Blaze King Sirocco 25 insert

[jetsam]

@BKVP- That's really cool. Why Doug fir if you are going for a low-and-slow record? Isn't that high-BTU hardwood territory?

Also, what was the definition of 'burn' used for the record attempt (how did they determine the end of the burn)?

(Sorry, I've just got some stove geekery leaking out here and I can't resist the chance to get expert answers.)

 

[gregbesia]

I do not wish to rub salt in your wounds, but it was similarly warm here today (45 overnight, 55 by day), so I burned my Princess insert nearly as low as I could, no fan. Loaded it around 7 PM yesterday. Here it is at reload time, 4 PM the next day. The wood is some deadfall oak I hauled out of the woods yesterday (some is a little punky and rotten, some is pretty good. Dryness levels vary- the tree has been dead for years, but some of it was sitting off the ground, and some wasn't.)
So what is your record of a burn time so far jetsam?
View attachment 188846

I think that might have gone 30 hours if some jerk hadn't opened to door to play with it.

 

[BKVP]

@BKVP- That's really cool. Why Doug fir if you are going for a low-and-slow record? Isn't that high-BTU hardwood territory?

Also, what was the definition of 'burn' used for the record attempt (how did they determine the end of the burn)?

(Sorry, I've just got some stove geekery leaking out here and I can't resist the chance to get expert answers.)

We took our own fuel with us to the event...off my personal wood pile. We called the end when the cat hit 550F.

 

[tarzan]

I got 48 hours out of my Princess....Well, not exactly.

I loaded the stove on a cool Wednesday evening failing to account for the extra heat to soon come from the pies going in the oven. Shut the stove down. Then came Thanksgiving morning and Turkey and ham in the oven, then a house full of people, then a 60F Friday. By Friday evening the house was finally starting to cool enough to justify a fire with enough hot embers left in the stove to get another load lit.

So, not exactly a 48 hour burn to my standards but impressive none the less.

 

[jetsam]

So what is your record of a burn time so far jetsam?

I have never tried for a record or kept track... also I like to play with the stove, so it often gets reloaded even when I could have skipped it.

24 hours is pretty common when it's so warm you hardly need a stove.

You won't see any such burns in the middle of the winter though... My lil stove has a lot of house to heat.

Since the air in is thermostatically regulated, the fan speed has a huge impact on burn burn times (and heat output). Room temp probably has a noticeable impact too (check out Tarzan's 48h story above).

If I was a stove company wanting to set a crazy record without modifying the stove, I'd put the stove in a small well insulated area, play with the flue length until the lowest air setting kept the cat active, leave the fan off, and pack it full of some BTU-intensive wood like hedge or locust. (I'd probably melt the plastic knobs off of the poor thing before the cat went inactive.). The limiting factor in burn time there is how many feet of roxul you have packed around your 'stove room'. . (I bet nobody ever thinks to ask, "128 hours on a 2 CF stove? Was it 650 degrees in the stove room?").

@BKVP- Why did you take Doug fir? Just because it was handy, or is there a technical reason that I am not understanding?

 

[BKVP]

I have never tried for a record or kept track... also I like to play with the stove, so it often gets reloaded even when I could have skipped it.

24 hours is pretty common when it's so warm you hardly need a stove.

You won't see any such burns in the middle of the winter though... My lil stove has a lot of house to heat.

Since the air in is thermostatically regulated, the fan speed has a huge impact on burn burn times (and heat output). Room temp probably has a noticeable impact too (check out Tarzan's 48h story above).

If I was a stove company wanting to set a crazy record without modifying the stove, I'd put the stove in a small well insulated area, play with the flue length until the lowest air setting kept the cat active, leave the fan off, and pack it full of some BTU-intensive wood like hedge or locust. (I'd probably melt the plastic knobs off of the poor thing before the cat went inactive.). The limiting factor in burn time there is how many feet of roxul you have packed around your 'stove room'. . (I bet nobody ever thinks to ask, "128 hours on a 2 CF stove? Was it 650 degrees in the stove room?").

@BKVP- Why did you take Doug fir? Just because it was handy, or is there a technical reason that I am not understanding?

Because that is what was on my pile and it was free.

 

[Highbeam]

Because that is what was on my pile and it was free.

Just imagine what might happen if you replaced that low btu fir with high density wood or wood products. Has a long burn record, monitored as above, been attempted with the smaller princess? Would love to know what she can really do.

Mine's cruising low on Doug fir now.

 

[BKVP]

We have done some burns in King models that have gone beyond 5 days on low. For legal reasons (you know someone will try it) I cannot share the specifics.

I can tell you no other stove could even get close the same results, given the required minimum air settings and lack of control.

 

[Woody Stover]

required minimum air settings

I've read here that if you cut the air on the BKs too low, the cat crashes...true?

 

[BKVP]

I've read here that if you cut the air on the BKs too low, the cat crashes...true?

There exists an inlet to assure minimum low burn rate activity. The thermostat blade has a built in low stop. In addition to that, there is the minimum air inlet so as to assure cat activity with proper draft and fuel mc.

We made manually controlled units, much like every other stove on the market, but the low stop feature did not address stack effect.

In cat stoves, this is critical if you sell stoves in the coldest regions. The absence of this ability to have the stove protect the cat from over firing is something all cat stoves will probably embody in the future. If we did not have this feature, we would probably have the Federally mandated 3 year cat warranty.

With it, you get the 10 year 100% warranty.

 

[jetsam]

I've read here that if you cut the air on the BKs too low, the cat crashes...true?

My cat will usually die if I run my Princess on the absolute minimum setting, but it takes many hours if the stove starts hot. I imagine I could probably fix this by adding some stack length.

It runs low enough to satisfy me on a 55 degree day as is though, so I probably won't mess with it.

 

[mellow]

@ejn327 Have you noticed your blade/flapper (whatever you want to call it) getting stuck on the ash lip cover when set to High? I have had this happen a few times already.

I only noticed it when I turn it to low and it still runs on high, I jiggle the dial and it will un-jam.

 

[ejn327]

@ejn327 Have you noticed your blade/flapper (whatever you want to call it) getting stuck on the ash lip cover when set to High? I have had this happen a few times already.

I only noticed it when I turn it to low and it still runs on high, I jiggle the dial and it will un-jam.

Yes, I've had it stick open a couple of times, noticed when I went to turn it down that I didn't hear it close. I've had to take the bypass tool to pop it free.

 

[Highbeam]

@ejn327 Have you noticed your blade/flapper (whatever you want to call it) getting stuck on the ash lip cover when set to High? I have had this happen a few times already.

I only noticed it when I turn it to low and it still runs on high, I jiggle the dial and it will un-jam.

WHoa! that's a big deal. What if you filled the stove and walked away? Stat stuck on high.

 

[mellow]

Yea, I am still not at the trusting stage with my BK yet, so no walking away after loading it up. I will get some pics of what it is hanging up on.

 

[gregbesia]

I wanted to update about the tstat issue, @BKVP has given me something to test on fixing the issue, I am currently trying it out and if you feel you have a simular issue feel free to PM BKVP to see if the same fix will help you as well.

With the highs back in the 60's I am going to have to hold off on really giving the fix a workout, but so far my partial load night burns are going longer, I have the BK black glass to prove it, and man is it a lot of glass on this insert, I can't run it hot to burn it off yet!

Mello do you have any updates for us ? Were you able to slow down the burn with the fix provided by BKVP ?

 

[begreen]

WHoa! that's a big deal. What if you filled the stove and walked away? Stat stuck on high.

Yes, that is a very serious issue. Not everyone is a stove enthusiast or will be paying close attention. Hopefully there is a simple fix if it's a matter of too close a fit. Can the area on the ash lip where it's hanging be filed down a bit?

 

[kennyp2339]

King models that have gone beyond 5 days on low

Was that 5 day burn from the mega split you put in your king a couple years back? You know the split I'm talking about..the one were you left town and your son crashed your place and drank all your booze

 

[Highbeam]

Was that 5 day burn from the mega split you put in your king a couple years back? You know the split I'm talking about..the one were you left town and your son crashed your place and drank all your booze

We know that the king has a fixed minimum burn rate, we know that wood has a certain btu per #. So now all you need is more lbs of wood in the fuel tank. I wouldn't use doug fir for this. Say, you could fit 120# of wood into the firebox. Yeah baby, at 12000 btu per hour that's 100 hours of burn time. But it's also a huge amount of BTU of potential energy sitting in there like a grenade and nobody is going to be awake for 100 hours to monitor it.

You can do the math to be exact but 150# should get you to 5 days.

 

[BKVP]

Was that 5 day burn from the mega split you put in your king a couple years back? You know the split I'm talking about..the one were you left town and your son crashed your place and drank all your booze

If you call me sometime, I will tell you....but not here!

 

[jetsam]

If you call me sometime, I will tell you....but not here!

Now I want to template the opening on my stove and make a single gigantic block of oak that will fit exactly into the opening.

 

[BKVP]

Yes, that is a very serious issue. Not everyone is a stove enthusiast or will be paying close attention. Hopefully there is a simple fix if it's a matter of too close a fit. Can the area on the ash lip where it's hanging be filed down a bit?

TO BE VERY CLEAR..VERY CLEAR, we just learned of this. It is NOT a safety issue as all our units are safety tested, on inserts, tested to installation for ZC applications, the test requires running the stove thermostat wide open, door open and by pass open on specialized test fuel called brands. You cannot subject a stove to this level in any home.

Second, we just learned o this the other day form mellow, checked stock and found no others with that tight a tolerance. We are however addressing this to create a bit more tolerance and any such issues will be handled immediately through our dealers.

Thank you to mellow and ejn327. Matter is well in hand.

Chris

 

[begreen]

Great fast response!

 

[mellow]

Mello do you have any updates for us ? Were you able to slow down the burn with the fix provided by BKVP ?

Yes. I am only burning nights since it is too warm to burn during the day (to be in the 70s here the next few days), but I am able to burn at a lower rate now, now if it will only get cold enough for me to burn on high so I can clean the glass. This huge window really puts out some IR heat!

 

[tarzan]

Yes. I am only burning nights since it is too warm to burn during the day (to be in the 70s here the next few days), but I am able to burn at a lower rate now, now if it will only get cold enough for me to burn on high so I can clean the glass. This huge window really puts out some IR heat!

Embrace the dirty glass. Much better than the alternative