questions about new blaze king

[bartman23]

So I've been using my new blaze king sirroco 30.1 for a few weeks now and love it but I have lots of questions still. I have read thread after thread about it but it's still nice to get first hand info.
First off I have been reloading it mostly onto beds of really hot coals with the meter still around 11 or 12 o'clock as it seems that once it drops below this there is very little coals left in the stove. Let it catch for a minute with door open close it and close bypass within a minute Cat is usually glowing like it's about to melt into lava. Is loading the stove with the cat that high on meter going to damage cat by opening door and allowing cool air in or is it cooled enough by this point?
Also I'm usually running the stove on high - just above medium when I reload the stove the chimney smokes like hell the whole time and sometimes the smoke comes down to ground level until I turn it down and than still there's still exaust for a few hours assuming it's water vapor or something. Don't have neighbour's so it's not a big deal but never had this happen with old stove. Wood is below 20%
Many more questions but I'll leave it at that for now.. thanks

 

[unclemoustache]

When you reload, you need to leave the door cracked open until it gets back up to a good hot temp again. The guage may say it's hot, but the cold wood lowers the overall temp. After reloading, check to make sure the chimney is putting out no smoke at all. Then close the door and damper and recheck the chimney after a minute. If still no smoke, then you're good to go. Once you get the hang of it you don't really need the guage anyway. Mine broke and is in the way of a water pan, so I don't bother with it now.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

The cat will warp crack and all around wear out. I do not think that opening the door letting cool air enter the system for a few minutes could have that much influence on the cat. It would take several minutes for the cat to really cool down which I agree would cause the cat to not last as long as it could. I do not often get much smoke out of mine unless I am really burning stuff that should smoke. Right now I trying to decide what to do with my cat because it is wore out. During the summer was thinking about just shopping around for the best deal and just replacing it and yes it can be pricey. Maybe loading your stove differently might reduce the smoke you are getting, Thanks

 

[GVS]

The cat will warp crack and all around wear out. I do not think that opening the door letting cool air enter the system for a few minutes could have that much influence on the cat. It would take several minutes for the cat to really cool down which I agree would cause the cat to not last as long as it could. I do not often get much smoke out of mine unless I am really burning stuff that should smoke. Right now I trying to decide what to do with my cat because it is wore out. During the summer was thinking about just shopping around for the best deal and just replacing it and yes it can be pricey. Maybe loading your stove differently might reduce the smoke you are getting, Thanks

Cats work great for a few years then die.The very reason I don't like them.Over the years I've had 4 stoves and only 1 was a cat.That one will be the last cat stove I own.

 

[bartman23]

When you reload, you need to leave the door cracked open until it gets back up to a good hot temp again. The guage may say it's hot, but the cold wood lowers the overall temp. After reloading, check to make sure the chimney is putting out no smoke at all. Then close the door and damper and recheck the chimney after a minute. If still no smoke, then you're good to go. Once you get the hang of it you don't really need the guage anyway. Mine broke and is in the way of a water pan, so I don't bother with it now.

I have read that is bad to let the fire burn hot with the damper open as it can warp the bypass frame and it will no longer seal properly

 

[bartman23]

When I turn down my thermostat I usually hear a click between the two lines in the picture does this mean it's closing all the way or just the air adjusting?

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Open bypass, open damper, stir up the coals, fill, close door.

Let it burn till its going good/guage is in "active", close bypass, close damper.

 

[Marshy]

I have read that is bad to let the fire burn hot with the damper open as it can warp the bypass frame and it will no longer seal properly

It will destroy the retaining clamps for the bypass door gasket and they cannot be replaced (as in un-bolt old and bolt on new).

...

First off I have been reloading it mostly onto beds of really hot coals with the meter still around 11 or 12 o'clock as it seems that once it drops below this there is very little coals left in the stove. Let it catch for a minute with door open close it and close bypass within a minute Cat is usually glowing like it's about to melt into lava. Is loading the stove with the cat that high on meter going to damage cat by opening door and allowing cool air in or is it cooled enough by this point?

You are fine to reload the stove with the cat in the active zone. The draft will be going through the bypass not the cat as long as you opened the bypass. Never leave the cat engaged and open the loading door or you will damage the cat. I use to run my King at max output 24/7 and would do a hot reload nearly every time. Once it's full of wood I gave it a few minutes with the door cracked and bypass open to flame up then would shut the door and bypass Nd leave it on high. The manual suggests loading it, reactivating the cat (once in the active zone) and burning the unit on high (max) for 15 minutes before selecting your normal heat setting. This will help get the wood burning and drive out the residual moisture in the wood.

...
Also I'm usually running the stove on high - just above medium when I reload the stove the chimney smokes like hell the whole time and sometimes the smoke comes down to ground level until I turn it down and than still there's still exaust for a few hours assuming it's water vapor or something. Don't have neighbour's so it's not a big deal but never had this happen with old stove. Wood is below 20%
Many more questions but I'll leave it at that for now.. thanks

Lots of moisture initially and can last for 30 minutes depending how hit the coal bed was and how much moisture your wood has. You said it was at or below 20% but have you measured it on a fresh split piece of wood that has been in the house for 24 hrs?
After fully loading my king the condensation/smoke would reach the ground but would dissipate fairly quickly and would not continue much longer than a half hour. Maybe it would be prolonged if the setting was turned down idk.

 

[bartman23]

Gave myself a disadvantage and picked the two biggest ugliest pieces I had piled inside

Maybe it's the species of wood (box elder) just smokes more than other wood I'm not sure. Same wood in my non cat stove barely smokes or anything even from a cold start. That chimney is a straight vertical rise vs this blaze king which is 36" to a 90 ° 12" adjustable than ties into 2 " insulated tee at wall thimble than vertical rise 18' or so. There are some trees around but the wind still whips in there pretty good.

 

[Marshy]

Looks like water vapor to me. I guarantee the flue temp is lower on your BK than your non-cat stove.

Did you freshly split thst piece of wood before testing.

 

[bartman23]

Yep freshly split pieces both read the same right around 16%.

 

[Marshy]

I see nothing to worry about. Hopefully you dont have icing or creosote buildup. Make sure you burn a hot fire at least once a day.

 

[bartman23]

I burn a hot fire most of the time Almost Always Some Sort Of flames in the box which brings me to my next question. How hot is too hot I've had it up to over 800 (thermometer gun) and it could of easily kept climbing. I thought they were supposed to cut back the air on there own at some point making them impossible to over fire unless you have bad gaskets.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Wow, 800*?! I've only had my Blaze King that hot once or twice and it was when I put wood, left it wide open and fell asleep waiting for it to get burning. Normally it's running around 350* or so.

I run my stove with the intake damper closed (can hear it make noise when it's closed) or very slightly open. Usually around #1 on teh dial. This is going on year #7 with the stove, still on the original cat.
Not sure how long they are supposed to last? I figured 10ish years?

 

[bartman23]

I reload it and let it buck for 20 minutes like manual says. Often gets very hot, not 800 everytime but definatly 700-750.

 

[GVS]

Wow, 800*?! I've only had my Blaze King that hot once or twice and it was when I put wood, left it wide open and fell asleep waiting for it to get burning. Normally it's running around 350* or so.

I run my stove with the intake damper closed (can hear it make noise when it's closed) or very slightly open. Usually around #1 on teh dial. This is going on year #7 with the stove, still on the original cat.
Not sure how long they are supposed to last? I figured 10ish years?

If you run at 350* all the time your cat could last for 10 years Seems to me most cat stove makers recommend cat R&R at 5 years.Course they're cat sellers too.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

According to the guage on my stove top over 550* is "overfire".

 

[Marshy]

According to the guage on my stove top over 550* is "overfire".

Your thermomet "over fire" range does not apply.

The stoves thermostst is designed to prevent over fire and damage. You cannot harm the stove by burning it on high indefinitely as long as everything thing else is working properly. I've had my stove operating at about 850F. Seems that's the typical temp you can expect with it on high.

The thermostat's reaction is slightly delayed so if you do a fresh load it may take more than 10 minutes for it to catfch up and regulate inlet air. Still no worries for over fire.

 

[milkman]

Seems this is a good place for Blaze King questions and they seem to be a well liked stove at a decent price. I see they have an ash pan and a hole in the firebox floor, my question is, do you run the stove with the hole open or is there a cover that fits over the opening?

 

[Erik B]

Does Blaze King make any non-cat stoves?