2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[Nealm66]

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?

Lol, ya, I have no idea what/why. Keep the cat box under the stairs, they barely ever use it as they prefer to be outside. Just when we go on vacation I dump everything out and throw a new box in. The dust set it off I guess. Only did it one time . Technically we don’t have occupancy in the house yet and live in a fifth wheel but working 40-50 hours a week and doing pretty much everything myself out of pocket has turned into way too long to be in a fifth wheel ,even a nice one so we fudge a little till I can get it wrapped up hopefully next summer.

 

[Nealm66]

We do not speak of The Great Swoosh Wars.

I can see where having a reference for wood/weather markers would be handy. Maybe there could be an after market dial custom built for specific stove situations for a reasonable fee of $1000. Speaking of which, I ordered one of those fancy mark five fans from Amazon and it came in a beat up box with the arms bent! It must’ve been one of those returned fans or something. I couldn’t believe something with that much time spent in the build being treated like that. Had to return it and didn’t ask for a replacement. What a bummer

 

[BKVP]

Cold start? Not really, just cleaned out ashes.. weighed 78lbs locust, 16% mc average. Might last a while with warm temps...

 

[Nealm66]

I really like the look of that wood on the wall. I probably won’t get to finish the room the stove is in till next summer and not sure what to put on the wall. I have a bunch of live edge fir I’m going to do an accent wall with but was thinking of a rock type tile behind but that looks really good

 

[Nealm66]

I had to tap out on building a fire. Way too warm inside after soup and trying to get the last of those press logs to die. I took some pics of the chimney, looked ok, had a couple of weird paper like pieces in the bottom of the tee. Never put any paper in the stove so no idea what formed them.

 

[Nealm66]

1st pic is a zoom up the 19’ of pipe at the bottom of the cap

 

[BKVP]

I really like the look of that wood on the wall. I probably won’t get to finish the room the stove is in till next summer and not sure what to put on the wall. I have a bunch of live edge fir I’m going to do an accent wall with but was thinking of a rock type tile behind but that looks really good

Thank you. It was easy to work with. Remember to paint the wall a dark color so gaps aren't seen...

 

[BKVP]

I had to tap out on building a fire. Way too warm inside after soup and trying to get the last of those press logs to die. I took some pics of the chimney, looked ok, had a couple of weird paper like pieces in the bottom of the tee. Never put any paper in the stove so no idea what formed them.

Looks like you know how to run it! That ultra thin paper stuff has occurred in more than one chimney!

 

[jetsam]

Taking a poll... I don't remember anyone asking about this in years past.

Has anyone ever had a small explosion in their BK? They used to be common if you screwed up your air on a new load (in a stove with no reburn system, just close down the air until the flame dies, firebox fills with wood gas, and the first flame ignites it some time later... often when you crack the door to see how the fire is doing!)

I'm guessing that you'd really have to work to get this effect in a BK, because you need the cat to be either disengaged or too cold to work- or sustained draft reversal, maybe.

Never had it on this stove, had plenty with stoves of the past. How about y'all?

 

[Diabel]

None with the Princess. Many, many with the VC.

 

[kennyp2339]

@jetsam, never an explosion here, I have found that fine line of no flames in the fire box, well active cat and a fuel rich chamber that has resulted in a mini explosion of flames for a period of once every 30 sec for five min straight, thought that was interesting, no smoke seepage or anything like that.

 

[Nealm66]

@jetsam, never an explosion here, I have found that fine line of no flames in the fire box, well active cat and a fuel rich chamber that has resulted in a mini explosion of flames for a period of once every 30 sec for five min straight, thought that was interesting, no smoke seepage or anything like that.

Santa’s little elves probably thought the fire was out

 

[Nealm66]

I’m probably going to regret but I went ahead and built a fire with 3 home fire logs. I have today and tomorrow off so my curiosity got the best of me. Supposed to be 55 degrees today and these things burn hot. I have the thermostat at the bottom of the swoosh but there’s room to go down further. I’m going to use the temp gauge to help with adjusting. The website says these will burn 12 hours in an airtight stove. I used a couple pieces of fir and a pitch stick to get them going. It will be interesting for me , maybe also for someone buying cordwood as they might be more convenient and not much more in cost

 

[Nealm66]

Trying this setting for now to bring the house to 72

 

[jetsam]

@jetsam, never an explosion here, I have found that fine line of no flames in the fire box, well active cat and a fuel rich chamber that has resulted in a mini explosion of flames for a period of once every 30 sec for five min straight, thought that was interesting, no smoke seepage or anything like that.

We're talking a fireshow, not a bang and not firebox air coming back into the room, yes?

 

[begreen]

Taking a poll... I don't remember anyone asking about this in years past.

Has anyone ever had a small explosion in their BK? They used to be common if you screwed up your air on a new load (in a stove with no reburn system, just close down the air until the flame dies, firebox fills with wood gas, and the first flame ignites it some time later... often when you crack the door to see how the fire is doing!)

I'm guessing that you'd really have to work to get this effect in a BK, because you need the cat to be either disengaged or too cold to work- or sustained draft reversal, maybe.

Never had it on this stove, had plenty with stoves of the past. How about y'all?

A backpuff is more likely to happen in downdraft stoves, but can happen in any stove with the right conditions of a smoldering fire that suddenly reignites a stove full of wood gases. This is more common with poorly seasoned wood when the air is shut down too soon. I had a hellacious backpuff in the Castine when trying to burn some maple that had gotten wet. It was my fault and a good lesson learned. This is when you are glad that the stove pipe is properly secured and with screws at every joint.

 

[Nealm66]

Question regarding that. I didn’t see any pre drilled holes in the adapter that fits onto the stove collar. After you saying that, it must be necessary to use self tapping screws? And do they need to somehow go into the pre drilled holes in the collar? And if so, what size? I have the duravent dvl

 

[Nealm66]

Here is what it looks like

 

[Highbeam]

@jetsam, never an explosion here, I have found that fine line of no flames in the fire box, well active cat and a fuel rich chamber that has resulted in a mini explosion of flames for a period of once every 30 sec for five min straight, thought that was interesting, no smoke seepage or anything like that.

I get this every few weeks in the colder part of the winter. Usually when the thermostat decides that the stove should be warmer and the fuel load moves from sleepy coals to an active flame. Some people might call it an explosion or a burst of flames or a puff but I do get it and it certainly it must make a puff out the chimney but no smoke in the house. Looks really cool. Totally silent. Even the wife notices the cool looking burst of fire.

 

[Highbeam]

Question regarding that. I didn’t see any pre drilled holes in the adapter that fits onto the stove collar. After you saying that, it must be necessary to use self tapping screws? And do they need to somehow go into the pre drilled holes in the collar? And if so, what size? I have the duravent dvl

Mine looks just like yours and passed inspection. Same brand pipe too.

It is possible to carefully measure and then later find those stove collar screw holes with screws drilled blind from the outer shell. If you choose to do this be careful not to tighten the screws which would squash that outer double wall.

If the professional installer didn’t do this then why? Maybe call him back if you decide it’s a needed thing.

 

[kennyp2339]

@Highbeam @jetsam A few years back we learned the hard way on a new years eve at my parents house once, my father had just red coals on his country stove insert (epa tube reburn), he threw in one of those balsam wood clementine crates in the stove, normally the wood is thin enough that it flames up within a minute on cherry red coals, this crate did not, it sat for about 5min then went boom, like the stove literally lurched or came up off the hearth (450 lbs of Pacific northwest steel) luckily the door glass didn't bust out, left a light smoky haze in the room. Now that was an explosion, my mother was upstairs when it happened, she wasnt even down the last step of there two story colonial when she ran out of specific vocab words towards my dad. Its a good laugh every once in a while.

 

[ratsrepus]

I cant see a way to adjust the door on my ashford. any advice will be appreciated, cause I sure cant see a way to do it

 

[ratsrepus]

I got 4 or 5 from the oem door gasket. New factory brand gasket is still tight after 3 years with no adjustments.

I’m in my 9th year on the original bypass gasket. This one is less important and harder to replace. You’ll need to have the cat out to do it and special glue.

thanks, right now Im have a hollatacker with the door on the ashford

 

[rdust]

I get this every few weeks in the colder part of the winter. Usually when the thermostat decides that the stove should be warmer and the fuel load moves from sleepy coals to an active flame. Some people might call it an explosion or a burst of flames or a puff but I do get it and it certainly it must make a puff out the chimney but no smoke in the house. Looks really cool. Totally silent. Even the wife notices the cool looking burst of fire.

Thanks for typing my response, saved me a lot of time.

 

[Holiday]

I cant see a way to adjust the door on my ashford. any advice will be appreciated, cause I sure cant see a way to do it

Take the top off.
Pull bypass lever off.
Lift side panel off.
Two nuts to loosen and adjust. Make a mark to give a reference before moving it.