The Blaze King Performance Thread

[jeff_t]

I don't have any scientific data, but I know I came home last night to load up the stove, grab a shower, get mama some fresh clothes and headed back to the hospital. That was at 6pm. We all came home today at 4. The hall thermostat said 60°, outside temp was 25° with a good breeze. I stirred the coals up, threw four average sized ash splits on, and left the thermostat at 3. Stovetop was at 700 in short order. One hour later, the hall thermostat said 69, one hour after that it was at 75. Finally got it burned down enough to load for overnight. Somewhere a little over 2, with the blowers on med-low seems to be the ticket for now. The air temp is up in the house, but everything else is still pretty cool. That's three year seasoned red oak last night and tonight, stuffed as full as I can get it. I cleaned out the ashes Saturday, too.

 

[rdust]

Thats cooking, can only imagine a higher setting.

It's only that hot for the burn in, the stove responds wonderfully. It's on about 1.75 now and the temp right above the cat is 545.

 

[HotCoals]

I don't have any scientific data, but I know I came home last night to load up the stove, grab a shower, get mama some fresh clothes and headed back to the hospital. That was at 6pm. We all came home today at 4. The hall thermostat said 60°, outside temp was 25° with a good breeze. I stirred the coals up, threw four average sized ash splits on, and left the thermostat at 3. Stovetop was at 700 in short order. One hour later, the hall thermostat said 69, one hour after that it was at 75. Finally got it burned down enough to load for overnight. Somewhere a little over 2, with the blowers on med-low seems to be the ticket for now. The air temp is up in the house, but everything else is still pretty cool. That's three year seasoned red oak last night and tonight, stuffed as full as I can get it. I cleaned out the ashes Saturday, too.

On 3 with a load of wood in short order I'll have a inferno in the box..how long have you left it on 3 like that before?
Prolly why I have never seen 700f.
I'm a little anal about a ripping fire ..afraid of beating up the cat unnecessarily I guess.

 

[SolarAndWood]

On 3 with a load of wood in short order I'll have a inferno in the box..how long have you left it on 3 like that before?

That's interesting, I can run at 3 for the entire burn cycle no problem. 3.5 if I really need the heat. Have rippin secondaries but no inferno.

 

[iceman]

On 3 with a load of wood in short order I'll have a inferno in the box..how long have you left it on 3 like that before?

That's interesting, I can run at 3 for the entire burn cycle no problem. 3.5 if I really need the heat. Have rippin secondaries but no inferno.

You guys get secondaries with a cat? Wouldn't that make it like the progress?

 

[SolarAndWood]

Wouldn't that make it like the progress?

I get a lot of secondary action at higher burn rates. I haven't read too much about the progress but the fact that I never get up at night or need to come home at lunch any more is huge to me ;-)

 

[rdust]

You guys get secondaries with a cat? Wouldn't that make it like the progress?

It's a little different, it's more gasses lighting off that happens because of the cats temp,(I think) not from secondary air being introduced.

 

[HotCoals]

On 3 with a load of wood in short order I'll have a inferno in the box..how long have you left it on 3 like that before?

That's interesting, I can run at 3 for the entire burn cycle no problem. 3.5 if I really need the heat. Have rippin secondaries but no inferno.

I might have a stronger draft..I don't know..but anything more then 2.5 and it usually goes nukular!

Yeah I get secondary's dancing around..for sure if I crank the air for a few mins then slam it down.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I might have a stronger draft..I don't know..but anything more then 2.5 and it usually goes nukular!

Yeah I get secondary's dancing around..for sure if I crank the air for a few mins then slam it down.

Bizarre. I have 8" class A straight up. I get that secondary type ignition for 1/2 to maybe 2/3 of the burn cycle at high burn.

 

[HotCoals]

My night load was settled down after loading maybe 45 mins ago.
I went down and turned it up to 3 and it flamed right up big time from 1.5.

Then I turned it back to 1.5 and you can see the flame coming down from the top.

 

[HotCoals]

I might have a stronger draft..I don't know..but anything more then 2.5 and it usually goes nukular!

Yeah I get secondary's dancing around..for sure if I crank the air for a few mins then slam it down.

Bizarre. I have 8" class A straight up. I get that secondary type ignition for 1/2 to maybe 2/3 of the burn cycle at high burn.

Straight up here also..two story house..8".
Usually I can't do 2.5 even..2 or less for low ..no flame burn.
I can fine tune the t-stat do have a little flame but it is touchy...then it seems after awhile the stove heats up to that postion then i lose the little flame I had..but I then can turn it up a little more and have it for another hour..maybe...but usually much over 2 and I'll have a big fire.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Usually I can't do 2.5 even..2 or less for low ..no flame burn.
I can fine tune the t-stat do have a little flame but it is touchy...then it seems after awhile the stove heats up to that postion then i lose the little flame I had..but I then can turn it up a little more and have it for another hour..maybe...but usually much over 2 and I'll have a big fire.

I wonder if that is just the difference with the ultra. If the have the same tstat which I assume they do, I assume that you are burning hotter than me for an given setting everything else being equal.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I know it gets hot but Solar burns his HOT and hasn't melted it so I think I'm ok. :cheese:

Ha, do it at your own risk although my track record with steel has been much better than my previous cast iron experience. Went through one every 2 seasons. The King is more than through that and appears to be no worse for wear.

 

[HotCoals]

Usually I can't do 2.5 even..2 or less for low ..no flame burn.
I can fine tune the t-stat do have a little flame but it is touchy...then it seems after awhile the stove heats up to that postion then i lose the little flame I had..but I then can turn it up a little more and have it for another hour..maybe...but usually much over 2 and I'll have a big fire.

I wonder if that is just the difference with the ultra. If the have the same tstat which I assume they do, I assume that you are burning hotter than me for an given setting everything else being equal.

Could be..I'm not running the fans.

Heres a pic that I just now took..I'm trying to have some flame in it..and I did but every time the flame is like off the second layer of splits or higher.
If i give it enough air to get flames from the bottom layer,the whole thing goes wild.

I haven't cleaned the glass in awhile..it looks worse in the pic..lol.

EDIT: wrong pic..I changed it.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'm trying to have some flame in it..and I did but every time the flame is like off the second layer of splits or higher.
If i give it enough air to get flames from the bottom layer,the whole thing goes wild.

I don't have any flame, just the secondary ignition and usually kind of rolling underneath the cat enclosure but often get it going vertical in front as well.

 

[iceman]

I would really like one of those stoves ..just watched mine almost go nuclear.. be nice if if would close itself down a little according to a setting....
That ebt thing is all over the place... I think that's why it went nuclear opening and closing when it wants to...
Love my stove , but would like a bigger firebox and more control over the stove... Seems to me that is where the biggest difference between BK and other stoves ...
But mostly the tstat I can get burn times (heat times) with that of most other large cats.. if I added another cubic ft that would give me about another 4hrs or so.... Which still doesn't add up to the numbers you guys get...
Very impressed by the BK

 

[HotCoals]

I'm trying to have some flame in it..and I did but every time the flame is like off the second layer of splits or higher.
If i give it enough air to get flames from the bottom layer,the whole thing goes wild.

I don't have any flame, just the secondary ignition and usually kind of rolling underneath the cat enclosure but often get it going vertical in front as well.

The last post had the wrong pic..I changed it.

When I turn it up so the flapper opens..I can hear the air coming in and I'm half deaf! lol.

I love the stove..24 hrs. in the shoulder and at least 12 in the deep freeze...plus when the wood is down to coals I can burn those on 3 for a few hours most of the time...glass gets pretty hot then...this thing holds a lot of coals!

 

[rdust]

8:00 pm
Stove top 260*
Loaded stove with 46.6 pounds of oak and silver maple(wife thinks I'm insane)
8:25 pm
Outside temp. 23* NW wind 14mph
Inside hallway temp 70*
Stove top 746*, t-stat just below the "n" in normal or just below "2", fans on low

Tonight is supposed to get to 14* with NW winds near 20 mph, we'll see how it goes, I'm not sure what t-stat setting I need to keep the heat up and get me through the night with enough heat since we haven't had many cold nights yet. I may have to experiment with the t-stat settings some in this weather to get my desired inside temp.

Edit: another layer of small splits would be possible if I'd take some ash out, it's an inch or so below the bricks so I have about 5 inches of ash in the bottom.

10:00 pm stove on 1.75, stove top 546*
Outside temp 22*
Inside hallway temp 71*

10:40 pm stove on 1.5, stove top 434*
Outside temp 21*
Inside hallway temp 71*

I turned the stove down to 1.5 since the draft is stronger tonight due to the colder temps., it was getting a little warm in the family room.

The house is a two story house just shy of 2K(1968 I think) built in 1980 so probably terrible wall insulation with newer windows.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Tonight is supposed to get into the teens so hopefully I'll have something useful to report soon.

Winds off the lake 10-25 mph, gusts to 35 and flirting with 0 here tonight. Seems as good a reason as any to have a decent fire instead of burning junk. That is 95 pounds of 3+ years since split that will easily go in the King.

Man..that pic is some hot wood porn!

There she goes. Would love every load to be like that one.

 

[HotCoals]

Tonight is supposed to get into the teens so hopefully I'll have something useful to report soon.

Winds off the lake 10-25 mph, gusts to 35 and flirting with 0 here tonight. Seems as good a reason as any to have a decent fire instead of burning junk. That is 95 pounds of 3+ years since split that will easily go in the King.

Man..that pic is some hot wood porn!

There she goes. Would love every load to be like that one.

Now there is some serious chunks.
Maybe that's my prob..I have way smaller ones for the most part.
If it's down to coals I bet I usually put in 14-18 splits.

 

[rdust]

There she goes. Would love every load to be like that one.

That load is just silly! When you posted those pictures earlier I had to do a double take and look over at my pedestal to see how high it was since your splits were that tall. The biggest chunk I tossed in tonight was 6.5 lbs. The oak I'm burning is all split small since I split it in the spring of 2009 and thought I'd get to use it that year. Right! :lol: My biggest stuff I split now is still only in the 6x6 range or so, maybe I should make some big boys just for fun!

 

[HotCoals]

Here is what I have..the far one on the right is about the biggest..though there are some bigger buried in my cords.

 

[SolarAndWood]

The 3 big ones weighed out at 22, 23 and 26. The little ones added up to just under 24. I've got about 1/2 cord of the big boys dry right now and have been splitting anything that is worthy that big. Pretty sure that is Norway Maple, I think the Oak loads are going to be in the 140 pound range. Just need to wait 5 years to find out.

 

[HotCoals]

Probably 5 years to go out!

 

[HotCoals]

My wood would just be kindling to you!