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

[Diabel]

@kenmal how do you keep that glass so clean? Do you clean it every time the stove goes cold?

 

[SpaceBus]

My cookstove doesn't have the best airwash and the glass tends to darken around the edges. I jokingly call it "BK Airwash"

 

[kenmal]

@kenmal I have the little sister version of this stove (princess) and since day 1 I've gotten the horse shoe burn, I figured its the air wash directing the air, it was very apparent by the creosote V that would form on the door after a few days on low. The typical burn pattern for me was to get the horseshoe that wouldn't completely go to the back of the fire box, it would burn in the center 3/4 of the way then the outsides would start burning to catch up, always had large coal peices or un-burnt wood pieces in the rear of the firebox.
If it really bothers you, you can buy a door glass gasket and new door gasket, replace the door glass and make sure the glass retainer clips are tighten down firmly (some have reported loose nuts, might contribute to a leak) then replace the door gasket since that gasket has to get ripped off to replace the glass one.

From day 1 I always had horse shoe burn even on low. It started to burn different a few weeks after we started burning.
It does not bother me as much as I have to adjust the thermostart during the burn cycle instead of just setting it and leaving it like I have in the past.

I'm not sure if it's just the quality of the picture, but it looks like you have discolouration on the outside of the stove door gasket. I think i see that your door has the knife edge - i don't have that kind of stove, but looks like it. When i was having some issues with my stove door gasket, one of the things that i learned was that if you have discolouration from your fires on the outside of the knife's edge, then this is likely an indicator of an improper seal around your stove door. One of the much wiser and knowledgeable fellows will correct me here if i'm wrong. But that was something i noticed in your picture.

Correct on the discoloration on the gasket, that is why I posted the picture, see if someone with a keen eye would notice that. I was thinking gasket but I was waiting for someone with much more knowledge for input.

@kenmal how do you keep that glass so clean? Do you clean it every time the stove goes cold?

Cold stove so the glass actually got cleaned. Happens on occasion.

I think I figured out the red stuff in the corners. Super Cedar Fire starter, its red in color.

 

[moresnow]

Super Cedar starter leaves zero residue in my stove or the couple locals I introduced them to. @kenmal it sounds to me that you are trying to run your loads on to low of a setting for your setup. Run a load or two at incrementally higher settings until you get a satisfactory complete burn. Betcha get more/better even heat without mid burn stat adjustment. Can't see where your stove has any obvious issue's. Guessing you have surely eliminated wet fuel as a potential issue by now? Good luck.

 

[Highbeam]

From day 1 I always had horse shoe burn even on low. It started to burn different a few weeks after we started burning.
It does not bother me as much as I have to adjust the thermostart during the burn cycle instead of just setting it and leaving it like I have in the past.


Correct on the discoloration on the gasket, that is why I posted the picture, see if someone with a keen eye would notice that. I was thinking gasket but I was waiting for someone with much more knowledge for input.



Cold stove so the glass actually got cleaned. Happens on occasion.

I think I figured out the red stuff in the corners. Super Cedar Fire starter, its red in color.

Since you’re needing to increase the thermostat setting above previous levels as your symptom, you can stop looking for air leaks at the stove. If you had air leaks, the opposite would be true. That is you would need to turn it down.

Assuming your chimney system is clear, especially the stupid screen if you have one, and since you’ve already replaced the cat, you’re left with wood quality and draft strength as the remaining variables. You are running on the ragged edge of stalling a cat so small changes in these two variables can drop you into the stall.

Weaker draft due to warmer weather will result in you needing to turn the stat up to keep the cat from stalling. Larger wood, wetter wood, and even different species can result in you needing to use a higher setting to stay just above the stall.

Ignore the shape or way that the wood burns. Irrelevant. Same with colors of deposits.

Turn it up, you’re running too low and stalling your cat. I get it, low and slow is awesome but there is a limit.

You can also pull out your flue probe meter and check the color of the deposits. Like a spark plug you’re looking for dry and tan, not black and wet which indicates your flue is getting coated with black and wet stuff too!

 

[lsucet]

Also remember, if you're running the fan plus low settings it can make the probe fall out of the active zone visually when really it still active. Turn the fan off for 10 minutes or so and see if the probe goes back into the active zone.

 

[BKVP]

Merry Christmas to all you crazy wood burners!

 

[showrguy]

Merry Christmas to all you crazy wood burners!

Same to you Chris...

 

[Diabel]

Very Merry Christmas and Happy 2020 to everyone!

 

[MissMac]

Well I've come out the other end of my cat stall, and wanted to take some time to follow up. Likely won't be to the benefit of you super-seasoned fellows, but perhaps can help out some of the newer folk.

The logical side of my brain said that my wood must have been the problem, but my ego was really trying to fight that. After tearing things apart, inspecting, and splitting/checking a lot of wood at room temp (hence my silence the last few days), i'm of the opinion that i had some marginal pieces in that load that caused said stall.

After the stove cooled, i inspected the entire chimney for signs of extra accumulation - system looks good - similar to previous years. Next, I looked at the cat. Didn't notice too much fly ash on the face, but I got out the vacuum anyway (my system does get plugged up with fly ash, and i usually vacuum about once/month). I cleaned up the face, but then did some more contortion moves with the phone camera to try and take some pictures of deeper in the cells. Here's what i found:

So, the cat isn't plugged, but certainly there is an accumulation of fly ash in there that a rigorous face vacuum doesn't get. Wasn't sure too if maybe i was sucking it through from behind. I'd be curious to know what impact this level of fly ash would have on the cat's performance. To get it any cleaner - removal necessary.

Next it was time to split a lot of my wood (after brought to room temp of course). I had brought 3 toats full inside of my big jack pine splits, so that i could get a really good feel of wt*@! was going on with my wood for real. Right now i am pulling wood out of the middle of my stall, so the place that would potentially get the least wind/sun in my wood shed. All this wood has been CSS for 2 full summers. Here is an example of the size splits i tested (my big ones):

Some were a bit bigger than this too, but this is a decent representation. Fresh face of these splits ranged between 17.3-18.9%. I was disappointed with the 18.9%-ers. But hey, that's why i did this experiment. 19% MC wood for me is meh. Not my preference.

The load that stalled didn't have a great set of coals to get started from. On my stove, i can have an active needle with really hot jumpin coals and i can have an active needle that doesn't have much. This particular load was the latter.

So I think that a few things combined = my cat stall, but bottom line it was my wood that i chose to put in for that load. 2 big hogs that were likely marginal, on a not very robust raked forward coals. Even though i let it rip for 40 minutes on high, i should have seen that it wasn't progressing like a usual load by this time (which i did, but thought nothing of). The wood was burning like it was a bit wet, and my cat probe hadn't peaked where it usually does by that time into the burn on high. But i dialed it down anyways, and hahaha, stalled the cat.

So, another lesson for me. Learn something new every day. been up and ruuning for about 36 hours now no issues - just finished a 20 hour burn with my softwoods, so doing all right.

Thanks again to all of you for the advice and pointers. I really appreciate it! Cheers

 

[lsucet]

Well I've come out the other end of my cat stall, and wanted to take some time to follow up. Likely won't be to the benefit of you super-seasoned fellows, but perhaps can help out some of the newer folk.

The logical side of my brain said that my wood must have been the problem, but my ego was really trying to fight that. After tearing things apart, inspecting, and splitting/checking a lot of wood at room temp (hence my silence the last few days), i'm of the opinion that i had some marginal pieces in that load that caused said stall.

After the stove cooled, i inspected the entire chimney for signs of extra accumulation - system looks good - similar to previous years. Next, I looked at the cat. Didn't notice too much fly ash on the face, but I got out the vacuum anyway (my system does get plugged up with fly ash, and i usually vacuum about once/month). I cleaned up the face, but then did some more contortion moves with the phone camera to try and take some pictures

At some point we all go in circles and at the end, we all have to start with rule #1. DRY WOOD.

 

[MissMac]

At some point we all go in circles and at the end, we all have to start with rule #1. DRY WOOD.

Absolutely. I think moving forward, i'm going to split a bit smaller if loading the wood directly into my wood shed (even though it is fully open to the wind 365 days per year). My shed holds 3 years worth of wood. I'm actually thinking of buying a 10 cord load of birch in the new year so that i can get ahead 3 more years (this would give me 5-6 years of wood CSS on my property by this spring). Just saw an ortho surgeon and he wants to operate on both shoulders - sigh. Since i can only get one done at a time (or else i'd have little t-rex arms), i'm basically hooped for doing any fire wood for the next 2 years. So, this 10 cords would get me to where i need to be to take the next 2 years off and still be 3 years ahead by the time i can cut again.

Never a dull moment. Should have quit the firefighting 10 years ago...

 

[AlbergSteve]

Absolutely. I think moving forward, i'm going to split a bit smaller if loading the wood directly into my wood shed (even though it is fully open to the wind 365 days per year). My shed holds 3 years worth of wood. I'm actually thinking of buying a 10 cord load of birch in the new year so that i can get ahead 3 more years (this would give me 5-6 years of wood CSS on my property by this spring). Just saw an ortho surgeon and he wants to operate on both shoulders - sigh. Since i can only get one done at a time (or else i'd have little t-rex arms), i'm basically hooped for doing any fire wood for the next 2 years. So, this 10 cords would get me to where i need to be to take the next 2 years off and still be 3 years ahead by the time i can cut again.

Never a dull moment. Should have quit the firefighting 10 years ago...

For dog's sake, don't show your surgeon what you're splitting with.

 

[BKVP]

Absolutely. I think moving forward, i'm going to split a bit smaller if loading the wood directly into my wood shed (even though it is fully open to the wind 365 days per year). My shed holds 3 years worth of wood. I'm actually thinking of buying a 10 cord load of birch in the new year so that i can get ahead 3 more years (this would give me 5-6 years of wood CSS on my property by this spring). Just saw an ortho surgeon and he wants to operate on both shoulders - sigh. Since i can only get one done at a time (or else i'd have little t-rex arms), i'm basically hooped for doing any fire wood for the next 2 years. So, this 10 cords would get me to where i need to be to take the next 2 years off and still be 3 years ahead by the time i can cut again.

Never a dull moment. Should have quit the firefighting 10 years ago...

Try a can of compressed air. It will usually clear fly ash as per your pictures....

 

[Diabel]

For dog's sake, don't show your surgeon what you're splitting with.

This is funny!

 

[jetsam]

Well I've come out the other end of my cat stall, and wanted to take some time to follow up. Likely won't be to the benefit of you super-seasoned fellows, but perhaps can help out some of the newer folk.

The logical side of my brain said that my wood must have been the problem, but my ego was really trying to fight that. After tearing things apart, inspecting, and splitting/checking a lot of wood at room temp (hence my silence the last few days), i'm of the opinion that i had some marginal pieces in that load that caused said stall.

After the stove cooled, i inspected the entire chimney for signs of extra accumulation - system looks good - similar to previous years. Next, I looked at the cat. Didn't notice too much fly ash on the face, but I got out the vacuum anyway (my system does get plugged up with fly ash, and i usually vacuum about once/month). I cleaned up the face, but then did some more contortion moves with the phone camera to try and take some pictures of deeper in the cells. Here's what i found:
View attachment 254190
View attachment 254191

So, the cat isn't plugged, but certainly there is an accumulation of fly ash in there that a rigorous face vacuum doesn't get. Wasn't sure too if maybe i was sucking it through from behind. I'd be curious to know what impact this level of fly ash would have on the cat's performance. To get it any cleaner - removal necessary.

Next it was time to split a lot of my wood (after brought to room temp of course). I had brought 3 toats full inside of my big jack pine splits, so that i could get a really good feel of wt*@! was going on with my wood for real. Right now i am pulling wood out of the middle of my stall, so the place that would potentially get the least wind/sun in my wood shed. All this wood has been CSS for 2 full summers. Here is an example of the size splits i tested (my big ones):
View attachment 254192
Some were a bit bigger than this too, but this is a decent representation. Fresh face of these splits ranged between 17.3-18.9%. I was disappointed with the 18.9%-ers. But hey, that's why i did this experiment. 19% MC wood for me is meh. Not my preference.

The load that stalled didn't have a great set of coals to get started from. On my stove, i can have an active needle with really hot jumpin coals and i can have an active needle that doesn't have much. This particular load was the latter.

So I think that a few things combined = my cat stall, but bottom line it was my wood that i chose to put in for that load. 2 big hogs that were likely marginal, on a not very robust raked forward coals. Even though i let it rip for 40 minutes on high, i should have seen that it wasn't progressing like a usual load by this time (which i did, but thought nothing of). The wood was burning like it was a bit wet, and my cat probe hadn't peaked where it usually does by that time into the burn on high. But i dialed it down anyways, and hahaha, stalled the cat.

So, another lesson for me. Learn something new every day. been up and ruuning for about 36 hours now no issues - just finished a 20 hour burn with my softwoods, so doing all right.

Thanks again to all of you for the advice and pointers. I really appreciate it! Cheers

If you don't have much for coals, try a bed of kindling before those big splits go in. One layer is more than plenty- 19% pine doesn't need much excuse to start burning.

 

[MissMac]

If you don't have much for coals, try a bed of kindling before those big splits go in. One layer is more than plenty- 19% pine doesn't need much excuse to start burning.

You’re absolutely right, and sometimes i actually do just what you’ve suggested. However, i dropped the ball on that load for whatever reason.

 

[MacinJosh]

@MissMac You have to be an engineer right? Your attention to detail is mind blowing (and this is coming from an engineer who loves the nerdy details)!

 

[MacinJosh]

Good grief this 65 degree $hit in December in Kentucky is killing me! I didn’t invest all this time and effort and energy and money into a wood stove to be BAKED out of my house the day after Christmas! WTH Mother Nature??? Lol

I have the stove running so low I can’t imagine the cat won’t stall but she keeps a burnin. 18 hours into this load and the fire box is still half full. I have the windows open just to cool the house down. Good grief guys. Do I just let this thing die and go out? Good time to vacuum the cat and check on things? What do y’all do when it gets hot as hell outside in the winter? [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

[Woody Stover]

just coals in there and the cat still active.

Your cat probe may show active, just from the heat coming off the coals, even though the cat isn't burning.

I will not worry if it is just coals.

Right. If it's just coals, there's nothing to get deposited in the chimney, and it's OK if the flue temp falls. It takes a while to get to pure coals, though, not just a coaled exterior on the split.

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

If a new burner, I'd be checking every 4-6 weeks, just to be on the safe side.

Yes, you’re right for some reason things got cooler than usual. I just can’t figure out why this time?

You said you eventually found "wet" wood, but 19% isn't wet in my book. Might have been enough to slow down the burn a little, though. I run into a wet split here or there, but my splits are top-covered outside, sometimes water can get in a little. But if your wood is inside an enclosed shed, I dunno..

I also tried something new, I boiled my cat in distilled white vinegar for 2 hours, after making sure everything was dry

You rinsed it several time with distilled water only, after you simmered it, right? I don't know why they stress that, but they do. And they say 50/50 distilled vinegar/distilled water..

I think regardless off cat life I will be doing a midseason cat cleaning every year.

That might be overkill..I think once a season is plenty.

decided to check outer cat. It was pretty well closed with fly ash, see photos, so I gave it a quick vac. Any need to go all chemist and give it a vinegar cleaning anyone think?

You can also manually blow out the cat to get a little more ash out than the vac can. Or compressed can air like the Veep says, but I always wonder if that stuff has a chemical in it..
Now if the cat is clean but still sluggish, I'd consider the vinegar rinse. Read the instructions to make sure you do it right.[/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]the tube that ones from front to back in the firebox (upper right) had a fair bit of creosote in it.
[/QUOTE]In it, or on it? I would expect some creo on it since fresh air is being drawn through it, to pre-heat it for the air wash. The tube is cool, and creo would condense on it.

7 weeks into my first and only season burning the new Princess Insert. I have really strong draft as you may know (0.20wc on high on a cold night) but I rarely burn on high.

I would find a way to get a flue damper in there..

now I have all this creosote in the box. ... is that normal or should I worry?

Smoke is burned by the cat, so the flue stays clean but the box, before the cat, gets a lot of deposits.

I get creosote inside my PI's firebox too. It goes away when it gets cold outside.

The stuff you can see might bake or crumble off into the ashes, but did you ever look behind those shields inside the box?

Now this morning it is still not burning along the sides. I going to assume leak somewhere but where else does one look?

[/QUOTE]

since day 1 I've gotten the horse shoe burn,...always had large coal peices or un-burnt wood pieces in the rear of the firebox.

You can put some faster-burning splits on the sides, like some Pine or soft Maple, and that should keep it going, especially if the other wood you've had on the sides isn't as dry. Or like kenny, the wood on the sides and middle may eventually get burned when the thermostat opens as the stove cools.

Merry Christmas to all you crazy wood burners!

Well, thanks, but I think you were probably talking to the hole-riders on this thread, who are even crazier than me.

So, the cat isn't plugged, but certainly there is an accumulation of fly ash in there that a rigorous face vacuum doesn't get.

Blow out the dust manually to remove more than the vacuum gets out.

All this wood has been CSS for 2 full summers.

What kind of wood?

On my stove, i can have an active needle with really hot jumpin coals and i can have an active needle that doesn't have much. This particular load was the latter.

Yeah, sometimes you just have to open the air for several minutes, which gets more wood gassing, as well as booting the cat higher into active.

Good grief this 65 degree $hit in December in Kentucky is killing me! I didn’t invest all this time and effort and energy and money into a wood stove to be BAKED out of my house the day after Christmas! WTH Mother Nature??? Lol

Settle down, step back and look on the bright side; You're saving wood, and your stacks are drying faster!
Might not be able to blame it on Mother Nature..

 

[BKVP]

You could relocate!

 

[Woody Stover]

You could relocate!

No, I couldn't; My blood stops flowing at about zero degrees.

 

[Highbeam]

Good grief this 65 degree $hit in December in Kentucky is killing me! I didn’t invest all this time and effort and energy and money into a wood stove to be BAKED out of my house the day after Christmas! WTH Mother Nature??? Lol

I have the stove running so low I can’t imagine the cat won’t stall but she keeps a burnin. 18 hours into this load and the fire box is still half full. I have the windows open just to cool the house down. Good grief guys. Do I just let this thing die and go out? Good time to vacuum the cat and check on things? What do y’all do when it gets hot as hell outside in the winter? [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

i live where it gets warm every so often during the heating season. We just let the fire go out and when the house cools we light another fire. Because even the lowest burn rate is too much, I use partial loads at medium settings instead of a big load running super low. I sort of have to burn it like a noncat! The horror!

 

[SpaceBus]

I thought it was inconvenient to clean out my cookstove today with my ash vac. Seems like these BK stoves need more babysitting than a noncat

 

[Ashful]

I think you were probably talking to the hole-riders on this thread, who are even crazier than me.

A new term for the lexicon. "I am Ashful, and I am a hole rider."

Seems like these BK stoves need more babysitting than a noncat

Why's that? What did I miss?

The constant chatter on the BK thread is a good sign that those running BK's have too much time left on their hands, due to the stove just cruising a day at a time, without intervention.