2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[Highbeam]

Hello everyone - I can into a problem yesterday that I’m hoping you can help with. I noticed my Ashford 30.0 wasn’t running well once I closed my bypass. I let the stove cool, removed the cat, and it was about 80% clogged. I carefully vacuumed the cat, installed a new gasket, and put the cat back in place. I loaded and lit the stove, and everything seemed fine until I tried to close the bypass. The bypass would close, but would not cam over. I’ve never had this issue in the 5 years I’ve owned the stove.

I let the stove cool again, and removed the cat a second time (I have plenty of gasket material). Everything looks good around the cat. I thought the metal side shield was blocking the damper, but that is not the case. The camper does close against the gasket, but something seems to be blocking it.

Thoughts on what could be causing this? It’s killing me not running the stove today when it’s 9 degrees out. Thanks in advance.

I’ve had to adjust the bypass tension several times over the years. That’s what the nut and bolt is for on the bypass plate. The symptom is that the click/cam feeling becomes faint to nonexistent.

Even if you can’t lock down the bypass with a healthy click, you can still run the stove. Most brands of cat stove have no such cam/click/clamp feature.

Run it.

Bummer about your clogged cat. Those metal cats seem to do that a lot.

 

[Highbeam]

There were supposedly bypass retainer clips that could be damaged.

1) I'm not sure that's still true on newer stoves (@BKVP ? )

2) I've accidentally run an entire load on high with the bypass open and my bypass still operated normally after. YMMV, but the only way I could have run that load hotter would have been to crack the door.

It’s the bypass gasket retainers that are mild steel and welded to the cat chamber. Those puppies can melt.

Close the bypass when exhaust temps support an active catalyst. Even if your cat is worn out and dead, close the bypass. Treat those gasket retainers nicely for maximum happiness.

 

[john26]

Does anyone have experience with a bk on a 30' chimney with a 6" liner?

 

[stoveliker]

Some ash uglies and bits and pieces. Only secondaries, cat at 75% of active range.

 

[stoveliker]

Does anyone have experience with a bk on a 30' chimney with a 6" liner?

Chinook 30.2 here, 27 ft, double (thick) wall liner in outside masonry chimney. But you have to "take off" a ~2 ft horizontal section (and two associated 90s) off.

 

[kennyp2339]

Does anyone have experience with a bk on a 30' chimney with a 6" liner?

Which model and is the liner insulated?

 

[john26]

Mostly interested in the Ashford 25 possibly a Princess yes the liner is insulated

Which model and is the liner insulated?

Mostly interested in the Ashford 25 possibly a Princess yes the liner is insulated

 

[Raoul]

Mostly interested in the Ashford 25 possibly a Princess yes the liner is insulated

Mostly interested in the Ashford 25 possibly a Princess yes the liner is insulated

I’ve got an Ashford insert in a 25’ chimney.

 

[john26]

I’ve got an Ashford insert in a 25’ chimney.

How does it run? Has the cat held up?

 

[stoveliker]

Mostly interested in the Ashford 25 possibly a Princess yes the liner is insulated

Mostly interested in the Ashford 25 possibly a Princess yes the liner is insulated

Then your chimney should be fine (not have too little draft) if you're not far above sea level, and if you don't have a horizontal run (and even if you have those, you *may* be fine).
And if you're worried about too much draft: the relatively easy solution is to install a key damper - but I'd only do that if operation shows it's needed.

Talk to a dealer and or a good (!) chimney expert (not your average neighborhood sweep), and download the installation instructions before doing so, so you have the data available, and you can point out where your concerns are with respect to the requirements as listed in the installation instructions.

 

[john26]

Sorry I should have clarified it would be an insert pretty much straight up and not really anyway to install a key damper. I have Lopi freedom in there it seems to overdraft I am struggling to get 6 hours out of it, looking for a possible replacement

 

[stoveliker]

Sorry I should have clarified it would be an insert pretty much straight up and not really anyway to install a key damper. I have Lopi freedom in there it seems to overdraft I am struggling to get 6 hours out of it, looking for a possible replacement

Is there a way to measure the draft?

 

[kennyp2339]

While you have the lopi test your draft, then think about either hiring a tech to install a key damper - can be done, or reduce your liner size to slow your draft down.

 

[Raoul]

How does it run? Has the cat held up?

I believe this is my second year.

The cat: still gets super bright so I would say it’s good. I vacuumed it once.

Use: maybe 2 cords year. I’ve got ductless and cheap natural gas. Everyone prefers the stove.

Liner: uninsulated. Long story. Had sweep come clean it this summer. Said very little buildup at all

burn time: reload on coals after 6-8 hours is typical. I hope to improve this with more uniform splits so I can Tetris better.

heat: awesome

Cons: smoke smell at low low setting ( unusable), won’t run as long a the freestanders, local dealer who I did not purchase from

pros: it’s beautiful in the chestnut enamel, heats well, the users of this forum and bkvp

if you look at my post history you might find something useful. So I don’t spam this thread too much.

 

[john26]

While you have the lopi test your draft, then think about either hiring a tech to install a key damper - can be done, or reduce your liner size to slow your draft down.

I want to measure draft with the Lopi but not exactly sure where to take the reading. I have an appliance adapter connected to heavy wall liner the liner starts curving back pretty quick not sure I can get a damper in there.

 

[begreen]

I want to measure draft with the Lopi but not exactly sure where to take the reading. I have an appliance adapter connected to heavy wall liner the liner starts curving back pretty quick not sure I can get a damper in there.

It would take drilling a hole in the appliance adapter I think to accommodate the test probe. This could be filled with a screw afterward.

 

[Poindexter]

Hello everyone - I can into a problem yesterday that I’m hoping you can help with. I noticed my Ashford 30.0 wasn’t running well once I closed my bypass. I let the stove cool, removed the cat, and it was about 80% clogged. I carefully vacuumed the cat, installed a new gasket, and put the cat back in place. I loaded and lit the stove, and everything seemed fine until I tried to close the bypass. The bypass would close, but would not cam over. I’ve never had this issue in the 5 years I’ve owned the stove.

I let the stove cool again, and removed the cat a second time (I have plenty of gasket material). Everything looks good around the cat. I thought the metal side shield was blocking the damper, but that is not the case. The camper does close against the gasket, but something seems to be blocking it.

Thoughts on what could be causing this? It’s killing me not running the stove today when it’s 9 degrees out. Thanks in advance.

When did you last replace the combustor? How many cords ago? I have a 30.0 here also, the 30.1 was around a while and now BK is shipping 30.2.

You don't have to pull the cat to vacuum it.

Next time the stove is cold lift the pipe to see if you have a chunk of crud on the bypass gasket. I have an inexpensive paintbrush I keep with the chimney brush so I can broom off the bypass gasket everytime I clean the pipe.

The metal side shields by the cat are part of the mechanism that holds the bypass door in place.

The bolt in the bypass door spring that adjusts the cam over pressure is a, well it is a word you can't use on this website. Stubborn I can say, it is a stubborn bolt. If the gasket is clean and you try to force the bolt you will shear it off ( dont ask me how I know this). After you shear off the bolt from not using penetrating oil and being patient the first time around, the next step is to wiggle the bypass door out the chimney collar (it is in the manual), then heat the sheared bolt and surrounding bit to dull red with a blow torch and let that air cool for at least 12 hours. Now it is annealed so you can drill the old bolt out and tap the hole for a bigger thread. Don't worry about tempering it after tapping, it sees enough heat cycles to temper its self.

 

[BKVP]

When did you last replace the combustor? How many cords ago? I have a 30.0 here also, the 30.1 was around a while and now BK is shipping 30.2.

You don't have to pull the cat to vacuum it.

Next time the stove is cold lift the pipe to see if you have a chunk of crud on the bypass gasket. I have an inexpensive paintbrush I keep with the chimney brush so I can broom off the bypass gasket everytime I clean the pipe.

The metal side shields by the cat are part of the mechanism that holds the bypass door in place.

The bolt in the bypass door spring that adjusts the cam over pressure is a, well it is a word you can't use on this website. Stubborn I can say, it is a stubborn bolt. If the gasket is clean and you try to force the bolt you will shear it off ( dont ask me how I know this). After you shear off the bolt from not using penetrating oil and being patient the first time around, the next step is to wiggle the bypass door out the chimney collar (it is in the manual), then heat the sheared bolt and surrounding bit to dull red with a blow torch and let that air cool for at least 12 hours. Now it is annealed so you can drill the old bolt out and tap the hole for a bigger thread. Don't worry about tempering it after tapping, it sees enough heat cycles to temper its self.

If you loosen the bolt and wipe the bolts threads with antiseize each time you clean the chimney, it can prevent what happened. Also, we suggest pulling it out the combustor opening, not the flue collar....if there is ever a need.

 

[Nealm66]

Lol, and then there’s that way

 

[Nealm66]

Well, I think I’ll just let the fire go out today and clean the chimney. House doesn’t want to fall below 72.5 in this weather. Might be all that concrete flooring slowly releasing stored heat, I don’t know but I only put a few pieces in last night and I have a feeling it’s going to be a door opening event getting them to disappear.

 

[Holiday]

Bummer about your clogged cat. Those metal cats seem to do that a lot.

Must be some contributing factors if that's the case, such as draft or rate of burn maybe as I've never had that problem in almost 2 years.
But I have minimum chimney requirement and burn relatively low for the most part. Vacuumed it off at beginning of season just because I figured I should, looked fine.

 

[Highbeam]

Must be some contributing factors if that's the case, such as draft or rate of burn maybe as I've never had that problem in almost 2 years.
But I have minimum chimney requirement and burn relatively low for the most part. Vacuumed it off at beginning of season just because I figured I should, looked fine.

Good news. Not all cats clog but so many do that it needs to be part of troubleshooting process.

I burn like you, low with a short chimney. I think those factors help.

 

[stoveliker]

So, running on half a box of sassafras during the day (32 F now and a foot of snow and counting), I notice the following (while sitting in the basement near the stove to dry my pants after shoveling a second time...).

I have these orange/blue secondary flame "explosions" every 30 seconds to a minute. They appear (seeded by one whispy flame from a hollow in the wood someplace), and last for 5-10 seconds.
The cat thermometer is about 60% into the active range, Tstat is 2.30-3-ish. This is a couple of hours into this load.
The cat is orange in one spot, and it slowly brightens up when there is no flame, but when the flame explosion happens, you can visibly see it get dimmer, sometimes (if the flames last 10-15 secs) it is not visible at all anymore. Not because of the light of the secondary flames, but persisting after the flame has stopped. (I'm sure it's not my eyes - the secondary flames are rather dim, blueish too.)

I liked seeing this. It's a clear indication of the fuel it's eating: the gases from the wood. Once those burn in the box, the cat cools down. And then the cat slowly heats up when there is no flame until the box is has the right mix to burn them by itself again.
I was a bit surprised by the rapidity with which the cat cools down - but maybe it's only because I'm right at the edge of visible glowing of the cat, so a small change is quickly visible.

Sometimes I do think I hear something right at the start of the whoosh. I checked, and nothing comes out of the air inlet. But can the (Tstat controlled) flapper move when these secondaries ignite suddenly?

 

[BKVP]

So, running on half a box of sassafras during the day (32 F now and a foot of snow and counting), I notice the following (while sitting in the basement near the stove to dry my pants after shoveling a second time...).

I have these orange/blue secondary flame "explosions" every 30 seconds to a minute. They appear (seeded by one whispy flame from a hollow in the wood someplace), and last for 5-10 seconds.
The cat thermometer is about 60% into the active range, Tstat is 2.30-3-ish. This is a couple of hours into this load.
The cat is orange in one spot, and it slowly brightens up when there is no flame, but when the flame explosion happens, you can visibly see it get dimmer, sometimes (if the flames last 10-15 secs) it is not visible at all anymore. Not because of the light of the secondary flames, but persisting after the flame has stopped. (I'm sure it's not my eyes - the secondary flames are rather dim, blueish too.)

I liked seeing this. It's a clear indication of the fuel it's eating: the gases from the wood. Once those burn in the box, the cat cools down. And then the cat slowly heats up when there is no flame until the box is has the right mix to burn them by itself again.
I was a bit surprised by the rapidity with which the cat cools down - but maybe it's only because I'm right at the edge of visible glowing of the cat, so a small change is quickly visible.

Sometimes I do think I hear something right at the start of the whoosh. I checked, and nothing comes out of the air inlet. But can the (Tstat controlled) flapper move when these secondaries ignite suddenly?

No and hire some kid to shovel the snow. Then you can stimulate the economy and just chill in front of the fire!

 

[stoveliker]

No and hire some kid to shovel the snow. Then you can stimulate the economy and just chill in front of the fire!

Okay, thanks. Coincidental noises then.

I'm stimulating my physique instead, so I feel better when sitting in front of the [black box with an occasional northern light display].