2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[lsucet]

I noticed today by princess is not running as it should. When the bypass is open the stove box is ripping hot with lots of flame when I close the bypass flames nearly die, even when the stove is turned up. Found a few pieces of dry pine so it’s not a fuel issue. Dirty chimney or fly ash cat?

Which cat are you using? Ceramic or steel?

 

[sprawlnstall]

Ceramic, stove was running great yesterday. Did a hot clean out today and immediately noticed the change.

 

[lsucet]

Ceramic, stove was running great yesterday. Did a hot clean out today and immediately noticed the change.

I will lift the stove top pipe and check behind the cat for accumulation of debris or something. It is hard to clog a ceramic one.

 

[jetsam]

I noticed today by princess is not running as it should. When the bypass is open the stove box is ripping hot with lots of flame when I close the bypass flames nearly die, even when the stove is turned up. Found a few pieces of dry pine so it’s not a fuel issue. Dirty chimney or fly ash cat?

Burns hot with bypass open, dies with cat in -> clogged cat. Give it a vac, and check for obstructions (like a big pile of chimney sweepings) behind it.

 

[sprawlnstall]

Thanks, that what I thought. Even with the metal cat guard on I can see there is a lot of ash by the cat. I’ll dust off tomorrow. Not looking forward to a cold start

 

[Highbeam]

Pretty hard to clog a ceramic cat in a princess! Good news is the cells are bigger and fewer so it should be easy to clean.

 

[sprawlnstall]

Welcome to northern Minnesota, it has been a mild winter but stoves have to run wide open quite frequently. I’m lucky if I can get two years out of a cat. Wish I had an 8 inch flue

 

[kennyp2339]

Got creative this morning, hit a whole bunch of short splits, like 8" lengths, so after racking all my coals forward, I loaded the princess by standing the splits up vertically and packing them in tight, the stove seems to be burning them very well, have small candle like flames coming from the front pieces with occasional secondary's, the cat probe is sitting at 2 o'clock, cant wait to see how long this load lasts, I have a ton more of these short pieces in the wood yard.

 

[Dieselhead]

Got creative this morning, hit a whole bunch of short splits, like 8" lengths, so after racking all my coals forward, I loaded the princess by standing the splits up vertically and packing them in tight, the stove seems to be burning them very well, have small candle like flames coming from the front pieces with occasional secondary's, the cat probe is sitting at 2 o'clock, cant wait to see how long this load lasts, I have a ton more of these short pieces in the wood yard.

Great, you are doing a true N/S load. Now what are we going to call front to back!?!

 

[Diabel]

Great, you are doing a true N/S load. Now what are we going to call front to back!?!

F/B

 

[jetsam]

You could cut them up into 1" cubes and really pack the stove... or build a scale model of a different famous piece of architecture in there every load...

 

[kennyp2339]

You could cut them up into 1" cubes and really pack the stove... or build a scale model of a different famous piece of architecture in there every load...

I didnt think to snap a pic, next reload I'll take a picture of it, should be posting it by Wednesday lol

 

[Sailrmike]

So, short -ahem, not so short- update here. After my initial, dare I say, quite successful (i.e. satisfying) burns when it was 45 F or so outside in the Chinook, I wanted to tackle two problems.
The first was somewhat minor: upon hot reloads, I got some smoke coming out the door when the first of the new splits would catch fire on the coals. To fix that, I was planning to change the stove pipe configuration from 2' double wall up, 90 degree double wall elbow, 2' single wall horizontal (and then thimble thru a concrete wall and masonry chimney with 24-25' external double wall rigid (no "vacuum hose undulations" visible) stainless "top-of-the-line" thick-walled or so I've been told by my sweep - I bought the home with this liner and that sweep did not install it, and other items in the home such as the oil furnace are also the top model of a brand line, so I trust him on that) to all double wall, two 45 degrees minimizing the horizontal run as much as possible.

However, when i tried to start my so far last fire (it's been rather warm here so I've been using the minisplit + solar electrons a lot), it just would not start. It was 35 F outside. Box full of smoke, even newspaper extinguishing before being burned completely. Tried 2 more times, including a 25 F outside temp. Same behavior.

I tried preheating the flue with a propane torch stuck through the open bypass valve. After 1 minute (btw; how long do you guys do this, when you do this?), the torch extinguished. Re-lit, same. This suggests that the CO2 from the torch flame can't get away. Suggesting a blockage.

Took off the vertical stove pipe and elbow, looked inside the cat chamber, vertical pipe. All clear, good.

Had a sweep come by (no access from the bottom, and only a small strip of roof accessible 2.5 stories up b/c of the solar panels - I don't feel comfortable going there...) to see if something had gone wrong; creosote blockage, cap (we had a storm before the last trial), or what have you.
None of that appeared to be the case.

However, looking carefully into the horizontal stove pipe going into the thimble, we could see that the flue in the masonry chimney had dropped by 1.5" or so. This resulted in a slight downward angle of the horizontal stove pipe (hinge-point someplace in the wall).
Clearly that's not good, and likely the cause of the stove not lighting.

I guess I'll have to have someone lift up the flue, and secure it with a top plate so it won't move again.

Question (@bholler ?): does this happen sometimes? Was the liner installed in a poor way? Is it indicative of other issues I might have to (have someone) look at?

This all sucks as I have 17-18% maple waiting for me, it's (off and on so far) heating season on LI, and I am using oil (off and on; I tend to not use the minisplit below 32 F or so) ...
Reputable companies are booked until mid January...
It's a winter different than I had expected; working at home but hoping to have zero heating cost between the wood and the solar electrons. ...

Anyway, hence my silence and absence here and on the "what's in your stove" thread to which I'd hoped to contribute - currently there's a load of unburned maple and sassafras in there, cold and lonely...

Fwiw my propane torch will go out if I don't keep the bottle more or less upright. When I light the base of the fire, I have to direct the torch back up pretty quickly, or it dies. Even preheating the flue, it can happen

 

[stoveliker]

Fwiw my propane torch will go out if I don't keep the bottle more or less upright. When I light the base of the fire, I have to direct the torch back up pretty quickly, or it dies. Even preheating the flue, it can happen

Hm, good to keep in mind. Thanks.
I don't think I moved the torch though, before it conked out at about 1 minute. And after relighting it stopped in 5 seconds while in the same position.

But I'll pay more attention to this next time.

If they keep their promise, the flue should be lifted and secured Friday. At least I would be able to burn again until the parts are in for the stove pipe fix.

 

[Highbeam]

Fwiw my propane torch will go out if I don't keep the bottle more or less upright. When I light the base of the fire, I have to direct the torch back up pretty quickly, or it dies. Even preheating the flue, it can happen

That’s weird. Mine works in all directions even upside down. It’s made for sweating plumbing fittings after all so all angle operation is a must. I always lay it horizontal on the door frame.

 

[Diabel]

You might be using two different types of propane torches. I use one of the old/conventional style ones with a camping tank attached. I use it to get my smoker charcoal going and if I move it too much (vertical/horizontal) it will go out. No idea why.

 

[kennyp2339]

You might be using two different types of propane torches. I use one of the old/conventional style ones with a camping tank attached. I use it to get my smoker charcoal going and if I move it too much (vertical/horizontal) it will go out. No idea why.

Different tip, the original tips will do out since propane gas sinks.

 

[Nealm66]

Well, after a dreadful amount of changing my mind, I ended up installing the princess. I ended up installing it myself to bypass the additional 6-8 week delay. I ended up with a demo model so there wasn’t a break in worry. There was some concern on draft as my horizontal through the wall had to kick me out past the 14” overhang. I scratched the corner install so I could crowd the peek and not have to worry about tie backs. Man, those installers earn they’re money. Had a few delays as they gave me some incorrect parts that really had me scratching my head. I was a little worried about everything when I lit it up last night but everything went as advertised. I lit a small pitch stick under some kindling and watched for smoke, there a smoke alarm in the same room but the chimney sucked everything out like it was meant to be. Thank you everyone on this forum and this thread for your enthusiasm and willingness to share your knowledge and experience.

 

[Diabel]

Looks good. Now, you have some taping to do!
Is that a 90* elbow or 2 45*s? How close to the ceiling are you?

 

[moresnow]

Well, after a dreadful amount of changing my mind, I ended up installing the princess. I ended up installing it myself to bypass the additional 6-8 week delay. I ended up with a demo model so there wasn’t a break in worry. There was some concern on draft as my horizontal through the wall had to kick me out past the 14” overhang. I scratched the corner install so I could crowd the peek and not have to worry about tie backs. Man, those installers earn they’re money. Had a few delays as they gave me some incorrect parts that really had me scratching my head. I was a little worried about everything when I lit it up last night but everything went as advertised. I lit a small pitch stick under some kindling and watched for smoke, there a smoke alarm in the same room but the chimney sucked everything out like it was meant to be. Thank you everyone on this forum and this thread for your enthusiasm and willingness to share your knowledge and experience.

Ember protection? Curious what the flooring consists of?

 

[Nealm66]

Yup, it’s a trial run. Floor is tile over concrete. Only put enough in to fit under the stove as it all has to be masked off so I can finish the drywall and paint this next summer. It’s a 90, not sure distance from lid (10’ ceilings) I think I could have went up higher but wanted to come out below hardie plank on the outside so I could flash ( hardie panel turns to plank) I will measure for any feedback though.

 

[Nealm66]

What tape?, oh, lol , ya drywall. Yup

 

[Diabel]

What tape?, oh, lol , ya drywall. Yup

Drywall seems taping...

 

[Holiday]

Should be two 45's instead of one 90 elbow?

 

[WV Homestead]

Well, after a dreadful amount of changing my mind, I ended up installing the princess. I ended up installing it myself to bypass the additional 6-8 week delay. I ended up with a demo model so there wasn’t a break in worry. There was some concern on draft as my horizontal through the wall had to kick me out past the 14” overhang. I scratched the corner install so I could crowd the peek and not have to worry about tie backs. Man, those installers earn they’re money. Had a few delays as they gave me some incorrect parts that really had me scratching my head. I was a little worried about everything when I lit it up last night but everything went as advertised. I lit a small pitch stick under some kindling and watched for smoke, there a smoke alarm in the same room but the chimney sucked everything out like it was meant to be. Thank you everyone on this forum and this thread for your enthusiasm and willingness to share your knowledge and experience.

Well, after a dreadful amount of changing my mind, I ended up installing the princess. I ended up installing it myself to bypass the additional 6-8 week delay. I ended up with a demo model so there wasn’t a break in worry. There was some concern on draft as my horizontal through the wall had to kick me out past the 14” overhang. I scratched the corner install so I could crowd the peek and not have to worry about tie backs. Man, those installers earn they’re money. Had a few delays as they gave me some incorrect parts that really had me scratching my head. I was a little worried about everything when I lit it up last night but everything went as advertised. I lit a small pitch stick under some kindling and watched for smoke, there a smoke alarm in the same room but the chimney sucked everything out like it was meant to be. Thank you everyone on this forum and this thread for your enthusiasm and willingness to share your knowledge and experience.

Well, after a dreadful amount of changing my mind, I ended up installing the princess. I ended up installing it myself to bypass the additional 6-8 week delay. I ended up with a demo model so there wasn’t a break in worry. There was some concern on draft as my horizontal through the wall had to kick me out past the 14” overhang. I scratched the corner install so I could crowd the peek and not have to worry about tie backs. Man, those installers earn they’re money. Had a few delays as they gave me some incorrect parts that really had me scratching my head. I was a little worried about everything when I lit it up last night but everything went as advertised. I lit a small pitch stick under some kindling and watched for smoke, there a smoke alarm in the same room but the chimney sucked everything out like it was meant to be. Thank you everyone on this forum and this thread for your enthusiasm and willingness to share your knowledge and experience.

great! i just got mine put in as well