New Install of Blaze King King 40 KE Stove on Six Inch Flue and Chimney

There were a few BKs that had holes rusted through their back walls. Not cool. The gooey, wet, tar that BKs produce on a super low burn are wet and apparently more corrosive than the dry stuff common on noncats. If nothing else, burning the creosote off allows you to inspect your stove for holes. I've never seen this on other brands, maybe someone else has had rust holes not caused by actual water?

 

Cause rust

 

We're lighting a fire every evening, and letting it burn out by morning. I burned it at a higher temp when everyone had gone to bed last night and today, when drug the poker around, the creosote flaked right off into the firebox. Definitely needs to be a regular routine this time of year.

 

Supposedly, the Ashtrol sold by Central Boiler to be used daily in their fireboxes neutralized the acid in the creosote to prevent firebox erosion. That's what got me thinking about this when I started seeing the shiny tar on the back of the firebox this spring. I do believe the hot fire every day or other day is the ticket.

 

Yea way cheaper than buying a product that may or probably doesn't do what they claim.

 

Did not know this, but it makes sense.

 

Ok, I think I can say heating season is over (although, I did build a tiny fire two nights this week just to knock the cool dampness down during a rainy period.

I can officially say, I burned just shy of 3 cord heating season of 2023/2024. Amazing! And, the house was every bit as warm as I'd have wanted it. It was a very mild winter, only maybe a dozen days near zero or a bit below. Mostly, 20's or so. I'm extremely happy with the BK 40. I would buy another one if I had to do it all over again. For me, the 6" chimney worked out excellent, but as mentioned earlier, if you are starting with a brand new install, just install the 8" to be safe. If I were starting a fire in a cold stove and it were very humid outside, I would highly recommend starting a fire using fine split kindling for a quick, hot, smokeless fire until the flue gets warmed, then build into your larger pieces. That should guarantee you no outflow of smoke from the heavy air.

 

Was wondering, how is your king 40 working with your 6 inch chimney?

 

Up until this year, my BK literally exceeded my expectations in every way. That is, until this year (2025/2026). Almost immediately after starting this season, my wife and I noticed a hint of smoke smell in the house. It wasn't every day, it wasn't always strong, although sometimes it was. I've spent 2 months, tracking wind directions, changing gaskets on the bypass and gasket around the cat. Literally nothing helped. That is, until 4 days ago. I bit the bullet and bought/installed a new cat. So far, not even a hint of smoke smell since. I can confidently say, the smoke smell is behind me. Since changing the cat, the difference in the performance of the stove has been mind blowing. I forgot how good the stove actually worked, when, even with the smoke smell, it was performing great. Apparently though, not great enough. I'm extremely disappointed that I only got two seasons out of a $385 cat.

Please reference the following link to read up on my "smoke smell" journey.

Blaze King 40 Smoke Smell Near Stove (No Visible Smoke) on Low Burn

 

Talked w/a rep from Buck about my 91 yesterday. He said the CAT should last 3-5 years at least as long as I'm burning properly seasoned wood, which I am, but I've started to see a little smoke coming from my chimney the last week or so. I asked about pulling the CAT and soaking it in 1/2 white vinegar, 1/2 distilled water and he said I could, but shouldn't need to. I've ordered a gasket set and believe I'm going to do so the next warm spell we have. If that don't work, I guess I'm headed the same route that Pyro took.

 

I searched the BK manual everywhere, I couldn't find anything in there about performing a soak. Figured I'd better not try it. BK dealer told me the original cat has a 10 year warranty, they just need to send it in for me. Ironically, only the original!

 

Yeah 10,000-12,000 hours is the life of a cat according to the manufactures but you may be able to stretch that a bit with the 50/50 vinegar/distilled water soak. I wish dealers and manufacturers would stop going by years for cat life.

 

I agree, very misleading!
So, with that being said, is a person ultimately better off with a non-cat stove but still using the secondary burn stoves for better efficiency than the old smoked dragons? Is the maintenance on the other non-cat efficiency stoves as costly as the cat stoves? I realize, the cat stoves are supposed to be the most efficient, I believe my blaze King is rated somewhere around 86%, which is probably not real world unless a person is consistently burning on a very low and slow setting, which for me is unrealistic. When temperatures hit 0° or less, a low and slow just doesn't cut it. So, I would have to think in my situation, efficiency is out the window anyways. If a person is spending an additional $200 per year by replacing a $400 cat every 2 years, that will put an extra two full cord in the woodshed every year, which for me, is enough to heat for half a winter. I can't believe a cat stove is saving the average wood burner that much inefficiency. I obviously have not crunched the numbers, just my off-the-cuff curiosity.

Just curious about thoughts on that

 

It's hard to get a tube stove to put out any real amount of heat more than ~8 hrs...you have to let house temp peak, then slide, peak, then slide...sounds to me like a good cat stove can even that out, so I guess it's just matter of if it's worth $200/yr to even out house temp, especially during the shoulder season, which here in NEO, we have plenty of anymore...

 

Here in Central Michigan, you never know what to expect. Years ago, we went through one month it never broke 0°. Mornings were -20°F to -30°F. This year, we have already seen quite a few days around 0°. But, some warmer days as well. Today is supposed to be 50°, then cold and snow again on Saturday. When temps get really cold, I definitely don't want any temperature swings in the house. I guess every stove has its flaws, but one thing I will say about this blaze King 40, it heats my house with zero issues.

 

I guess it all depends on what the burner wants and needs. For me paying $160 every 2-3 years for a new cat for my stove is not a big deal so long as I have that flexibility of low and slow clean burns for the long shoulder seasons and also the ability to burn hot when needed. I cut my own wood along with buying 8’ logs at $100 per cord so the money savings verses a non cat stove is really mute.

 

My situation is virtually identical. In the end, it always seems to come out as a wash.