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

[GinaC]

FYI, I had two full loads in my Sirocco insert yesterday, each at 3 o'clock on the swoosh and 3 o'clock on the fan and each lasted 6 hours. This wood may be a little dry since it's been sitting in my living room for a few weeks with hot air heating blowing on it from about 10 feet away.

 

[Rob711]

Hey Ginac, sounds like we’re both experiencing similar burn times. I can get about 8. I’d love to hear someone getting 20hrs with same insert.

 

[GinaC]

Hey Ginac, sounds like we’re both experiencing similar burn times. I can get about 8. I’d love to hear someone getting 20hrs with same insert.

When the last guy was here and had it opened up, I found that I do not have a block off plate, and my sweep told me that insulated liners were only used for exterior chimneys. Mine is enclosed by the house, completely on the first floor and partially on the second. I don't want to replace the liner since it's brand new, but when he comes this summer to clean it out I'll see if he can put in a block off plate to possibly give me better performance next year.

 

[vwmike]

Just a quick follow up, after a couple of loads I’m still learning, but my burn times are getting better, pic below is what was left at 12hrs yesterday, cat just below active. Was up on the cat and shut down within 10-15min after a reload of mixed softwood. I’m still baffled at how to get a 24hr burn!! Need to modify my damper, as even with it shut all the way I still draft at .10” I will say it is heating the house nice, much more even temps between upstairs and downstairs as compared to the summit.

 

[Highbeam]

Just a quick follow up, after a couple of loads I’m still learning, but my burn times are getting better, pic below is what was left at 12hrs yesterday, cat just below active. Was up on the cat and shut down within 10-15min after a reload of mixed softwood. I’m still baffled at how to get a 24hr burn!! Need to modify my damper, as even with it shut all the way I still draft at .10” I will say it is heating the house nice, much more even temps between upstairs and downstairs as compared to the summit.

Did you add those washers on the hinge pins under the door frame? I added them to mine but they weren't on there from the factory in 2012. It helped the gasket line up with the stove front better.

Your firebox looks like mine after being stirred and about 18 hours burning on low with straight doug fir. With an ashier wood like red alder that coaling stage lasts much longer. My chimney is only 12' tall so my draft strength is surely lower.

Normally, that many coals will be enough to keep the cat meter well into the active range. When your stove is stone cold, does the cat meter point to the bottom mark of the inactive range? I'm worried that your meter might be under reporting.

 

[MI wood guy]

ill iump in late to this game.i bought a new ashford 30 and have ran it every day nonstop since November 11th.i love this stove so far and heats my 100yr old house with poor insulation awesome.i really think this stove will cut my wood use down,ive burned 1 cord and 2 rik so far of ash.
the only complaint I have is cleaning the ash.i was super excited to have a removable ash pan but ive found for me burning 24/7 its almost worthless.this stove holds so much coals its like im making my own charcoal.id have to empty the ash pan 6 or 8 times to clean.
so im shoveling out ash through the door like I did with my jotul.thats my only downfall of this stove so far.
ive had occasional smoke smell but usually operator error during reload.
I pretty much reload every 12 hrs in normal circumstances

 

[jetsam]

When the last guy was here and had it opened up, I found that I do not have a block off plate, and my sweep told me that insulated liners were only used for exterior chimneys. Mine is enclosed by the house, completely on the first floor and partially on the second. I don't want to replace the liner since it's brand new, but when he comes this summer to clean it out I'll see if he can put in a block off plate to possibly give me better performance next year.

You should have a blockoff and an insulated liner. Maybe it is less BTU loss being an interior chimney, but the insulation's job is to keep the liner at 250° plus all the way to the top so creosote doesn't form. I probably wouldn't pull the liner either, but you could still put in a blockoff plate and pour the chimney full of vermiculite.

However, doing both of the above won't dramatically improve your burn times. When you say 3 O'clock on your thermostat- what percentage of the dial's range is that? (75% of max, 25% of max?)

 

[kennyp2339]

@GinaC 3 o’clock is my medium heavy burn setting on my free standing princess which yields a 10hr burn time.
build up some ash in that firebox, mine likes 1” and then load it up, get the fire situated and turn the t stat back to 1:30, remember these stoves are meant to glow and get dirty while the cat eats the smoke up and provides the cleaner emissions

 

[jetsam]

RIP, The Great Swoosh Debate That Shall Not Be Mentioned™.

 

[GinaC]

However, doing both of the above won't dramatically improve your burn times. When you say 3 O'clock on your thermostat- what percentage of the dial's range is that? (75% of max, 25% of max?)

3 o'clock is right in the middle of the swoosh. The flapper closes completely at 2 o'clock and that's when the fire goes out.

@GinaC 3 o’clock is my medium heavy burn setting on my free standing princess which yields a 10hr burn time.
build up some ash in that firebox, mine likes 1” and then load it up, get the fire situated and turn the t stat back to 1:30, remember these stoves are meant to glow and get dirty while the cat eats the smoke up and provides the cleaner emissions

Yes, yesterday's fires were in a clean box. I have some ash in the bottom now, but today I'm dealing with big logs, so I can only place one or two at a time in an east-west direction, so I'm not even trying to get a long burn time at the moment. I'm just getting it hot enough to go in the red, burn down out of the red, and then add another log or two before repeating the cycle.

 

[Poindexter]

... ashford 30 and have ran it every day nonstop since November 11th... cleaning the ash...I was super excited to have a removable ash pan but ive found for me burning 24/7...

What I do with mine is rake all the coals over to one side at a regular reload, pull the ash plug, push a drawer full of ash trough the hole.

Scrape around the plug opening with the BK tool, set the plug back in.

Jiggle the remaining ash around.

Rake the coals to the front.
Proceed with planned reload.
Empty ash drawer.

I find if I let the belly of the stove get full with ash all the way to the bottom lip of the door I have let it go too long. I like to run with right about one inch of ash bed on the floor, and drain some of it off when I get to having one inch plus one drawer full on the floor of the stove. I do generally leave the drawer undisturbed for two hours or so, less fly ash on the living room rug that way.

 

[MI wood guy]

What I do with mine is rake all the coals over to one side at a regular reload, pull the ash plug, push a drawer full of ash trough the hole.

Scrape around the plug opening with the BK tool, set the plug back in.

Jiggle the remaining ash around.

Rake the coals to the front.
Proceed with planned reload.
Empty ash drawer.

I find if I let the belly of the stove get full with ash all the way to the bottom lip of the door I have let it go too long. I like to run with right about one inch of ash bed on the floor, and drain some of it off when I get to having one inch plus one drawer full on the floor of the stove. I do generally leave the drawer undisturbed for two hours or so, less fly ash on the living room rug that way.

well that's where I go wrong then I wait til my ash is to the lip before i clean it.stove holds so much big hot Coals I just rake them forward every reload .
thanks

 

[Ashful]

well that's where I go wrong then I wait til my ash is to the lip before i clean it.stove holds so much big hot Coals I just rake them forward every reload .
thanks

I clean ash out of my Ashford 30s once every week or two. I'm guessing Poindexter didn't mean to imply he's doing it on each reload, but then again... he was always an over-achiever.

 

[Poindexter]

I think I probably flush a drawer full of ashes once or twice a week in 24/7 burning season. I don't have it scheduled on a calendar or anything, and there are plenty of times when I could drain some ashes but there are too many coals in the way I need to get the reload over with now because of life.

Fuel can make a difference too, some wood makes more ash than other wood. I do clean all the ash out in May when the stove is shut down for the summer, but this way I don't have to shut down the stove during winter and do a cold start just to get some ash out of the belly.

 

[Woody Stover]

What I do with mine is rake all the coals over to one side at a regular reload, pull the ash plug, push a drawer full of ash trough the hole.
...Rake the coals to the front.
Proceed with planned reload.
Empty ash drawer.

I usually pull the pan after it has sat in the stove for several days, after any coals have pretty much burned out.
In my case, no big coals get through the grate anyway..

 

[Highbeam]

I've been burning since October for full time heat and I still haven't emptied the ash from the BK. Only about 2" deep and full of clinkers as the minerals in the ash fuse together. This is with 14% MC douglas fir which is really weird in how little ash it makes.

I'm a little afraid that if I emptied all the ash out that I would have to suffer with an insufficient ash bed for the rest of the year.

 

[Diabel]

I've been burning since October for full time heat and I still haven't emptied the ash from the BK. Only about 2" deep and full of clinkers as the minerals in the ash fuse together. This is with 14% MC douglas fir which is really weird in how little ash it makes.

I'm a little afraid that if I emptied all the ash out that I would have to suffer with an insufficient ash bed for the rest of the year.

Never tried it, but I bet I could burn hemlock all season and not empty the ashes from either of my stoves. I have no experience with oak. Sugar maple, beech, both locusts produce lots of ash that needs to be removed. Maybe it is the east coast thing.

 

[Nerdasaurus]

I think the 1101 still had the horizontal cat underneath the flue with a bunch of steel baffles around it. BKVP says they were good stoves, though. (And once again I am annoyed that the link button doesn't work anymore.)

The thread below has BKVP's take on this stove, and [WARNING DANGER ALERT] also a late-model bholler "garage vs. workshop" segment, though thankfully nobody argued about it in this one, so that part stayed pretty short.

Is this Blaze King Any Good??

Hi all! I own a blaze king that we use in our home. Love it. I have a 40x40 shop that I put an Englander stove in earlier this year (on a budget) and it's just not cutting it. It burns through too much wood and doesn't heat all that great. I have been looking for another Blaze King...

www.hearth.com

Thanks!
Still hoping someone can tell me how long of a burn I can expect to get out of one of these oldies.
Cheers!

 

[showrguy]

Never tried it, but I bet I could burn hemlock all season and not empty the ashes from either of my stoves. I have no experience with oak. Sugar maple, beech, both locusts produce lots of ash that needs to be removed. Maybe it is the east coast thing.

I’ve been burning Hickory for the last couple of weeks, damm does that stuff ever coal up..
I’ll be happy when it’s gone, and will avoid it in the future..
Oh, and call me crazy, but I don’t like locust all that much either,,, too much heavy ash..

 

[Diabel]

yeah, not only locust leaves heavy black coals. You have to break them up after 12h burn since they are still in a log form.

 

[kennyp2339]

yeah, not only locust leaves heavy black coals. You have to break them up after 12h burn since they are still in a log form.

Yea I love the stuff, we're about to get a small arctic blast so my mixture will be a 50/50 of BL and Ash.

 

[Diabel]

Yea I love the stuff, we're about to get a small arctic blast so my mixture will be a 50/50 of BL and Ash.

We are in the bloody blast right now! Crazy cold and windy. Should be all done by Sat morning.

 

[rdust]

Close to zero tonight, I still love how these stoves can be loaded.

 

[Woody Stover]

love how these stoves can be loaded.

Nice. That's almost full.

 

[lsucet]

Close to zero tonight, I still love how these stoves can be loaded.View attachment 257031

Are those railroad ties?