2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)

[BKVP]

Thanks No the King is def. too big.<G>
Not in Alaska, only the somewhat mild weather of Vancouver Island.

Leaning towards the Princess and hoping it dials down nicely.

Cheers..

I was pushing another members button!

 

[BKVP]

I’m near Boston !

Shoot me a PM. Give me contact info and if next Sunday flights go well I'd buy you a drink. (I won't have a car but could Uber a short distance). Could also be next Friday evening.

 

[71montess]

Shoot me a PM. Give me contact info and if next Sunday flights go well I'd buy you a drink. (I won't have a car but could Uber a short distance). Could also be next Friday evening.

You are a good man BKVP but it would not be to convenient for either of us I think. Is the trip to open a BK manufacturing plant on the east coast? We need one !

 

[BKVP]

You are a good man BKVP but it would not be to convenient for either of us I think. Is the trip to open a BK manufacturing plant on the east coast? We need one !

Thank you. No sir. We've added dozens of dealers in the area. I like to visit as many dealers as possible each year and thank them.

 

[Highbeam]

Ordered another new ceramic cat today. 210$ shipped. The current cat has a lot of life left but I have witnessed some other folks unable to replace their cats when needed due to lack of supply so I decided to be proactive and have my next cat on hand.

I have extra oil filters for all of my vehicles too.

This current cat has only seen really nice dry woodshed fuel. I’m hoping that it lasts longer than a cat fed well seasoned top covered only fuel. Sure the inside is dry but sideways rain can’t help.

 

[Nealm66]

It will be interesting to see

 

[Nealm66]

Might get some more burning in next week but man, it’s been unseasonably warm. Piecing a small fir down tomorrow but I’m pretty sure it’s wanted for campfires.

 

[AndrewU]

Might get some more burning in next week but man, it’s been unseasonably warm. Piecing a small fir down tomorrow but I’m pretty sure it’s wanted for campfires.

Cut down will hopefully be my last tree (alder) for quite a while yesterday. It didn’t have much alive up top, and was in the path for a zip line for the kids. Got it limbed and bucked same day. Not too worried about when to burn it though, given the size of the mound of split wood I already have on hand.

Hoping the solar company can get the permits soon. I was hoping to store the wood under the panels.

 

[kennyp2339]

I feel like I got a free tickets and a front seat on the temperature roller coaster, its crazy lol, burnt thursday, friday & saturday, 72 today with thunderstorms, flurries and frost expected tomorrow...sheesh

 

[rdust]

Lows in the 20’s the next couple nights, still burning a load a day.

 

[BKVP]

Only thing burning in Walla Walla is the lawn! 83 on Sunday and mid 70's this week. About time to plant the garden. If I do that, then I am guaranteed to get freezing overnight weather!

 

[GreenMountain]

My BK Boxer's door handle seems to have seized. It can still be latched, but takes an absurd amount of force to operate. I'm curious whether anyone else has serviced this part. What I thought would be a 5-minute nut adjustment seems to be impossible.

The handle is secured by an Allen bolt with a couple washers on either side of the tab on the doorframe that carries it. The washer stack seems rather stuck, and more importantly the nut on the bolt is free, but the bolt itself is stuck in the frame, to the point that I'd worry about breaking the Allen key or stripping the head.

I'm a little baffled how this happened, because it went from functioning perfectly to locked up literally overnight. The stove hasn't been overheated - we're pretty careful operators. The paint is still fine on the latch parts closest to the firebox.

I guess the key question is whether the bolt is threaded through the doorframe. If not, I can probably just tap it a bit to free it. If so, getting it unseized will be a little more complicated. I think we may still be in warranty, so I can always leave this to the BK rep, but it seems silly to have a service call for something simple.

Thanks for any advice, commiseration or even amusing snark.

 

[Rob711]

Mine did something like that. It slowly became harder to move the handle. There are no threads through the door frame but I guess it’s just close tolerance. I backed the Allen screw out a bit then loosely put the nut back on.
Mines too loose now. Latch kinda wobbly now but it closes the door tightly. Hope this makes sense. Good luck

 

[Highbeam]

Judging by the bent look of that outermost washer, i bet that’s where the bind is. Can you get those washers off?

Since the door hole is not threaded, try turning the bolt clockwise as though to tighten it. Back and forth.

 

[GreenMountain]

I'm baffled because I can't budge that bolt or the washers, even using vice grips as a cheater on the Allen key. It's like it's all fused together, which makes no sense because there's no sign of the kind of heat that would take. I could hose it down with penetrating oil or use a torch, but all options seem potentially destructive. I'd probably have to take the door off to get more leverage, and maybe take the glass out. I think I'll check my warranty before proceeding.

 

[begreen]

How old is the stove? If defective have you asked the dealer if this is a warranty item?

 

[GreenMountain]

I haven't pulled out the paperwork yet, but it's either 1.5 or 2.5 years. I think the warranty is 2 years on the door handle, so if it's 1.5 I'm good. I haven't talked to the dealer yet - this just happened. Naturally snow is expected tonight.

 

[begreen]

Check again. I thought the steel components have a 5 yr warranty against defects.

 

[GreenMountain]

I checked. You're right in general - the firebox, heat exchanger and bypass door are 5 parts/2 labor. The "door handle metal components" and a few other things are 2 years.

 

[kennyp2339]

Still burning lol, well maybe not today, but there's still a few fires left before the final shutdown occurs, I'm getting the itch to change my door & window gasket, also the door latch on the stove body due to wear (I did adjust it this last burning season) all preventive maintenance

 

[begreen]

I checked. You're right in general - the firebox, heat exchanger and bypass door are 5 parts/2 labor. The "door handle metal components" and a few other things are 2 years.

Give the dealer and BK support a call.

 

[Highbeam]

Still burning lol, well maybe not today, but there's still a few fires left before the final shutdown occurs, I'm getting the itch to change my door & window gasket, also the door latch on the stove body due to wear (I did adjust it this last burning season) all preventive maintenance

Are you going to upgrade to the new style door latch or did your 2014 already have it? My 2012 is the old bolt style with a welded inner nut. Silly that they didn't leave that inner nut loose. New style latches I think did not weld that inner nut. It's a different door side and stove side latch.

 

[GreenMountain]

Just circling back on this ...

My BK Boxer's door handle seems to have seized. It can still be latched, but takes an absurd amount of force to operate. I'm curious whether anyone else has serviced this part. What I thought would be a 5-minute nut adjustment seems to be impossible.
...

The dealer didn't really have any suggestion to offer, beyond what came up here: "pry the washer off." It probably didn't help that my wife took the call, triggering the usual faint insinuation that this was gender-based operator error.

Anyway, out of patience, she and my son decided to force the issue. That required using a thin blade to get some leverage on the washer. The thing is, it's not a washer. It's a "round base weld nut" - i.e. it's threaded, but with no way to get any purchase to hold it in place while turning the Allen bolt. Once the flange was flared a bit, at some cost to the blade, they were able to get vice grips on it and remove it, with the help of a little penetrating oil.

Once we replace the part, we'll be back in business. I don't think I'll use the stock steel one though - I'll find something in stainless, and maybe add some high-temp anti-seize. I think I'll grind a flat on it before reinstalling, so we can get a wrench on it if this ever recurs.

There's still no real indication of why it abruptly tightened up - everything looks pretty clean, with no sign of heat damage to paint.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[mm norcal]

Hi. I picked up a very nice princess 1006, 2nd hand but in nearly perfect condition. The cat is in perfect condition (rectangular style) but it still produces smoke a fair bit even once at a good burning temp. I burn dry fir. What is a proper activation temp? I don't know if the themometer is calibrated correctly. I don't ever see the cat glow read unless it is REAL hot. It fits snug, has no cracks, has no build up etc. I can get a good long burn no problem, and I'm very impressed with the stove, compared to the 80's BK it replaced, but I did expect the smoke to be almost non existant

 

[Nealm66]

Somethings definitely not right, I can’t see any smoke from mine even shortly after a reload