Barometric damper adjustment

As stated above, it all depends on your draft, it may or may not open depending on heat, actual draft, outside conditions (temperature) etc...don;t try and force it to be open by adjusting it, that limits the draft on the stove. without a proper draft gauge to adjust it properly, you can't really know what the draft is. every stove and chimney setup is unique.

mine is always closed when it's idling and warm outside, draft is really low, when it's running hot and really cold it will open quite a bit, but I monitor it with a draft gauge and have it calibrated for approx. .04.

I agree. You need a manometer so you know what the draft is doing. I have a Keystoker, not the same unit as yours but it is the same principle. Earlier in the week when it was cold and snowing, my baro didn’t move at all for several days. My manometer told me I was right in range at -.03. Yesterday it was in the 50’s here, so most of the day was spent on maintenance burn. My baro was open anywhere from a quarter to a half. My manometer was -.04. The baro was keeping the draft in the range that is recommended and for what I have it set for. The more you open the baro, at least on my unit, the closer the draft gets to zero. That’s what you don’t want! Not to mention, as fly ash builds up, your draft will creep closer to zero anyway. Opening the baro when it doesn’t need it is definitely not what you want!

coaledsweat wrote: ↑

Sat. Feb. 16, 2019 8:31 am

You really need to put it back to the manufactured condition and stop trying to make it move. Get a manometer or draft gauge and then you'll know what is really going on. You are "playing with fire" by dismanteling it.

playing with fire meaning there won't be enough draft and co2 will come inside the house ??
i did test it a day with low wind outside and not that cold. and lit some paper to see how my chimney draft was in front of stove main upper door, and on top next to barometric damper and it was sucking air a lot.

I am going to go at my BMR store (where you buy tools, wood stuff) to have a look at a T with built in barometric damper that has the weight in front, to see at -.02 how much resistance it has, or will buy the new one $55 and replace mine. Like I said when I bought it the guy had it bud did not offer it so bought 2 items at 2 different places.

checked at less expensive manometer $48 canadian plus tax plus shipping

Squid3083 wrote: ↑

Sun. Feb. 17, 2019 8:38 am

checked at less expensive manometer $48 canadian plus tax plus shipping

Spend the money on the manometer and find out what your exact draft numbers are. The baro you have might be fine once adjusted properly. CO is not something to mess with!

yes that's the one I saw $30 us $48 cad

franco b wrote: ↑

Sun. Feb. 17, 2019 10:25 am

Manometer at Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Dwyer-Plastic-Manometer-In ... =8-2-fkmr1

That’s the one I have. Works great!

Eab91276 wrote: ↑

Sun. Feb. 17, 2019 10:15 am

Spend the money on the manometer and find out what your exact draft numbers are. The baro you have might be fine once adjusted properly. CO is not something to mess with!

Have a co detector 10 feet away plus I already know becaus of a blocked chimney cap what a sounding co detector acts and sounds like, but I am careful.
Will buy as soon as I can.

Eab91276 wrote: ↑

Sat. Feb. 16, 2019 10:05 am

The more you open the baro, at least on my unit, the closer the draft gets to zero. That’s what you don’t want!

This I understand as you mean from the main door will have almost no draft to suck all the co2.

Eab91276 wrote: ↑

Sat. Feb. 16, 2019 10:05 am

Not to mention, as fly ash builds up, your draft will creep closer to zero anyway.

As fly ash builds up where?? And how Do I clean it and how often ??

I bought about 3 weeks ago my used keystoker and I did not clean the combustion chamber as I did not know it had to be cleaned.

Past 2 days the stove was not working well half of the grate was not burning on the right. Had to stop it to clean it scrape it vacum it and removed all burning anthracite and poked all wholes on the grate and finally the stove is working well.

Squid3083 wrote: ↑

Sun. Feb. 17, 2019 10:02 pm

This I understand as you mean from the main door will have almost no draft to suck all the co2.

Right. The greater the baro opening, the more room air you are drawing in because the direct vent motor is always running. If you have a full burn going and the baro open, your combustion chamber will have a low draft and build up gases.

Squid3083 wrote: ↑

Sun. Feb. 17, 2019 10:02 pm

As fly ash builds up where?? And how Do I clean it and how often ??

I bought about 3 weeks ago my used keystoker and I did not clean the combustion chamber as I did not know it had to be cleaned.

Past 2 days the stove was not working well half of the grate was not burning on the right. Had to stop it to clean it scrape it vacum it and removed all burning anthracite and poked all wholes on the grate and finally the stove is working well.

It is good that you did a thorough combustion chamber clean. Depending on how much you are burning will determine how often you clean it. That’s where the manometer comes in. You will see the draft creep closer to zero. Once you get to the edge of the recommended range, that’s when you do a total clean. For me it is about once a month. The other thing you need to clean are the vents that lead from the combustion chamber to the direct vent. Here is a pic of mine without the ash pan. You can see it starting to build up in the openings. You need to vacuum that out but also get up into the vents with a brush. Here is one I have. You wouldn’t believe how much ash collects up in there until you get the brush. I didn’t know any of this last year when I started. It is a learning process!

Eab91276 wrote: ↑

Mon. Feb. 18, 2019 10:23 am

The other thing you need to clean are the vents that lead from the combustion chamber to the direct vent.

My Keystoker 90k is not direct vent, it is a top vent.

Ok so in the bottom in the back those 2 rectangular shapes lead up to a vent, so i need to clean those ??

Ok did not even know they were openings lol
I saw those but did not know they were vents or even leading to somewhere.
I need to see the plan for the internals on the stove !!!

I saw there was ash all around but not that much. Do remember small build up in the back.
I burn rice from 30 lbs to 60 on very cold knight. that was with the combustion all clogged up. So now in theory should be a little better. Will have to find a flexible brush that resembles something like yours.

Once you get it all cleaned up and get that manometer on there, I bet your baro will behave just right. Let us know how you make out.

Squid3083 wrote: ↑

Tue. Feb. 19, 2019 2:12 am

I saw those but did not know they were vents or even leading to somewhere.
I need to see the plan for the internals on the stove !!!

One more thing... if you go to the Keystoker website, look under products and find your stove. You can download a pdf of the manual. That should help you out with specific recommendations for your unit and some helpful diagrams.

Already did, but shows nothing about internal channels.