2020-21 Blaze King Performance Thread (Everything BK)
- Thread starter begreen
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
8" stacks can be fitted with a 6" stainless steel pipe internally to reduce the size. I had that done to mine and it works great. They did wrap the 6" with that thin fiberglass insulation. Now I have a super insulated stack.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Just for my own information, can you tell me what you mean by : *Mine cuts off at 1:30 hrs.* ? I never had a BK myself but according to the BK owners members, they seem to be working not like many other stoves.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
Possibly he is talking about the position of the thermostat knob. Some can dial it lower than others without stall the cat. It depends on the setup.
Yes. That is what I meant to say. 1:30pm on a analog clock. Is where my thermostat dial has its lowest point before a cat stall.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
My newer princess has a swoosh for the draft setting. I think the clock reference is easier because the swoosh isn’t always the same spot on every stove? I think the stahl setting can vary with wood type, draft and how dry the wood is. Idaho press logs in my stove can hover right above the stahl for a crazy long time.
On my Heritage TruHybrid, there is a probe indicator to show when engage the cat but many times when it indicates the good temperature for the cat and I engage the cat, the stove temp. goes down and I must wait for higher temperature in the stove before re-engaging the cat... Does BK has some kind of probe to indicate when to engage the cat? The stove being soapstone, a top of the stove thermometer cant be useful cause the heat changes are too long.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
The stove will come with a cat probe that tells you when the cat is inactive/active zone
And does that cat probe gives good results? I read many posts about long time burns with BK stoves. How the BK stoves can make no problem long time burns ? Does BK stove have different technologies different than other cat or tube stoves? My Heritage is claimed/advertised for 20/25 hrs but I never got close to that. So that intrigue me very much about BK, here around I just know one person having a BK but he got issues with it, but knowing him I'm not sure the stove is the problem...Thanks
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Yes, but the burn rate you experience at the same knob setting is probably slightly higher with more flue, as the stove with higher draft is pulling more air though the same sized opening.
There's so many variables that influence draft, it can seem impossible to figure out. But from the operator's perspective, once you figure out where on your dial 'minimum' is, that setting more or less works all year, so it's pretty simple for the stove operator.
If you want to run lower than whatever your minimum setting is, be prepared to give the stove a warm-up air infusion somewhere in the middle of the load.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
I haven't looked at my cat probe in years. They are helpful at first while you are getting to know the stove, IF you calibrate them every year (takes 5 minutes and a pair of pliers).
24 hour burn sounds great, but what does it mean? When is a burn over? Is it over when the stovetop hits room temp? When there's still one little red coal in the back corner of the stove?
For most of us here in this thread, a 'burn' means that the cat is over 500°F. If it falls below that, secondary combustion has stopped, and the burn is over. This is a somewhat stricter definition of burn than some marketing departments employ.
With good fuel, a Princess will happily go 20 hours plus at low heat output and still have a belly full of coal. Kings can go a lot longer.
24 hour burns are not something that heats your house in the winter- you want high heat output then, and you're going to see the same burn times you would with any other good stove of about the same size.
Long low burns are pretty sweet in the spring and fall though.
Some people question why you'd even want that- just light a short hot fire when the house gets cold. That's valid, but so is liking low, even, mess with it once or twice a day heat.
MissMac
Minister of Fire
ya okay - i thought you were just talking about not being able to dial down your stove as low on the dial.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
Not sure on your stove but I think there can be similar issues with blaze king if the catalytic is getting tired? Or if wood moisture content isn’t desirable
Tomorrow I will inspect my cat. Didn't check it because I burned only about 2 cords max but we never know. The moisture is 18 to 20 in the center of a splitted log. The stove is a new one.
Nealm66
Minister of Fire
It could be just the way the stove works. My princess seems pretty much set it and forget it which is a god sent with my work schedule. My wife messes with it once in a while when she feels cold but it’s pretty forgiving. I think some of the other catalytic stoves are hybrids where they don’t completely run through the cat which would probably burn a lot different. I’m definitely not the most knowledgeable about stoves. I ran a pre epa stove for about 30 years but this is my first epa stove and extremely happy with it.
In my understanding the long burns are the result of good air control due to the thermostat; when the stove is getting colder, it opens up the air a bit. Most importantly, when it gets warmer than the (not quantified) setpoint, it closes it up a bit, conserving fuel (and leading to an even heating of your home).
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Exactly! And in most cases, the deep firebox, which reduces cleaning out ash intervals.
FYI...great road trip through Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts! Dealers are very busy selling all brands of wood and pellet stoves....especially those that have signage promoting the 25D tax credit.
If I understand correctly, BK stoves have a thermostatic air damper like VC stoves have . I got some VC and the T. air control were not always helping the situations, they were not easy to control but it appears that Vermont Castings wants better total quality stoves. Anyway my question was only to know some more points of BK products but not to compare BK to VC.
VC stoves have very unique points like the top loading, swing out ash pan, nice look...but I never got BK stoves. Thank all.
VC stoves have very unique points like the top loading, swing out ash pan, nice look...but I never got BK stoves. Thank all.
I don't know the VC stoves so I can't compare. All I can say is that most folks are very pleased with the even (and long) heating that the BK provides.
Learning stuff in here is exactly the purpose of this forum. Comparing is fine too if done fairly.
Vermont castings has extremely high quality casting and assembly. Their engineering leaves much to be desired. But yes in basic design the VC thermostatic control is very similar to the ones on bk. But a thermostatic control doesn't fix the other problems with VC designs.
The so big satisfaction from BK owners is exactly what brings me here, one satisfied owner is good but as many satisfied ones like for the BK products is certainly not the fruit of the hazard. I think that all ( probably all ) wood stoves have some good points and lower ones , find the one fitting each owners preferences is the question. Good to have forums cause the stove manufacturers informations lead sometimes to unsatisfactions.
Anyway, wood stoves are boxes for burning wood but some have different technology placing them on different levels.
Last edited:
I have both stoves. I like both of them. It took me a good 5 years to learn how to properly run the VC (with tremendous help from members here). I can say that my VC runs almost perfect! As for my BK, it took me 72 hours or 3 reloads to learn how to properly run that stove.
If I was in the market for a new stove....(looks aside), it would be a BK.
If I was in the market for a new stove....(looks aside), it would be a BK.
- Status
