2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[YAGER85]

The bypass is 1/2" steel. Air tubes are 1/4" dome assembly is comprise of 3/8" and 1/2" steel. There are PLENTY of thick steel components is our stoves. Please do not inadvertently mislead people about the materials.

In comparison to secondary combustion stoves, which destroy particulates thermally, ours and most cat stove do so chemically. In doing so, firebox components are not compromised when used correctly.

I'll bet his insert looks great when it's finished.

I became a first time homeowner in February 2015 to a 1918 Cape Cod—no insulation and 2000 feet to heat. It has a 23 foot interior brick chimney equipped with a heat exchanger that absolutely devoures wood at a rate of not less than 25 pounds per hour! At age 35, I am in above average shape—not because I go to the gym, but because I own this horrid example of a wood stove.

After 2 years of due diligence and following folks like BKVP, Highbeam, begreen and a few others—I set my sights on the BK Princess insert. The absolute best insert ever built.

I had a dealer come out and give me an estimate. $5500 was the number they gave me. Plan B. Sure, I coulda saved up a hefty tax return and my wife would have supported me. But, at $5500- it takes a lot of going to the woods to get “free” wood to make the investment pay for itself. So I have been patiently waiting for about 3 years now...

Then my boss comes up last week and shows me a FB Marketplace post with a used BK Princess Insert listed at $1000. Last Friday I went an hour and a half south to Grangeville and took a look at it.

From the outside, I could tell it was very well used. The seller advised he is the second owner. The cert tag says it’s a 2006 model. My calculations say at 3-4 cord per year x 16 seasons we’re looking at roughly 48-64 cords ran thru it. After looking inside, the bricks were good, but I could immediately see damage to the bypass gasket assembly. I assumed the cat was original.

My wife gently offered the gentleman 20% less than his asking price and we had a deal. I knew I had to document this stove on Hearth because I respect “most” of your opinions here. That being said,@BKVP has offered his superior knowledge and guidance for this repair and I trust him completely.

Here in Lewiston ID we are a hub for aluminum jet boats and it just so happens I am good friends with a certified welder who worked for a jet boat company for 10 years. I will NOT be the one welding the repair on this beautiful wood burner!

These stoves are constructed with superior materials—I’ve had my head literally inside this stove all morning today. Very impressed. Even though the Bypass retainers are relatively thin—they weld into very thick robust steel that the bypass plate (which I might add is also very thick) comes down onto. The gasket channel has to be exactly level and aligned with the bypass plate to seal off all gases while the cat is running. The cat will be replaced with a steel and I will have the liner completely insulated.

If you’re still reading this ramble and Now that you all know my life story I will be documenting the job on this thread for all of your entertainment. Happy Hol, no——-Merry Christmas!! Hope you all are well and safe.

Jesse

 

[Highbeam]

The bypass is 1/2" steel. Air tubes are 1/4" dome assembly is comprise of 3/8" and 1/2" steel. There are PLENTY of thick steel components is our stoves. Please do not inadvertently mislead people about the materials.

In comparison to secondary combustion stoves, which destroy particulates thermally, ours and most cat stove do so chemically. In doing so, firebox components are not compromised when used correctly.

I'll bet his insert looks great when it's finished.

Mislead? Misinformation? I said “about 1/4”” and it’s actually 3/8”. My stove is too hot to measure and the context was about welding. I appreciate you providing the exact dimensions but I assure you that nobody is attacking your company’s products.

Seriously, I’m on your team!

 

[YAGER85]

For the better part of 25 years I've had the responsibility to correct misinformation. 6 years ago my contemporaries voted me co-chair for the solid fuel section. It's an honor and I'm appreciative. I guess I have that DNA.

Key to our industry is to go head-on to combat misinformation. Whether it's state, federal or regional air quality staff, other manufacturers etc. I've fought the battle by attending every meeting held by regulators since Sept. of 2010. Plenty of air miles!

On this site, the are hundreds, perhaps thousands of visitors that never comment. They read and often view regular contributors as experts. The words of experts should be chosen carefully.

In doing so, we all contribute to the quality of the information we share. We owe that to the readers and each other.

Chris,

I know you told me how to do it this morning on the phone but can you (doesn’t need to be anytime soon) give directions on how to remove the bypass plate? Looking at the Manual is a bit difficult to understand. I do not look forward to putting her on her top. I will remove the brick and the top shroud. I’ll post pictures, but it won’t be until I get the retainers.

 

[BKVP]

Mislead? Misinformation? I said “about 1/4”” and it’s actually 3/8”. My stove is too hot to measure and the context was about welding. I appreciate you providing the exact dimensions but I assure you that nobody is attacking your company’s products.

Seriously, I’m on your team!

"nothing on this stove is overly thick." Not a factual statement.

 

[Highbeam]

"nothing on this stove is overly thick." Not a factual statement.

You’re right, It’s a totally subjective opinion to which I’m entitled. I’m impressed as heck with this stove but NOT because it has overly thick steel.

I apologize for your misunderstanding. To me, an engineer, that statement means the design was calculated and just right. To be too thick or too thin would be a mistake. This is why the top is not 3/8” thick.

I have seen nothing oversized on this stove. Efficiency. We’re not paying for this thing by the pound.

You can certainly choose to be offended but that was not my intent.

 

[Nealm66]

I believe I have under estimated the complete burn time of these press logs. Been trying to get the fire out since 8 this am from an 8pm load so I can check the chimney out . 15 hours now and those coals just won’t give up. Raked them around about an hour ago, still pretty solid. Northern Idaho logs and home fire logs. Home fire logs are the persistent ones. Wouldn’t have any problem getting bread dough to rise while I’m trying to get these things to give up

 

[Highbeam]

I believe I have under estimated the complete burn time of these press logs. Been trying to get the fire out since 8 this am from an 8pm load so I can check the chimney out . 15 hours now and those coals just won’t give up. Raked them around about an hour ago, still pretty solid. Northern Idaho logs and home fire logs. Home fire logs are the persistent ones. Wouldn’t have any problem getting bread dough to rise while I’m trying to get these things to give up

Last night and today are super warm. 52 outside! I loaded 5 splits of fir yesterday at 7 am into an ice cold stove and there are still enough coals and the stove is hot enough to rise dough 29 freaking hours later.

With your out and up installation, don’t you have an exterior tee with a removable cap that you can open for inspection?

 

[Dustin]

I’ve been trying this when I need less heat but a long reload schedule and refuse to let the furnace keep the house warm.

the glass, will be absolutely black.

In our climate, I let the stove go pretty cold before reloading. It’s still so warm out. Winter comes on Monday and things might cool off.

Following some folks on this thread I may toy with running cooler and flirting with cat stall to get a lower burn rate. I can already imagine my glass getting nasty.

 

[Nealm66]

Last night and today are super warm. 52 outside! I loaded 5 splits of fir yesterday at 7 am into an ice cold stove and there are still enough coals and the stove is hot enough to rise dough 29 freaking hours later.

With your out and up installation, don’t you have an exterior tee with a removable cap that you can open for inspection?

Yes, I’m going to open the tee and look for any creosote or what have you. Just going to use binoculars to look at the cap. Only been a week so not expecting anything but the dealer was pretty concerned about my horizontal piece being 3’. Not noticing any draft/smoke issues at all. There’s a smoke/co on the ceiling about 12’ from the stove and it’s pretty sensitive as I’ve set it off changing the cat litter box. I tested it also with can smoke. I was just thinking that letting it go completely out was best for checking and a good day to make potato soup with a bone in ham. I’m concerned I’m going to run out of daylight before the stove goes out and afraid to add anymore heat into this house making soup ha ha. I just checked and it’s not even close so that’s 16 hours but stove temp is finally dropped below 400 so that’s promising

 

[Highbeam]

I’ve been trying this when I need less heat but a long reload schedule and refuse to let the furnace keep the house warm.

the glass, will be absolutely black.

Yes, blacker glass for sure.

I’m trying to run the stove colder with success otherwise. The cat temperature is still well above 1000 and flue temperatures are still solid at 400 but the fire is colder, the intake flapper shut most of the time, and stove output is lower to match our demands.
No flue smoke so I’m happy with the dirtier glass trade off.

This is with a pretty fresh cat with 8-9 months of use and nice 13% fir from an actual shed.

 

[Nealm66]

I’m curious, I bought the demo stove with a swoosh on the temp gauge. Do the new models have #’s?

 

[Highbeam]

I’m curious, I bought the demo stove with a swoosh on the temp gauge. Do the new models have #’s?

The old princess and king stoves have numbers. It became difficult to explain why some users could run on #1 when another user would stall his cat on setting #1 so Bk decided to just remove all usable information from the dial. That swoosh effectively tells you which way to turn for more heat. You can add marks to yours. They do not sell the old stickers with numbers .

Here’s a photo of my old school numbered dial.

There could additional reasons for the unlabeling. BK stoves are sold internationally and maybe it was easier to not print labels in other languages.

 

[Nealm66]

17 hours, raked everything together an hour ago and forgot to close the bypass

 

[Dustin]

Ash pans.... let’s talk ash pans!

I didn’t get one with my KE40. But it’s ash pan ready.

I burn a lot of maple and alder. This stuff is really, really ashy. After a week of burning 24/7 the ash will be darn near up to the door.

I would like to clean it out more often but I have to wait for a cold stove on the weekend. If I don’t, ash floats all over the place when I scoop it out and makes a heck of a mess. It’s a real pain in the ash.

Will the ash pan help me? Are there any disadvantages?

 

[Nealm66]

Well, I can say one disadvantage is waiting for the fire to go out. Hope you have a 3 day weekend

 

[Highbeam]

Ash pans.... let’s talk ash pans!

I didn’t get one with my KE40. But it’s ash pan ready.

I burn a lot of maple and alder. This stuff is really, really ashy. After a week of burning 24/7 the ash will be darn near up to the door.

I would like to clean it out more often but I have to wait for a cold stove on the weekend. If I don’t, ash floats all over the place when I scoop it out and makes a heck of a mess. It’s a real pain in the ash.

Will the ash pan help me? Are there any disadvantages?

m

You fill the 8” ash belly of a king in a week? In shoulder season? That’s a lot of ash.

The biggest benefit of the ash pan, and the reason I use mine in the princess ultra, is for the very significant reduction in ash dust floating our into the house.

 

[Diabel]

I have the ash pan/drop. Have not used it once in three seasons. I cold start the Princess on regular basis, not a primary residence. The VC ash pan, on the other hand gets emptied hot. Welding glove gets hot, not a good feeling. Good system though.

 

[Dustin]

That’s what I said! This alder and maple is really ashy. And I guess it’s not full to the point of spilling out, but full enough that it’s an obvious 6 inches thick

QUOTE="Highbeam, post: 2477413, member: 1382"]
m

You fill the 8” ash belly of a king in a week? In shoulder season? That’s a lot of ash.

The only benefit of the ash pan, and the reason I use mine in the princess ultra, is for the very significant reduction in ash dust floating our into the house.
[/QUOTE]

 

[BKVP]

If you have the KE40 Ultra, the pan works great. Not available on the KE40 Classic. The ashpan on the Parlor version isn't very deep.

I'm burning black locust so far and I fill the thing full every 2-3 weeks. I once let it sit for 3 days and it dropped 2" as the coals finally burned down.

 

[Nealm66]

I notice my princess with the pedestal has a very usable plug in the center that drops everything into a pretty sizable ash pan. I think raking the hot coals to one side would be pretty efficient. Letting this thing go completely out doesn’t seem realistic unless you have a weekend like I’m having now with 50 degree weather

 

[Diabel]

Is there a “o” ring or something on the plug, so you can fit it with the poker? When i remove the cold ash i feel the plug against the shovel but nothing else.

 

[Highbeam]

Is there a “o” ring or something on the plug, so you can fit it with the poker? When i remove the cold ash i feel the plug against the shovel but nothing else.

Yep, there’s a loop that can be hooked with the supplied Bk poker tool.

 

[Diabel]

Yep, there’s a loop that can be hooked with the supplied Bk poker tool.

I am sure there is one. Just never bothered looking for it. The longest I have burnt the princess was 10 straight days. Used mostly hemlock, there was no need to empty any ash.

 

[jetsam]

There’s a smoke/co on the ceiling about 12’ from the stove and it’s pretty sensitive as I’ve set it off changing the cat litter box.

I have to ask...

Did the cat litter box set off the smoke alarm or the CO alarm?

Is the smoke alarm an ionization sensor or a photo sensor?

What kind of cats do you have?

What do they eat?

 

[jetsam]

The old princess and king stoves have numbers. It became difficult to explain why some users could run on #1 when another user would stall his cat on setting #1 so Bk decided to just remove all usable information from the dial. That swoosh effectively tells you which way to turn for more heat. You can add marks to yours. They do not sell the old stickers with numbers .

Here’s a photo of my old school numbered dial. View attachment 269941

There could additional reasons for the unlabeling. BK stoves are sold internationally and maybe it was easier to not print labels in other languages.

We do not speak of The Great Swoosh Wars.