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

[MacinJosh]

Interam gasket. You'll need about 30 inches of 1/16" x 2" each time you pull the cat. Tape one end to side of cat at a corner, wrap it all the way around, tape it all the way around, cut it clean at a corner, then slide it into the hole. The gasket usually costs about $2 per foot, so you're talking $5 once or twice per year to pull your cat.

Get an ash rake, which is really only a "rake" in name, it looks more like a plow. I'll copy a photo of mine, below. Use this to plow the whole mess to the back of the firebox, which will cause the coals to naturally rise to the top. Then just rake them off the top of the pile toward the front, and level the whole thing off. Takes about ten seconds before loading, each time. Every time. That's what's important, for preventing build-up.

View attachment 255995

Thanks! And I have a rake exactly like that and I have been doing just as you stated, shove the whole mess to the back and rake the coals forward. I'm still getting some build up. Again, I think it's a BTU thing. I just need more heat than just the coals can deliver, so I am reloading before the pile burns down to where the cat is almost inactive.

 

[vwmike]

Just getting ready to swap my Summit for a princess today once my friend gets off work to help. Got the princess into the house and next to the hearth. I’ve never seen a picture of them side by side and I was surprised how much bigger it is!! Thought you guys might like a pic.

 

[Highbeam]

Just getting ready to swap my Summit for a princess today once my friend gets off work to help. Got the princess into the house and next to the hearth. I’ve never seen a picture of them side by side and I was surprised how much bigger it is!! Thought you guys might like a pic.

Both stoves are good at what they are designed to do. I wonder why the summit looks so small as it’s actually a bigger stove.

 

[vwmike]

Both stoves are good at what they are designed to do. I wonder why the summit looks so small as it’s actually a bigger stove.

It’s mostly looks like you say. The princess has taller legs and is shallower. Summits a good stove, but in our climate with softwood, I could use less heat over a longer period of time.

 

[Alpine1]

BKs are awesome in burning softwoods. If packed full, with BIG splits of spruce and pine, my Ashford can go beyond the advertised 30 hrs mark in warm (0 C outside) weather.

 

[kennyp2339]

Just getting ready to swap my Summit for a princess today once my friend gets off work to help. Got the princess into the house and next to the hearth. I’ve never seen a picture of them side by side and I was surprised how much bigger it is!! Thought you guys might like a pic.

Spend the money on the blower kit, convection deck and OAK, you cant go wrong.

 

[AlbergSteve]

So it's been 28 days since I swept the pipes and this is what they looked like this afternoon when I took them apart. And bear in mind we had about a week or so of "cold" weather where we burned a lot hotter than we usually do. No, I'm not burning Bridgestone's in my stove!


The cap looked like something from a science fiction movie...


...another half gallon of flake. This didn't include the 4-5 cups that got brushed into the stove.


The good news is this bad boy got delivered to my dealer yesterday and was installed after the cleanout.


The early results are outstanding. Cat probe was at 2 o'clock within the hour and just a wisp of steam at the top of the pipe.


Along with the creosote build up I've been experiencing, I was also waking up after a 10-12 hour burn and seeing great plumes of smoke drifting across the yard.
The plan is to sweep in 28 days and compare the creosote build up to the last few sweeps.

 

[Woody Stover]

Both stoves are good at what they are designed to do. I wonder why the summit looks so small as it’s actually a bigger stove.

Appears the Princess may have a deeper belly. Looks like it would be easier to load from a standing position.

So it's been 28 days since I swept the pipes and this is what they looked like this afternoon...The good news is this bad boy got delivered to my dealer yesterday and was installed after the cleanout.

Yeah, looks like you were about due for a new one!

 

[Ashful]

Damn, Steve! I don’t see even a fraction of that build-up after putting 6+ cords thru my main stove! Let’s hope the new cat resolves it.

I usually see 2 o’clock on the cat probe 25 minutes of a cold start, and less on a reload, even on my 2nd year cat. Are you saying it took an hour to get there on a brandy-new (typically over-reactive) one, or is that just when you happened to check it?

 

[Diabel]

Sorry if I missed it. How old was the old cat?

 

[Highbeam]

So it's been 28 days since I swept the pipes and this is what they looked like this afternoon when I took them apart. And bear in mind we had about a week or so of "cold" weather where we burned a lot hotter than we usually do. No, I'm not burning Bridgestone's in my stove!
View attachment 256095

The cap looked like something from a science fiction movie...
View attachment 256096

...another half gallon of flake. This didn't include the 4-5 cups that got brushed into the stove.
View attachment 256093

The good news is this bad boy got delivered to my dealer yesterday and was installed after the cleanout.
View attachment 256097

The early results are outstanding. Cat probe was at 2 o'clock within the hour and just a wisp of steam at the top of the pipe.
View attachment 256094

Along with the creosote build up I've been experiencing, I was also waking up after a 10-12 hour burn and seeing great plumes of smoke drifting across the yard.
The plan is to sweep in 28 days and compare the creosote build up to the last few sweeps.

I also swept my chimney before my cat replacement last week. Didn't take it apart to get those great photos but the debris was black and flakey like your photo.

My cap looks like yours but the deposits in the pipe only look that bad when the cat fails. Failed cat plus smoldering softwoods make a pretty good recipe for a gunked up flue. This is the stuff that gave pine its bad name.

Did you get a ring of black drips on the roof flashing? My storm collar will get a nasty ring from the cap droplets.

Why get your cat from the dealer? Very expensive unless you used your warranty. I'm also curious about your estimated hours of active cat life to this point. I'm wondering if our softwoods are harder on cats. The one steel cat I burned through had a much shorter life than the ceramics.

Also curious about the old cat. Did you notice any peeling on the back?

 

[AlbergSteve]

Let’s hope the new cat resolves it.

Yeah, me too. If it doesn't there's something else going on.
That's just when I happened to check it, had a busy day yesterday.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Sorry if I missed it. How old was the old cat?

Two years, about 7k hours. But it wasn't working right at the end of last season either.

 

[Highbeam]

Two years, about 7k hours. But it wasn't working right at the end of last season either.

I only got 17 months (less than 2 years) out of my steel cat from BK burning PNW species. (On edit, maybe even less but could check my records if needed)That includes the vinegar wash that extended the life by a few months. So, it was toast in way less than 2 years. Back to ceramic!

 

[AlbergSteve]

Did you get a ring of black drips on the roof flashing? My storm collar will get a nasty ring from the cap droplets.

Oh yeah. If you look at the chimney pic you can see the top foot is quite stained, the collar looks just like that.
BK sent it under warranty. The old cat looked fine to me and the dealer. I guess if BK sends it for testing we might find out.

 

[AlbergSteve]

I only got 17 months (less than 2 years) out of my steel cat from BK burning PNW species. That includes the vinegar wash that extended the life by a few months. So, it was toast in way less than 2 years. Back to ceramic!

If this one doesn't work out, I may consider trying a ceramic with the next one.

 

[Diabel]

Steve,
Since your previous sweep, did your cat glow at any time at all? That is a lot of accumulation....no kidding.

 

[Woody Stover]

Damn, Steve! ....I usually see 2 o’clock on the cat probe 25 minutes of a cold start, and less on a reload, even on my 2nd year cat. Are you saying it took an hour to get there on a brandy-new (typically over-reactive) one, or is that just when you happened to check it?

Yeah, me too. If it doesn't there's something else going on.
That's just when I happened to check it, had a busy day yesterday.

Yeah, on a new cat, that probe should zoom right up after you close the bypass if the stove is to temp, and the cat glows within a couple minutes of closing it.
My steelie seems to be getting sluggish..slower to glow. I have a ceramic that came with the stove that I'll wash and put in, but I've swaped back and forth between it and the steels so I don't know how many hours are on it. Worth a shot, I figure. I went ahead and ordered another ceramic from firecatcombustors since it was only $90,and got one for my SIL's Fireview as well, $100. I gotta refresh her on proper operation to make sure she doesn't crack it, like she has other ceramics. I've got her dry wood, maybe drier than before..

 

[MacinJosh]

Yeah, on a new cat, that probe should zoom right up after you close the bypass if the stove is to temp, and the cat glows within a couple minutes of closing it.
My steelie seems to be getting sluggish..slower to glow. I have a ceramic that came with the stove that I'll wash and put in, but I've swaped back and forth between it and the steels so I don't know how many hours are on it. Worth a shot, I figure. I went ahead and ordered another ceramic from firecatcombustors since it was only $90,and got one for my SIL's Fireview as well, $100. I gotta refresh her on proper operation to make sure she doesn't crack it, like she has other ceramics. I've got her dry wood, maybe drier than before..

Is it obvious when you crack a ceramic cat? I found out the other day from my wife, while I was out, that my ten year old decided to "show off" our new stove to his friend by opening the door. He then went on to explain to him what a cat is and how it eats the smoke/converts it to heat, etc etc. Half of me was proud as the boy was clearly listening to me when I explained how great a BK was (even though at the time it looked like he could give a $hit less, LOL....kids....) but the other half of me wanted to choke the snot out of him as he likely thermally shocked it. I think the good news is, he decided to do this towards the end of a burn cycle when there was little to no flame present and the stove temp was probably only 300ish. I did a visual of the cat and I don't see anything wrong. Seems to be glowing and running like it should. But I have no idea how to tell if it is cracked. Thoughts?

 

[Woody Stover]

Is it obvious when you crack a ceramic cat? I found out the other day from my wife, while I was out, that my ten year old decided to "show off" our new stove to his friend by opening the door....he decided to do this towards the end of a burn cycle when there was little to no flame present and the stove temp was probably only 300ish. I did a visual of the cat and I don't see anything wrong. Seems to be glowing and running like it should. But I have no idea how to tell if it is cracked.

Your boy probably did no damage at all since it was late in the load and the cat wasn't hot, like it would be eating smoke on a fresh load.
A crack might be really hard to see. With more severe abuse cracks become more obvious. Even with a good bit of visible cracking, the cat will still work fine. Problem comes when it crumbles apart and the exhaust won't flow through it correctly..then you have to replace it.

 

[Highbeam]

Is it obvious when you crack a ceramic cat? I found out the other day from my wife, while I was out, that my ten year old decided to "show off" our new stove to his friend by opening the door. He then went on to explain to him what a cat is and how it eats the smoke/converts it to heat, etc etc. Half of me was proud as the boy was clearly listening to me when I explained how great a BK was (even though at the time it looked like he could give a $hit less, LOL....kids....) but the other half of me wanted to choke the snot out of him as he likely thermally shocked it. I think the good news is, he decided to do this towards the end of a burn cycle when there was little to no flame present and the stove temp was probably only 300ish. I did a visual of the cat and I don't see anything wrong. Seems to be glowing and running like it should. But I have no idea how to tell if it is cracked. Thoughts?

You'll see the big cracks. Cracks are"normal" according to the manufacturer and do not effect operation. What you don't want is for the cat to crumble apart into a pile of shards. You also might see a chip, again, no big deal and normal.

Clogging and smoke is about the only thing you need to visually check for.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Steve,
Since your previous sweep, did your cat glow at any time at all? That is a lot of accumulation....no kidding.

Nope, didn't see the old one glow in a long time. Got up in the middle of the night last night and the floor was orange from the reflection of the new one!
The last time I recall (March of last year) the old one glowing the box was black but I had this crazy flame show in front of the cat!

 

[AlbergSteve]

This is what the pipes looked like in September, from fires burned in Jan-Mar 2019...




And this from December 2, 2019...



Think I was burning Toyo's then.

You'd think I had a baro damper left wide open...

And to be clear, I randomly check MC before putting wood away in the sheds, it's always 20% or less. Then it's left for two years in the shed and I do random MC checks throughout the burn season. All of my cedar is under 15% and the fir is under 18%.

 

[Highbeam]

This is what the pipes looked like in September, from fires burned in Jan-Mar 2019...

View attachment 256121View attachment 256120View attachment 256119


And this from December 2, 2019...

View attachment 256125View attachment 256124View attachment 256123View attachment 256122

Think I was burning Toyo's then.

You'd think I had a baro damper left wide open...

And to be clear, I randomly check MC before putting wood away in the sheds, it's always 20% or less. Then it's left for two years in the shed and I do random MC checks throughout the burn season. All of my cedar is under 15% and the fir is under 18%.

Last year I burned a couple of cords of dry red cedar and I swear I had much more accumulation in the flue. So much that I actually turned down more of it over the summer. Smells good, splits well, burns well, but leaves a lot of sooty deposits.

 

[vwmike]

Spend the money on the blower kit, convection deck and OAK, you cant go wrong.

Have the oak, just working on getting it connected as it goes straight out behind the stove, and I need to fab something up as it’s a lot closer than my summit was. Once I sell the summit I’ll buy the fans and deck. Had a couple small break in fires, so far so good.