Blaze King problem/question

[aansorge]

Thanks for the pics...when will the stats be available?

 

[Woody Stover]

FWIW, I have recently been told emphatically by a cat vendor that soaking is a last resort nothing left to lose move.

I saw the standard 50/50 vinegar/distilled water cleaning detailed in the Blaze King manual...is that what the vendor was referring to? If so, what was his problem with the procedure? Blaze King recommended it every few years to bring the cat back up to peak performance, if you notice a drop-off...

 

[BKVP]

New model stats available on line in March. 1.8 cu ft firebox, thermostatically controlled. Burns 20 hours on low burn. 86.4% efficient LHV and 75.9% HHV.

Clean combustor using the instructions in the manual and make certain you have gasket on hand prior to beginning.

Chris

 

[Osburning]

Thanks for the pics, both stoves look nice. Are you able to post a recommended msrp for these models.

 

[shoot-straight]

mike, you should just shut her down, pay for heat, and wait for morel season....

brett

Hey Brett- only 80 days or so until I can start looking. Not that I'm counting or anything...

Heck, with the 62 degrees we have it might be a while until I fire her back up to see if I've fixed the issue.

we really have similar interests:

Looking for mushrooms- check
fishing- check
hunting- check
burning wood- check
correcting our wives mis-use our stoves- check

 

[Lanningjw]

[quote author="BKVP" date="1327697493"]Good morning Mike. Sorry to hear about the combustor plugging but it can happen with wet wood and low settings.

First, a pipe cleaner is not a good idea. The precious metals on the face (surface) of the combustor can get stripped off by the brushing action. The brush isn't the only culprit, but in combinations with the deposits it can act like a sandblaster.

Hey Chris, How was bow hunting this year?

Why does Condar have this imformation on the site?



Instructions for Cleaning Your Combustor



Dry Cleaning
Using a clean, unused paint brush and a vacuum cleaner, remove any fly ash and loose soot from the combustor. If some cells are totally blocked, use a cotton swab or pipe cleaner. Be careful not to damage any of the cell walls by scraping or scratching them with a hard object.

 

[weatherguy]

Good morning Mike. Sorry to hear about the combustor plugging but it can happen with wet wood and low settings.

First, a pipe cleaner is not a good idea. The precious metals on the face (surface) of the combustor can get stripped off by the brushing action. The brush isn't the only culprit, but in combinations with the deposits it can act like a sandblaster.

Hey Chris, How was bow hunting this year?

Why does Condar have this imformation on the site?



Instructions for Cleaning Your Combustor



Dry Cleaning
Using a clean, unused paint brush and a vacuum cleaner, remove any fly ash and loose soot from the combustor. If some cells are totally blocked, use a cotton swab or pipe cleaner. Be careful not to damage any of the cell walls by scraping or scratching them with a hard object.

Good info lanning, next time my stoves cold Im going to give the combustor a better cleaning, dont want to remove it without a spare on hand.

 

[markinpdx]

Good morning Mike. Sorry to hear about the combustor plugging but it can happen with wet wood and low settings.

[SNIP]

As fo the new stoves in another thread, The Chinook 20 is now available and selling well. The Sirocco 20 comes in two versions. One with a pedestal and optional ash drawer. The other version has legs. The Sirocco models should be available March-April time frame.

Thanks
Chris

Chris; Really like the look of the Chinook 20 (picture); liked seeing the Chinook 30 in person but it is a tad large for the space I'll have. Question about the 20: what are the firebox dimensions? I'm struggling between the two because the 30 allows N/S loading, which seems much better for getting a full load when you have front loading. So I'd be concerned about getting a full load into the Chinook 20 doing it all E/W. And I'm thinking the 20 firebox is going to be less than 16" deep. Am I missing something?
Mark

 

[Osburning]

You can pack a 1.8cuft stove E/W without much trouble because its only 2 splits tall for most designs.

 

[markinpdx]

You can pack a 1.8cuft stove E/W without much trouble because its only 2 splits tall for most designs.

OK thanks! That makes sense.

 

[Patapsco Mike]

Success! I took a three pronged approach. I brushed off the stuff on the front with a soft paintbrush, then I vacuumed it, then I got an air compressor, set it pretty low (60 psi) and blew through whatever I couldn't reach. Fired her up tonight and now it's 76 degrees in my living room with the stove dialed all the way down- and no smoke smell. It was a clogged cat after all, thank goodness- and easy to fix.

 

[SolarAndWood]

FWIW, I have recently been told emphatically by a cat vendor that soaking is a last resort nothing left to lose move.

I saw the standard 50/50 vinegar/distilled water cleaning detailed in the Blaze King manual...is that what the vendor was referring to? If so, what was his problem with the procedure? Blaze King recommended it every few years to bring the cat back up to peak performance, if you notice a drop-off...

Not sure yet. He wanted me to follow up with him after I swapped it out. I'll report back.

 

[rdust]

In running the stove on high the first hour, a major amount of the weight loss in a load of fuel is the first hour, boiling the water from the wood.
Chris

I've seen you post this before. I can't imagine running mine on 3 or 3.5 for an hour, after 10 minutes I'm thinking it's gonna melt down if I don't dial it down. What about flame impingement on the cat and the cat temp?(or just burn it and forget about the cat) Are you saying I can run this thing on 3 and the t-stat will keep it from melting down? What do you guys consider an over fire temp for these stoves?

 

[northroadak]

3 or 3.5 is high? Mine goes from 0 to 9!

 

[fdegree]

In running the stove on high the first hour, a major amount of the weight loss in a load of fuel is the first hour, boiling the water from the wood.
Chris

I've seen you post this before. I can't imagine running mine on 3 or 3.5 for an hour, after 10 minutes I'm thinking it's gonna melt down if I don't dial it down. What about flame impingement on the cat and the cat temp?(or just burn it and forget about the cat) Are you saying I can run this thing on 3 and the t-stat will keep it from melting down? What do you guys consider an over fire temp for these stoves?

+1 I was going to ask the same question.

I have the same issue if I load on a medium to large coal bed...if I leave the t'stat on high too long, I get paint curing fumes that set off the CO detector. If I start with very little coals, this doesn't seem to be as big of a problem...but an hour wide open would still cause the fume problem.

 

[fdegree]

3 or 3.5 is high? Mine goes from 0 to 9!

Probably a difference between the insert and the free-standing wood stove.

 

[SolarAndWood]

In running the stove on high the first hour, a major amount of the weight loss in a load of fuel is the first hour, boiling the water from the wood.
Chris

I've seen you post this before. I can't imagine running mine on 3 or 3.5 for an hour, after 10 minutes I'm thinking it's gonna melt down if I don't dial it down. What about flame impingement on the cat and the cat temp?(or just burn it and forget about the cat) Are you saying I can run this thing on 3 and the t-stat will keep it from melting down? What do you guys consider an over fire temp for these stoves?

+1 I was going to ask the same question.

I have the same issue if I load on a medium to large coal bed...if I leave the t'stat on high too long, I get paint curing fumes that set off the CO detector. If I start with very little coals, this doesn't seem to be as big of a problem...but an hour wide open would still cause the fume problem.

You guys get that hot with the blowers on or are you talking tstat wide open with the blowers off? I can run 3.5 the entire burn as long as the splits are big and the box is full. Partial load and smaller splits seems to get hotter in the first part of the burn running wide open.

 

[HotCoals]

In running the stove on high the first hour, a major amount of the weight loss in a load of fuel is the first hour, boiling the water from the wood.
Chris

I've seen you post this before. I can't imagine running mine on 3 or 3.5 for an hour, after 10 minutes I'm thinking it's gonna melt down if I don't dial it down. What about flame impingement on the cat and the cat temp?(or just burn it and forget about the cat) Are you saying I can run this thing on 3 and the t-stat will keep it from melting down? What do you guys consider an over fire temp for these stoves?

+1 I was going to ask the same question.

I have the same issue if I load on a medium to large coal bed...if I leave the t'stat on high too long, I get paint curing fumes that set off the CO detector. If I start with very little coals, this doesn't seem to be as big of a problem...but an hour wide open would still cause the fume problem.

You guys get that hot with the blowers on or are you talking tstat wide open with the blowers off? I can run 3.5 the entire burn as long as the splits are big and the box is full. Partial load and smaller splits seems to get hotter in the first part of the burn running wide open.

You seem like the only one that can do that.
Something must be up with the t-stat linkage or adjustment of...can't be draft I don't think cause you don't complain of smoke.
You really need to pull that cover off just to check.
You have me more then curious.
I'm about ready to drive down to your house! lol

 

[HotCoals]

In running the stove on high the first hour, a major amount of the weight loss in a load of fuel is the first hour, boiling the water from the wood.
Chris

I've seen you post this before. I can't imagine running mine on 3 or 3.5 for an hour, after 10 minutes I'm thinking it's gonna melt down if I don't dial it down. What about flame impingement on the cat and the cat temp?(or just burn it and forget about the cat) Are you saying I can run this thing on 3 and the t-stat will keep it from melting down? What do you guys consider an over fire temp for these stoves?

I'm real interested in his response.
I also want to know from him about that third screw in the t-stat cover that some of us newer buyers have.
Looks like it is supposed to be a limit as to how far the flapper can open.
But they failed with mine ..it's on a angle.
I added my own from the top with adjustment to limit it.
Now the wife can not walk away and end up with a inferno.
First pic the factory screw..second my mod.

I know I posted theses before but I need to know if I'm right.
He will know what I'm talking about.

 

[rdust]

You guys get that hot with the blowers on or are you talking tstat wide open with the blowers off? I can run 3.5 the entire burn as long as the splits are big and the box is full. Partial load and smaller splits seems to get hotter in the first part of the burn running wide open.

Blowers on high with stove on 3-3.5 I've held out to about 750 before turning it down. On this setting I'll have a firebox full of flames, I get pretty good flames until I'm south of "2"(3 o'clock). They start getting lazy around 2 and when I get around 1 3/4 the flames will go out.(obviously the point where they go out depends on the temp of the stove, in general this is how it is)

 

[fdegree]

You guys get that hot with the blowers on or are you talking tstat wide open with the blowers off? I can run 3.5 the entire burn as long as the splits are big and the box is full. Partial load and smaller splits seems to get hotter in the first part of the burn running wide open.

I rarely run the fans unless the house has cooled further than expected and I need to heat it back up fairly quickly. So, for me, that would be with blowers off.

On the rare occasion that I have run the fans with the t'stat on high, I have watched the cat temp go past the high point on the scale...so I end up turning the t'stat back to bring the cat temp down. I have never operated that way for too long, so can't say for certain...but, based upon what I have experienced, I suspect I would get paint curing fumes if I ran that way for too long.

rdust's description sounds very similar to my experience, too.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'm about ready to drive down to your house! lol

Well, you probably would have seen me jumping for joy as I think I got to the bottom of it. My stove was a demo return and the victim of some really crappy wood. Just changed the cat and saw for the first time what should happen and man am I psyched. The whole firebox was instantly glowing salmon pink and the tstat thermometer accelerated like I've never seen before. Suweet.

 

[HotCoals]

I'm about ready to drive down to your house! lol

Well, you probably would have seen me jumping for joy as I think I got to the bottom of it. My stove was a demo return and the victim of some really crappy wood. Just changed the cat and saw for the first time what should happen and man am I psyched. The whole firebox was instantly glowing salmon pink and the tstat thermometer accelerated like I've never seen before. Suweet.

I knew something had to be up!
Surprised smoke out the door was not a issue though.

Something I have noticed..
The probe temp is influenced greatly by stove top temps.
Just because it might get to halfway or better on start up does not mean its working..for sure on a softer start.
Get those temps up on a colder start and get that cat glowing red...char good then cut her back.
Probe temps will climb to the edge or better if all is good..don't worry if it goes almost to 5:00.
To many times now I have cut back to early and have had cat stalls( but mostly not know it)..mainly cause the wood was not charred enough and could not feed the cat the needed fuel..not the stoves fault...that practice will not serve you well.

All that said with dry wood the whole deal should not take 45 mins usually from a cold stove.

Now you get to see what that stove can do..cool beans!