2022-2023 BK everything thread

[Nealm66]

I wonder if the cat went bad with that much air getting in?

 

[stoveliker]

I don't think this one has a cat. It's an older Princess.

 

[Mike13]

I've been running a ceramic cat in one of my BK Ashford 30.1's, and the OEM steelcat in the other for at least 4 years. I'm more cautious with hot reloads and such on the ceramic one, since they're theoretically less able to handle thermal shock than steel, but overall I prefer the ceramic.

Do note that my ceramic cat has a special (then just in prototype phase) coating, which I think BK makes available publicly now, BKVP can give more details on that. I think this special coating may extend the tail end of the active burn a bit, and I can say for sure it has had a longer lifespan than I've seen reported by others here. I think I'm starting my 5th season on it, and probably close to 30 cords thru it, and it is still working and looking just fine. I won't pretend it hasn't lost any of its magic, but it's still doing well enough.

Some folks claim all ceramic cats hold active longer than steel, due to added mass. I really doubt this, there just isn't enough mass there to make a real-world difference, in the face of the amount of thermal energy you are pushing thru it. I think these differences are mostly imagined, likely the result of comparing a NEW ceramic cat to an OLD steelcat.

Just try to avoid too many hot reloads, and be sure to run the stove in bypass for a few minutes, before opening the door on a hot ceramic cat. I'm not sure how much the cat really cools in a few minutes on bypass, I honestly have my doubts, but that's the conventional wisdom repeated in stove manuals and everywhere else. Ceramic is better than steel in almost every way, excepting it's durability to thermal shock (cracking due to unequal temperature / thermal expansion).

@BKVP …… any info on this special coating for cats? Looking to buy a spare cat to have on hand. It would be awesome to extend the end of the active burn cycle. Thanks!

 

[Ashful]

Speaking of which, I guess it's about time to get around to sweeping my chimneys, and seeing how well my cats actually did, in their 4th season of life. I always wait until fall to sweep, after seeing just how industrious our local hornets can be, knowing they could easily plug the top of a 6" liner with a nest over the course of a summer.

 

[Crummy]

Is it ok to reload onto a coal bed when the cat is still very hot? I have read about not opening the door onto a hot cat as it will cause damage but if it's bypassed for a couple minutes before opening then is it ok? I am finding that I'm down to just coals in the morning but stove is still very hot. When it's time to leave it's time to leave so I can't sit around waiting for it to cool down.

 

[begreen]

Try loading less wood if the burn cycle is too long for this time of year.

 

[Crummy]

Try loading less wood if the burn cycle is too long for this time of year.

Yeah that's a fine line to find. Currently in the low 30's at night and my evening reload time varies so it's hard to exactly estimate how much to load. Yesterday morning it was almost completely out and just going out of the active zone but this morning there was a 2" deep glowing coal bed and the cat was at the 3:00 position.

 

[stoveliker]

Open the bypass for 5 mins, Tstat fully open during that time. That should give the cat time to cool down because no gases are going thru it. The thermometer gauge is slow, so it'll say "hot" longer than the cat is actually hot.

 

[stoveliker]

I note a user wants feedback on the Ashford, as they almost signing the dotted line.

BK Ashford 30.2

Ok I am looking for Ashford 30.2 owners with their experiances on the pros and cons of owening and operating this stove. It is now on my finalist list.

www.hearth.com

 

[begreen]

There are a lot of past threads and reviews on this stove. It's been out for a long time. That would be the best place to start.

 

[showrguy]

Is it ok to reload onto a coal bed when the cat is still very hot? I have read about not opening the door onto a hot cat as it will cause damage but if it's bypassed for a couple minutes before opening then is it ok? I am finding that I'm down to just coals in the morning but stove is still very hot. When it's time to leave it's time to leave so I can't sit around waiting for it to cool down.

Yes Crummy, you’ll be fine doing it as described..

 

[Nealm66]

Is it ok to reload onto a coal bed when the cat is still very hot? I have read about not opening the door onto a hot cat as it will cause damage but if it's bypassed for a couple minutes before opening then is it ok? I am finding that I'm down to just coals in the morning but stove is still very hot. When it's time to leave it's time to leave so I can't sit around waiting for it to cool down.

I do it quite often and use stovelikers approach. It probably kills the cat quicker but it’s tough ( for me) trying to predict weather and how much to load. I can say that replacing the cat was super simple so I’m not going to change. I definitely recommend keeping an eye on the weather and that helps a little bit to avoid over heating the house but these stoves have a way of sucking an extraordinary amount of heat out of a small load sometimes especially a big chunk

 

[begreen]

50 this morning, 58º at noon. I turned on the heat pump. Neither I nor my tomatoes are ready for summer to end.

 

[Crummy]

50 this morning, 58º at noon. I turned on the heat pump. Neither I nor my tomatoes are ready for summer to end.

34° this morning and up to 42° now. Been burning 24 hours a day for 17 days straight.

 

[begreen]

34° this morning and up to 42° now. Been burning 24 hours a day for 17 days straight.

I like to visit AK, it's a beautiful state, but I could never live there.

 

[stoveliker]

There are a lot of past threads and reviews on this stove. It's been out for a long time. That would be the best place to start.

I know. But the person was asking there so I posted that thread here so those willing to can go to that thread to give feedback. Just trying to be helpful.

 

[Nealm66]

50 this morning, 58º at noon. I turned on the heat pump. Neither I nor my tomatoes are ready for summer to end.

It was 45.7 here in eatonville this am. Can’t burn till I get done drywalling and tiling the stove room so I’m stuck with the ductless heat pump. It’s supposed to be adequate and I’m super slow so I guess I’ll be finding out.

 

[Jeff in Maine]

Good morning, all its 53* in central Maine right now. It was 40* yesterday am time to begin thinking about that first fire of my season. I have a 2018? Princess with the blower kit and the Fan speed switch has been failing for the last 3 tears or so. So this fall I am going to replace it with one I found by searching BK Princess blower parts on uncle google this summer. I bought it from Fireplace Blowers Online.com. PN- ZO135A-VAR. I am taking the blower / fan housing off the stove this morning and into the shop for a good, compressed air blow out and switch change. Has anyone else had to replace the Rheostat / Switch on their stove? This one came USPS took forever about 9 days.. but only cost $25.00. Have a nice Sunday JeffinMaine

 

[Diabel]

Here’s what it’s supposed to look like with bk gasket. It’s thick. This gasket is also a few years old with lots of use.

View attachment 299071 View attachment 299072

That is a spanking clean glass😜

 

[Highbeam]

That is a spanking clean glass😜

I clean it when I sweep in late spring and then all summer it stays pretty clean.

 

[Crummy]

Small splits makes the Tetris game easy 😁. Another few weeks and we will be a row back in the shed where we hit larger splits of regular Spruce instead of this small Black Spruce. Finding it doesn't seem to matter if the splits are large or small I still get 12 hour burns with the sirocco 20 set at 3:30. Makes me think smaller is better for a fuller load and better drying 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[kennyp2339]

Makes me think smaller is better for a fuller load and better drying

I'm a hard wood guy and 3:30 setting for me is a rippin fire, I normally set the t-stat before 3 or so and get small lazy candle like flames, using a combination of large splits in the center with smaller on the sides gets me long burns since the fire seems to burn from the center out ward like a V.

 

[Poindexter]

Is it ok to reload onto a coal bed when the cat is still very hot? I have read about not opening the door onto a hot cat as it will cause damage but if it's bypassed for a couple minutes before opening then is it ok? I am finding that I'm down to just coals in the morning but stove is still very hot. When it's time to leave it's time to leave so I can't sit around waiting for it to cool down.

Yup. Been doing it for years. Get out of bed, move the lever from combustor engaged to combustor bypassed. Go pee. Let the cat out. Make coffee. Open the loading door, add fuel, close the loading door. Pour coffee. Check the stove, go take a shower.

As long as you are in bypass long enough for the hot exhaust gasses to be rolling straight to the chimney before you open the loading door you are good to go. Similar in the evening. Flip the lever and then go look in the fridge for a snack. Give the stove some time to settle into moving exhaust gasses from the firebox to the bypass door before opening the loading door and you will be fine.

 

[Ashful]

Small splits makes the Tetris game easy

The easiest and fullest would be on cube of wood cut to the exact dimensions of your door opening.

I tend to load big stuff in first, then smaller stuff to fill the gaps around it. I intentionally let the size of my splits vary, when processing wood, no need for all the same size when trying to fill a gap.

 

[BKVP]

I am acquiring NIELS to run in the King 40 I installed during the Covid deal. I will report back on the performance change as I will be running the stove more often in lower burn rates since we tightened up the old house considerably. Last winter I ran strictly Tamarack and Douglas fir. Did not miss one bit all the coals I had to deal with on the walnut, black locust and silver maple!