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

[lsucet]

Mainly coals left. 8to 10 hrs into burn

I will not worry if it is just coals. Amount the hrs, all depends on many factors. Amount the wood in, species, burn rate, heat needed etc.

 

[Ashful]

I can’t see even hard core users burning more than 6 months per season on the east coast. West coast maybe.

I dunno about that. I'm between Philly and New York, so not exactly Maine or Vermont, and I started burning this year in the first week of October. I usually have my last fires at the end of May, which means just shy of 8 months start to finish.

But I will say that the beginning and end of the season may have a lot of overnight fires without bothering to reload in the morning, more of a half-time mode for the first and last 6 weeks of the season. That may be roughly equivalent to 6 months of full-time burning.

 

[Diabel]

I suppose that would make 11,000hrs roughly. The three seasons sounds reasonable

 

[kennyp2339]

I have work today, but when I get home I'm going to do a full cleaning of the stove and cat, I've been burning the stove pretty hard the last few weeks due to the cold and have noticed my cat seems to be waning a little, I think a nice vinegar bath is in order, plus I'll do my end of year (mid season) sweep. So far the BK princess is operating exceptionally well, adding the damper on top to slow my draft down has really helped with burn times and keeping heat in the firebox, I don't have coals like I use to get, just grey ash at the end of the burn.. not much to complain about here.

 

[jetsam]

I dunno about that. I'm between Philly and New York, so not exactly Maine or Vermont, and I started burning this year in the first week of October. I usually have my last fires at the end of May, which means just shy of 8 months start to finish.

But I will say that the beginning and end of the season may have a lot of overnight fires without bothering to reload in the morning, more of a half-time mode for the first and last 6 weeks of the season. That may be roughly equivalent to 6 months of full-time burning.

I sat down one time with historical daily low temps in my area and figured out that 10,000 hours was ~2.5 years for me. If you know that you always burn when the temp is below X, you can do it too (hit the link above). Kind of fun to poke through the historical weather data anyway.

 

[Diabel]

I live in an abnormally mild region of the east coast (island weather is a lot warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than just a couple miles inland). I burn from whenever temps go below 60 to whenever they stop doing that- around 9 months a year.

I guess someone who lived next door to me and used wood for supplemental heat wouldn't do that.

I will probably stop next year too, come to think of it. I already have the solar, adding the heat pump before long.

Was going to say, in your circumstances an air source heat pump would be awesome. The initial cost is crazy but once you sign that check you just don’t look back.

 

[Highbeam]

Low 40s for the high and mostly cloudy today. This fire is a 75% full load of Doug fir from 20 hours ago. Black glass but 400 internal flue temps with clear exhaust plume, just waves.

 

[unimog1300]

Any of you guys running an Auber CAT probe ??
If so what temps are you seeing ??

 

[Diabel]

Low 40s for the high and mostly cloudy today. This fire is a 75% full load of Doug fir from 20 hours ago. Black glass but 400 internal flue temps with clear exhaust plume, just waves. View attachment 254032

Very nice. Good pic of the massive princess.

 

[MacinJosh]

Ok, just curious if I’m doing this right or any warning flags here.

Stove was mostly burned down this AM except some coals. Stuffed her full at 9 AM. Ran on high for 30 minutes with bypass open because I sprayed some anti-creosote in the box. Kept bypass open another 30 minutes and closed it around 10. Throttled about halfway as it is unseasonably warm here in Kentucky. Started around 30 and climbed to 60 today. So 9 hours into this burn and looks like about half the wood has burned down. Flue has been bouncing around the too cool/good mark all day. Stove top around 450-500. Cat in active range all day but has not been glowing.

 

[MissMac]

Ok, just curious if I’m doing this right or any warning flags here.

Stove was mostly burned down this AM except some coals. Stuffed her full at 9 AM. Ran on high for 30 minutes with bypass open because I sprayed some anti-creosote in the box. Kept bypass open another 30 minutes and closed it around 10. Throttled about halfway as it is unseasonably warm here in Kentucky. Started around 30 and climbed to 60 today. So 9 hours into this burn and looks like about half the wood has burned down. Flue has been bouncing around the too cool/good mark all day. Stove top around 450-500. Cat in active range all day but has not been glowing.

I’m not sure why you ran the stove with the bypass open for one whole hour? To reload your stove, you should ideally a)turn the stove up to full throttle and all fans off for at least 2 minutes, then b) open the bypass and leave it alone for another 2 minutes to heat up your flue, and then c)reload your stove with wood. At this point, how you proceed depends on where the cat needle is. If it’s ’inactive’, then you could 1) leave the stove door cracked open for a minute to get the load caught on fire, then 2) latch the loading door and let the load burn on full throttle setting with the bypass open until the cat needle hits the ‘active’ zone, then 3) close the bypass until you hear the click of the cam down, and then 4) char the load on high 20-30 minutes. If, upon reload, your needle is still in the active zone, then after you’ve opened the air for 2, opened the bypass for 2, you would slowly crack the loading door and then rake your coals forward, reload, close door immediately and close bypass immediately. Then char the load for 20-30 minutes on high before dialing down to your preferred cruise setting. I know some of the experienced fellas on here have chatted about how they close bypass earlier because they are closely monitoring flue temps and know the lag in the cat probe, however, it is fool proof to follow the above steps, which are the BK procedures outlined in the manual. My manual anyways. And, as an information item, a ‘bad’ cold start for me is 18 minutes from cold stove to active needle, which is when the bypass gets flipped. For sure it should not take 60 minutes before you engage the cat.

Also, not sure what anti-creosote is, but be careful about putting anything other than wood in this stove. You can poison the cat pretty quickly. A good hot fire will clean a lot of that stuff up.

My thoughts anyways. Lots of experienced fellows on this thread who will offer more advice I’m sure. Happy burning!

 

[kennyp2339]

@MacinJosh - don’t worry about flue temps when your burning with an active cat, these stoves are specifically designed to have high efficiency, that equates to lower flue temps. Also don’t use any products for creosote, like mentioned it will poison the cat and reduce the life expectancy of it, also running the stove for long periods of time can damage the bypass retainer clips.
I know it sounds counter intuitive but the Bk fire box is suppose to get sloppy with creosote when burning low and slow, a high burn with the bypass closed once a week for 30min is all you need, as far as the chimney, your cap will glaze over first, check the cap from time to time and clean as necessary, a good rule of thumb for when a beginner or when you get a new stove is to do a mid season cleaning, this allows you to see if you have any deficiencies or if your on track by how much crap comes out of the chimney and whether it’s just a powder or if you have chunks (diamonds) or the worst .. sludge

 

[MacinJosh]

Also, not sure what anti-creosote is, but be careful about putting anything other than wood in this stove. You can poison the cat pretty quickly. A good hot fire will clean a lot of that stuff up.

That's the reason for the one hour with the bypass open.

ACS Anti-Creo-Soot Creosote Remover | ChimneySaver

chimneysaver.com

Directions state to run bypass open for one hour for cat stoves.

If I don't use the spray, I've been doing exactly as you wrote. Thanks for the response.

 

[MissMac]

That's the reason for the one hour with the bypass open.

ACS Anti-Creo-Soot Creosote Remover | ChimneySaver

chimneysaver.com

Directions state to run bypass open for one hour for cat stoves.

If I don't use the spray, I've been doing exactly as you wrote. Thanks for the response.

I think you mean directions for the anti-creosote? BK directions trump for sure! But sounds like you’re well on your way to getting things dialed in. @kennyp2339 brought up a good point about possibly warping parts of your stove if you run it long periods with bypass open. These stoves are so simple to operate and keep happy. I got my first stove 3 years ago now, and so have never run anything other than my BK. I relied on the manual instructions, and asked lots of questions on this forum, and have learned so much from the fellows on here and from my own observations.

Not sure how much free time you’ve got, but something i found useful was keeping a burn diary my first year. Recorded weather observations, where cat needle was at reload, type of wood loaded, # minutes on high to char load (or bypass open to bring cat up to temp on cold start or inactive reload), what time i started dialing down, total useful burn time. I quickly came to see some patterns in my burning that helped me improve my methods, and was able to establish some repeatable results from doing this exercise.

 

[SpaceBus]

I think you mean directions for the anti-creosote? BK directions trump for sure! But sounds like you’re well on your way to getting things dialed in. @kennyp2339 brought up a good point about possibly warping parts of your stove if you run it long periods with bypass open. These stoves are so simple to operate and keep happy. I got my first stove 3 years ago now, and so have never run anything other than my BK. I relied on the manual instructions, and asked lots of questions on this forum, and have learned so much from the fellows on here and from my own observations.

Not sure how much free time you’ve got, but something i found useful was keeping a burn diary my first year. Recorded weather observations, where cat needle was at reload, type of wood loaded, # minutes on high to char load (or bypass open to bring cat up to temp on cold start or inactive reload), what time i started dialing down, total useful burn time. I quickly came to see some patterns in my burning that helped me improve my methods, and was able to establish some repeatable results from doing this exercise.

Wow, that's fantastic data.

 

[MissMac]

Alright fellas, it would seem as though i am now in need of your advice and expertise. I’m 2.5 hours into an overnight burn. Same wood, same routine, same dial point. I just walked by the stove and happened to glance at the cat probe, and was quite shocked to see it hovering just above the inactive/active point. Very atypical for how my loads burn. Went outside to check exhaust out the stack, and I’m making a lot of smoke. And although there likely is some steam, there is absolutely smoke. Carrying 20+ feet away from the stack in a continuous plume.


So my question is, if everything else is the same as previous loads, could my cat actually have bit the biscuit? Does it happen this quickly? I’ve been wondering about my emissions lately, and suspecting I’ve had a bit more emissions this season than previous years, but i’ve never seen my cat probe drop so quickly so early in the load. I didn’t want to leave it to see if it would stall, because i could tell it was stalling. I watched the probe drop one more tick in the manner of the 5 minutes that it got on my radar.

I’ve turned the stove up to med-high setting to get it going and to burn off the load so that i can let it go cold and take a peak at things. It took about 5 minutes for flames to redevelop when i moved it to the higher setting, and i got a little back puff out the stove collar when it ignited.

Something definitely isn’t right on this run - i am officially back in uncharted territory for me and this stove. Your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome, and i’d be especially grateful to hear about anyone’s experience about their cat dying and how quickly that occurs. Thanks in advance.

 

[begreen]

Something definitely isn’t right on this run - i am officially back in uncharted territory for me and this stove. Your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome, and i’d be especially grateful to hear about anyone’s experience about their cat dying and how quickly that occurs. Thanks in advance.

Cat might have stalled. Has the cat temp come up into the active zone now and smoke cleared up?

 

[MissMac]

@begreen it has been about 10 minutes since i turned the stove up, and the needle is climbing nicely. I will go outside and take a look at the plume in another 10 minutes or so - give it time to settle

 

[Diabel]

Where is the famous BK thermostat control on @MissMac unit ? Or is it just a bad load of wood that stalled the cat?

 

[MissMac]

I managed to catch it before it went inactive - but it was only 1-2 ticks from inactive

 

[jetsam]

Alright fellas, it would seem as though i am now in need of your advice and expertise. I’m 2.5 hours into an overnight burn. Same wood, same routine, same dial point. I just walked by the stove and happened to glance at the cat probe, and was quite shocked to see it hovering just above the inactive/active point. Very atypical for how my loads burn. Went outside to check exhaust out the stack, and I’m making a lot of smoke. And although there likely is some steam, there is absolutely smoke. Carrying 20+ feet away from the stack in a continuous plume.


So my question is, if everything else is the same as previous loads, could my cat actually have bit the biscuit? Does it happen this quickly? I’ve been wondering about my emissions lately, and suspecting I’ve had a bit more emissions this season than previous years, but i’ve never seen my cat probe drop so quickly so early in the load. I didn’t want to leave it to see if it would stall, because i could tell it was stalling. I watched the probe drop one more tick in the manner of the 5 minutes that it got on my radar.

I’ve turned the stove up to med-high setting to get it going and to burn off the load so that i can let it go cold and take a peak at things. It took about 5 minutes for flames to redevelop when i moved it to the higher setting, and i got a little back puff out the stove collar when it ignited.

Something definitely isn’t right on this run - i am officially back in uncharted territory for me and this stove. Your thoughts and suggestions are most welcome, and i’d be especially grateful to hear about anyone’s experience about their cat dying and how quickly that occurs. Thanks in advance.

The stove just might have got cooler than usual. I don't even look at the cat probe anymore, but if you do want to use it, pull it and calibrate it at least once a year. (Just let it cool to room temp and set it to a little under 100.)

If you think your cat's dead, just put a handful of dry kindling up front near the cat and crank up the air. It will glow reassuringly for you after a while. That doesn't mean it's in brand new condition, but it means it's not dead.

When you say it took 5 minutes to get flames after turning up the thermostat, that says to me that you just barely had a fire in the first place, and you had smoke because the cat was cold.

 

[MissMac]

Where is the famous BK thermostat control on @MissMac unit ? Or is it just a bad load of wood that stalled the cat?

If you can see the pencil mark at the 3.5 o’clock position - that is my low cruise setting, and where it was at when i caught it. I now have it at 5 o.c. Setting to burn the load off. I sincerely do not believe that it was a bad load of wood. I am very diligent in splitting and testing a few of the larger pieces of wood i bring in in each load, all of which always sit in the stove room for at least 48 hrs before going in the stove. The wood in the stove currently was between 16-18%

 

[MissMac]

The stove just might have got cooler than usual. I don't even look at the cat probe anymore, but if you do want to use it, pull it and calibrate it at least once a year. (Just let it cool to room temp and set it to a little under 100.)

If you think your cat's dead, just put a handful of dry kindling up front near the cat and crank up the air. It will glow reassuringly for you after a while. That doesn't mean it's in brand new condition, but it means it's not dead.

When you say it took 5 minutes to get flames after turning up the thermostat, that says to me that you just barely had a fire in the first place, and you had smoke because the cat was cold.

Yes, you’re right for some reason things got cooler than usual. I just can’t figure out why this time? On my low setting i don’t have flames - the wood smoulders. Once i turned it back up and the load caught, the cat was glowing in the centre within 3 minutes.


Just trying to wrap my head around what caused this different behaviour in this load, when my routine and wood was the same. In fact i actually ran this load on high for almost 40 minutes before i started dialing it down.

 

[jetsam]

Yes, you’re right for some reason things got cooler than usual. I just can’t figure out why this time? On my low setting i don’t have flames - the wood smoulders. Once i turned it back up and the load caught, the cat was glowing in the centre within 3 minutes

Your wood was wetter than usual, or you started with less coal than usual, or you didn't get the cat as warm as usual during startup... sounds pretty normal to me.

 

[MissMac]

Cat might have stalled. Has the cat temp come up into the active zone now and smoke cleared up?

Yes, @begreen my plume has totally cleared up now. A dramatic change and improvement for the better