Old Blaze King

[lukem]

Hi All,

I recently purchased a home and inherited an old Blaze King wood stove. It's a KTJ-304 made in 1984. If i had to guess it's probably had 3-4 fires in it (ever). The previous owner said he would light it once in a while but it was mostly for backup in case the power went out. Needless to say it's in really good shape.

I'm just wondering if this a good one and about how many square feet it would be "rated" at. It's currently in an open floorplan ~1500 sq. ft. finished basement. Main goal is to heat basement and if any heat passes up to 1,500 sq. ft. ranch style house, then that's a bonus.

Reason I'm asking is because it's currently vented through a 6 inch masonry flue (stove has 8 inch outlet) and shares a flue with LP boiler and water heater. I"m going to have to put in a new chimney. I have not lit this stove.

Should i build a chimney for this stove (8 inch) or would it be worth my while to get and EPA stove? I realize this is a pre-EPA stove so I'll have to throw a little more wood at it than a newer model. I have an endless supply of free firewood so that doesn't concern me.

Should I decide to go with 8" flue for the old Blaze King, do they still make new stoves that take that size flue or has everything moved to 6 on the EPA stoves? I'd hate to build a chimney that's instantly obsolete.

Detached workshop has a stove that has never been lit (until me). It's a Pioneer Castings (never heard of). Good install on this one. Pole barn has about 2 cord of mixed hardwood rounds and splits. It has been sitting there for at least 20 years. Burns fast (really fast), hot and clean.

 

[lukem]

Bump. Anyone?

 

[SolarAndWood]

I don't know anything about the stove you have but the new BK King uses an 8" pipe. If you have an endless supply of free firewood and don't mind processing it, I would be inclined to use that stove. If nothing else, you will find out if you want to burn wood without spending the money on a new stove.

Sounds like you already know this, but you definitely do not want to use that existing shared masonry that is shared with the LP appliances. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[lukem]

I don't know anything about the stove you have but the new BK King uses an 8" pipe. If you have an endless supply of free firewood and don't mind processing it, I would be inclined to use that stove. If nothing else, you will find out if you want to burn wood without spending the money on a new stove.

Sounds like you already know this, but you definitely do not want to use that existing shared masonry that is shared with the LP appliances. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the reply.

I grew up cutting wood ever since I can remember (my parents had 100% wood heat up until a few years ago when they got a heat pump). I know all about cutting and burning wood, but the only wood stove I've ever used is my Dad's "All Nighter", Old Franklin Pot Belly Stove in the shop, and "Longwood" furnace. Wasn't sure if 8" flue was still common.

Last house was too far from free firewood and the payback on a woodstove and chimney was 10+ years (really efficient house). New house is older, close to free firewood, and the LP bills make me cringe. Time to get back to basics. Cutting wood is good exercise, gets me out of the house, and gives me a reason to use my chainsaw. You don't get that same sense of satisfaction writing a check to the oil company either.

I plan on installing a new class A chimney regardless.

 

[daleeper]

Wasn't sure if 8" flue was still common.

I plan on installing a new class A chimney regardless.

8" opening on a stove is not real common, but Blaze King King, Buck 80 and 91, Country Flame BFF, and probably a few others still have an 8" opening. You can run a 6" stovepipe into an 8" chimney with proper adapters, but sometimes it can reduce draft enough to cause problems with some finicky stoves. If you know that you will be getting a new stove that has a 6" opening, I would be installing a 6" chimney system (less expensive). Either way, get a separate chimney for your wood stove.

 

[fredarm]

Or, if you put in the 8 inch pipe and decide you like burning wood, you could put in a new Blaze King.

 

[lukem]

Thanks all. I'm going to install a new 8 inch flue. I can't find anything on this particular model of stove but from what I gather Blaze Kings are high quality stoves. Since the price on this one is right (0) and and it's in nearly new condition I'm going to give it a go. I know I can convert a new 6 inch flue stove to 8 inch pipe, but I'd rather not do that as I'm leery about getting a sufficient draft and/or building a ton of creosote. It is nice to know that they are still making 8 inch flue stoves if i have to go that route later down the road.

This thing looks like a beast...hopefully it will throw some good heat.

BTW...really enjoying the forum. I think I may become a regular lurker.

 

[mbutts]

I have a KTJ 302 blaze king. I am running a 6 inch triple wall pipe with a stick of double wall and a piece of single wall to an adapter. I think my over all pipe length is like 16 ft with 2 45 deg elbows. It throws a lot of heat. At some point I want to get a cat blaze king. I think i'll wait til spring sales to buy buy mine. Not sure I would use your current setup although my old house had a similar setup that I used for alot of years. I guess if I was in your shoes and I knew I wanted to go with a new cat blaze king later I'd take the plunge and get the 8 inch pipe. My big deal on blaze king is they have models that have very large fireboxes and can go a lot of hours before refilling it.

 

[daleeper]

I can't find anything on this particular model of stove but from what I gather Blaze Kings are high quality stoves.

Here is the link for Blaze King's manuals. Down toward the bottom is your model.

http://www.blazeking.com/manuals.html

 

[tobaccogrower]

if i was in your shoes id use the existing stove and chimney and hook the lp stuff to a powervent and be done with it. if you didnt know a powervent is a force draft pipe out the basement wall. i had one on my oil furnace in my old house. way cheaper then a new chimney!

 

[lukem]

Thought about that too. Flue in masonry chimney is only 6" and location leaves something to be desired. Don't really want to powervent water heater so I can still have hot water when power goes out.

 

[lukem]

Installed a new SuperVent 8" SS chimney over the weekend. I think it turned out pretty good for my layout limitations. Unfortunately had to go outside and up versus inside...no way around it unless i put a chimney thru a bedroom...but still disappointed. I lit a match and blew it out and the chimney was drafting...sucked up the smoke instead of blowing it in the room, so that's a good sign. I'm still going to build an insulated chase around it, but will wait until spring unless forced to otherwise.

Still waiting on one piece of double wall stove pipe to come in before I can fire it up. No electrical outlet where I moved it so a little wiring still to do before I can run the blower.

Then just need to have the insurance guy out for more pictures. No inspection needed in these parts...

 

[hoverp]

I had my original Blaze King built in 1981... solid steel door (no window) and dual handles on the front each side of door....it was a wood eater but it cranked it out....great fan setup... If I were you and since wood quantity is no problem I would plumb it for the 8" and make it work...if you ever want to replace it with a new CAT King (like I did) it was a simple swap since the stoves were almost identical in size and shape. Go for it.