2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[NorthernLight]

Outside dimensions of the square crates are 32.5" and 34" Two for level on top and 5 gal bucket for reference. The pedestals aren't on but I measured and the height is pretty close.

I never looked at these side by side, the Princess looks cute. It will tuck into that corner behind it without overwhelming the area. The King is set for an open area where the size won't dominate the surroundings.




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That’s so helpful. Thanks! The king is a beast

 

[rdust]

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Looks like the King could almost eat the Princess.

 

[patrickoneal]

That'll work, if your garage is 60 (65) F or higher. If it is like mine (barely reaching 50), it might still be off by a bit.

My 80% efficient gas boiler lives out there, so it stays reasonably warm if I'm not burning wood.

 

[AndrewU]

I finished burning two year old cherry last year and it was excellent. This is one year old pecan and not so great(or the cat is failing, or both). I've got a wagon full of wood inside my garage, and I'll test a piece if I can put my hands on the moisture meter. Thank you for the advice.

Pecan is going to take about as long as oak to dry properly. 1 year is not likely enough. I’m betting your wood is still too wet.

 

[stoveliker]

Looks like the King could almost eat the Princess.

Stove cannibalism...

 

[patrickoneal]

You say "if a lot of water boils out". My mode is that if ANY wet spot (let alone bubbling) appears on the cut ends of the splits then they are not dry enough. Long Iive N/S loading - allows to view this...

I have the same moisture meter and it works well; below 18% and zero wet spots appear. 20% and an occasional 1/4-1/2" spot appears. Bubbling utterly disqualifies wood for a BK, imHo.
Measure after the split has been in the home for 24 hrs minimum to get to room temp, or you'll measure a lower mc value than is actually in the wood.

One year of seasoning may work for pine, cherry, but most others won't be good enough.

I found where I left my moisture meter and got out my Fiskars. I tested 4 pieces that were straight enough to re-split easily and read between 16% and 24% moisture content. So some of it is definitely still too moist.

Does burning this stuff damage the catalyst? The stove used to cruise in the active zone easily. I would expect the same, even with slightly moist wood after all the water is boiled off, but that isn't happening.

Edit: I've added a photograph of the cat. A few of the cells appear to be damaged or collapsed.

 

[stoveliker]

I found where I left my moisture meter and got out my Fiskars. I tested 4 pieces that were straight enough to re-split easily and read between 16% and 24% moisture content. So some of it is definitely still too moist.

Does burning this stuff damage the catalyst? The stove used to cruise in the active zone easily. I would expect the same, even with slightly moist wood after all the water is boiled off, but that isn't happening.

I don't think it damages the catalyst - UNLESS you engage it before it is up to proper temperature. That would result in clogging it with creosote. I'm not sure whether it is possible to get that out - if yes, it's not a damaged cat, but a cat in need of cleaning. Others here will surely chime in.

Note that if you burn wetter wood, the heat available to heat your cat to active temps will be less (b/c quite a bit will need to be used to evaporate the water). Therefore, if you have a routine ("burn on full for X minutes, and then engage the cat") that might not be sufficient. I.e. read the cat temp gauge as that won't be affected by the water but just read the temp (and tell you it'll take longer for the cat to get up to active temp).

So maybe your cat is partially covered in creosote - i.e. a part of it is not functioning as it should, not generating as much heat initially to help light it up (the initial heating is an avalanche in that it heats it up from hot gases, gets some active parts with local heat production, that heat up more parts leading to more heat production etc).

 

[Highbeam]

So I was looking at wood boilers because they're pretty cool and making huge leaps in technology. I noticed that one, crown royal (nice name), uses "siliconized fiberglass rope gaskets" that look like a regular gasket but black like a snake due to all of the RTV. The application was a knife edge seal like our BKs use. My current gasket's fibers are starting to fray and while the seal is nice and tight now I hate to think about replacement. It's a chore. Do you think this technology of soaking the gasket in RTV will make it to our BKs?

They know door gaskets are a problem and have already begun making them in circles with no butt joint to leak. The door seal is so important on our stoves.

 

[Nealm66]

So I have determined my princess likes temps between 30-40 for a perfect 70ish cruise. Currently at a nice black screen cruise setting but outside temp is 47 and inside temp is 74. Making me sleepy

 

[Highbeam]

So I have determined my princess likes temps between 30-40 for a perfect 70ish cruise. Currently at a nice black screen cruise setting but outside temp is 47 and inside temp is 74. Making me sleepy

Our recent warmup has been a real struggle. Hot sleepless nights or cold mornings. Not cold enough for full loads. Ugh. I’ve chosen cold (68) mornings and a lively morning fire.

 

[kennyp2339]

I’ve chosen cold (68) mornings

Your a monster

 

[Nealm66]

It isn’t too bad yet. I’ve been reloading pretty light for perfect reload schedule. Definitely sipping wood. I haven’t ran any other heat since I installed it. Getting some ductless heat pumps installed this summer ( my eBay pioneer model died) and might run them in the warmer weather. My princess did some pretty weird unexplainable stuff this last cold spell. Like 30’s outside, 73 inside and barely burning any wood. I’m suspecting maybe there just wasn’t any wind or something. Did some serious head scratching a couple mornings when we had the snow and I had to leave for work and a princess that barely touched it’s dinner

 

[stoveliker]

Our recent warmup has been a real struggle. Hot sleepless nights or cold mornings. Not cold enough for full loads. Ugh. I’ve chosen cold (68) mornings and a lively morning fire.

That's minisplit time. The stove here died after running through last night's sassafras load. I lost usable heat around 3.30 when it was already 40 F (and raining... ) outside. The good thing is that I got scared twice when the snow deck of the 2nd story solar panels came crashing down on the little strips of roof of the first story. Finally making some kWhs to use when the stove is cold and lonely....

 

[Highbeam]

That's minisplit time. The stove here died after running through last night's sassafras load. I lost usable heat around 3.30 when it was already 40 F (and raining... ) outside. The good thing is that I got scared twice when the snow deck of the 2nd story solar panels came crashing down on the little strips of roof of the first story. Finally making some kWhs to use when the stove is cold and lonely....

I’ve been campaigning for a mini split or two but the family thinks they would look dumb in our small home and since we heat with wood it’s not like there’s money to be saved.

Emergency heat is electric wall heaters. Those work just fine they say.

 

[Nealm66]

The ac is nice. I could see my wife turning the ac on to cool the house down when the princess is pumping out too much heat lol. Just kidding

 

[NorthernLight]

Question about fresh air hose install, in the manual, there’s a section in huge bold letters warning that “under no circumstances should the fresh air tube ever be installed higher than the bottom of the appliance floor”

Our installer punched the hole in our wall about 18 inches up from the floor, which puts the exterior opening well above the bottom of the stove. Is this a problem?

 

[stoveliker]

Question about fresh air hose install, in the manual, there’s a section in huge bold letters warning that “under no circumstances should the fresh air tube ever be installed higher than the bottom of the appliance floor”

Our installer punched the hole in our wall about 18 inches up from the floor, which puts the exterior opening well above the bottom of the stove. Is this a problem?

It could become a problem; the risk is that any tube going up will at some point (weather, wind, ...) start to function as a chimney - which would likely lead to fire. That has happened and has resulted in these requirements. I would contact your installer and ask him to correct the erroneous install...

 

[Tron]

That's the reason I can't have an outside air supply. The stove is right in the middle of the home. And while I could easily draw fresh air from the attic above, as said, that's not a good idea. So I have to resort to opening a window when I want to run the range vent...

 

[Highbeam]

Question about fresh air hose install, in the manual, there’s a section in huge bold letters warning that “under no circumstances should the fresh air tube ever be installed higher than the bottom of the appliance floor”

Our installer punched the hole in our wall about 18 inches up from the floor, which puts the exterior opening well above the bottom of the stove. Is this a problem?

Yes, this is a problem. Unsafe and prohibited by the owner's manual which makes this installation illegal. Liability is on him and you if you sell the home for future injury and death. Not cool.

Outside air is great, he just screwed up. Hope the patched hole is good looking.

 

[MDP]

Anyone know where I can get the high density door gasket for a king in British Columbia Canada?? All the local stores here just kind of stare at me with a dumb look and try to sell me regular old door gasket telling me it’s the same stuff.
thanks for the help!

 

[BKPrincess2011]

I have a 2011 BK Princess. When opening the bypass lately, it pulls the plate up out of the slots on the side. This makes it have a hard time opening/closing or more often now comes completely off the tracks and can't be corrected until the fire is out. It appears the problem happens where the horizontal bar (that is attached to the handle) meets the bypass door. Is there an adjustment for this that I'm not seeing?
It's clean inside there so don't think that anything is knocking it off the tracks.

 

[Highbeam]

When you replaced the cat, do you remember verifying that those thin, sharp, stainless steel brackets on the left and right hand side of the cat were properly installed?

Those little brackets are bypass plate retainers and keep that thick bypass plate from falling out of the rather robust slot.

The only adjustment is the bypass plate tension.

 

[BKPrincess2011]

I did replace the cat this season. Not sure I have those brackets in correctly. Is there a pic or link to see what that looks like?

Thanks.

 

[Highbeam]

I did replace the cat this season. Not sure I have those brackets in correctly. Is there a pic or link to see what that looks like?

Thanks.

They’re pretty small, like palm of your hand but critical to keep the bypass in its slot.

 

[BKPrincess2011]

Ok I see them. Where do I place them?