2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[BKVP]

Most businesses stack pallets and give them away free. Take your saw and rip along all the 2 x4's until you have a big pile of flat blanks. Avoid nails.

Then stack them haphazardly inside the stove on a hot coal bed. They should get burning pretty hot, quickly.

Then slowly, incrementally, turn down the thermostat until you find that point where the fire will not sustain.

We have some new folks in our staff, so in training they are reminded, "you can only burn as low as your chimney and fuel will allow".

If you have visually inspected your combustor, made certain it is clear, stack is clear, thermostat knob is working (thanks @Highbeam) and fuel is below 20%, then you have found how low you can operate the stove given your draft and fuel.

For purposes of reference, imagine a clock face. Few setups allow for burning with whiteline set at less than 3 o'clock.

BKVP

 

[Holiday]

I purchased a blaze king princess in June. We started using the stove in November. First burn was great 18 hours on low and still have good coals. But since then if the thermostat is set below 1/2 the stove goes inactive.

I have the ashford which isn't the princess but that sounds somewhat normal to me. In my case my low setting is just barely below half or say just under 3 o'clock on the thermostat dial.

 

[kennyp2339]

When the stove shop that installed the stove came back out they did check the wood we are burning and said it was definitely well seasoned. The wood we are burning is from some dead trees we took down in late 2019.

So its best after purchasing a moisture meter (big box hardware store <$35) to take a room temp split, re-split it then push the prongs of the meter into the fresh split face, you want to be in the ball park of below 20% moisture, ideally I shoot for 16% on average here, and in my case for oak to get down that far I have to split and leave it stacked for +2yrs in a covered location (my woodshed)
The great thing about burning dry wood in these stoves is the reduced wood consumption, when I first started burning (different stove then now) I was between 5 and 6 cords annually for 3 seasons, I bought the BK princess and notice a drop to about 4 cords the first year with the stove, thats burning from the end of October to almost the end of April, the following seasons were even better because I got into the rhythm of getting ahead on my wood supply and building a permanent woodshed, now I'm down to about 3, 3 1/2 cords for the same time frame and a warm house.

 

[Kmyres]

What’s your elevation? 15’ is the minimum height for the chimney (measured from the collar on the stove), but that’s at sea level. You might still be 1-2’ short on chimney for minimum draft if you are at higher elevations, and adding another 3-4’ might be worthwhile.

To meet code we had to go at least 8’8” above the roof penetration (8/12 pitch, more than 10’ from the peak). As a result my chimney is right about 18’, perfectly straight. I’m only about 150’ above sea level. I get a nice, decently strong draft even when it’s 55F outside.

We are at 305’ above sea level. The roof is a flat roof and the top of the chimney is 10’ above the tallest point. Thanks for the suggestion I will get another section of pipe ordered and try that.

 

[Kmyres]

So its best after purchasing a moisture meter (big box hardware store <$35) to take a room temp split, re-split it then push the prongs of the meter into the fresh split face, you want to be in the ball park of below 20% moisture, ideally I shoot for 16% on average here, and in my case for oak to get down that far I have to split and leave it stacked for +2yrs in a covered location (my woodshed)
The great thing about burning dry wood in these stoves is the reduced wood consumption, when I first started burning (different stove then now) I was between 5 and 6 cords annually for 3 seasons, I bought the BK princess and notice a drop to about 4 cords the first year with the stove, thats burning from the end of October to almost the end of April, the following seasons were even better because I got into the rhythm of getting ahead on my wood supply and building a permanent woodshed, now I'm down to about 3, 3 1/2 cords for the same time frame and a warm house.

Thank You! while I’m at work today I will send my son to see if one of the home improvement stores in the next town has a meter if not I will order one on Amazon. I appreciate the info. If I had know about the meter to check the wood it would have helped from the beginning

 

[stoveliker]

For purposes of reference, imagine a clock face. Few setups allow for burning with whiteline set at less than 3 o'clock.

BKVP

Wow, even though while I'm burning now (*when* I'm burning now, given my as of yet limited supply of dry enough wood I'm only burning when the outside temp is not higher than 35 F for more than a few hrs during the day ) I'm running near 3.30 to get a bit more heat out, my first trials I was able to get to 1.30 pm on the Tstat. With a 90 degree elbow and a 2+ ft horizontal run. Guess a 27' tall flue really helps

Good to know though.

 

[kennyp2339]

Good to know though.

Well to put things into perspective, I have a 18ft chimney, straight up from the stove w/ 2 pipe dampers (1 always closed) the other for windy days and I keep my T-stat set a 2am for dead of winter burns, 1am for shoulder season burns.

 

[BKVP]

Wow, even though while I'm burning now (*when* I'm burning now, given my as of yet limited supply of dry enough wood I'm only burning when the outside temp is not higher than 35 F for more than a few hrs during the day ) I'm running near 3.30 to get a bit more heat out, my first trials I was able to get to 1.30 pm on the Tstat. With a 90 degree elbow and a 2+ ft horizontal run. Guess a 27' tall flue really helps

Good to know though.

P.M. versus A.M.?

 

[kennyp2339]

P.M. versus A.M.?

Yea things tend to get out of control on the pm side lol

 

[Nealm66]

I’m still a little unsure what time it is. So, the beginning of my swoosh is about straight up and the max temp on swoosh is straight down. I can run mine at the beginning of the swoosh or the max. I haven’t checked to see how far below the beginning of the swoosh it will spin but I suspect I could go below without stahl when I’m burning really dry fir. How does the clock work again? Sorry, probably tells somewhere on here but lots to dig through to find I’m guessing

 

[AndrewU]

How does the clock work again?

It orange.
Sorry, bad joke. Anyway, I’ve found I can keep the cat active for quite a long time, pretty much until the coaling stage, with the dial at noon (so low end of the swoosh). That’s with either dry alder or NIELs.

 

[Nealm66]

It orange.
Sorry, bad joke. Anyway, I’ve found I can keep the cat active for quite a long time, pretty much until the coaling stage, with the dial at noon (so low end of the swoosh). That’s with either dry alder or NIELs.

Ok, that makes sense. So noon is the straight up low end of the swoosh. I will probably try to go below noon at some point, on a mild weekend to keep an eye on it. Thanks

 

[Diabel]

24’ chimney with 2 45s and 2 (jogs to bypass a window) 30s. The lowest on the dial I can go is 1:30 - 2:00pm. That is the sweet spot for 24h burn. On reloads I will get some smoke spillage if I am not careful. I cannot ask for more from this stove.

 

[stoveliker]

P.M. versus A.M.?

Lol. I'm happy enough with the stove without having to go to stories claiming the stove creates energy from nothing (or even negative numbers).

I have not stalled the cat yet so I am not yet sure where my minimum is - above or below 12 o'clock...

I guess anything less than 1 pm (minimum swoosh) just equates to riding the hole?

 

[Kmyres]

Thank You! while I’m at work today I will send my son to see if one of the home improvement stores in the next town has a meter if not I will order one on Amazon. I appreciate the info. If I had know about the meter to check the wood it would have helped from the beginning

Purchased a meter this morning it shows 15.7 on a freshly split room temp piece

 

[Alpine1]

Lol. I'm happy enough with the stove without having to go to stories claiming the stove creates energy from nothing (or even negative numbers).

I have not stalled the cat yet so I am not yet sure where my minimum is - above or below 12 o'clock...

I guess anything less than 1 pm (minimum swoosh) just equates to riding the hole?

I’d say anything less than 12 equals “riding the hole”. You can go well less than 12 o’clock on my stove (something I cannot do because of my short chimney).
I get 24/26 hours of active cat with the t-stat exactly at 3 o’clock (or perfectly horizontal, if you want)

 

[SuperJ]

I purchased a blaze king princess in June. We started using the stove in November. First burn was great 18 hours on low and still have good coals. But since then if the thermostat is set below 1/2 the stove goes inactive. Contacted where I purchased ( they also installed the stove) they said not enough draft they had me purchase another 3 feet if chimney pipe. We now have 15 ft of pipe and stove still goes out it thermostat is below 50%. Now they are saying we need an external piece to increase air flow. Anyone who can help. I’m not getting anywhere with them and I really want to get this stove working correctly

The only time my thermostat goes below half is if I have an established fire with lots of fuel and an active cat. Even then below half would only be for the first half of the burn. You'll learn to find a position, probably just a hair past half that will give you a complete burn (no unburnt fuel) without touching it for 24+ hours.

Initially I did the same as you, I heard about the long BK burntimes and assumed I had to turn the stat almost to minimum to achieve them. But I was wrong. Once it's hot and established I turn the stat down until I hear a clink (about half), this means that if it cools off much it will start opening again. If you turn it down way past the clink you've made it so the stat won't open in time. On the flip side if you have a raging fire going you may find that it clinks much closer to the 100% setting. I pretty much set my stat based on indoor/outdoor conditions, and rarely have to touch it. Only time it's different is if I have load of subpar high moisture wood, or a partial load. If it's not as full I find I have to turn it higher. Probably something to do with the reduced surface area of the fuel to pyrolyze (if that's a word).

Anyways, don't think that you have a problem if you can't burn below halfway (3pm). Make small adjustments and wait and you'll find the sweet spot of a long burn. All this talk makes it sound much more complicated than it actually is.

 

[Kmyres]

The only time my thermostat goes below half is if I have an established fire with lots of fuel and an active cat. Even then below half would only be for the first half of the burn. You'll learn to find a position, probably just a hair past half that will give you a complete burn (no unburnt fuel) without touching it for 24+ hours.

Initially I did the same as you, I heard about the long BK burntimes and assumed I had to turn the stat almost to minimum to achieve them. But I was wrong. Once it's hot and established I turn the stat down until I hear a clink (about half), this means that if it cools off much it will start opening again. If you turn it down way past the clink you've made it so the stat won't open in time. On the flip side if you have a raging fire going you may find that it clinks much closer to the 100% setting. I pretty much set my stat based on indoor/outdoor conditions, and rarely have to touch it. Only time it's different is if I have load of subpar high moisture wood, or a partial load. If it's not as full I find I have to turn it higher. Probably something to do with the reduced surface area of the fuel to pyrolyze (if that's a word).

Anyways, don't think that you have a problem if you can't burn below halfway (3pm). Make small adjustments and wait and you'll find the sweet spot of a long burn. All this talk makes it sound much more complicated than it actually is.

Thank You, at the half way mark the stove will burn about 6 hours before becoming inactive. Anything lower than 1/2 way and the stove becomes inactive with in 2 hours.

 

[Nealm66]

Clink settings are for advanced personal

 

[Highbeam]

On a cold stove, turn the thermostat CCW until you hear the throttle blade clink closed against the throttle body. Note the direction that you’re knob is pointed. This setting and lower will always result in a defeated thermostat as you are always riding the hole with a closed throttle since any heat in the stove will only act to close it harder. On my princess that’s about 1-2 o’clock.

Every possible bit of thermostatic control will occur between that cold close setting and 6 o’clock which is full CW hot.

Now many of us can not run at full cold without a cat stall so we need to find that installation and fuel specific minimum clean setting for our stove.

I’ve got to tell you, very large splits of very dry fir fuel make for a very long smooth burn when your cat is still fresh. We’re doing 24 hour cycles with no kindling on silly softwood in a princess?

 

[SuperJ]

Thank You, at the half way mark the stove will burn about 6 hours before becoming inactive. Anything lower than 1/2 way and the stove becomes inactive with in 2 hours.

Does it burn all the wood before becoming inactive when open more than half? If it doesn't then turn it up a bit more.
If it's burning up all the wood in 2-6 hours, the stove must be incredibly hot... to the point of scary.

 

[Nealm66]

Looks like we’re finally going to get a week or so of cold weather, so excited! Ha ha! It’s like the sweet spot for my reload/work schedule. Been struggling with the warmer days. Did help to put less wood in for the night load. Definitely still learning, came home a couple times to 74-75 which isn’t great sleeping temp. 28 last night, put some random chunks in this am and cranked it, gobbled them right up and toasty 72-73 in about 2 hours. Definitely cleaned the glass. Love having the control

 

[Diabel]

Purchased a meter this morning it shows 15.7 on a freshly split room temp piece

It does not sound correct.

 

[Kmyres]

It does not sound correct.

It was suggested to purchase a meter and check the moisture in the wood I’m burning. This is not freshly cut wood. This is what we have cut and split last year. I did split some of the pieces again as suggested to check the moisture content

 

[Kmyres]

Does it burn all the wood before becoming inactive when open more than half? If it doesn't then turn it up a bit more.
If it's burning up all the wood in 2-6 hours, the stove must be incredibly hot... to the point of scary.
[/QUOTE when burning at about 3:00 it burns down to red coals in 4-6 hours. At 2-230 the stove becomes inactive in 2-3 hours and no it does not burn all of the wood at the 2:00 setting it goes out completely before it can burn the wood completely