Blaze king King issues need help

[Woody Stover]

I have to get down on the floor and look up at it to see it, so I don't look at it very often.

I can't wait to get the Keystone back on line; I can see the cat from the couch.

 

[jetsam]

I'm lying on the floor staring at my cat and my cellphone stopwatch. Thank goodness my wife is in bed. I blame you people for this.

 

[Woody Stover]

What's the flue?

The stack, or chimney.

 

[jetsam]

The stove was burning low on mostly just coals. I bypassed the cat, put the thermostat on high, fan on minimum, went for some wood, watched the fire a minute, and loaded up. Cat temp was still well above active, so put the cat back in after about 30 sec of the door being closed.

At 8:00 the cat was still dark. Was tired of lying on the floor so I cheated and turned the fan off.

At 9:00 I had some glowy glowy in the middle of the cat.

By 14:00 most of the surface was glowing and the center was a nice bright orange. Built in BK thermometer at 75% (active starts at 25%), stovetop 415F. Turned the thermostat way down and put the fan back on.

...so no 30 second glow for me, but I did have the fan on minimum for the first 8 minutes.

 

[tarzan]

BlazeKing King, if you havn't, you really need to check and likely clean that.chimney. That stuff you are seeing forms glazed creosite. That's the stuff legendary chimney fires are made of!

If you haven't got wood cut, split, and stacked for next year you should do so now. Even soft wood takes about a year to season. I don't think you want to here this but if itt were me (and possible) I would take the chimney straight up through the roof, get double wall stove pipe to meet it at the ceiling and do away with all that stuff running up the side of your house. The two 90's, single wall pipe, and 16' of outside chimney in a cold neighborhood just ain't good.

I don't agree with the stove shop telling you that your stove has to be run hot or its ok to run it without the flame shield in place. none of that is true. If you can get that stove running the way it should you will be very happy you did it!

Ol' 1:00 is a reference to where the dial on the cat thermometer is pointing.

 

[BKVP]

WET WOOD

POOR CHIMNEY

Address both....please

 

[BlazekingKING]

What's the flue?

The stack, or chimney.

There's smoke coming out of it often.

 

[BlazekingKING]

BlazeKing King, if you havn't, you really need to check and likely clean that.chimney. That stuff you are seeing forms glazed creosite. That's the stuff legendary chimney fires are made of!

If you haven't got wood cut, split, and stacked for next year you should do so now. Even soft wood takes about a year to season. I don't think you want to here this but if itt were me (and possible) I would take the chimney straight up through the roof, get double wall stove pipe to meet it at the ceiling and do away with all that stuff running up the side of your house. The two 90's, single wall pipe, and 16' of outside chimney in a cold neighborhood just ain't good.

I don't agree with the stove shop telling you that your stove has to be run hot or its ok to run it without the flame shield in place. none of that is true. If you can get that stove running the way it should you will be very happy you did it!

Ol' 1:00 is a reference to where the dial on the cat thermometer is pointing.

Oh ok well we have a two story farm house and it isn't exactly my house yet it was my grandmother's and if I go thru the ceiling I will be going thru my son's room and then out the roof. So most definitely at this time that is not an option. We just cleaned the stove pipe a month or so ago and have a new poly sweep brush head that we are ordering instead of the old metal one.and will clean it again when that gets here this week! We have wood out there drying for next year! it has been a slow process due to this all being new to us but we are slowly figuring out how much wood we need to last a year, and I'm hoping when we can get this thing running properly it will be even less! So should I for now get two 45's and a straight pipe of the double to go inside my house? I'm not exactly sure how that 8in double will attach to my stove.

 

[BlazekingKING]

WET WOOD

POOR CHIMNEY

Address both....please

We have been thanks that is why we are seeking more knowledgeable help!

 

[Highbeam]

On my bk, during warm up, when I close the bypass after the meter indicates active I get immediate red glow from the cat. As in, by the time I get up front to look it's already glowing.

 

[pdxdave]

Oh ok well we have a two story farm house and it isn't exactly my house yet it was my grandmother's and if I go thru the ceiling I will be going thru my son's room and then out the roof. So most definitely at this time that is not an option. We just cleaned the stove pipe a month or so ago and have a new poly sweep brush head that we are ordering instead of the old metal one.and will clean it again when that gets here this week! We have wood out there drying for next year! it has been a slow process due to this all being new to us but we are slowly figuring out how much wood we need to last a year, and I'm hoping when we can get this thing running properly it will be even less! So should I for now get two 45's and a straight pipe of the double to go inside my house? I'm not exactly sure how that 8in double will attach to my stove.

Just my opinion... Skip the double on the inside of the house. Main reason for double is to 'protect' the warm air in the chimney from cold/wind. It's an extra cost, pain to install, for very little gain vs the benefit of the outside portion upgrading to double. Plus the single wall inside radiates heat alot better than double!

Sounds like the gasket(s) is probably the main issue if it hasn't been done already.

 

[jetsam]

That photo of the glowing cat says that air is being pushed through the cat, but it's all on one side, which might suggest gasket issues. (Also, my cat has never glowed blue before. One more data point in support of your stove being haunted!)

 

[jetsam]

There's smoke coming out of it often.

Does it smell like wood smoke? If it doesn't, then it's mostly water vapor and the cat is doing its job.

This road is taking me right to the spot where BKVP's been pointing, imagine that.

 

[tarzan]

This road is taking me right to the spot where BKVP's been pointing, imagine that.

Well, when you get here, we're waiting!

 

[bholler]

Just my opinion... Skip the double on the inside of the house. Main reason for double is to 'protect' the warm air in the chimney from cold/wind. It's an extra cost, pain to install, for very little gain vs the benefit of the outside portion upgrading to double. Plus the single wall inside radiates heat alot better than double!

Sounds like the gasket(s) is probably the main issue if it hasn't been done already.

It is also to reduce heat loss from the stack to help maintain proper draft. I honestly don't think it will make a huge difference in this case there just is not that much pipe. But there obviously is a draft issue with this setup so anything to improve that will help. I also suspect wet wood is a big part of the issue.
While the bypass gasket wont help the problems it will also not cause the issues we are seeing here. Those issues are caused by poor draft and or wet wood.

 

[BlazekingKING]

Does it smell like wood smoke? If it doesn't, then it's mostly water vapor and the cat is doing its job.

This road is taking me right to the spot where BKVP's been pointing, imagine that.

It smells like wood smoke

 

[HighTon]

On my bk, during warm up, when I close the bypass after the meter indicates active I get immediate red glow from the cat. As in, by the time I get up front to look it's already glowing.

Mine takes 15-30 minutes to glow, but it's ceramic. Yours is metal?

 

[Ashful]

WET WOOD

POOR CHIMNEY

I agree, but have we ruled out a leaky bypass gasket, too?

This is a bit like a car, when everything is working, it's a beautiful thing, but any single thing out of whack can cause havoc. Multiple problems happening at once can get discouraging, fast.

Some here are being a little disingenuous, suggesting an exterior chimney can't work, when we have multiple members using them without issue. A BK can burn at rates lower than other stoves, which does make it more sensitive to chimney configuration, at the lowest burn rates. However, a properly selected and installed exterior chimney can work fine at medium burn rates, and the OP is not even able to get this.

 

[Highbeam]

Mine takes 15-30 minutes to glow, but it's ceramic. Yours is metal?

Yes, mine is metal. Ceramic would be slower to get going but also last a touch longer on the back end for the same reason.

 

[tarzan]

I agree, but have we ruled out a leaky bypass gasket, too?

This is a bit like a car, when everything is working, it's a beautiful thing, but any single thing out of whack can cause havoc. Multiple problems happening at once can get discouraging, fast.

Some here are being a little disingenuous, suggesting an exterior chimney can't work, when we have multiple members using them without issue. A BK can burn at rates lower than other stoves, which does make it more sensitive to chimney configuration, at the lowest burn rates. However, a properly selected and installed exterior chimney can work fine at medium burn rates, and the OP is not even able to get this.

If your reffering to me, I never suggested an exterior chimney CAN'T work. I said that I would run it straight up through the roof (if possible) vs 16' now of flue on the outside of the house in Montana with no chase or insulation, two 90's and a 30"? Inch horizontall run feeding it. The op basicly said, it aint going to happen. If that's being disingenuous then I guess I'm just disingenuous.

 

[begreen]

An uninsulated, exterior chimney in a cold climate can work, but the results can be far from ideal especially with cool flue gases. At best, even if it drafts ok there will be notable creosote accumulation. A straight-up interior chimney is by far preferable.

 

[jetsam]

An uninsulated, exterior chimney in a cold climate can work, but the results can be far from ideal especially with cool flue gases. At best, even if it drafts ok there will be notable creosote accumulation. A straight-up interior chimney is by far preferable.

Out of curiosity, how do you insulate an exposed 8" pipe chimney? Wrap it in Roxul and clip 12" ductwork around it?

 

[begreen]

8" Class A pipe is already insulated. But an insulated chase is an option for keeping it warmer still.

 

[BlazekingKING]

If your reffering to me, I never suggested an exterior chimney CAN'T work. I said that I would run it straight up through the roof (if possible) vs 16' now of flue on the outside of the house in Montana with no chase or insulation, two 90's and a 30"? Inch horizontall run feeding it. The op basicly said, it aint going to happen. If that's being disingenuous then I guess I'm just disingenuous.

I just took a couple pictures of the outside chimney and the inside of the pipe we just took off. We also did the dollar bill test and it slid it with little to no resistance and are adjusting the bypass now, we have a nice tight seal on one side but can't get one in that middle or in the side

 

[BlazekingKING]

Should the bypass be hard to open?