This thing is absolutely silly - AKA Nick's Sirocco 30 Install

[blueguy]

In the 13 / 14 BK performance thread before it was locked, it was asked how deep the belly on the 30 series stoves is. It's 3" from the top of the firebrick laid on the stove box floor to the top of the bottom door opening.

 

[Highbeam]

Just out of curiosity, I pulled the pan to see how much space ash from a week+ of 24/7 burning occupies:

Why didn't you empty all of the ashes into the pan? Looks like you only shoved a small portion of the belly load. I find that chute ridiculously small too.

 

[blueguy]

That was the majority of the ashes. The rear of the firebox was almost all coals. I ended up missing a bit of ash along the left side, but not enough to really matter.

 

[webby3650]

I had a chance today to use the ash pan in the pedestal. With the 1450's lack of an ash pan, I was used to the scoop and dump routine with the mouth of the pail held up to the door opening to keep the ash in the box or up the flue. Having never used an integral ash pan before, I was pretty curious to see whether it was a positive or not when compared to the Sirocco's other fantastic features.

After 9 days' burning, the ash bed wasn't overly deep:

I dug around a bit with the poker / hook tool that came with the stove to hook the plug and pull it out:

My first impression is that this hole seems pretty small. If it were up to me, I think I would increase it to double the size:

It took me all of a minute to push the ash build up to the front of the firebox into the hole with my coal rake upside down:

I kept in mind some of the complaints about the plug not sealing properly, so I made sure to scrape around the top of the sealing surface before putting the plug back in. I also determined that one of the tines on my rake fits into the loop on the plug top. I'll probably hit the end tines with my grinder to thin them out slightly to fit properly:

Just out of curiosity, I pulled the pan to see how much space ash from a week+ of 24/7 burning occupies:

All in all, I am pretty happy with the ash pan in this stove. I definitely think the chute could be bigger, but even with it's current size, it gets the job done

I had originally thought it needed to be bigger, after using it for a few months I think it's just right! If it was any bigger all your good coals would go down with the ashes.

 

[blueguy]

If it was any bigger all your good coals would go down with the ashes.

Too true

 

[begreen]

How long does it take to fill up the firebox with ashes if you don't dump them?

 

[Highbeam]

How long does it take to fill up the firebox with ashes if you don't dump them?

I burned 1.5 cords of douglas fir without exceeding one inch of build up on the firebox floor of my princess. Then I swtiched to bigleaf maple and I need to empty the 6" belly every two weeks. Huge range of answers depending on wood being burned.

 

[begreen]

Yes I know. I have gone from weekly ash dumps earlier this year burning maple, to not at all while burning locust and fir. It is starting to build up in the center with clinkers so I'll probably clean it this weekend after a couple months.

 

[blueguy]

How long does it take to fill up the firebox with ashes if you don't dump them?

With the mixed hardwoods I'm burning, if I had not emptied what was there, I estimate I would have gotten about 2 weeks or so before the accumulation would have been to the point of needing to empty them.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

How long does it take to fill up the firebox with ashes if you don't dump them?

In the harman i can go 2 weeks
In the Nc-30 Englander just a few days
It seem the harman ashes burns to a fine powder,not so much with the englander.

 

[BurnIt13]

In the harman i can go 2 weeks
In the Nc-30 Englander just a few days
It seem the harman ashes burns to a fine powder,not so much with the englander.

Seasoned Oak...a bit off topic but how much wood are you putting through the 30? I went through a little over a cord of pine before I needed to empty the ashes in mine. I've been burning red oak since and it looks like I'll get close to a half cord before I need to empty them. Maybe I just keep the stove full of ashes? I usually empty when the ashes are about an inch from the top of the doghouse.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Seasoned Oak...a bit off topic but how much wood are you putting through the 30? I went through a little over a cord of pine before I needed to empty the ashes in mine. I've been burning red oak since and it looks like I'll get close to a half cord before I need to empty them. Maybe I just keep the stove full of ashes? I usually empty when the ashes are about an inch from the top of the doghouse.

3 days burning in not much wood. Likewise when it starts to cover the doghouse. Perhaps i have a weak draft,might make a big difference. Its connected to a 12" flue so when the fire dies down so does the draft.

 

[blueguy]

I decided to try and address the slight smoke smell that seemed to be coming from under the convection deck. I replaced my SBI flue thermometer due to the stem sagging from what I assume was from the high temps in my 1450 pre-key damper, so I re-purposed the magnet and "gasket" that shields the spring from the pipe to try this. The magnet is strong enough to hold the gasket to the stove top, so I pulled the cat probe, slid the gasket/magnet over and replaced the probe through the gasket.......

I'm happy to say the smoke smell is now gone

 

[blueguy]

Been burning 24/7 for about a week now, albeit on 8 split, 24 hour loads. I've noticed the stove's burn patterns have changed slightly from last year - it seems to be burning through the load a tad quicker with a little less heat coming off the stove. I'm assuming it's due to the increased draft from the addition of a 4' section of class A I added to my chimney this fall. Looks like a reason to tinker with it some more this year...

This thing is still silly :D

 

[Thislilfishy]

First off...you suck!

Hehe, my findings on your old stove are the same, I just purchased a Napoleon 1400, which is basically the same stove as your old one. Loves to over fire and wild temp swings. We considered the Princess but it just wasn't in the budget this year. The Nappy (how fitting!) is dirt cheap here as we live very close to the factory, so the princess was quite literally 3 times the price. I wish we had the money for it, and after reading your post I want it even more...but it's still not in the budget.

Congrats...and phooey on you!


Ian

 

[blueguy]

Well, I think I found part of the reason I was getting less heat - my bypass plate needed adjustment. The temps were into the mid fifties here today, so took the time to check out the seal on the bypass. It needed about 1/4 turn on the bolt and now the dollar bill is nice and snug.

Temps are supposed to drop tomorrow night again, so we'll see if there's any difference

 

[Sushiyummy]

Hi blueguy. I'm thinking of buy Sirocco to replace my Englander NC30, by reading through your post it's help me a lot. I make decision and call Blaze King dealer now.

 

[blueguy]

Glad I could help

 

[philupthegastank]

are most blaze kings around the $3,000 mark if you want to heat around 2,000 sq ft?

 

[Quentin2]

are most blaze kings around the $3,000 mark if you want to heat around 2,000 sq ft?

I paid about $3400 for king ultra with blowers up in ak 2 years ago. Prices can vary coast to coast.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Thats a nice looking stove, BK should update the looks of some of their other stoves from time to time,like the car companies do.

 

[blueguy]

I'm a form over function guy, but if you get the performance with something that looks good, it's a win - win

 

[drz1050]

I decided to try and address the slight smoke smell that seemed to be coming from under the convection deck. I replaced my SBI flue thermometer due to the stem sagging from what I assume was from the high temps in my 1450 pre-key damper, so I re-purposed the magnet and "gasket" that shields the spring from the pipe to try this. The magnet is strong enough to hold the gasket to the stove top, so I pulled the cat probe, slid the gasket/magnet over and replaced the probe through the gasket.......

I'm happy to say the smoke smell is now gone

Any pictures of this?

 

[blueguy]

Nope. Picture the round gasket and magnet sitting on the stovetop with the probe stem going down through them into the stove body as per normal.

As I found out this year, the smell is coming from the top left of the door, so I think it was coincidence that the smell disappeared after putting these in

 

[blueguy]

are most blaze kings around the $3,000 mark if you want to heat around 2,000 sq ft?

When I picked my Sirocco up last year, the King Ultra was only about $500 more.

FWIW, I'm heating just shy of a total of 2400 sq ft from a fully finished basement with this stove, ~1200 up, ~1200 down.