2022-2023 BK everything thread

[JPS]

If there is a distinct 'locking' action right at the end, it isn't doing that. With the bypass engaged, the lever sits at around 8 o'clock, as I close the bypass it moves smoothly and I can hear/feel the mechanism, but the bypass cover and the lever just come to a stop when they get to exactly 3 o'clock, there is no final thud/clunk/locking feeling. The lever cannot move down past 3 o'clock, but it does have free play back up to around 1 or 2 o'clock before I can feel it start to lift the plate when I'm opening the bypass back up.

Well, this comment got me concerned, so I looked around a little more on these forums and saw some comment that it should be a distinct locking action. It took more force than I would have ever felt good using had I not known it was supposed to lock, but it did cam down into the 4 o'clock position. A few subsequent flips off and on and the force required seems much more reasonable to cam into that locked position.

I feel like a bit of a dunce, but I'd also add that both the manual and the dealer just mentioned rotating the lever forward, and nothing about having to force it down into a locked position.

 

[BKVP]

If there is a distinct 'locking' action right at the end, it isn't doing that. With the bypass engaged, the lever sits at around 8 o'clock, as I close the bypass it moves smoothly and I can hear/feel the mechanism, but the bypass cover and the lever just come to a stop when they get to exactly 3 o'clock, there is no final thud/clunk/locking feeling. The lever cannot move down past 3 o'clock, but it does have free play back up to around 1 or 2 o'clock before I can feel it start to lift the plate when I'm opening the bypass back up.

Push down harder...you'll hear it and feel it.

 

[BKVP]

Well, this comment got me concerned, so I looked around a little more on these forums and saw some comment that it should be a distinct locking action. It took more force than I would have ever felt good using had I not known it was supposed to lock, but it did cam down into the 4 o'clock position. A few subsequent flips off and on and the force required seems much more reasonable to cam into that locked position.

I feel like a bit of a dunce, but I'd also add that both the manual and the dealer just mentioned rotating the lever forward, and nothing about having to force it down into a locked position.

Note page 23 in PE32 manual. Note position of bypass described as "closed" at 4 o'clock position. Also note, hear "a positive click".

 

[Highbeam]

Well, this comment got me concerned, so I looked around a little more on these forums and saw some comment that it should be a distinct locking action. It took more force than I would have ever felt good using had I not known it was supposed to lock, but it did cam down into the 4 o'clock position. A few subsequent flips off and on and the force required seems much more reasonable to cam into that locked position.

I feel like a bit of a dunce, but I'd also add that both the manual and the dealer just mentioned rotating the lever forward, and nothing about having to force it down into a locked position.

So did that have any effect on smoke output? I burn softwoods and find the BK makes more smoke than I would like, especially at the early stages. If the better sealing from a locked down bypass made a big difference I’d be interested.

 

[kennyp2339]

Starting to wonder if our mid-west and east coast ash tree wood is like west coast big doug fir, I've been burning 100% ash wood splits for the past few days and I'm actually liking what I've been getting out of it.

 

[Diabel]

So did that have any effect on smoke output? I burn softwoods and find the BK makes more smoke than I would like, especially at the early stages. If the better sealing from a locked down bypass made a big difference I’d be interested.

Like you @Highbeam, I too burn mostly softwood (hemlock) and am concerned about the amount of smoke I get in the early (3h into the burn and on and off afterwards) stages of the burn. I read, some get zero smoke after 30min after closing bypass. I am open to suggestions.

 

[BKVP]

Starting to wonder if our mid-west and east coast ash tree wood is like west coast big doug fir, I've been burning 100% ash wood splits for the past few days and I'm actually liking what I've been getting out of it.

When it's warmer and you reduce heat output, the volatiles aren't burned off as quickly. This results in more of a crackpot mode. Try a few runs of the ash on higher burn rates and see if coal issues resurface. That is my experience with locust, cherry and walnut.

 

[Nealm66]

Like you @Highbeam, I too burn mostly softwood (hemlock) and am concerned about the amount of smoke I get in the early (3h into the burn and on and off afterwards) stages of the burn. I read, some get zero smoke after 30min after closing bypass. I am open to suggestions.

I think mine is smoke free after 30 but I’ll check to make sure

 

[kennyp2339]

When it's warmer and you reduce heat output, the volatiles aren't burned off as quickly. This results in more of a crackpot mode. Try a few runs of the ash on higher burn rates and see if coal issues resurface. That is my experience with locust, cherry and walnut.

Coke the wood?

 

[BKVP]

Coke the wood?

Put say 30lbs of ash in your stove on hot coals. Run it on low and observe how many coals and size of coal pieces when no logs exist. Do the same thing on high burn. I think you may observe more, larger coals.

 

[Ashful]

Starting to wonder if our mid-west and east coast ash tree wood is like west coast big doug fir, I've been burning 100% ash wood splits for the past few days and I'm actually liking what I've been getting out of it.

Getting into a lot of ash here now, as well. Still turning up the occasional cord of white oak or hickory, as I work thru the sheds this year, but I can see from looking at the stacks that there's a chit ton of ash in my near future.

With our weather cycling up and down by 40F from one week to the next, I can't pretend to have any real good mental correlation between a species and how it's actually heating my home, but it does seem to be better on ash than walnut, and better on coaling (or lack of problems due to long coaling) than red or white oak. Burn time is probably shorter than oak, but since I'm not on a rigid office schedule anymore, I haven't really kept track of that.

 

[Nealm66]

The ash we have around here is pretty small and grows in the wetter areas. I’ve burned it in the past in a pre epa stove and it’s definitely not like our Doug fir. Hotter, longer and way more ash = no pun

 

[Ashful]

no pun

Just re-read my own post, and realized it's confusing. I meant to say that ash (the species) seems to produce less ash (the byproduct) than walnut. I would suspect they're all going to leave more byproduct than any softwood, even doug fir.

 

[Nealm66]

I was mostly saying that burning Doug fir and ash is definitely not the same with the ash around here. A friend of mine that has a firewood business says maple is his main seller. He personally burns fir. The best firewood I’ve burned is madrona but I should say I don’t think the oak I burned was properly seasoned so might not be a good comparison. Can’t remember the species of the oak either but came from a tree job I did in oakville Washington

 

[Ashful]

What's surprising to most east-coasters is that Doug Fir is actually not that bad, as firewood. A lot of easterners (my former self included) tend to look at any conifer as crap, unfair bias handed down from prior generations, who had less information easily available at their fingertips.

Most of the pine and spruce we have around here runs about 12 - 14 MBTU/cord, versus our oak, ash, walnut, and maple around 20 - 24 MBTU/cord. But Doug Fir holds a unique middle ground around 17 MBTU/cord, better than most of our other eastern evergreens that grow large enough to use for practical firewood.

 

[Nealm66]

So no visible smoke 8 minutes after closing bypass, roughly 4 minutes after turning swoosh down. Light load, mostly fir, couple small pieces of cedar. Not a reload, was built from kindling

 

[Nealm66]

Almost 51 outside

 

[Nealm66]

Swoosh setting

 

[Highbeam]

What's surprising to most east-coasters is that Doug Fir is actually not that bad, as firewood. A lot of easterners (my former self included) tend to look at any conifer as crap, unfair bias handed down from prior generations, had less information easily available at their fingertips.

Most of the pine and spruce we have around here runs about 12 - 14 MBTU/cord, versus our oak, ash, walnut, and maple around 20 - 24 MBTU/cord. But Doug Fir holds a unique middle ground around 17 MBTU/cord, better than most of our other eastern evergreens that grow large enough to use for practical firewood.

There's also a huge range of density (and BTU/cord) specifications for doug fir. I've seen numbers well above 20 MBTU/cord. Apparently due to variable pitch content, growth conditions, and age of tree.

It's good wood and plentiful here. Hardly any ash.

 

[Nealm66]

It grows fast here. Typically 35-40 yr harvest cycles will be up to 32” diameter butt and 90-100’. That’s including bark for diameter. The new computer mills typically have a 32” max and oversize will be less valuable unless exported

 

[BKVP]

What's surprising to most east-coasters is that Doug Fir is actually not that bad, as firewood. A lot of easterners (my former self included) tend to look at any conifer as crap, unfair bias handed down from prior generations, had less information easily available at their fingertips.

Most of the pine and spruce we have around here runs about 12 - 14 MBTU/cord, versus our oak, ash, walnut, and maple around 20 - 24 MBTU/cord. But Doug Fir holds a unique middle ground around 17 MBTU/cord, better than most of our other eastern evergreens that grow large enough to use for practical firewood.

Same generation that said "You can't burn pine in a wood stove." It may not be generational as much as ill informed in this case.

 

[Ashful]

Same generation that said "You can't burn pine in a wood stove." It may not be generational as much as ill informed in this case.

Yes, I started going off on a tangent about that, but deleted it to keep the post concise. Obviously, even past generations would have figured out the same, it was just more work to convey it to others, particularly the masses of us working in an unrelated office job all day and then feeding a woodstove by night.

Even when looking back 40,000 years, they were all running the same hardware, but our software / programming has improved.

 

[Rob711]

The rheostat on my Ashford 25 insert died. Can someone give a source for a new one. Also any tips or tricks on replacing it, looking like maybe lift the stove? My dealer didn’t really seem to knowledgeable. Itried contacting blaze king through the website and today I called and left a message for Fransisco? only because he was first choice, perhaps Erin would get back to me. I’m not complaining the stoves 5-6 yrs old does what it’s supposed to do.

 

[BKVP]

The rheostat on my Ashford 25 insert died. Can someone give a source for a new one. Also any tips or tricks on replacing it, looking like maybe lift the stove? My dealer didn’t really seem to knowledgeable. Itried contacting blaze king through the website and today I called and left a message for Fransisco? only because he was first choice, perhaps Erin would get back to me. I’m not complaining the stoves 5-6 yrs old does what it’s supposed to do.

The part number is S.Z0136 Your dealer can order it for you. You'll need to pull the front right of the unit forward to reach/replace. Your dealer can order the part and you can ask to have it drop shipped to your home if you like.

 

[NHWS]

There have been a handful of comments about smoke recently. I'm considering a new install of a BK PE32 on the upper floor of a daylight basement home. Smoke in the house is one of the few remaining issues to check. One important reason for installing a new stove is to replace a too-smoky 1970s Buck stove.

Does the burn time have a major effect? I understand that dry wood helps, but that's easy. 15+ cords in covered storage for 3+ years and more available. Alder, cedar, hemlock, fir, and occasional other species. The stack is expected to be 18', but that could be changed if it helped. There are other variables, but assuming no reverse draft, etc., how good or bad does the indoor smoke get? That's subjective, of course. Is it easily noticeable? Barely present? A single rose, or a houseful of fried onion scent? Would one or two modest-sized HEPA+carbon filters be enough to nearly eliminate it?

Apologies for the imprecise questions. I expect the new stoves to be better than a 1970s stove, but I'm oddly reluctant to spend $$$ on a new stove that that might still lead to a smoky house. I'm hoping to hear about smoke in the home from people who are actually using wood stoves rather than marketing or bureaucratic generalities.