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

[SpaceBus]

Mines pretty and heats the house. No complaining. I just want to keep it maintained. This warm stretch on the east coast was a good time to clean chimney with soot eater. I saw some discrepancies with manual, mainly with the probe dangling and no retainers. I’m sure it’s cheaper to make a flat flame shield vs one with two small pieces welded to the sides. Nobody addressed the probe. What’s the proper way to move that out of the way to get to the “baffle” To clean it?
I’m guessing the majority of folks buying a brown enameled fireplace insert aren’t also thinking about getting wood stacked for 3 years from now. Without removing that baffle there’s no way to clean out the space between the cat and the exhaust outlet. Again, I’m happy with this stove, it’s heating my 2000 sqft house vs using gas.

The Ashford insert is a handsome unit, especially with that beautiful enamel. I think it is the best looking BK unit and I would have considered one if we had a fireplace.

Crabbing Froo-froo Ovulator?

You must not be married.

 

[Alpine1]

OR the wife never reads... I must admit, I would have bought a sirocco, but the better half opted for the Ashford. Guess what’s in the sitting room...

 

[jdonna]

Hey,

It’s been a while since I’ve been on. Took quite a while to read through 63 something pages of posts.

I thought I would chime in. It seems that 2.5-3 years is about right for a cat change out if you are full time burning, at least in my case.
My performance was down and had smoke out the stack and more chimney buildup than I would like. Ordered a new ceramic cat from applied ceramics for the Princess.

Quick bypass adjustment, which the stove needed and slapped in the cat. Problem solved.

I found with my WS stove and the number of years I ran it, was about 2.5-3 years I’d replace the cat as well. Tried, ceramic, steel of both varieties with similar results.

I like the ceramic cats as others have suggested, I think they hold light off later in the burn than steel and flow better.

Hope everyone is doing great!

 

[Highbeam]

Hey,

It’s been a while since I’ve been on. Took quite a while to read through 63 something pages of posts.

I thought I would chime in. It seems that 2.5-3 years is about right for a cat change out if you are full time burning, at least in my case.
My performance was down and had smoke out the stack and more chimney buildup than I would like. Ordered a new ceramic cat from applied ceramics for the Princess.

Quick bypass adjustment, which the stove needed and slapped in the cat. Problem solved.

I found with my WS stove and the number of years I ran it, was about 2.5-3 years I’d replace the cat as well. Tried, ceramic, steel of both varieties with similar results.

I like the ceramic cats as others have suggested, I think they hold light off later in the burn than steel and flow better.

Hope everyone is doing great!

I'm on year #3 with this cat right now so I know I'm due for another ceramic which doesn't have the same clogging problems as steel and is much cheaper. I wonder why the manufacturers are using the less desirable steel cat. It must be the slightly reduced emissions due to a slightly earlier light off.

 

[Indiana wood]

We had another 60° day yesterday here in Indiana so I took the opportunity to clean out my stove and clean the chimney. This morning I relit the stove with the top down method wow is all I can say even on my 6 inch exterior chimney no smoke worked wonderful. Here’s my question, after start up this morning I close the bypass and set the T-Stat to High fan was off, when I came down to check it 45 minutes later my flue gauge said that it was over fired and my cat probe was pegged. Once I turn the fan on it brought both of those down to an acceptable range so my question is is it still over fired or only over fired with the fans off?. The stove had a load of ash in it and as many of you know my wood is not ideal since this was an unexpected purchase right at about 23 to 25% MC


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MacinJosh]

Ok, so what is an acceptable amount of smoke coming out of the stack when the cat is engaged? I can visibly see smoke aiming out. Is something wrong?

I will add that it is WAY more if I open the bypass. The cat is glowing red and I don’t see any visible dead spots or area that might be plugged. Stove is less than a month old and average MC of wood is 18%

 

[jdonna]

I'm on year #3 with this cat right now so I know I'm due for another ceramic which doesn't have the same clogging problems as steel and is much cheaper. I wonder why the manufacturers are using the less desirable steel cat. It must be the slightly reduced emissions due to a slightly earlier light off.

Yea, I'm kinda over debating and researching steel vs ceramic. The cost is cheaper and works great for me, so I am not going to worry about it. If I calculate the hours its real close to the 10k mark. I have a pretty strong draft and I think that shortens its life a little bit. It's pretty hard to follow the manufactures recommendations of running it on high for 30 minutes. My high setting seems to be around 2.5 when trying to do a self cleaning mode.

I still have yet to figure out if my thermostat is effected by the back of the stove being in very close proximity to the brick chimney, I think the radiated heat fools it into thinking its warmer than it is and shuts it down more, hence having to run it at a bit higher setting. It only seems to be effected when I'm not running the fans.

 

[jdonna]

We had another 60° day yesterday here in Indiana so I took the opportunity to clean out my stove and clean the chimney. This morning I relit the stove with the top down method wow is all I can say even on my 6 inch exterior chimney no smoke worked wonderful. Here’s my question, after start up this morning I close the bypass and set the T-Stat to High fan was off, when I came down to check it 45 minutes later my flue gauge said that it was over fired and my cat probe was pegged. Once I turn the fan on it brought both of those down to an acceptable range so my question is is it still over fired or only over fired with the fans off?. The stove had a load of ash in it and as many of you know my wood is not ideal since this was an unexpected purchase right at about 23 to 25% MC


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd experiment with running it a little bit lower than all the way up for that long. Just my experience

 

[Indiana wood]

I'd experiment with running it a little bit lower than all the way up for that long. Just my experience

I don’t normally run it that high it was just on start up so I was trying to quickly get some heat back into the house but it made me curious as to whether it’s still over firing when the fans are on heard of the fans lower the temp enough that it’s no longer overfiring


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Woody Stover]

Some households have members that have veto powers, I call her the the CFO around here.

Crabbing Froo-froo Ovulator?

You must not be married.

OR the wife never reads...

I am married. She is a voracious reader but this forum is about the last thing she's interested in reading. I'll show her a pic occasionally, that's about it. Besides, I wasn't referring to her, I was trying to get to the bottom of what Steve was calling his wife. That's my story..
Like many other women, she has her own ideas on how she wants her house to look. But if I told her "this ugly stove is going to be the only one that will work," she might give me some leeway seeing as I'm the CFO..Certifiable Fire Obsessive. We can usually arrive at an agreement about most things. I got her to let me slide on this one, but it was only for a couple weeks until I could get this wood a little drier with a fan. I realize that there are other couples that can't always compromise, and one or the other will put their foot down: A lot of times we end up making fun of and laughing at the foibles of the other.

 

[SpaceBus]

I am married. She is a voracious reader but this forum is probably the last thing she'd be interested in reading. I'll show her a pic occasionally, that's about it. Besides, I wasn't referring to her, I was trying to get to the bottom of what Steve was calling his wife. That's my story..
Like many other women, she has her own ideas on how she wants her house to look. But if I told her "this ugly stove is going to be the only one that will work," she might give me some leeway seeing as I'm the CFO..Certifiable Fire Obsessive. We can usually arrive at an agreement about most things. I got her to let me slide on this one, but it was only for a couple weeks until I could get this wood a little drier with a fan. I realize that there are other couples that can't always compromise, and one or the other will put their foot down..
View attachment 254440

That reminds me of last winter where I had about 200 lbs of wood cribbed next to the stove... Thankfully I was able to get ahead and we don't have to look at stacks all winter.

 

[Highbeam]

I don’t normally run it that high it was just on start up so I was trying to quickly get some heat back into the house but it made me curious as to whether it’s still over firing when the fans are on heard of the fans lower the temp enough that it’s no longer overfiring


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The fans blow on the bimetallic coil of the cat meter which makes it incorrectly indicate a cooler temperature. Especially due to the thermostat on a bk, the actual stove and cat temperature don’t actually come down much due to fans.

 

[lsucet]

Ok, so what is an acceptable amount of smoke coming out of the stack when the cat is engaged? I can visibly see smoke aiming out. Is something wrong?

I will add that it is WAY more if I open the bypass. The cat is glowing red and I don’t see any visible dead spots or area that might be plugged. Stove is less than a month old and average MC of wood is 18%

Most of the time after the bypass is closed, still too much smoke outgassing from the wood. The cat can eat just so much, always some will pass thru and up the chimney. Many variables affect the amount of smoke. On reloads a good bed of coals and reloading with an active cat help with the amount of smoke. Also starting a fire, a little of top/down method helps a lot. How tight or loose you load play a role too. I do look into the amount of smoke too but sometimes it is what it is. My 24hrs schedule and loading when dark, also helps a lot.

 

[MacinJosh]

Most of the time after the bypass is closed, still too much smoke outgassing from the wood. The cat can eat just so much, always some will pass thru and up the chimney. Many variables affect the amount of smoke. On reloads a good bed of coals and reloading with an active cat help with the amount of smoke. Also starting a fire, a little of top/down method helps a lot. How tight or loose you load play a role too. I do look into the amount of smoke too but sometimes it is what it is. My 24hrs schedule and loading when dark, also helps a lot.

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve noticed it can varry quite a bit. With so many variables that can affect it I guess I see why.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve noticed it can varry quite a bit. With so many variables that can affect it I guess I see why.

That would bug me. How long does it smoke like that after closing the bypass? If just for a short time (<30min.) then probably tolerable, but more than that I would be inclined to change procedure. For example, does it smoke this badly if the thermostat is set wide open?

 

[Ashful]

Ok, so what is an acceptable amount of smoke coming out of the stack when the cat is engaged? I can visibly see smoke aiming out. Is something wrong?

I will add that it is WAY more if I open the bypass. The cat is glowing red and I don’t see any visible dead spots or area that might be plugged. Stove is less than a month old and average MC of wood is 18%

There's an awful lot of steam there. How sure are you there's smoke in it?

I still have yet to figure out if my thermostat is effected by the back of the stove being in very close proximity to the brick chimney, I think the radiated heat fools it into thinking its warmer than it is and shuts it down more, hence having to run it at a bit higher setting. It only seems to be effected when I'm not running the fans.

Yes, it can affect it. How close are you? One of my stoves is just 4.5 inches off an exterior masonry wall, the other is more than a foot, due to one fireplace being much deeper than the other.

 

[shoot-straight]

55 here- stove out, sooteater up and down, bought a cat last year. Installed it. Will clean and keep other as backup. Some ash plugging but not bad.

Back up and running.

I sat and thought about it today. We had a bit of a cold snap, but it's been pretty mild so far. My heat pump hasn't turned on since Ocober!

 

[lsucet]

That would bug me. How long does it smoke like that after closing the bypass? If just for a short time (<30min.) then probably tolerable, but more than that I would be inclined to change procedure. For example, does it smoke this badly if the thermostat is set wide open?

Everything depends. I have two setups, one on 19' and the other on 24'. On the shorter stack, with two 45s plus 60 to 70% exposed , I can run wide open and after 5 to 10 minutes the stack clears up and just heat waves is coming.
On the one with 24' and straight up and almost 90% of it running inside thru the two story part of the house, after the wood catch up good I dial it to around 3:30 on the thermostat till I go to the lower setting. That prevents the stack smoking like a train due to high draft on that setup.

The point is to learn your setup/system and adapt accordingly.

 

[Highbeam]

Another important skill is being able to tell the difference between smoke and steam. Or at least acknowledging that not all visible emissions are smoke.

This is actually going to become more important for the smoke police who still depend on the concept that there should be zero visible “emissions” but steam is a visible emission.

Noncats are really good at keeping this water vapor invisible.

Not sure if this is the case in other parts of the country but when I go outside and can see my breath, I get more visible steam from the chimney.

 

[Woody Stover]

what is an acceptable amount of smoke coming out of the stack when the cat is engaged? I can visibly see smoke

How long after you closed the bypass was this pic taken? Did you have a pretty hot fire before that, getting the stove up to temp? Reason I ask is that creo from the previous load can burn off the box when you have a hot fire, burning in the new load, and the cat doesn't seem to handle that stuff very well. Once you cut the air and the box cools some, that creo stops burning and the plume is clear. It's happened to me, and BK guys have reported it as well. You can tell by the smell if it's creo smoke.

There's an awful lot of steam there. How sure are you there's smoke in it?

Yeah, Josh, if you took that pic this afternoon, it was pretty humid in our neck of the woods, and the steam will carry pretty far from the stack. With low humidity, steam will vanish quickly. If you can get on a side of the house where the smoke blows back down, you'll be able to smell how smoky it actually is.

That would bug me. How long does it smoke like that after closing the bypass? If just for a short time (<30min.) then probably tolerable, but more than that I would be inclined to change procedure. For example, does it smoke this badly if the thermostat is set wide open?

Once my stove is up to temp and I close the bypass, cat will glow shortly after and smoke ends quickly, as Isucet said. I never have the air wide open at that point, more like a quarter open or less, but the BK guys are told to run wide open for a half hour so they are probably getting varied results, like Isucet said happens on his two different setups.
But we haven't even established yet that what MacinJosh is seeing is indeed smoke..

 

[AlbergSteve]

Certifiable Fire Obsessive

Nope, chief financial officer - she makes waaaaay more money than I do(actually, she's an English prof), and I'm OK with that! Kidding aside, all of our decisions are collaborative, and she has a keen eye for aesthetics...and neither of us wanted another less than attractive princess/king steel box in the corner.

 

[MacinJosh]

That would bug me. How long does it smoke like that after closing the bypass? If just for a short time (QUOTE]

No, it’s more on a long, slow burn with the thermostat dialed back.

 

[MacinJosh]

There's an awful lot of steam there. How sure are you there's smoke in it?


Yes, it can affect it. How close are you? One of my stoves is just 4.5 inches off an exterior masonry wall, the other is more than a foot, due to one fireplace being much deeper than the other.

Maybe it is steam? I was just going by sight and my nose. I could smell the smoke in the air. Very windy day here.

 

[MacinJosh]

How long after you closed the bypass was this pic taken? Did you have a pretty hot fire before that, getting the stove up to temp? Reason I ask is that creo from the previous load can burn off the box when you have a hot fire, burning in the new load, and the cat doesn't seem to handle that stuff very well. Once you cut the air and the box cools some, that creo stops burning and the plume is clear. It's happened to me, and BK guys have reported it as well. You can tell by the smell if it's creo smoke.
Yeah, Josh, if you took that pic this afternoon, it was pretty humid in our neck of the woods, and the steam will carry pretty far from the stack. With low humidity, steam will vanish quickly. If you can get on a side of the house where the smoke blows back down, you'll be able to smell how smoky it actually is.
Once my stove is up to temp and I close the bypass, cat will glow shortly after and smoke ends quickly, as Isucet said. I never have the air wide open at that point, more like a quarter open or less, but the BK guys are told to run wide open for a half hour so they are probably getting varied results, like Isucet said happens on his two different setups.
But we haven't even established yet that what MacinJosh is seeing is indeed smoke..

It was right after I closed the bypass. I had just reloaded the stove. It was not very hot. A bed of coals but not like there was a ton and it was raging. It’s still warm here for December in Kentucky so the stove has been throttled back. Going to be getting colder soon. I was also opening and closing the bypass to see the difference. Super windy day here so I could smell more smoke than I normally would I guess.

I have no idea what percent that was steam vs smoke. And I did not run it on high for 30 minutes to burn off any moisture. Wood was pinging around 16-20 depending on where I stabbed it. Some wood probably had surface moisture from a rain we had two days ago.

I’ll watch it again today to see if I notice anything. It sounds like it might have been a new reload with maybe some steam. Hours into a hot burn I would expect to see less of that, right?

 

[Woody Stover]

It was right after I closed the bypass. I had just reloaded the stove. It was not very hot. A bed of coals but not like there was a ton and it was raging...Hours into a hot burn I would expect to see less of that, right?

That sounds about right for that type of start. Yes, once the stove gets fully up to temp, air is cut and the cat is glowing, it will be eating all the smoke. Once the load gets to the coaling stage, there's little or no smoke to burn, of course..