fluctuation in room temp that you have with a non-cat, with his "chasing the dragon" or "chasing the heat curve" comments..

 

[begreen]

Generally, most soft woods. Some people keep some soft wood (pine, fir, etc.) set aside just for this purpose.

I find hardwoods coal up a lot more than softwoods when burning in our stove. One of the reasons I like to burn doug fir is complete burn and low ash afterward.

 

[jetsam]

I put up a cord of pine every year for burning on the coldest days of the year. I'll go right past oak to get pine.

If you want to just tear through a load in 4 hours and then reload without a four hour break to burn down coals- it's pine time!

I do prefer oak for the rest of the year; lots of coals are great most of the time.

 

[jetsam]

Weird question, but what are the dimensions of the end part of your ash rake/hoe? My cook stove did not come with a scraper and I bought a piece of flat steel from the hardware store since nobody nearby has such a product. An ash rake would perfect for the long skinny morso and cleaning out the cooker if it's short enough.

A blacksmith who tripped across this forum could really clean up making custom fire pokers and scoopers and whatnot for us. I know I'd commission a coal shovel.

 

[Highbeam]

I find hardwoods coal up a lot more than softwoods when burning in our stove. One of the reasons I like to burn doug fir is complete burn and low ash afterward.

This is Doug fir in my noncat. It makes coals but they’re hot and burn down to almost nothing.

I almost burnt my eyelashes taking this photo!

 

[begreen]

Yes, every type of wood goes through a coaling stage, but fir coals burn down quickly to ash. Locust and madrona, not so quickly.

 

[Woody Stover]

I almost burnt my eyelashes taking this photo!

Good thing you're bald!

 

[Rob711]

Could some Ashford insert owners post pics of thermostat in high and low positions. In the 3:00 position the air damper is fully closed on mine. The only thing that stops the thermostat is when it contacts the surround. When installed I was able to pull the thermostat out, laterally. I caught the installer who came back in had to take off the lower section of the surround and reinstalled the rod. Here’s mine, in this position the air damper is fully closed. Thanks.

 

[kennyp2339]

I always just set it and forgot it with my noncats as well. I don't understand why so many think noncats take constant attention.

I know when I would run my non cat in the living room I was always fiddling with the air control, not wanting the stove to take off and go nuclear, but at the same time give the wood load a chance to catch properly so I could have the cleanest burn as possible with the given tech. Then there were the times the stove would bake us out of the living room.. but that was purely a setup issue and not the stoves fault.

 

[spudman99]

I use this tool to rake the coals in my Princess Insert. It pulls the larger pieces to the top. Not the most durable but I still have hair on my arms.


Alternative for a really cheap tool but wont work when the coals are so hot (cultivator on left)