Low Heat. Keystoker 105

Hello Everyone, I need some help. I bought a 2 year old Keystoker 105 this November. I've had it hook up and running and up until this past couple of days it really hasn't need to work. Yester day when I left the house in the morning it was 8* and then dropped to 6* and is currently sitting there for well over 24 hrs. Should be in the mid 20's today. But I digress. I can't get the house above 62* I've been racking my brain and the search function to try to get this thing working correctly.
I'll give you a full break down of what is going on and we'll see what the powers at be can see wrong. I know there is something dumb I'm not catching. I burned an Keystoker Ecno 70 Last year and in single digits like this I could at least keep the house 65. How do I go up 35k BTU's and only get to 62*

-House built 1970's, ok insulation, all newer windows
-1500 sq feet.
-Single floor, no basement. Stove located central in kitchen/ dining room.
-Burning Rice coal tried different coal with same result
-Monometer mounted all the time and reading dead middle between .02 and .03 all the time.
-Burning 40-60 lbs per day depend on outside temps.
-Above baro 120*, between baro and stove 180*, side of stove at hottest spot 398*
-Feed rate at full
-Stove slightly out of level. Back higher then front. (Bubble on level just touching rear line on level)
-Combustion fan open all the way
-Flame is just reaching the top of the stove in the center. Flame maybe an inch wide and just flicks at the top of the ceiling of the stove box.

So here is what I'm thinking but wanted to consult everyone here first. There is something going on with the pusher. The previous owner said that he had to replace the pusher last year. Maybe he didn't get it installed correctly. At full feed rate with the back of the stove up I feel like the coal should be running off the end of the shoot. If this is what everyone is thinking I'll wait till the end of the week when it's warmer and run the coal down and see what it looks like.

Thank you everyone!

First off Dennis post some photo's of the grate showing the fire. Keystokers tell the story by the fire on the grate!!!

Dennis,

At full burn rate, you should only have about 1" of ash before falling into the pan. The rest of the stoker bed should be filled with burning red coal.

If not, you have to adjust the feed to get that amount of coal burning.

Rick

Two things caught my attention...

Your hottest sidewall temp of 398* is very low unless you have a double wall stove, can't remember if that one is or not.

It seems to me that if you are burning 60lbs / day max then you still have more to get out of it. I believe my mag stoker is about the same size and I can go through close to 100lbs a day when the cold snaps hit.

Thanks for the quick response.
I'll have to grab pictures tonight. At work now. Worst part is that I though I had all the base information covered when I left the house. Half way to work I was like I should have grab pictures!

The feed rate is turned in clock wise all the way in. (Clock-wise if you were standing behind the stove looking at it.) There is about 1" of ash but the whole plate is not burning. That is what is leading me to believe that either the feed bed is too thick or not feeding fast enough. My thought is that the feed plate is not fully pushing forward. Pulling back all the way to let coal fall in but not pushing forward to move the coal. I believe this would lead to a think bed of coals that the air is not able to push through but the pusher is not moving the coal far enough to clear off.

This stove is a double wall unit according to the site. Actually I'm starting to second guess that. Does the double wall have a gap in between them like an air gap or are the plates mounted together?

You need all but that last inch of the entire grate be burning.
Might be you're looking at the feed adjuster backwards.

There is about 1" of ash but the whole plate is not burning.

My guess is that the back of the plate is not sealed and the combustion air is leaking from the back. You need to check that one now. There would then not be enough air to light the rest of the coal bed and if you are not careful all that extra air back there might start a hopper fire. I have the 90,000btu single walled and it is the only hopper fire I ever had. Sulfur smells would be your first guide. I would check that one with some urgency. Seal it with the correct high temp sealant as per your manual. It's the only weakness I have ever found with this great stove.

McGiever wrote:You need all but that last inch of the entire grate be burning.
Might be you're looking at the feed adjuster backwards.

I don't think I'm looking at the feed adjuster backwards because I can spin the other way(counter-clockwise) and the ash at the end of the grate will increase.

coalnewbie wrote:

There is about 1" of ash but the whole plate is not burning.

My guess is that the back of the plate is not sealed and the combustion air is leaking from the back. You need to check that one now. There would then not be enough air to light the rest of the coal bed and if you are not careful all that extra air back there might start a hopper fire. I have the 90,000btu single walled and it is the only hopper fire I ever had. Sulfur smells would be your first guide. I would check that one with some urgency. Seal it with the correct high temp sealant as per your manual. It's the only weakness I have ever found with this great stove.

I will have to check this when I shut down. If I get home from work early enough today that will be the check. I think it's time to pull the hopper off and take a look in there. I'll check the sealant. The previous own told me that he only pulled the combustion blower off the back to clean under the grates. I as well did this last week thinking that air flow was my issue but I did leave coal on top of the grate so I will check that when I shut down.

While you're checking out your pusher bar:

I had to reseal the grates of my brand new Keystoker. I assume during shipping and delivery the cement they used broke and the grates were loose upon delivery. Also the nut that holds them down was also missing.

I would pick up some furnace cement on the way home.

Shut down, and empty hopper.

Remove grates.

Clean everything out, scrape off old cement with wire brush and putty knife.

Reseal grates, let cement dry.

Make sure all the air holes are clear with a small drill bit.

Fire back up.

Olllotj wrote:While you're checking out your pusher bar:

I had to reseal the grates of my brand new Keystoker. I assume during shipping and delivery the cement they used broke and the grates were loose upon delivery. Also the nut that holds them down was also missing.

I would pick up some furnace cement on the way home.

Shut down, and empty hopper.

Remove grates.

Clean everything out, scrape off old cement with wire brush and putty knife.

Reseal grates, let cement dry.

Make sure all the air holes are clear with a small drill bit.

Fire back up.

Any idea on what ball park dry time is on the cement? Not a fan of the LP running.

Hi Dennis, with KS the fire starts a little way in in order to prevent hopper fires, so I doubt you will see anything by pulling the hopper. That flat plate design is a patent for KS and works great EXCEPT if you fail the seal the back of the plate with 2000* sealer. Stick your nose near the coal bed, a strong sulfur smell is your first clue and means an immediate shut down. If all this makes sense to you then you need to get the stove off and cold to fix it. The fix is real easy and is detailed in the manual but sometimes the sealant can be a challenge to get. For me it's a start of season thing to do with those stoves. Don't get discouraged, it's a great stove and every coal stove has a gotcha somewhere. Set to set up? Don't worry you can light it back up. Fireplace cement? Check with KS as I think a caulk type sealant (2000*) is the correct way to go.

you could probably dry it fairly quick with a heat gun.

coalnewbie wrote:Hi Dennis, with KS the fire starts a little way in in order to prevent hopper fires, so I doubt you will see anything by pulling the hopper. That flat plate design is a patent for KS and works great EXCEPT if you fail the seal the back of the plate with 2000* sealer. Stick your nose near the coal bed, a strong sulfur smell is your first clue and means an immediate shut down. If all this makes sense to you then you need to get the stove off and cold to fix it. The fix is real easy and is detailed in the manual but sometimes the sealant can be a challenge to get. For me it's a start of season thing to do with those stoves. Don't get discouraged, it's a great stove and every coal stove has a gotcha somewhere. Set to set up? Don't worry you can light it back up.

I've been running the stove since the start of November will no smell out of the hopper area but I will check as soon as I get home. Looks like either way I'm shutting down tonight and doing a little look over of the pusher and start of the grate area. We shall see.

I'll also snap a picture of the fire when I get home so I can post that up as well.

I've been running the stove since the start of November will no smell out of the hopper area but I will check as soon as I get home. Looks like either way I'm shutting down tonight and doing a little look over of the pusher and start of the grate area. We shall see.

I'll also snap a picture of the fire when I get home so I can post that up as well

Quite usual and my problem only occurred when I was a crankin'. You are doing the right thing and I should have documented my screw up for others to learn. After all, that is what this board is all about.