Keystoker "Stoker" Maintenance

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oliver power
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Stoker Coal Boiler: KEYSTOKER Kaa-2
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Post by oliver power » Mon. Sep. 26, 2011 6:53 am

Hello fellow Members........It's that time of year again. Question for the Keystoker people. Do you pull the stoker unit completely out of the stove/boiler? Or, do you leave it in place, and work through the little side door? I'd like to clean below the grates, and make sure the little holes are open. I haven't done this before. Any tips? Thanks, Oliver

 
CoaLen
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker Koker
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by CoaLen » Mon. Sep. 26, 2011 8:07 am

The first year I had my Koker I simply vacuumed what I could up through the holes in the plates. It burned fine the following season.
The second year I pulled the plates off, cleaned everything out and recemented them. There was quite a buildup of fines in there and I got it really clean but it's too much work that way.
Now I remove the combustion fan/motor assembly from the back and vacuum everything out through the hole. Doing it this way also gives me a good chance to oil the combustion fan motor. (The oil holes are on the bottom of the motor).
-Len

 
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Machinist
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-2
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Post by Machinist » Mon. Sep. 26, 2011 8:16 am

I leave the stoker in.

After hopper is empty and fire is out, I scrape the walls and top of fire box.
Remove coal and ash from stoker.
Use a nail to poke grate holes open by hand. The holes closest to the fire observing door are a bit difficult. Cant see them.
Remove blower, remove gearbox/motor assembly with cam. Remove pusher block.
Remove damper, and end caps for flue pipes.
Vacuum firebox area, pusher block area and flues.

I use a piece of 3/4 copper tube held by hand to vacuum under grates thru blower opening.

Wipe cam off, and lubricate with silicon grease.
Add a few drops of oil to the lube holes on the blower motor.

Put it all back together and fire it up. Check and adjust draft settings.
Check water pressure.
Adjust coal feed if needed.

That's what I remember from my last big clean out probably about a year ago.
I think it took me about 2 hours.

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Tue. Sep. 27, 2011 9:08 pm

Go through the combustion fan openning; I like that. Sounds much better than pulling the whole stoker unit. Thanks, Oliver

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Sat. Oct. 01, 2011 5:55 pm

Hi All, I just finished up doing the maintainence on my Kaa-2. I did it the way the replies to this post mentioned, and did not have to pull the hopper / stoker unit. It worked! Now, that being said, next time I'll pull the hopper, and stoker unit. I did more crawling around, kneeling, laying on my back, working in shadows, struggleing trying to reach around, and see what I was doing, useing a flash light, cramping up, etc.. But, I got'er done. For the 4 extra nuts, I could have had the entire stoker out, and on a lighted bench, working comfortably. Don't get me wrong. I do appreciate the the replies. For doing a quick vaccume below the grates, it works out nice. Anything other than a quick vaccume, I recommend pulling the whole stoker unit. Thanks all, Oliver


 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
Other Heating: Oil Boiler

Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Fri. Nov. 09, 2018 10:14 pm

Bumping this post due to relevance :yes:

 
DBCoop
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker A-120

Post by DBCoop » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 12:30 pm

Would this be similar procedure for a Keystoker A-120?

I'm having trouble finding out how to get below the burn grate.. appears theres one bolt that holds it.. but then bolts on the side as well.. Not entirely sure how it works so didn't want to go breaking anything...

I poked a piece of wire thru most of the holes.. some are clogged/sealed very tight.. i used compreessed air to blow them out a bit more..

How do I get UNDER the grate to make sure its all clear ? Can using the combustion motor door be useful? I took off the convection and saw nothing..

 
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nepacoal
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Post by nepacoal » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 1:00 pm

DBCoop wrote:
Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 12:30 pm
Would this be similar procedure for a Keystoker A-120?

I'm having trouble finding out how to get below the burn grate.. appears theres one bolt that holds it.. but then bolts on the side as well.. Not entirely sure how it works so didn't want to go breaking anything...

I poked a piece of wire thru most of the holes.. some are clogged/sealed very tight.. i used compreessed air to blow them out a bit more..

How do I get UNDER the grate to make sure its all clear ? Can using the combustion motor door be useful? I took off the convection and saw nothing..

On my flat grate stoker, you remove the combustion fan and go in with a vacuum...

 
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CoalisCoolxWarm
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Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
Other Heating: Oil Boiler

Post by CoalisCoolxWarm » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 1:24 pm

If it is the same as my KA6, I can remove the small secondary (continuous) fan from the end of the stoker (far right in the pic) and use a piece of pipe with an elbow on the end and held over the end of the vacuum.
IMAG7583.jpg
.JPG | 237KB | IMAG7583.jpg
The elbow allows me to rotate the pipe and reach around in the space under the grates, including down over the lip that is about half way in.

 
DBCoop
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker A-120

Post by DBCoop » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 2:50 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBU6L9F8Qn0 heres a small video of my dilemma..
Image and a picture of what it basically looks like..


 
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nepacoal
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Post by nepacoal » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 3:16 pm

The small motor next to the stoker on the left side of your picture is the combustion motor. Comes off with a single screw and leaves a big hole for you to clean under the grates. I turn off the power, remove wires from motor , then remove it. Vacuum, put it back...

You should also use a 1/8 punch or drill bit by hand to clean all those holes in the grates.

 
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nepacoal
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Post by nepacoal » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 3:53 pm

My motor is not a sealed ball bearing motor so I also oil the motor at this time... 2 drops in each oil hole.

Attachments

A-120.pdf
.PDF | 870.7KB | A-120.pdf

 
DBCoop
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Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker A-120

Post by DBCoop » Sun. Nov. 11, 2018 2:13 pm

Perhaps I'll have to look a bit closer.. looks like my motor is held onto a plate by 3 bolts.. I tried to take off the "main plate" which is bolted to the furnace by two bolts.. and some smaller side ones.. and it was taking out the entire burn grate assembly.. but it would'n't come loose so I abandoned that plan for now.. I vacuumed it all out.. poked all the holes out minus two which look like they are almost welded shut.. need drilled for sure.. and then sealed up best I knew how.. Hopefully everything works out ok even though the grate is cracked a little bit. really need this to work.. first time firing it up.. am learning every step of the way.. from install.. to sealing.. to lighting the actual fire..


Some of the holes appear to be blocked in the picture, but most of them are not.. just the angle and the overall color.. i had to poke em 10 times to make sure hah Image

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sun. Nov. 11, 2018 2:24 pm

The bolt in the bottom of the grate in your video is the only thing you need to remove to pull the gate out. Then you can vacuum the fines and ash out of the air chamber.

You need to clear all the holes in the grate for maximum output. By the way, your grate is cracked and will need to be replace soon.

-Don

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