Help with mark 2 barometer

I'm finishing redoing the ductwork for this keystoker that came with the house that we bought. The PO had it all set up, he was using it as their main source of heat. I put CO detectors everywhere and used it for a month last year. It ran perfect other than the jacked up ductwork. The fire was perfect when it called for heat, and the fire idled perfect. I shut it down last year and went back to oil until I could fix the duct work.

So now I'm about to fire it up, but first I hook up the mark 2 to check the draft. Assuming I have setup the mark 2 properly, I'm getting a -.08 reading. I had to switch the hose to the other port for the reading because it was going past the -.05 lol. So I believe this means that I will have no problems with CO, but I'm at risk of air being pulled through the hopper and having a hopper fire. They used this thing for 5 years, and there is no sign of there ever being a hopper fire. I ran it completely out of coal last year and never had one. There is no lid for the hopper also, I don't believe the keystokers come with them.

So if I adjust this thing to -.02, what is that going to mess up? I assume that my fire is going to change? What will I have to mess with to get the perfect fire back?

Edit: There is no sticker on the furnace. From pictures, it appears to be an econo 90, or koker lite. The chimney comes out of the rear bottom of the furnace. It holds 3 to 4 bags of coal. I'm guessing a koker lite because it has a 1000 cfm blower on it.

Are you checking it through the hole in the keystoker's door? Draft must be set during a long burn (30 to 45 minutes) by checking draft through the hole in the door. The barometric damper is adjusted to get -.02 over the fire...

Yes, I am checking it through the door. I checked it with the stove plugged in, and no fire. I was under the impression that you set the draft before lighting a fire. So I should fire it up and let it go for 45 minutes at a full burn, then check the draft? I ran it for a month like this last year so I'm not nervous to try it out. I have CO detectors and fire extinguishers.

On a Koker, the hole to check the draft may be in the ash door... On my boiler, it's on the fire door.

It is in the ash door. That's where I have the mark 2 hooked up. What should my reading be with no fire? Or does it not matter?

It must be set during a long burn. To start, just set the baro to -.06 using the notations on the baro. After you get a good fire going you can fine tune the baro and/or the combustion air to set over the fire draft right at -.02 or -.0225

Having any reading with no fire is great, but not necessary. Most chimneys have very little draft until they get warmed up.

Ah ok, so having any reading without a fire may be a good thing. I'm going to light it either tonight or tomorrow morning and I'll get back with the reading. I just have to put the damper in my oil furnace plenum and I'm ready to go.

Also, does anyone know if it's ok to put mastic on the ductwork while the furnace is running? If you can't, I'll definitely be starting it in the morning instead...

Does the mastic container give any insight for your concerns?
Suppose hot duct temps and pressures at joints might effect uncured mastic???

One last thing before you light up... Did you oil your combustion fan. The fasco model requires a drop or two of 20W in both ends of the shaft every year. My oil ports are on the bottom so I have to remove the fan to oil. Plus, if you have the same stoker motor that I do, it has a small hole for oiling too. It has a wick and can soak up 5 or 6 drops.

Hey thanks for that, I'll make sure to oil everything.

If your Koker is more than a few years old, you might also need to clean the combustion fan blades. I use a small brass brush then vacuum. The easiest way to get at the blades is to remove the shroud (two screws).

Thanks, I'll make sure to clean the blades as well. Does anyone know what oil to use on the fans? The manual doesn't say. I think I have 10w30 and 5w30 in the garage, will either of those work?

20W is recommended. I use the blue bottle 3 in 1. It is made for motors. No more than 2 drops in each hole. Less is more when it comes to oiling motors... You can saturate the stoker motor wick.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/3-IN-ONE-3-in-One-3-oz-L ... gKvkfD_BwE

Just got the ductwork finished. Going to the store to get the oil that you mentioned, then we'll light it tonight when the gf gets home.

I finally have good airflow coming from the registers. For anyone that has seen my other threads, the PO had a single 6" pipe coming from the furnace to the existing ductwork (far away from the oil furnace plenum). This resulted in zero air coming from the vents. The furnace would heat the basement up to about 90F, then the hot air would slowly rise to the upstairs. So this fixed the problem. But...

I wasn't expecting this 1000cfm dayton fan to be as powerful as my oil furnace fan, and it's not. However I'm never satisfied with any project I take on until it's overkill. What fans can I choose from as an upgrade? I'll be adding it on for next year.