Keystoker 90
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- Member
- Posts: 320
- Joined: Sun. Nov. 06, 2011 9:12 pm
- Location: Wellsville NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 700
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Liesure Line
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
Yes it is vented to chimney. I got baro set to let as much room air as possible in. Yes I put furnace cement on sides of grate to seal. I did not polish them after it dry.
- nepacoal
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- Posts: 1696
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 21, 2012 7:49 am
- Location: Coal Country
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4 / "Kelly" and an EFM 520 at my in-laws
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF-260 - retired
- Coal Size/Type: Buck
I think you should put the baro on 4.5 or 5... Just line up the weight with the curved dash mark between 4 and 5. Wide open is just as bad and more dangerous than forced closed. Wide open may allow the firebox to go positive and leak CO. Keep it at 4.5 or 5 at least until you get a Mano.
- nepacoal
- Member
- Posts: 1696
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 21, 2012 7:49 am
- Location: Coal Country
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4 / "Kelly" and an EFM 520 at my in-laws
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF-260 - retired
- Coal Size/Type: Buck
It wouldn't hurt to sand the grates smooth the next time you have it shutdown. With smooth, cemented grates, your fire will be square at the top and bottom. The bottom will occasionally get "wavy" depending on how many fines get into the hopper but it'll generally stay straight across if all is well.
- nepacoal
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- Posts: 1696
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 21, 2012 7:49 am
- Location: Coal Country
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4 / "Kelly" and an EFM 520 at my in-laws
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF-260 - retired
- Coal Size/Type: Buck
Did you take the feeder block out during your refurb? If wet coal was used by the previous owner, you could have fines "cement" built up all around the pusher block slowing it's movement.
- WNY
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- Posts: 6307
- Joined: Mon. Nov. 14, 2005 8:40 am
- Location: Cuba, NY
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90K, Leisure Line Hyfire I
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
- Contact:
What he said about the baro, it shouldn't be wide open.
If it's feeding constantly and not burning a full grate, it sound like something is not feeding correctly, i would make sure the back of the grate is not leaking any air and check the nylon cam bushing that pushes against the pusher bar. if it ever burned back towards the hopper (so called 'hopper fire', as people call it, either air leak or too much draft), it would have melted or warped it, thats a safety feature to stop it from feeding more if it burning back on the grate towards the hopper.
hopefully with all the suggestions, you can come up with what the issue could be.
I've had my 90K for over 15 years with just a seized combustion blower and just replaced the direct vent blower, the housing finally rotted out.
If it's feeding constantly and not burning a full grate, it sound like something is not feeding correctly, i would make sure the back of the grate is not leaking any air and check the nylon cam bushing that pushes against the pusher bar. if it ever burned back towards the hopper (so called 'hopper fire', as people call it, either air leak or too much draft), it would have melted or warped it, thats a safety feature to stop it from feeding more if it burning back on the grate towards the hopper.
hopefully with all the suggestions, you can come up with what the issue could be.
I've had my 90K for over 15 years with just a seized combustion blower and just replaced the direct vent blower, the housing finally rotted out.
- nepacoal
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- Posts: 1696
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 21, 2012 7:49 am
- Location: Coal Country
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4 / "Kelly" and an EFM 520 at my in-laws
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF-260 - retired
- Coal Size/Type: Buck
As WNY mentioned, you may need a new nylon cam. They do wear down over time and can be replaced. They're just held on by an 1/8" roll pin.
- nepacoal
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- Posts: 1696
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 21, 2012 7:49 am
- Location: Coal Country
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4 / "Kelly" and an EFM 520 at my in-laws
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF-260 - retired
- Coal Size/Type: Buck
Looks better but you're still not getting a maximum feed rate. How's the house temperature?
Unless it's the angle, that baro weight looks closer to 2 than it does 4... Too low can be dangerous, especially on mild days. As I mentioned, I'd put that weight at 4.5 until you get a manometer.
Unless it's the angle, that baro weight looks closer to 2 than it does 4... Too low can be dangerous, especially on mild days. As I mentioned, I'd put that weight at 4.5 until you get a manometer.
- nepacoal
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- Joined: Wed. Nov. 21, 2012 7:49 am
- Location: Coal Country
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4 / "Kelly" and an EFM 520 at my in-laws
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF-260 - retired
- Coal Size/Type: Buck
Here's my baro weight. Looks to be close to -.05. I'd call it -.048. with a full fire bed after running 30+ minutes, my over fire draft is right at -.02. I would definitely recommend you raise your weight to at least 4 if not 4.5... otherwise that fan may pressurize your fire box, especially when it first starts up if/when you start using a thermostat
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- CoalisCoolxWarm
- Member
- Posts: 2323
- Joined: Wed. Jan. 19, 2011 11:41 am
- Location: Western PA
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
- Hand Fed Coal Furnace: old Sears rebuilt, bituminous- offline as of winter 2014
- Coal Size/Type: Anthracite Buckwheat
- Other Heating: Oil Boiler
I have Keystoker KA6 boiler. Our flames should look the same. See pic next to my username.
It looks like you have too much fan air coming in, causing lazy flame. Should be more like a blast furnace than a campfire.
I have an idle fan that runs all the time, barely open. If you have an idle fan, get us a video of your fire after idle a few mins. It should glow nicely. Not too much and not die down too low. (I can go lower with idle fan, but that's another story, LOL)
Setting the air on a stoker is a balancing game. Start with the air being pushed in, then set draft to handle that amount of air. I added a washer on my baro, which keeps it at .015-.02 quite nicely (keep ash and rust off the back of the flapper)
Too much combustion air will result in a "cool fire" that doesn't generate enough heat. You want the air to FEED the fire, not blow through it so much that it takes too much heat out of the fire. Fire needs to retain enough heat to burn effectively.
I've been where you are. Once I started cutting down combustion air and adjusting the baro to match in small steps, I eventually reached a sweet spot where there was a SIGNIFICANT difference in heat output from the fire. You can go even lower, but I stayed there as I needed heat. I've been lazy and left it at those settings, though it could probably go lower(?) for a little more efficiency.
FYI. I use buckwheat Reading anthracite. Rice needs a bit more combustion air, but fire should look the same- just the settings wouldn't be the same.
Stick with it! Once you get it dialed in, you'll be quite surprised at the difference.
FYI. Your stove pipe on anthracite stoker should only be in the 150F range. MUCH lower draft (.015-.02 vs .10 for had fired, generically).
It looks like you have too much fan air coming in, causing lazy flame. Should be more like a blast furnace than a campfire.
I have an idle fan that runs all the time, barely open. If you have an idle fan, get us a video of your fire after idle a few mins. It should glow nicely. Not too much and not die down too low. (I can go lower with idle fan, but that's another story, LOL)
Setting the air on a stoker is a balancing game. Start with the air being pushed in, then set draft to handle that amount of air. I added a washer on my baro, which keeps it at .015-.02 quite nicely (keep ash and rust off the back of the flapper)
Too much combustion air will result in a "cool fire" that doesn't generate enough heat. You want the air to FEED the fire, not blow through it so much that it takes too much heat out of the fire. Fire needs to retain enough heat to burn effectively.
I've been where you are. Once I started cutting down combustion air and adjusting the baro to match in small steps, I eventually reached a sweet spot where there was a SIGNIFICANT difference in heat output from the fire. You can go even lower, but I stayed there as I needed heat. I've been lazy and left it at those settings, though it could probably go lower(?) for a little more efficiency.
FYI. I use buckwheat Reading anthracite. Rice needs a bit more combustion air, but fire should look the same- just the settings wouldn't be the same.
Stick with it! Once you get it dialed in, you'll be quite surprised at the difference.
FYI. Your stove pipe on anthracite stoker should only be in the 150F range. MUCH lower draft (.015-.02 vs .10 for had fired, generically).
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- Member
- Posts: 320
- Joined: Sun. Nov. 06, 2011 9:12 pm
- Location: Wellsville NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 700
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Liesure Line
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
Well it is starting to come around. I adjusted the baro to 4.5 I think the grate is slowly getting polished up. I get a bigger fire every day with more heat. So next question where do I get a timer. My efm 700 has a Intermatic 8865 timer. I cant find one like it anyplace Amozon, Grainger, McMaster Karr none of them have one. What are you running for a timer.
- nepacoal
- Member
- Posts: 1696
- Joined: Wed. Nov. 21, 2012 7:49 am
- Location: Coal Country
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KAA-4 / "Kelly" and an EFM 520 at my in-laws
- Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Harman SF-260 - retired
- Coal Size/Type: Buck
I switched from the intermatic to the solid state timer listed in my signature below... Been working perfectly for more than two years
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- Member
- Posts: 320
- Joined: Sun. Nov. 06, 2011 9:12 pm
- Location: Wellsville NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 700
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Liesure Line
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
I am slowly getting it dialed in. Waiting on a dwyer to set damper. I am building my own timer to get it on the t-stat. Most of my problem is tied to sanding the grates and cutting air back to get a bigger fire. My pipe is hot now so I probably need to cut air some more. I am going to build a liesure line 90 into a furnace. the liesure line has pipe coming out bottom back leaving the top available for a transition to ductwork. I am going sand them grates till they shine.