KOKER 160 Not working

coalnewbie wrote: ↑

Mon. Oct. 29, 2018 3:25 pm

I am glad you are on your way and here is the bad news.... you still have a blockage somewhere probably inside the stove or in the chimney. Did you just rerun those pipes or did you change to my configuration? Take off the draft inducer and poke a chimney brush into the stove. Vacuum it out and then blow compressed air into it. That is a long 4" pipe and even if perfectly clean (which it is not) there is a flow resistance. At the very least avoid sharp corners

Let's learn a bit about things here ...

https://inspectapedia.com/chimneys/Chimney_Flue_S ... 9C.php#C9B

Let's us start from the chimney and work back.

How do you know your chimney is unblocked?

How do you know your black pipe run is unblocked or has to much resistance

How do you know the inside of the stove is clean before the draft inducer?

You think the guy that installed that flue originally was an expert... sorry.

Eagerly waiting your video where I am sure you explain all of these things. My wife says I nag ... she should talk!!!!

I see what you are saying... Here is exactly what I did.
I did open this entire horizontal pipe There was some stuff in there ... I did use a brush and a vacuum to remove everything....
After that I did remove the cap from tee and I used the Vacuum to clear the vertical pipe, so I change my Vacuum to blower mode , and I let that blowing for long 10 min to make sure it was clean ... I went outside to make sure I was getting air from the blower and it seems fine...

Well.... maybe I need to give another try to make sure it is 100% clean.

So answering your questions:

How do you know your chimney is unblocked?
I went outside remove everything and when I used the blower I checked how "much air I was getting"

How do you know your black pipe run is unblocked or has to much resistance
As I mentioned, I did put everything apart so I know it is clean ... maybe I should try again to make sure nothing got there since I had the stove running for more than 1 day.


How do you know the inside of the stove is clean before the draft inducer?
I did clean that before start the stove, I did use my Vacuum shop to make sure everything was clean

You think the guy that installed that flue originally was an expert... sorry.
I'm not sure who was the guy that installed it... I got my house in June and it came with the stove... I tried to asked the previous owner about the details who installed it and so on... but I didn't get an answer yet.

I will try to make the video tonight or tomorrow... Let's see what time I will get home today!

I am still trying to get out of coal college but there are really smart people reading this who will chip in if I am giving you bad advice.

I am no expert on fans but if the unit is a little worn and you have any back pressure will not get the CFM that the manufacture designed the stove for. CO is a product of incomplete combustion do I am still getting the notion that air flow through the coal bed is inadequate. You have a Dwyer connected and what is it telling you when the stove is running. Let's not overlook the obvious what happens when you crack open a window. Are you super air tight.

coalnewbie wrote: ↑

Mon. Oct. 29, 2018 5:57 pm

I am still trying to get out of coal college but there are really smart people reading this who will chip in if I am giving you bad advice.

I am no expert on fans but if the unit is a little worn and you have any back pressure will not get the CFM that the manufacture designed the stove for. CO is a product of incomplete combustion do I am still getting the notion that air flow through the coal bed is inadequate. You have a Dwyer connected and what is it telling you when the stove is running. Let's not overlook the obvious what happens when you crack open a window. Are you super air tight.

Hey CoalNewbie.
I tried to start the stove back again yesterday.... I did some extra cleaning to make sure everything was 100% clean and good to go. So I made a video to show you.... just keep in mind ... the stove was running a little over 2:30 hours when I recorded.

So far ... until this morning I didn't get any smell and my alarms didn't go off! Which is good.... I hope It will keep like this.

Here is the video:

Welcome to the board

Welcome to the world of coal

Welcome to easy street

You have labored and indeed you have succeeded well done ... perfect

Just so you know the pipe run can be improved but for now just enjoy the massive cost savings. That horizontal pipe will need cleaning out from time to time. Is that main duct open or closed? Time to open her up let her rip. If the duct is closed the stove may overheat and that could shut it down. Buy a hand held IR thermometer (about $15) to keep an eye on things. Time to say goodbye to propain.

As you start to chew through the coal you will know if this heating method is for you. I suspect so and no that will not be enough coal for the whole winter. One step at a time.

Well done indeed.

Just a minor point .. this is a stove not a cooker. I understood you perfectly but this may mess up searches for more information on this board and elsewhere.

I see you are using bagged coal. Just an FYI, it's a good idea to never put wet coal in the hopper. It can lead to all kinds of problems and damage your stove and hopper. Plenty to read on here about water in bags if you are interested. Good luck and enjoy the savings and warmth of coal heat

coalnewbie wrote: ↑

Wed. Oct. 31, 2018 11:31 am

Welcome to the board

Welcome to the world of coal

Welcome to easy street

You have labored and indeed you have succeeded well done ... perfect

Just so you know the pipe run can be improved but for now just enjoy the massive cost savings. That horizontal pipe will need cleaning out from time to time. Is that main duct open or closed? Time to open her up let her rip. If the duct is closed the stove may overheat and that could shut it down. Buy a hand held IR thermometer (about $15) to keep an eye on things. Time to say goodbye to propain.

As you start to chew through the coal you will know if this heating method is for you. I suspect so and no that will not be enough coal for the whole winter. One step at a time.

Well done indeed.

Just a minor point .. this is a stove not a cooker. I understood you perfectly but this may mess up searches for more information on this board and elsewhere.

Thank you man! I'm still keeping my eyes on it to make sure it won't cause any problems!
Yes the main duct is open ... the house is warm ... finally!!!!

I will keep you guys posted ... I 'm still learning a lot... thank you for your support!

nepacoal wrote: ↑

Wed. Oct. 31, 2018 11:43 am

I see you are using bagged coal. Just an FYI, it's a good idea to never put wet coal in the hopper. It can lead to all kinds of problems and damage your stove and hopper. Plenty to read on here about water in bags if you are interested. Good luck and enjoy the savings and warmth of coal heat

I see... good to know! I will read about it!

Good video,

Thanks for explaining what the Taco zone controller is doing. That had me confused.

You seem to be running a lot of draft. I don't know how you adjust it with one of those direct vents but basically draft is a balance between pulling enough hot gas out to keep CO from leaking out of the stove and sending to much heat up the chimney.

Most people connect that type of draft meter to the LO side. It reads backwards but you can tell how high it goes. The HI side has a very short scale.

As stated earlier, don't put wet coal in the hopper. That will cause you a lot of problems. Most bagged coal is wet so don't dump bags directly into the hopper, dry it out first.

-Don

Nice video! Switch the manometer tubes around. We all run ours backwards to keep the draft on the gauge.

Welcome to the forum & big congrat's getting it running again! You have a very nice duct setup for heat distribution there!

I didn't see it mentioned directly, did you clean the direct vent blower itself, meaning the blades, to make sure you are getting its full cfm capability? Also look for oil ports to keep it lubricated. Direct / Power vents are items that need regular maintenance.

If they aren't already, the flue pipe sections should be secured together with three screws, not just tape.

Amount of coal used is dependent on house size, level of insulation & drafts, and of course inside temp preference vs. outside temps. Most here are burning multiple tons....guestimate of use I have seen on here for different folks is from 3 to 22. Depending where you are, it is generally easier to find coal now than in Feb or March after a very cold January so you may want to stock up now if possible. You could ask the previous owner how much he burned in a season.

Wet coal is a huge problem for stokers and you should open a few bags so it can dry out if necessary before loading it in the hopper.