New owner of Blaze King

[begreen]

That is when we never tried the heat pump again. I didn't burn one night twenty eight years ago just after we bought the new house here and it never got over 69 degrees with the pump running all night and all day. The next day I loaded the stove and let the heat pump die a deserved death over the years sitting there rusting.

We are wimps. We like warm. I can work a long time below freezing outside but damn it this joint better be warm when I come back in the house.

We are becoming weather wimps too. Heating at 71 with the pump and it has lots of reserves. Get a decent, properly sized unit. Make sure the ductwork is well insulated and it will work fine. Trying to heat the place with that old turkey is like trying to heat with just the F100.

 

[BrotherBart]

That is when we never tried the heat pump again. I didn't burn one night twenty eight years ago just after we bought the new house here and it never got over 69 degrees with the pump running all night and all day. The next day I loaded the stove and let the heat pump die a deserved death over the years sitting there rusting.

We are wimps. We like warm. I can work a long time below freezing outside but damn it this joint better be warm when I come back in the house.

We are becoming weather wimps too. Heating at 71 with the pump and it has lots of reserves. Get a decent, properly sized unit. Make sure the ductwork is well insulated and it will work fine. Trying to heat the place with that old turkey is like trying to heat with just the F100.

Trying to heat with it would be like trying to heat with a stack of bricks. It has been stone dead for many years. Sometimes I actually trim the weeds around the outside unit. Not often.

I do remember the nights out there shoveling snow off of it.

 

[SolarAndWood]

It is dry. Was cut last year and been split and stacked since Decemnber. 16-18% moisture.

Something isn't right if you have to burn dry wood that hot to keep from gunking up the stove. Have you contacted your dealer or BK?

 

[nate379]

What do you normally set it to?

When I was burning with the knob set straight up and down it was gunking it all up. With it just a little bit under 2 it burns just fine. I have about a week of burning on that setting and the glass has a bit of brown on each side and that's it. Before it was fully black, couldn't see through it, in a few days.

Normally with wood I would give it 2 years to dry, but even finding something that has been drying for a year is hard. Lots of people selling "dry" or "seasoned" wood that was cut just a few months ago. It is all birch that I bought. I have a bit of cottonwood I cut this summer, was stuff that had fallen many years back.

I have a nat gas boiler to heat the DHW and also my garage. (House and garage has slab heat). The plan so far is to keep the T Stats at 60* just in case and otherwise not run the boiler for the house.

 

[SolarAndWood]

After the initial burn off/cat light, I burn at 1 or lower when its in the 30s and 40s. I get cloudiness in the bottom corners of the glass but that is it. The cell phone pic is poor but gives you an idea. That is the very end of a long low burn cycle, 24 hours loaded loosely with cut offs. The area where you can see the flame guard is clear and the bottom corners are spotty but you can still see through them and it burns off at the beginning of every burn cycle.

My stove was used and came completely gunked up. A quick scrape and a few loads of dry pine cleared it up. If you can't burn it low, I would contact your dealer or BK.

 

[nate379]

Yeah that is what mine looks like right now. If I burn it out of "normal" it gunks up bad.

 

[nate379]

So how far do you choke the fire down. The last couple days been putting the T Stat at a around 11'o clock and seems to be fine now. I have been burning mainly junk wood and some oak flooring so I dunno if the birch is still too wet... at 16-18%???

The dial can go to around 7:00 though (all the way shut). Can the stove even burn that far shut??

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'm not sure if your tstat is the same as mine. The hard stop for down turning CCW is about 10 o'clock and the hard stop for up turning CW is about 8 o'clock.

As long as you do full burn cycles, i.e. load the stove up and let it do its thing as opposed to throwing a few splits in from time to time, you can burn if you call it that very low. I try to stay on 24 hour burn cycles. Get home from work, take a look at the forecast and load appropriately for the next 24 hours. Enjoy the heat through the evening, turn it down before retiring. The little one generally gets up and turns the tstat up in the morning. Then I make the final adjustment before I head out. This often is turning it all the way down to the 11-12 o'clock range if it looks like we are going to get decent solar gain and/or its going to be warm during the day. Whoever gets home first, then generally opens the tstat all the way for the end of the burn cycle. The fire takes off again and then is ready for the evening reload after an hour or two depending on how close I was in estimating the fuel requirement the evening before.

I don't own a moisture meter but if the flooring and junk burned low clean, I would guess the birch is too wet no matter what the meter says. You need very dry wood to burn that low clean. Any time I try to cheat in an effort to get rid of some uglies before they are ready, I have the same experience you have described.

 

[oldspark]

Do a check on your MM as it does sound like the wood is too green.

 

[Todd]

I'm not sure if your tstat is the same as mine. The hard stop for down turning CCW is about 10 o'clock and the hard stop for up turning CW is about 8 o'clock.

As long as you do full burn cycles, i.e. load the stove up and let it do its thing as opposed to throwing a few splits in from time to time, you can burn if you call it that very low. I try to stay on 24 hour burn cycles. Get home from work, take a look at the forecast and load appropriately for the next 24 hours. Enjoy the heat through the evening, turn it down before retiring. The little one generally gets up and turns the tstat up in the morning. Then I make the final adjustment before I head out. This often is turning it all the way down to the 11-12 o'clock range if it looks like we are going to get decent solar gain and/or its going to be warm during the day. Whoever gets home first, then generally opens the tstat all the way for the end of the burn cycle. The fire takes off again and then is ready for the evening reload after an hour or two depending on how close I was in estimating the fuel requirement the evening before.

I don't own a moisture meter but if the flooring and junk burned low clean, I would guess the birch is too wet no matter what the meter says. You need very dry wood to burn that low clean. Any time I try to cheat in an effort to get rid of some uglies before they are ready, I have the same experience you have described.

That's awesome you can go 24 hours between reloads and just turn it up or down as needed. Can you do this throughout the winter or does it require more reloading during colder weather?

 

[SolarAndWood]

Last year, I did 24 hour cycles most of the season except when it was single digits and/or blowing. Then, I go to 12. I have a lot of variety in the woodpile, so I can usually get pretty close to what we will need in a 24 hour period. If it looks like I was light when I am headed to work, I throw some softwood on top for the last third of the burn. I find I can get away with this without building up the coals at all and it lights the cat right off again if it is on the edge.

Should be even better this year as I just had plywood on the exterior and all my windows were just 4 screws and some fiberglass stuffed around them last year. I am in the process of adding an inch of foam, fresh Tyvek and ship lap siding now. Hopefully, it will have a dramatic effect on air penetration as we live on a windy ridge and there is a wall of glass facing the prevailing wind. Luckily that is also SW so we get some solar gain to partially offset it.

 

[heating8]

You will get a feel for closing the bypass to engage the cat. When it doesn't light right off, it is too early.

When you say light right off, are you glowing right away? I seem to not be glowing (although the manual says you don't have to be for it to be working correctly)

 

[SolarAndWood]

It glows very quickly after closing the bypass. The cat thermometer then shoots up quickly from about 9 o'clock to whereever I am headed with it. Often, when well into the burn, the cat won't be glowing or just be dull. However, it always glows in the beginning.

 

[nate379]

When you guys do a low burn, how fast down to you turn the T Stat?

So far I have been running it about at 12 o clock at the lowest. The knob will go to at least 9 o clock, maybe even lower. Wide open would be at 6 o clock.

Anything lower that that and I get whiffs of smoke coming from the stove, like it's snuffing the fire out too much I guess? It's not an issue with dry wood, like tonight I burned oak planking that was from a floor circa 1985ish, 3-5% moisture content.

 

[SolarAndWood]

This time of year, I go from wide open to the middle of the normal range and then down low after a half hour or so. When heat is actually required, I go from wide open to 3 with the blowers on to bring the house up to temp. Then down into the normal range and turn the blowers off. Once its cold out, I don't get away with burning lower than the lower end of the normal range.

Are you talking about whiffs of smoke outside or in? If its outside, let it burn higher a little longer. If its inside, I would find out where its coming from.

 

[learnin to burn]

When you guys do a low burn, how fast down to you turn the T Stat?

So far I have been running it about at 12 o clock at the lowest. The knob will go to at least 9 o clock, maybe even lower. Wide open would be at 6 o clock.

Anything lower that that and I get whiffs of smoke coming from the stove, like it's snuffing the fire out too much I guess? It's not an issue with dry wood, like tonight I burned oak planking that was from a floor circa 1985ish, 3-5% moisture content.

It sounds like there might be some kind of draft issue. You shouldn't have any smoke puffing/whiffs coming from the stove even with it turned all the way to the hard stop.

 

[heating8]

Sounds like the same problem I had the first time. We're too excited and playing with it too much (I mean the new stove). The manual tells you us newbs fool with the stat too much, and just let it go for a while. Also, keep in mind if you're using the blowers that you're supposed to turn them off for a bit as they'll give a false reading apparently on the active / inactive cat thermometer (although i'd think if anything the blowers on would give a lower reading instead which shouldn't be a problem)

 

[bogydave]

I have King model. Since I've had it I get a cloudy door with dark black on the sides & corners.
I load N/S.
I've cleaned the glass & burned good dry spruce with very little creosote staining the glass.
My theory, is the birch bark being so oily (when it burns, it's dark black smoke like a burning tire) is one
problem & not burning hot enough for an extended period of time is another.

I'm burning good seasoned birch now (2yr old+) & the door is black in the corners & the rest of it is cloudy.
We have 6" wall here, good insulation in the ceilings, it gets too hot to burn on high without
having to open the windows.

I had some birch without bark & noticed I got less staining.
I'm not going to remove the bark from 12 cords of birch to keep the glass clean.
Im' not to worried about the dirty glass, I get 24 hr + burn times & have a warm house.
I burn 1/3 or 1/2 loads this time of year & get 12 - 16 hrs of heat.
When I burn a real hot fire, the soot gets burned of the glass all but the corners, but in a few hours the house is 74°f & climbing.
I turn the stove to 1 & I go outside to cool off.

I think I should have got the princess, maybe I could burn hotter.

Gas company hates me, (budget billing) & I use less gas in the winter than in the summer.

The solution may be to burn spruce, get shorter burn times, & cheaper to buy/cord & I got 16 - 18 hr burn times
last winter when I experimented for a week just burning a full load of spruce.
I turn the fan off allot too, stove is hotter that way (sometimes I get too much heat with the fan running.)
Also smaller loads on higher settings, (but it reduces burn times).

When winter sets in & we get 0°f & colder, see if burning hotter helps. It helps mine some but it's never totally clean.

Anyway my theory is the birch bark is one of the main issues of sooty glass.
I've thought about replacing the door with an all metal one so I don't see the soot.

I'd love to try some good dry oak sometime & see/prove birch bark is one of the issues.

 

[bogydave]

Nate
I'm just a few miles from you. Almost to Wasilla on the PW highway.
When it gets cold & windy, you'll have the stat on 1 to 1.5 at night & get pretty long burns. At least all night with plenty of heat.
(don't know much about the princess though)
I rarely burn on much less than 1 on the stat. Don't need a fire if I'm burning that low. "Smolder mode" I call it. Glass is definitely going to turn black.
(no visible flames but with 1/3 a load it still has wood in the morning. Then I turn to high (bypass still closed)
for an hour (coals are glowing red hot). Add 2 or 3 splits, close bypass & set to 1. By evening I have just enough hot coals to get a new fire going. For now, the house is plenty warm.
I open the bypass, turn to high, mix the coal around & get the embers & charcoal piled in the middle. Add a few dry pieces of spruce kindling, 4 medium size splits stacked in the center N/S.
Close the door (still on high 3.5 or just past to the stop). I let the fire get going until the stove temp is in the active range. (this takes 20 to 30 minutes or more sometimes)
Close the bypass & leave on high until past mid range in the
active area (just past 12 O'clock) This takes about 10 minutes if the wood is good. Then set to 1.5. Just before I go to bed 11 or so I turn to 1.
I don't run the fan much now, just in the morning if the house needs it.

My cat starts glowing within a minute after i close the bypass.
Try to get the stove just above the active mark, leave it on high & close the bypass until it get to about 3 O'clock or even hotter.
It should be glowing red hot evenly over the whole cat.
You may have soot/dirt in the cat, getting it hot should clean it out.
Mine came all covered & taped up, I took all the packing off of it before I did my 1st burn. (even the masking tape)

When it gets cold, I fill it with as much wood as it will hold & arrange as tight together as I can get it. Same as above, on high, active range close bypass, let it get to mid range, down to 1 - 1.5.

Hope this helps.

 

[nate379]

bogydave that is pretty much exactly how I have been doing in. I have not been starting a fire unless it is getting in the 30* area. Some nights it has been rather warm, but others fairly cold (like last morning it was just over 20* at my house).

I looked at it a bit more last night and I have been running it a bit less than 1. It is straight up and down, roughly at the E on "warmer"

It's been keeping the house at 75*-80* without any trouble. Funny last year without the stove ~68* was warm enough... now 68* is Brrrrr.! haha!

Burn times I haven't quite figured just yet. First issue is I have a roomate and I found out he was messing with the stove. I'm not sure what he was doing, but I realized something was wrong when wood was disappearing and he had strict instructions to not touch the stove. Sat him down today and treated him like an 8 yr old, cause I guess that's what I need to do with this guy...... so I hope that problem has been solved.

I made a fire Thursday night around 9PM but I wasn't able to load the stove because I didn't have anymore wood in the house and didn't have time to go out back to get some. Came home in the morning around 6AM and it was about 65* in the house. There was enough coals in the stove I just threw in a few pieces of spruce and with stove on high and the door cracked it fired on it's own.

Loaded it with birch as much as I could fit, let it burn on high and get everything going nice, and then turned it down. Was still a good fire going at 9PM before I reloaded, so that would be about 14hrs. I think it would have been fine for another 4-5hrs, but I had to come into work so I wanted enough wood in to last the night.



The smoke comes out of the joint between the stove and the pipe and the door. I don't mean puffing out filling the house, but just enough to see it and smell it once in a while.
It will puff a little if I have it on high and just turn down to 1. What I have been doing is go from high to around 2 and then give it 5 mins or so and then go down to low.


Oh yeah Enstar was all confused as well. See my meter stopped working around July. Everything in the house is gas so when I got 0 use bill I was wondering what was going on. After I called and fought to get someone to check, then came and said all was well. Next month, same deal. Called and argued, and they sent a guy out again. I happened to be home and he was going to bless it again, but I fired the boiler and showed him meter wasn't working.

They put a new one and next month rolls around (Sept now). I got the stove and nearly zero use, but this time because boiler isn't running for heat. Well Enstar came back out and tested meter haha. Oh yeah, I should post the letter they wrote about the broken meter. They made it sound like they were super heros for fixing my meter that "THEY" found to be inop... when truth is I had to fight them to fix the darn thing. Should have just let it be and had free gas. I found out that according to their policy they can only charge for a MAX of 3 months of gas if they find the meter to be bad.

Anyhow, now that I have the stove, I tried to get them to change the budget billing to a lower price, but they said I can't until next April. I guess come April I will have a decent "bonus"

 

[bogydave]

I'll put up with burning "shoulder season" fires for as long as I/we can.
Sound like you have the burn procedure down, as long as it isn't messed with.
Too warm is sometimes my problem too, I just load smaller loads
1/3 - 1/2 but burn times are almost directly proportional.
My wife likes the 74 °f house now. 65 was fine all summer, now that's cold HA HA.

The puffing, smoke leak : does it happen right after you close the door? If yes, just don't let it
get real hot or raging before closing the door. Takes a little longer to get to the active range.
I learned that one 1st week when stove was new.

 

[BLAZE82]

This is my observation with my bkp, If you look in the stove you can see the two tubes that carry the primary air in and down the glass. The tubes start out wider in the back and tapper in slightly at the front. If you watch your fire burn you can see that most of the airwash air is focused to the middle of the glass as the wood burns up in the middle first. I think the air doesn't come down the glass evenly enough to do a good job of keeping the glass clean. I think the air wash system on these stoves could use a little tweaking thats my only complaint. Other than that this is by far the best stove I have ever owned and operated.

 

[nate379]

Yeah the dealer led me to believe that the air wash would keep the glass pretty much spotless.

I think I have it close to dialed in, though I need to get the temps sorted out. Seems that I have a real hard time keeping the house temps normal and not 85*. The idea with the T Stat is you should be able to put a full load of wood in the stove, but I think that may end up being only on the coldest of nights. It has been in the 20s-30s at night and even with 3/4 of a load and it turned down low it gets HOT in the house. Burn times seem to be very good. I added wood to the stove this morning around 2AM, went to bed. Well it was warm enough in the day I didn't mess with it. Came in around 8PM and there was still wood in there that hadn't burn all up yet.

 

[regalflyer]

I now have dirty glass all the way across instead of the "V" shape. Is there some conduit or tube I should inspect to find out if it needs to be cleaned? I have been running at minimum thermostat settings for a long time, with lots of crunchy creosote in the stove, nothing in the chimney. The cat glows bright orange and heat output/duration is amazing. My wood is beyond good, cut, split, and dried for 2 - 3 years. Fires start instantly. I had learned about poor wood quality with my soapstone stove.

I must say that other than the glass problem (oh ya, and the noisy fans), the stove is incredible. The ash removal system is wonderful, no shoveling and no mess in the house from ash floating around. No logs rolling out the front when attempting to place a full load of wood in the stove. No kneeling on the floor to load anything or make adjustments.

If BK could figure out how to keep the glass clean and reduce the fan noise, wow ! Anyway, still the best stove I have ever operated in 24/7 mode.

 

[Todd]

I think dirty glass is just something most have to put up with during the shoulder season if your going to burn large loads at lowest air settings. Sometimes it's better to burn a smaller load hotter to bring the house temp up and maybe it will stay comfortable til the next day if you have good insulation.