Blaze King Sirocco 25 insert

[cableman]

What if ones liner is long enough, is the 24" section still needed?

 

[ejn327]

My fire today went out of the active zone after about 7 hrs according to my wife. When I got home there was a pretty good bed of coals yet (12 hrs from starting). I cranked the t-stat up and opened up the bypass for a few minutes. Then I raked the coals forward and loaded the firebox up with 4 large splits N/S and a few smaller pieces to fill up the box. Once the cat got active I let it go for 20 minutes on high then broughtthe t-stat back down to low.
This picture is after 30 minutes on low (fan running low also). It has a decent flame but seems to be burning slow. Curious to see how it's doing tomorrow morning when I wake up

 

[Dmitry]

What is the depth of firebox , so you can load it N/S. I have insert with 3 cu ft but don't see how I can do it.

 

[cableman]

What is the depth of firebox , so you can load it N/S. I have insert with 3 cu ft but don't see how I can do it.

Bkvp on 1st page was saying to load 16" spits n/s so im guessing 16" which i believe is listed on their site.

 

[Rickb]

My fire today went out of the active zone after about 7 hrs according to my wife. When I got home there was a pretty good bed of coals yet (12 hrs from starting). I cranked the t-stat up and opened up the bypass for a few minutes. Then I raked the coals forward and loaded the firebox up with 4 large splits N/S and a few smaller pieces to fill up the box. Once the cat got active I let it go for 20 minutes on high then broughtthe t-stat back down to low.
This picture is after 30 minutes on low (fan running low also). It has a decent flame but seems to be burning slow. Curious to see how it's doing tomorrow morning when I wake up

Looks good!

 

[BKVP]

I wonder if BK didn't supply that chunk of liner to make sure that even the "slammer" installs have at least 24" of stack for a better chance of drafting well.

When we tested the unit to be installed in manufactured fireplaces, the safety test required the bypass to be left open and the door left open as well. Fuel (called brands) are 1" x 1"'S stapled together to look like waffles. They are added every few minutes so as to simulate an over fired unit. The stack temps are taken and at that point the required thickness of liner is determined. Because we conducted this safety test so that the unit could be installed into a manufactured fireplace, the section provided with the unit MUST be installed in all applications, yes even in a masonry chimney.

 

[ejn327]

I was up around 4 am this morning and the cat probe was just below the active zone so it looks like I had right around 8 hrs of good burn with an active cat. At around 5:30 I opened up the bypass and did a re-load. I raked the coals forward and loaded up some large pieced E/W (too long for N/S). It took right off and once the needle was in the active zone I closed the bypass. I kept the t-stat wide open for 20 minutes or so and then brought it down to low. The fire was good and hot, probably the hottest one I've had yet. The flame shield and lower guard were both glowing red, the cat probe needle was about 1/4 of the way to the right of center. When I left the house for work around 7 am it was still burning pretty good and it looked like a lot of the wood had burned up already.
This pic is of the fire after being on low for 45 minutes.


Mellow,
Did you get a chance to try out N/S loading yet?

 

[black smoke signals]

[QUOTE="BKVP, Because we conducted this safety test so that the unit could be installed into a manufactured fireplace, the section provided with the unit MUST be installed in all applications, yes even in a masonry chimney.[/QUOTE]
BKVP does the 24 inch extension apply to the Princess insert also?

 

[mellow]

I made a N/S fire last night to see if that would help Low burn. TLDR: it did not help.

Started a fire front and center and got a good ember bed going, then loaded my splits N/S on top of that:



I let the fire go for 15 minutes till the analog cat temp was just south of active, then I closed my bypass and let it burn on High for another 10 minutes, turned the tstat to medium for 5 minutes and then to Low, I waited for 20 minutes with it burning on Low and took the video below:


I let the fire burn overnight, I can't say exactly how long it was burning, but I loaded those splits N/S at around 7pm last night and came down this morning at 8am to just ash and no hot coals in the firebox.

 

[Blazing]

Interesting the difference between this and my princess. Almost seems as if cleaner burns came before long burns. I can go from wide open to it won't even think about a flame and still not be shut all the way down.

 

[mellow]

Interesting the difference between this and my princess. Almost seems as if cleaner burns came before long burns. I can go from wide open to it won't even think about a flame and still not be shut all the way down.

I thought that to, but the Low output BTU numbers for princess and SC25 are very close on the spec sheet so I am stumped why the SC25 can't burn lower. Trying to eliminate everything before saying it is a tstat issue.

 

[webby3650]

[QUOTE="BKVP, Because we conducted this safety test so that the unit could be installed into a manufactured fireplace, the section provided with the unit MUST be installed in all applications, yes even in a masonry chimney.

This would only be applicable to the Sirocco 25 at this point.

 

[BKVP]

[QUOTE="BKVP, Because we conducted this safety test so that the unit could be installed into a manufactured fireplace, the section provided with the unit MUST be installed in all applications, yes even in a masonry chimney.

BKVP does the 24 inch extension apply to the Princess insert also?[/QUOTE]
No.

 

[cableman]

Is that extension thicker then any liner out there?

 

[BKVP]

Is that extension thicker then any liner out there?

It is a heavy grade stainless material.

 

[mellow]

Thicker is an understatement, I could jump on that extension and not hurt it.

 

[mellow]

I am going to do another N/S fire tonight but engage the cat sooner and not run it on High for as long and see if that helps.

 

[BKVP]

Thicker is an understatement, I could jump on that extension and not hurt it.

I see an MD visit in the future now that you made that challenge.

 

[mellow]

I see an MD visit in the future now that you made that challenge.

Bring your own extension, I ain't pulling that thing out again!

 

[mellow]

Ok @BKVP, I have done about everything I can think of to get a low burn on this insert, I don't believe it is an overdraft issue, especially since it has been warm temps outside while trying this (40-60 ), the issue is I can't get the tstat to shut down enough to truly burn low and slow.

I tried loading the wood E/W last night for kicks and giggles in hopes that would slow down the fire as it has in my previous stoves, no go.
I engaged the cat before it was active and went to low as soon as I closed the damper with a semi-hot fire, I took the video below 20 minutes into the burn on Low, I wanted to point out on this video that I am hitting the stop for the Low setting but the flapper is still open quite a bit and does not close anymore when it should be.

 

[mellow]

So with me being a tinkerer I used the supplied BK tstat closing tool and got a good LOW burn going, how can I get this kind of burn without having to use the tstat closing tool?

 

[mellow]

After catching up on the past threads about the tstats being wound backwards I will try doing a hairdryer test on the tstat tonight to see how much it will close with a cold stove.

 

[BKVP]

I'm flying today, so give me a call in my office tomorrow. 509-522-2730. I'll be in no later than 6:00 am PST. Some questions for our call:

Is the thermostat blade open at a 20 degree angle when stove is not burning and thermostat set at lowest setting?

How long is your chimney?

What length are your splits?

Take what would be a full load, filling the firebox and weigh it on a scale so we have idea of total Btu input.

Look forward to your call.

 

[mellow]

Here are some pics of the tstat taken while the insert was cold:

High:


Low:

 

[ejn327]

Here are some pics of the tstat taken while the insert was cold:

So my understanding of how the t-stat works; when set on low it should be partially open like you show in your picture. As the stove heats up the bimetallic coil should close it further to get a nice long low burn with minimal flames (like when you used the poker in your video)

Tonight I am going to try out the hair dryer test too and see what happens. I have the front lower shroud on so it's a little hard to see in there, but I don't think my flapper ever closes up anymore as the stove heats up. I'll take the shroud off when I run the hair dryer and snap some pictures.