Coalpail.com Forum

Just wondering.
I know it is not recommended with the DV but who has experimented?
Is a hopper fire a real concern by burning the buck or is this just urban legend?
I did my second cleaning of the year with this warm weather and started it back up today.
Burning like a champ but want to try some buck I have on hand.

I don't have one, but it doesn't appear to be an 'urban legend' : Rice Vs Buckwheat in a Keystoker GT 7000 Btus

Yeah.... I read that post.Its seven years old and filled with anecdotal evidence.
Was looking to see if anyone has any updates.Any actual controlled experimentation and not "my hopper caught fire" but it could have been any one of twenty different factors.

For the record, I have witnessed hopper fires on Keystoker furnace type stoves that were not direct vented but chimney vents.Warm weather and they had them dialed back burning I believe pea(maybe it was buck,I better double check).Fire burned up into the hoppers.No major damage just some melted cam screws.But again this has no correlation to me direct venting a 90k and considering buck.

The keystoker Kaa-2 boiler uses the same stoker as the stove. All I burn is Buck. I have a chimney, not a direct vent. I have no concerns of hopper fire.

I;ve burn a mix of Buck/Rice in my Keystoker Direct Vent when I was burning it really hot and it was Caking (clinkers) up a bit on the burn grate, it allows a bit for airflow and the ash seemed to break up a bit better with the mix. Once in while would run all buckwheat, but usually about a 50/50 mix without any problems.

I tried buck with my direct vent 90k and while a mix was fine, running it 100% caused a hopper fire. It was a mess - melted cam, etc.

It's probably OK to run buck, but I didn't bother to adjust the draft or even check it when switching over and likely had too much.

Chris

Do not burn buck with a DV. Please. You will have a hopper fire.
I do the service work for one of the biggest Keystoker dealers in the US of A. I know for sure.
The cover of the manual says use rice only on it. Why would you consider trying it?

oilman wrote:Do not burn buck with a DV. Please. You will have a hopper fire.
I do the service work for one of the biggest Keystoker dealers in the US of A. I know for sure.
The cover of the manual says use rice only on it. Why would you consider trying it?

Oilman, don't stop there. Fill us in. Give us the why's, and why not's. What have you experienced? Oliver

I just got through running about 1/4 ton of 100% buck through my Econo 1 with no problem. Yes I did readjust the feed. I would imagine that if you tried to burn buck without adjusting anything and going directly from rice you could have a problem. Hopper fires are not caused only by burning buck. Hopper fires are caused by too much combustion air in your firebox and it forces its way through the hopper. Buck does not cause too much combustion air.

Fire follows air.

There....did that ignite the buck?

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

europachris wrote:I tried buck with my direct vent 90k and while a mix was fine, running it 100% caused a hopper fire. It was a mess - melted cam, etc.

It's probably OK to run buck, but I didn't bother to adjust the draft or even check it when switching over and likely had too much.

Chris

I rest my case but reserve the right for rebuttal.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

When I got my Koker 160 DV I was told that the 90 would do the job & probably would have but it would be running hard. The point is I believe it's better to be a little bit more oversized than just barely making it, when your furnace can hardly keep up with the frigid temps it may cause one to experiment, if your unit preforms well then the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" comes into play. Why take the risk of running something not recommended, there is a reason why it wasn't.

Most of the time it's because it was UL tested using a certain set of parameters and that is what it's certified for. If the manufacturer stated you could burn anything you wanted in it then the manufacturer could be liable for any damages. UL testing and certification is EXPENSIVE!!!! Change of fuel type would result in testing and certifying the unit for the new fuel type, in this case buck vrs rice. The cost is always passed on in one way or another. Testing with multiple fuel types adds cost to the unit and could make it too costly for the market.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

blrman07 wrote: Fire follows air.
Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

I once added an extension to my DV going past the roof line What was I thinking? On a windy day, the negative pressure inside the stove was strong enough to pull air from inside the home through the coal hopper! I had a hopper fire. Now I know why it is important to follow the manufacturers recommendations.

Why do I even bother..........................