2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[BKVP]

Check the liner connection! Sweep effort may have broke loose the adapter/liner. That would result in decreased draft, noise etc.

 

[trail guy Mike]

I will open up the thermostat housing shortly when the stove has cooled. Hopefully can get it fixed before this cold weekend coming up.
The liner is well secured to the stove/adapter.

The disturbances were accompanied by a sudden flash of flame (wife reminds me) which then immediately went dark again.

 

[jetsam]

I will open up the thermostat housing shortly when the stove has cooled. Hopefully can get it fixed before this cold weekend coming up.
The liner is well secured to the stove/adapter.

The disturbances were accompanied by a sudden flash of flame (wife reminds me) which then immediately went dark again.

For what it's worth, I've heated the house with a PI for... 5 years? 6? Losing track.

In shoulder season, I very often have ideal conditions for small gas explosions. Hot coals, fresh dry small diameter fuel, very low air. I have never had one in this stove (possibly because I am careful to keep the cat at 400°+, and only let it drop below a few times a year).

I guess it's possible that I do have them- I don't watch the stove a lot when it's on low- but I've never heard one. I do know what it sounds like from previous stoves!

 

[BKVP]

I will open up the thermostat housing shortly when the stove has cooled. Hopefully can get it fixed before this cold weekend coming up.
The liner is well secured to the stove/adapter.

The disturbances were accompanied by a sudden flash of flame (wife reminds me) which then immediately went dark again.

How dry is your wood? If it's much below 15% you could be outgassing the combustor. Toss in some 18-24% and see if the same thing happens.

 

[trail guy Mike]

A piece of poplar similar to the 2 little pieces that were burning seems to be about 8-10% moisture. Just split, 62 F.
This is the first I've heard of 'outgassing the combustor'. I thought dry was good.

Meanwhile a 5/64" Allen wrench removes the set screw from the thermostat knob, which seems to be glued to the shaft. I'm afraid it will break if I keep prying on it.

 

[ratsrepus]

He got a new stove from another manufacturer and has a new thread about how that one is defective too. (Seriously.)

No chit. well some folks will F--K up and iron ball

 

[stoveliker]

A piece of poplar similar to the 2 little pieces that were burning seems to be about 8-10% moisture. Just split, 62 F.
This is the first I've heard of 'outgassing the combustor'. I thought dry was good.

Meanwhile a 5/64" Allen wrench removes the set screw from the thermostat knob, which seems to be glued to the shaft. I'm afraid it will break if I keep prying on it.

Dry is good. But if a dry, well-charred load is dialled down too fast, it can (initially, until it has died down more, which might take half an hour or more) produce a lot of gases as "food" for the cat. If it's more than the cat can process (i.e. you're out-gassing it by supplying too much), one could get an increasing gas concentration in the box, resulting in the fireworks mentioned.

 

[BKVP]

Question for BKVP,

I have a new BK KE40 (that I love), and I am wanting to buy a spare combustor just to have one on hand in case the covid thing blows up. I sent the following email to Midwest Hearth, and got the reply below. Do you know where to get a combustor at a reasonable price?

“ I am wanting to buy a Catalytic Combustor for my Blaze King. The one you have listed at catalytic-combustor-blaze-king-classic-parlor-ultra-5-x-10-6-x-2 has the following models listed as compatible.

King Classic KE1107BK
• King Parlor KE1107LBK
• King Ultra KE1107UBK, KEJ1100, KEJ1101, KEJ1102, KEI1300

However, mine is the new Blaze King KE 40.
Does this model fit in my new KE 40?”

Thank you for your email!
I do not have a combustor that is listed for use in the KE 40 stove.
If it is a newer stove, you may want to investigate Blaze King’s 6-year warranty on their combustors.
It should be in the back of your owner’s manual.
Kind regards,
Jason

The 1107 combustor is the same size as required for the newer 40.

 

[trail guy Mike]

Dry is good. But if a dry, well-charred load is dialled down too fast, it can (initially, until it has died down more, which might take half an hour or more) produce a lot of gases as "food" for the cat. If it's more than the cat can process (i.e. you're out-gassing it by supplying too much), one could get an increasing gas concentration in the box, resulting in the fireworks mentioned.

So it would seem. The poplar stacked along with the oak seems to have dried much faster and further.
Some WD40 dribbled into the thermostat knob set-screw-hole worked to finally allow the knob to come off, and we are running the stove with the cover off, and watching how it works. Very elegant in its simplicity. There's the plink of the flapper coming down, and everything inside seems to work just fine. Where did the "plink" go for 3 days? Can't fix it if it ain't broke.
Operating in 'whistle' mode seems about right for these mild (40's/overcast) conditions. Glad to have her going for upper-20's tonight, and thanks for all the good advice, y'all.

p.s. This Guardian article from 3 days ago discusses wood burning in Fairbanks and Blaze King specifically:

Natural but deadly: huge gaps in US rules for wood-stove smoke exposed

The government spent millions subsidizing new wood heaters supposed to burn more cleanly. But an investigation has discovered critical flaws

www.theguardian.com

 

[jetsam]

Where did the "plink" go for 3 days? Can't fix it if it ain't broke.

I have that all the time with mechanical things. Once they know that you have a screwdriver and are willing to use it, they straighten right up and sometimes never misbehave again.

 

[begreen]

p.s. This Guardian article from 3 days ago discusses wood burning in Fairbanks and Blaze King specifically:

Natural but deadly: huge gaps in US rules for wood-stove smoke exposed

The government spent millions subsidizing new wood heaters supposed to burn more cleanly. But an investigation has discovered critical flaws

www.theguardian.com

Already covered in another thread here:

Interesting Article About Smoke/EPA Certification

https://www.ktoo.org/2021/03/17/natural-but-deadly-huge-gaps-in-us-rules-for-wood-stove-smoke-exposed/ What do you guys think of this? Seems a little over the top to me. Lots of claims being made. Is that @BKVP ???

www.hearth.com

 

[jetsam]

As QUOTE="begreen, post: 2507961, member: 5"]
Already covered in another thread.
[/QUOTE]

If that's the new rule, we're going to have one to two new threads per year from now on...

 

[begreen]

If that's the new rule, we're going to have one to two new threads per year from now on...

At 78 pages I didn't see any point in adding another 4 here. Link added.

 

[jetsam]

As I promised @Highbeam... today is the day that I shut down to clean out the ashes.




Parts are still warmer than the bare hand likes.





Front face has a couple months of crud on it, only one plugged cell.



Back face looks pretty clean.



Cat gets a good rinse in tap water from both sides. A good amount of crud comes out.


Now a spraydown with 50/50 distilled vinegar and distilled water. Let sit few minutes, flip it over, spray from both sides again. Let it sit for another while.

And then a couple rinses with distilled water!



Surface of the cat looks noticeably more grey, a lot of the brown color is gone post-cleaning.

And.... the moment you've all been waiting for....


YES, an actual picture of a piece of sheet metal folded in half (sorry the short one is still in the stove, it was hot up there):





That's my current method. Seems to keep the cat happy past its expiration date (though the cat did drop out at a little under 400 stovetop last night, so there's no question that its performance is degraded).

Cat in for about 10 seconds with a blazing kindling fire:



This cat has roughly 15k hours on it at this point, and is my second cat in 6 seasons. I haven't used BK's warranty program because they told me up front that the cat is a 10k hour consumable item.


Black box mode engaged



No smoke.

 

[AndrewU]

So is that sheet metal basically just a spring that wedges each edge of the cat? Or is a clip that catches a lip?

 

[Diabel]

What stack? All I see is panels and a massive tree

 

[jetsam]

So is that sheet metal basically just a spring that wedges each edge of the cat? Or is a clip that catches a lip?

Just a spring that jams in the bottom and a short one up one side.

I originally planned to do four, one on each side, but 4 pieces of .030 sheet metal are .120" even if they are folded perfectly flat, and I was worried about thermal expansion clearances at that point. So it's just a horizontal and a vertical now.

When I retire this cat, I think I will braze the tabs to the steel case as a test run... probably have to cut the steel can open, remove the catalyst, do the brazing, and reassemble... I have a friend who has the gear to weld stainless too, so I might ask them to do it to any future cats. Brazing is no good with the cat inside the frame as you have to heat the frame up hot enough to flatten the wash coat, but I bet you could do a couple little tack welds without even cracking the can open.

 

[stoveliker]

I would be hesitant to braze, as silver has a fairly high vapor pressure (10^-5 mbar) at 1400 F. Copper is getting higher there too. You don't want to pollute your cat with other metals (hence no screws and certainly no zinc - the latter has even higher vapor pressure).

 

[Highbeam]

Just a spring that jams in the bottom and a short one up one side.

I originally planned to do four, one on each side, but 4 pieces of .030 sheet metal are .120" even if they are folded perfectly flat, and I was worried about thermal expansion clearances at that point. So it's just a horizontal and a vertical now.

When I retire this cat, I think I will braze the tabs to the steel case as a test run... probably have to cut the steel can open, remove the catalyst, do the brazing, and reassemble... I have a friend who has the gear to weld stainless too, so I might ask them to do it to any future cats. Brazing is no good with the cat inside the frame as you have to heat the frame up hot enough to flatten the wash coat, but I bet you could do a couple little tack welds without even cracking the can open.

Oh, just two sides, which makes it easier to stuff them in after the cat is already in the hole. This should be OEM.

You can weld stainless with mild steel mig wire or rods. It will rust just like everything else in the stove but the weld does not need to be strong, a small tack is enough to keep it from falling off.

 

[jetsam]

What stack? All I see is panels and a massive tree

I assure you there is a chimney cap in frame.

Or you can just be pleased that the solar panels and the trees aren't smoking, those are good things too.

 

[Rob711]

Burning season is done in my house so it was time to send up the soot eater and call it quits.
This is out of my blaze king ashford insert. 2nd year running pretty much full time since November. Close to 8 cords through it. It lights off consistently, still even has a nice glow at times. I removed it to clean the crud out from behind after sweeping. Yes I have new gasket.
I brushed both sides with old paint brush and blew it out with compressor but turned psi way down. It’s difficult to see in pictures but some passages are still constricted with a hard idk crust? It was kind of built up like a honey comb. The brush could knock it off the face.
It’s working well so I don’t think it’s ready for a vinegar bath just yet. What is it and is it worth dealing with yet?

 

[AndrewU]

We’re not quite done burning (Ashford 30) yet as daytime highs are still high-40’s to mid-50’s with nights in the mid-high 30’s. I’m figuring on a fairly hot medium size fire for my last burn of the season, mostly to clean the glass. I’m hoping it will also be effective at taking care of any solid deposits on the catalyst so that a soft brush will dislodge it.

Anyway following to see the advice you get.

 

[showrguy]

Trying to remove bi-pass plate from Princees Ultra to replace gasket..
Can not figure out how to get it out, it’s getting stuck on a piece of metal sticking down behind CAT area..
stove I believe is a 2009 model....... Help !!

 

[jetsam]

My new regimen is a through rinse with tap water (you'll be surprised how much crud comes out), a spraydown from both sides with 50/50 distilled water and distilled vinegar, let it sit, flip it over and do it again, then a couple good rinses in distilled water.

Seems to work pretty well. Only takes a few minutes plus however long you let the vinegar work, and the wife won't be after you for boiling a kettle of vinegar in the house.

If you want to be as nice as possible to the cat, use distilled water instead of tap water for the first step. You don't want the minerals in your tap water to end up masking the cat, but I figure the vinegar and distilled rinses probably get them all out of there.

My cat will have done 3.5 seasons at roughly 5000 hours/season after the end of this one.

 

[BKVP]

Trying to remove bi-pass plate from Princees Ultra to replace gasket..
Can not figure out how to get it out, it’s getting stuck on a piece of metal sticking down behind CAT area..
stove I believe is a 2009 model....... Help !!

First lay it flat. Then, using a hammer and piece of bar or rod, tap lightly on top of ramp.

It will bend downward about 1/4" and then slide out. When you put it back in, it will be fine. All the adjustment is on the bottom of the ramp.....