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

[Highbeam]

Don’t forget his cat meter is turned 180*

It is! They drilled the hole too close to the flue on older princesses so the red needle doesn’t have clearance. This is a condar replacement meter with actual numbers. Lots of fun. If you don’t have numbers then all you know is whether the cat is active.

As expected with a functional cat, I have no problem getting to and holding cat temperatures in the 12-1400 range during the majority of the burn whether the thermostat is set to low or wherever. I do not flirt with the ragged edge of cat stall by trying to go too low. When you go to the cat manufacturer websites they tell you to hang in the 1200-1400 range.

To be fair, I am burning dry evergreens and other low/medium btu woods. Maybe the fuel helps keep cat temps up.

 

[jetsam]

It is! They drilled the hole too close to the flue on older princesses so the red needle doesn’t have clearance. This is a condar replacement meter with actual numbers. Lots of fun. If you don’t have numbers then all you know is whether the cat is active.

As expected with a functional cat, I have no problem getting to and holding cat temperatures in the 12-1400 range during the majority of the burn whether the thermostat is set to low or wherever. I do not flirt with the ragged edge of cat stall by trying to go too low. When you go to the cat manufacturer websites they tell you to hang in the 1200-1400 range.

To be fair, I am burning dry evergreens and other low/medium btu woods. Maybe the fuel helps keep cat temps up.

Pine can offgas long after you'd think it possible. I've raked large pine coals and got a burst of sap odor and shooting flames before. Maybe there's something about the way that it burns that seals the surface of the wood? It also lacks the large open pores that my main fuel (red oak) has, so I'm sure that contributes.

 

[kennyp2339]

Pine can offgas long after you'd think it possible.

Guy up the road from me had a big pine fall during a snowstorm, its all bucked up and sitting at the end of his driveway near the road, I don't think they burn wood so I'm hoping to be able to run into him and ask if I can have the pine, its about 1/3 of a cord, perfect shoulder wood.

 

[jetsam]

Guy up the road from me had a big pine fall during a snowstorm, its all bucked up and sitting at the end of his driveway near the road, I don't think they burn wood so I'm hoping to be able to run into him and ask if I can have the pine, its about 1/3 of a cord, perfect shoulder wood.

I use it for the very coldest days! Short hot fire, no coal.

 

[Diabel]

Guy up the road from me had a big pine fall during a snowstorm, its all bucked up and sitting at the end of his driveway near the road, I don't think they burn wood so I'm hoping to be able to run into him and ask if I can have the pine, its about 1/3 of a cord, perfect shoulder wood.

It just might cause a chimney fire!

 

[Diabel]

Half time was ok! Back to burning......

 

[kennyp2339]

It just might cause a chimney fire!

this wouldn't be my first rodeo with pine, not by a long shot, just don't get it a lot, usually goes into a chipper instead of rounds around these parts.

 

[jetsam]

We east coasters debate about whether pine and fir are good wood or not, whether they will "burn your house down" or not, whether they should be allowed anywhere near a wood stove....


Meanwhile, the westerners and northerners who only have conifers are quiet because they are trying to figure out how to sneak out of the room before the crazy people notice...

 

[kennyp2339]

Suppose to be in the 50's today, didn't load anything in the stove this morning, just turned the t-stat to the max and hopefully I have just white ash to clean out when I get home later today.
I'm almost positive that this stove loves having a minimum of 1" ash in her belly after cleaning it out, night and day difference with coals and overall burn times.

 

[Woody Stover]

Guy up the road from me had a big pine fall during a snowstorm, its all bucked up and sitting at the end of his driveway near the road,

One of the great things about Pine..you don't have to get in a hurry when you see a scrounge; It's not like anyone else is gonna go after it.

Half time was ok! Back to burning......

Yeah, they coulda followed that half-time with a 'tang commercial.
Whaddya mean, back to burning?? I had to vent my collar a couple minutes after half-time started.

 

[Tron]

One of the great things about Pine..you don't have to get in a hurry when you see a scrounge; It's not like anyone else is gonna go after it.

Depends on the season and the timeframe. I have a lot of dead pines still standing in our woods. I have felled a few by now, but most of those have already rotted away or were eaten by insects. I mean, if you take them down and they break up into pieces when hitting the ground, I am not surprised. I have no idea how long they have been dead, though. It will probably get better once I catch up with it.

 

[shoot-straight]

I am Smack dab in the middle of oak country, and I think I would just rather burn pine and poplar. I have Access to a huge white oak- almost dread the work it's gonna take. White dries slow, and is so splintery and a pain to split.

Poplar and pine I just use the maul to make it big chunks, dry for 2 years and it does the job nicely- and fits my usual 12 hr burn cycle.

 

[Diabel]

I am not picky. Whatever wood falls in my forest, I harvest it. Neither of my stoves complain. The BK utilizes the lesser of the wood spices for sure with longer burn times. VC less so, hence shorter burn times. When it gets real cold....me no likes the coaling stages!

 

[Ashful]

I am Smack dab in the middle of oak country, and I think I would just rather burn pine and poplar. I have Access to a huge white oak- almost dread the work it's gonna take. White dries slow, and is so splintery and a pain to split.

I‘m glad you found what works for you, but I really can’t understand this perspective. You’d rather fell, haul, buck, split, stack, and load 50% more wood, for the same BTUs? Not to mention having to deal with a tree that has a million branches, often nearly to the ground, over a tree with more often than not 60+ feet of pure straight trunk?

My splitter doesn’t care whether it’s pine or oak on the beam, it all splits the same with hydraulics. My gloves don’t care how smooth the wood is, either. I’m heating a house, and whatever wood gets that job done with the least volume of product, is going to be where I spend my precious few splitting hours.

 

[Highbeam]

You’d rather fell, haul, buck, split, stack, and load 50% more wood, for the same BTUs?

Ha! By volume, but it weighs the same. Even by volume it's only 33% less for oak than pine. As in, 6.6 cords of oak is same as 10 cords of pine. I love that little math trick.

I wish we had more dense wood here.

 

[Alpine1]

Ha! By volume, but it weighs the same. Even by volume it's only 33% less for oak than pine. As in, 6.6 cords of oak is same as 10 cords of pine. I love that little math trick.

I wish we had more dense wood here.

Same here... but we have less coaling problems, see the bright side!

 

[GinaC]

You're doing fine. A little metal sound as parts cool down is not unusual. Avoid throwing an icy split in on hot coals then immediately closing the bypass.

Why can't the insert be scooted over 1/2"? Is the insert body actually touching the fireplace wall on the left side?

First off, thank you all for the replies! I thought I had subscribed to the thread and I was waiting for emails, but they never came.

We didn't take the insert out to see why it couldn't be scooted over that last 1/2", but the guys thought it was probably because when it was installed the old steel wasn't cut back enough to make a big enough opening.

I just loaded the thing up and lit it from a cold start, and I just put it down to the lowest setting on the swoosh after engaging the cat and leaving it on high for 30 minutes like it said to do in the manual, but I am still getting very large flames! This did not happen before the guys scooted it over and screwed the shroud down. The gauge is still below halfway, though, so I assume it's fine and not too hot?

 

[jetsam]

First off, thank you all for the replies! I thought I had subscribed to the thread and I was waiting for emails, but they never came.

We didn't take the insert out to see why it couldn't be scooted over that last 1/2", but the guys thought it was probably because when it was installed the old steel wasn't cut back enough to make a big enough opening.

I just loaded the thing up and lit it from a cold start, and I just put it down to the lowest setting on the swoosh after engaging the cat and leaving it on high for 30 minutes like it said to do in the manual, but I am still getting very large flames! This did not happen before the guys scooted it over and screwed the shroud down. The gauge is still below halfway, though, so I assume it's fine and not too hot?

The thermostat will call for extra air until it gets up to temp. Keep an eye on it, but that's probably normal.

 

[GinaC]

OK, I think something is wrong. I posted that at 4:19, and now it is 6:30 and a full load of wood is gone, on the lowest temp setting. The gauge is now under the red. There were flames the entire time.

 

[jetsam]

A full load in 2 hours? That's faster than a wide open thermostat could even call for. The door wasn't propped open on the latch, was it?

Check to see that the door gasket is still in one piece and the glass isn't really loose too.

 

[GinaC]

The door seal was checked right before the guys left, and it was fine. Nothing has happened to it since then, and the latch was tight.

I'm wondering if maybe when they moved it over, they disconnected something inside? The problem is, those guys said that they couldn't work on it anymore since they weren't the ones that put it in.

 

[GinaC]

OK, I reloaded and I just turned the temperature gauge all the way down around past the zero swoosh and nothing changed -- still big flames. Shouldn't it go completely out when I do that?

 

[Alpine1]

It should.
There must be air entering the insert. If you already checked the door seal and the glass seal and they are both in working order, with the t stat as low as it can go you should see no flames at all within a few minutes (or some lazy secondaries for an half hour); moreover a full load should last a half day, not a couple of hours...
If I were you, I’d let the insert cool down and inspect it thoroughly with a strong lamp: remove the ashes, clean the inside with a vacuum cleaner and look closely: there must be air leaking in from somewhere.

 

[shoot-straight]

I‘m glad you found what works for you, but I really can’t understand this perspective. You’d rather fell, haul, buck, split, stack, and load 50% more wood, for the same BTUs? Not to mention having to deal with a tree that has a million branches, often nearly to the ground, over a tree with more often than not 60+ feet of pure straight trunk?

My splitter doesn’t care whether it’s pine or oak on the beam, it all splits the same with hydraulics. My gloves don’t care how smooth the wood is, either. I’m heating a house, and whatever wood gets that job done with the least volume of product, is going to be where I spend my precious few splitting hours.

I gave My reasons and I like what I like. They are important to me. No need for anyone else to understand.

 

[GinaC]

It should.
There must be air entering the insert. If you already checked the door seal and the glass seal and they are both in working order, with the t stat as low as it can go you should see no flames at all within a few minutes (or some lazy secondaries for an half hour); moreover a full load should last a half day, not a couple of hours...
If I were you, I’d let the insert cool down and inspect it thoroughly with a strong lamp: remove the ashes, clean the inside with a vacuum cleaner and look closely: there must be air leaking in from somewhere.

Yes, I'll take the shroud off tomorrow, clean out the ashes, and see what I can see. I seem to remember reading a post about another BK insert owner where the screw holding the shroud on was preventing the thermostat flapper from moving? Hopefully that's what's happening here, as it's an easy fix.