I'd expect shovels to be made of steel, too, but if he happened to have an aluminum one, melting is a possibility.
2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)
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Poindexter
Minister of Fire
At 16% MC a fella might not need 30 minutes on high for bakedown. The stoves are designed for wood fuel at 20%MC, and I fully support 30 minutes on high for folks burning 20% MC fuel.
Thinking about it a little bit, I run fresh loads in mine on high for at least 30 minutes (also 16%MC fuel) because I want the heat bump in the house.
As 16% is 80% of 20%, you might run on high for 80% of 30 minutes, I guess about 24 minutes, and see how it runs for a few days. Extra goopy black tar on the inside of the firebox would be an early indicator. You are going to get some of that no matter what. Look at how much sticky black you got, figure out how much wood you have burned, try 24 minute bake cycles for a few days and then look at the sticky black goop again.
I cannot advocate for going under 20 minutes bakedown over an internet connection, but if the interior walls look good after a few days at 24 minute bakedown you could try it.
What I have noticed is when I have a really good bake down, pretty sure the fuel is down to 0%MC, I can turn the throttle lower and get a longer burn out of what is left in the box. If I skimp on the bakedown and have some free water in the firebox I can't throttle down as far.
The other place to keep an eye on is your flue pipe. If you aren't baking down far enough before you throttle back you will have excess water in your exhaust stream condensing on the inside of your flue pipe.
If you are baking 16% down for 18 minutes without excess firebox goop and dry clean looking deposits in your flue pipe let us know.
Thinking about it a little bit, I run fresh loads in mine on high for at least 30 minutes (also 16%MC fuel) because I want the heat bump in the house.
As 16% is 80% of 20%, you might run on high for 80% of 30 minutes, I guess about 24 minutes, and see how it runs for a few days. Extra goopy black tar on the inside of the firebox would be an early indicator. You are going to get some of that no matter what. Look at how much sticky black you got, figure out how much wood you have burned, try 24 minute bake cycles for a few days and then look at the sticky black goop again.
I cannot advocate for going under 20 minutes bakedown over an internet connection, but if the interior walls look good after a few days at 24 minute bakedown you could try it.
What I have noticed is when I have a really good bake down, pretty sure the fuel is down to 0%MC, I can turn the throttle lower and get a longer burn out of what is left in the box. If I skimp on the bakedown and have some free water in the firebox I can't throttle down as far.
The other place to keep an eye on is your flue pipe. If you aren't baking down far enough before you throttle back you will have excess water in your exhaust stream condensing on the inside of your flue pipe.
If you are baking 16% down for 18 minutes without excess firebox goop and dry clean looking deposits in your flue pipe let us know.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Good point, also you dont need the full bake downs if your window glass is clean, the window is just just another side, although it does have an air wash, if the window is spotless then theres less buildup on the inside sides to.
Hello guys,
I just purchased another Blaze King Ultra. I have one in my home and love it so much i wanted one in my pole building.
Here's the question.
This one will be used differently than my home blaze. Much hotter most of the time.
What kind of wood do you like for your hotter shorter burns? Im in the Midwest. I do have some white pine on a crp planting
I just purchased another Blaze King Ultra. I have one in my home and love it so much i wanted one in my pole building.
Here's the question.
This one will be used differently than my home blaze. Much hotter most of the time.
What kind of wood do you like for your hotter shorter burns? Im in the Midwest. I do have some white pine on a crp planting
Is the barn insulated? The manual expressly mentions not using the stove to heat an uninsulated house or barn/shed.
"Such applications may cause the thermostat to be unresponsive due the constant call for heat resulting in appliance being in a constant or over fire situation."
I was planning to do the same thing and swapping out the barrel stove I currently have. I think the volume of air to be heated in mine would be too great so I'll stick with what I have.
Cruising youtube for cat videos and Applied Ceramics has a few posted by Tim Cork some sort of expert. He again states the expectation that you can only expect 10,000 hours of cat life. Also talks about the various clogging reasons which is becoming more common with these new stove models. Not sure if the link will work but this is it.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Well I notice something of concern, my loading door handle is getting dis-colored, on the back side it looks like a little char has formed. I guess my draft issues are more severe then I thought.
Given the weak link bypass gasket retainers in our BKs, I would not attempt a partial bypass. It’s much much cheaper to replace the cat than to even pay the welder his travel time to your home for that repair.
Relatively common to see that oak handle charred. Not sure what it takes but mine still looks like new.
That 30 minute engaged cat char at full throttle is BS for my stove with my 13% mc fuel. At 20 minutes in I’m at 900 degree flue and 1600 degree cat temps and a firebox full of raging red logs. I tried it again this morning. It also does not prevent firebox and glass deposits afterwards from running at low output for the rest of the cycle. Myth busted. You do you (not speaking at Kenny here)but I’m not putting my stove or chimney through that type of abuse.
Watching videos today from other brands and they do not ask users to do this either.
It's also lame to run the snot out of your stove like that and then when you finally have mercy and turn down the thermostat the throttle blade shuts completely for a long time until the stove cools enough to open the throttle blades a little and modulate.
But hey, it's in the manual and maybe there is some reason that I just can't see.
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^^^
what he said, in terms of waiting for 30 min char. I normally do 20min or less. I do get some black goop on upper side wall of the fire box walls after 20-23hr burn using hemlock.
what he said, in terms of waiting for 30 min char. I normally do 20min or less. I do get some black goop on upper side wall of the fire box walls after 20-23hr burn using hemlock.
Like others have posted, in the spring before shutdown and even in the fall, I will stack in loose loads of just 4 or 6 small splits and run the whole load at a higher setting like 4 o'clock or 75% just for the purpose of drying out the goo. The goo then flakes off and can be cleaned easily. The firebox innards turn mostly brown too. That's fine but it's not why we own BK cat stoves. Low and slow is where these stoves shine. Heck, even medium output will leave black deposits in the firebox.
BK also posted one of those really cheezy john Gulland videos on youtube about BK cat stoves instead of the older one about noncats. In that video, the operator never does run the thing at high. During the "25-30" minute char they only have it set to just over medium on the thermostat. The BK being demonstrated is a sirocco so it's pretty recent.
Yes, thank you. I will for sure do the light soft load this coming spring to burn off some of the goop. And will use the brush to get behind the metal plates. Will use a shopvac with it I think. Last thing i want is to see rust on the outside of the walls
Corrosion is about the only real risk I can think of with the tarry deposits.
So, who cleans their BK free stander with a sooteater from the bottom up?
do you go through the bypass door? Do you open up for telescoping pipe and enter that way? How do you keep the mess out of the house?
I have always swept my own chimney. Bu at this new house, my class A sticks up pretty high. To access it from the roof for cleaning I’m going to have to twist a 4 foot section off. I’m not really a fan of messing with it. Thoughts?
do you go through the bypass door? Do you open up for telescoping pipe and enter that way? How do you keep the mess out of the house?
I have always swept my own chimney. Bu at this new house, my class A sticks up pretty high. To access it from the roof for cleaning I’m going to have to twist a 4 foot section off. I’m not really a fan of messing with it. Thoughts?
Sooteater up from the bottom of my telescoping pipe. I lift the pipe a inch and slide a baggy under it. Cover the stove with a old sheet at this point, including collar and blower assembly's.
Finish lifting the pipe high enough to use the sooteater. This takes a bit of twisting and going up and down on older pipe with some build up. Remove the temporary baggy/wal mart style or grocery bag from the pipe.
At this point I use a kitchen sized trash bag. Put a hole in it in the upper half large enough to slide the Sooteater rod sections through. Mount the cleaning head on the first section and slide it through your hole (inside to outside). Stick the cleaning head in the pipe and then wrap the trash bag around the pipe. After that its simply a matter of adding sections and keeping the bag from wrapping up in the rod. Occasionally a small amount of junk will escape the hole in the bag but not much if your careful. This is easiest done with two people but can be done alone by taping the trash bag to the pipe. Works slick.
More importantly I have never been able to determine how to remove/vacuum the considerable buildup inside the stove around the bypass plate, gasket, plate actuating components, backside of cat etc. without removing the connector pipe? Not to mention shoving the cleaning head up passed the bypass gasket feels sketchy for fear of breaking it loose.
This is the routine I use.
Finish lifting the pipe high enough to use the sooteater. This takes a bit of twisting and going up and down on older pipe with some build up. Remove the temporary baggy/wal mart style or grocery bag from the pipe.
At this point I use a kitchen sized trash bag. Put a hole in it in the upper half large enough to slide the Sooteater rod sections through. Mount the cleaning head on the first section and slide it through your hole (inside to outside). Stick the cleaning head in the pipe and then wrap the trash bag around the pipe. After that its simply a matter of adding sections and keeping the bag from wrapping up in the rod. Occasionally a small amount of junk will escape the hole in the bag but not much if your careful. This is easiest done with two people but can be done alone by taping the trash bag to the pipe. Works slick.
More importantly I have never been able to determine how to remove/vacuum the considerable buildup inside the stove around the bypass plate, gasket, plate actuating components, backside of cat etc. without removing the connector pipe? Not to mention shoving the cleaning head up passed the bypass gasket feels sketchy for fear of breaking it loose.
This is the routine I use.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
MissMac
Minister of Fire
is your pipe a straight shot, or does it have any elbows? I'd like to use this method this winter, but wasn't sure how sweeping up would go with my fibreglass rods (although they work just fine going top down).
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
lsucet
Minister of Fire
On one of my setups I have two 45 with one foot between and the sooteater goes through the bypass and the 45s with no issues.
I too go through the loading door and right up the bypass and into the flue with my sooteater. Older black rods. Plenty of space to make the gentle bend into the flue. Sweep the whole chimney and remove the tool.
Next, the less fun part, to get every spec of fallen debris out from the cat chamber you should remove the clean connector pipe from the stove top and then poke around with your shop vac hose, close the bypass and suck around some more near the cat. You can get it all out. Then reinstall the connector pipe. It is possible to clean just as well from the firebox but you need to be flexible and it’s just easier to lift the flue.
I do it once per year in spring and also when I change cats because new cats like a clean flue and the dead cat usually mucks things up before getting replaced.
Be very gentle with the small black flue screws. They really aren’t designed for repeated reinstallation and the threads are easy to strip.
Don’t forget to remove your flue probe!
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lsucet
Minister of Fire
Yeah, I remove the stove top pipe and clean everything in there as it should be. I used to do it twice a year but I think the way I burn and the mc in the wood I will be okay once a year at the end of the season. Also is easy to see the condition of the flue with a bore scope mid season or so.
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