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

[Indiana wood]

Found these at lowes for $5 each. Great Find. All metal and perfect length. Kids gardening tools

 

[MacinJosh]

Well, I joined the ranks today. I can’t say it was easy installing that stove pipe, but I finally managed to get the stove pipe installed with the offset I needed. I like the corner look so I really wanted to try to get that offset. I ended up using two adjustable 90’s. Draft is great. Again, wasn’t easy as many angles came into play, but I’m very happy with the result. Fired her up last night and enjoyed some toasty warmth. [emoji41][emoji91]

So far the only issues I seem to be having is soot on the door. I’ve tried cranking it to high after a reload for 30 minutes but to no avail. May have to use that ash on a cloth trick once it cools down. Also, how long does it off gas? A few days? Wife is complaining, haha, and my smoke alarm has gone off twice when turned to high for a long period. Each day it does seem to get better. The manual did warn of this.

Anyway, I’ll be following this thread closely. Happy to be FINALLY burning!! [emoji1362][emoji1360]

 

[showrguy]

Well, I joined the ranks today. I can’t say it was easy installing that stove pipe, but I finally managed to get the stove pipe installed with the offset I needed. I like the corner look so I really wanted to try to get that offset. I ended up using two adjustable 90’s. Draft is great. Again, wasn’t easy as many angles came into play, but I’m very happy with the result. Fired her up last night and enjoyed some toasty warmth. [emoji41][emoji91]

So far the only issues I seem to be having is soot on the door. I’ve tried cranking it to high after a reload for 30 minutes but to no avail. May have to use that ash on a cloth trick once it cools down. Also, how long does it off gas? A few days? Wife is complaining, haha, and my smoke alarm has gone off twice when turned to high for a long period. Each day it does seem to get better. The manual did warn of this.

Anyway, I’ll be following this thread closely. Happy to be FINALLY burning!! [emoji1362][emoji1360]

Congrats,
I have a question though, the stove looks like a Princess, but the stovepipe looks way bigger than that stove calls for ??

 

[Indiana wood]

Well, I joined the ranks today. I can’t say it was easy installing that stove pipe, but I finally managed to get the stove pipe installed with the offset I needed. I like the corner look so I really wanted to try to get that offset. I ended up using two adjustable 90’s. Draft is great. Again, wasn’t easy as many angles came into play, but I’m very happy with the result. Fired her up last night and enjoyed some toasty warmth. [emoji41][emoji91]

So far the only issues I seem to be having is soot on the door. I’ve tried cranking it to high after a reload for 30 minutes but to no avail. May have to use that ash on a cloth trick once it cools down. Also, how long does it off gas? A few days? Wife is complaining, haha, and my smoke alarm has gone off twice when turned to high for a long period. Each day it does seem to get better. The manual did warn of this.

Anyway, I’ll be following this thread closely. Happy to be FINALLY burning!! [emoji1362][emoji1360]

Love it. Looks great

 

[MacinJosh]

Congrats,
I have a question though, the stove looks like a Princess, but the stovepipe looks way bigger than that stove calls for ??

It’s a King. [emoji4]

 

[kennyp2339]

@MacinJosh love the stove!! good luck, also like the polished concrete floors

 

[Diabel]

It’s a King. [emoji4]

What square footage is the king heating?

 

[MacinJosh]

@MacinJosh love the stove!! good luck, also like the polished concrete floors

Thanks. We chose to acid stain the concrete floor (had laminate down) to keep from having to build a hearth. Plus it’s just super lower maintenance and the dog can’t hurt it.

 

[MacinJosh]

What square footage is the king heating?

About 2300. It’s a tri-level home. Basement is about 800 sq ft. So far the stove is keeping the temperature the same we normally have it (68) in the winter at half throttle. It’s currently 34 outside.

It’s on the large size for the home but I wanted the biggest fire box and long slow burns.

Being an all electric home, the heat is nice.

 

[Diabel]

About 2300. It’s a tri-level home. Basement is about 800 sq ft. So far the stove is keeping the temperature the same we normally have it (68) in the winter at half throttle. It’s currently 34 outside.

It’s on the large size for the home but I wanted the biggest fire box and long slow burns.

Being an all electric home, the heat is nice.

That stove will keep you warm, the upstairs too as long as you keep it going.

 

[MacinJosh]

I was amazed with the 4” from corner to wall requirement. That’s crazy close. I went 6” just to give it a little more room. The wall gets pretty warm, a little hot even. I can keep my hand on it but it’s hot. I guess this is ok?

 

[Diabel]

I was amazed with the 4” from corner to wall requirement. That’s crazy close. I went 6” just to give it a little more room. The wall gets pretty warm, a little hot even. I can keep my hand on it but it’s hot. I guess this is ok?

You do have the side shields. Fans at the back?

 

[MacinJosh]

You do have the side shields. Fans at the back?

The manual showed no rear shield required for my install. Residential, roof exit, corner it says 4” minimum (measurement E). Had a certified NFI installer confirm when he helped me set it. Did I miss something? I could always move it out but he said I was good.

 

[Diabel]

The manual showed no rear shield required for my install. Residential, roof exit, corner it says 4” minimum (measurement E). Had a certified NFI installer confirm when he helped me set it. Did I miss something? I could always move it out but he said I was good.

I am not an expert. Calling @bholler .

 

[Jeff in Maine]

looks nice

 

[MacinJosh]

I am not an expert. Calling @bholler .

I took a temp measurement with my infrared thermometer. The stove is around 550-600 right now and the wall is just 125. I mean don’t natural gas vents blow out hotter than that? Seems okay to me but I’ll let the experts weigh in. Appreciate it!!

 

[Diabel]

I took a temp measurement with my infrared thermometer. The stove is around 550-600 right now and the wall is just 125. I mean don’t natural gas vents blow out hotter than that? Seems okay to me but I’ll let the experts weigh in. Appreciate it!!

125 should be ok

 

[Highbeam]

The manual showed no rear shield required for my install. Residential, roof exit, corner it says 4” minimum (measurement E). Had a certified NFI installer confirm when he helped me set it. Did I miss something? I could always move it out but he said I was good.

How’s your ceiling clearance? I see the door tops so I know you’re close. Need something like 50”.

 

[MacinJosh]

How’s your ceiling clearance? I see the door tops so I know you’re close. Need something like 50”.

Yeah that’s J. I have like 54”.

 

[Highbeam]

Yeah that’s J. I have like 54”.

Good, I accidentally left zero margin on that one!

 

[shoot-straight]

It may meet the minimum, but if youre worried, put up a heat shield of some kind in the corner- Black metal would look good. If it were me I would.

 

[Ashful]

I’ve mentioned here that I rarely go more than 10 minutes from cold start to glowing cat, whereas others here seem to quote times of 20 - 30 minutes. I think the key some folks miss is knowing when to ignore the cat probe meter. Here is tonight’s cold start on my Ashford 30.1 on the short (15’ish) chimney, right qt the ten minute timer:

But chimney was showing we are good to go, with 350F on surface of single wall telescoping pipe:

So I threw the lever, and instantly had glowing cat. Sorry for the dirty photo, this stove always runs 24-30 hour burns, but that’s mostly just fly ash on the window, and you can still faintly see the glowing combustor behind the flame shield.

Cat probe still shows almost dead cold, even while cat is glowing. The probe is so slow it won’t show active for another ten minutes, even tho glowing cat is 1000F+.

Learn to judge by the look of the fire, or your chimney pipe, and you can go active much earlier, and save a lot of wear and tear on your pipe and bypass retainers or door. The cat probe is a great tool, and beginners should probably follow it for awhile, but you can learn to push that time... by a lot!

... and sometimes it’s the opposite. Again, factory steel cat, 15’ chimney, but this time reloading on almost-dead coals. At just 5 minutes after reload, fire was already looking healthy enough, and cat probe was 80% to active, although pipe was only 170dF on outside of single wall. Threw the lever to close bypass and cat was glowing within 30 seconds.

 

[sprawlnstall]

I've been running a princess for two years in a roughly 2000 square foot home in Northern Minnesota. The Princess does great until about -10, It can still heat the house if I run it full throttle in -30 but a person needs to reload every 4- 5 hours. When you run the stove hot it fills with coal so not much wood will fit in the firebox. I've done a few "hot Clean outs" when I knew I was not going to be gone for 8+ hours. If I had an 8 inch flu a king would solve my problems. I love the long slow burns in 20 degree weather so I would prefer a cat stove. Are there any bigger Cat stoves that run on a 6 inch flu? Would I be better off with a Drolet HT2000 or a big Englander stove?

 

[begreen]

How’s your ceiling clearance? I see the door tops so I know you’re close. Need something like 50”.

MacinJosh, while checking clearances, I was wondering about how close is the stove pipe to the wall near the ceiling support box. Is this with single-wall stove pipe or double-wall?

 

[begreen]

I love the long slow burns in 20 degree weather so I would prefer a cat stove. Are there any bigger Cat stoves that run on a 6 inch flu? Would I be better off with a Drolet HT2000 or a big Englander stove?

Probably not better off. Either is a compromise and it sounds like you have a good working solution for 80-90% of normal winter weather. You would still be stoking the stove like a fireman when it's -30 with a non-cat. For the -10 to -30 weather the house is either going to need more insulation (and/or insulated window covers) to reduce heat loss. or supplemental heat. You will need to determine what the most cost-effective supplemental heat is in your area. Pellet stove? Nat gas?