Fire in Coal Hopper - Keystoker KA6

I used furnace cement to attach the gaskets to the channel under the grate and on the surface of the rear edge where it mets the hopper. After it was installed I disconnected the linkage to the carpet, pushed it back and ran some furnace cement over the surfaces where the grate meets the hopper. The fingerprints are on the carpet (movable piece that pushes the coal forward).

I never put it in the stoker the plumber put it all together so I guess I will have to pull of the hopper to really get a good look at it , It is brand new boiler but I guess you never know do ya ?? I will look for rope seal and or some kind of cement and will let you know.

Love in Christ Jesus

Jay Williams

Moves Forward ?? ok you lost me on that to be honest . The carpet is where the coal slides down ?? and the what push's it on the carpet ??

Love in Christ Jesus

Jay Williams

The carpet is a metal plate that moves forwards and backwards, pushing coal out onto the grate. This is an Alaska stove. Your unit may have a different feed mechanism, I'm not familiar with it.
If you have been burning Bit coal the first objective is to stop and get some anthracite, that's what the stoker was designed for. Draft readings will be different when burning bit and anthracite, so I wouldn't even try to check the draft by burning bit coal.

I have been told that I could test with Bit or Anthra Coal , You say not to why is this ?? I don't want to do my draft test wrong .

Love in Christ Jesus

Jay Williams

That's my opinion based on the different burning characteristics between the 2 types. Since I've never burned Bit coal I do not speak from experience. Greg (Ls) would be the guy to ask, he's burned both.

Jay,

Did someone sell you this boiler with the undersanding it would burn bpth types of coal? If you were like me when I started, I thought coal was coal.

Being from KY, all I knew about was our local coal, I knew there was differences in quality and grade. But I didn't know what Anthracite was, never heard of the stuff.

After looking into it I found that Anthracite and Bituninous are both black and the simularities end there.

I am sure you will find a decent sorce somewhere close to where you live, I am much further South, I had to look for it but I have 2 sorces.

Hang in there, it is worth the effort.

BK

I often wondered how far anthracite was shipped. So, it goes to Lexington. How much is a ton of rice at your location? Picked up around coal country, I think it's under $100.

I actually go about 45 miles South to Stanford KY to get mine, Bagged rice is $250.00 a ton, the dealer 85 miles north of me is $300.00 a ton. Go Figure that one out!

BK

bksaun wrote:I actually go about 45 miles South to Stanford KY to get mine, Bagged rice is $250.00 a ton, the dealer 85 miles north of me is $300.00 a ton. Go Figure that one out!

BK

$250 for bagged per ton isn't that outrageous, the closest dealer with decent coal around here is $240/ton for bagged.

Also both time I have had this fire issue I have almost been out of coal ( meaning I could see the fire in the hopper from looking down thru the hopper )

Keep the hopper full, it holds 150 pounds I think so that means every day fill it when you take out the ashes. Heap it high, even with a good chimney draft the stoker might draft out of the bin if it can and you'll get a fire. Buy a CO detector with a digital readout and mount it close to the keystoker. Don't run the unit without a CO detector or you might be meeting Jesus sooner than expected Also only burn anthracite rice/buckwheat coal, don't burn bit. coal but I doubt they sold you soft coal without you asking for it specifically.

You guy's need to realize, if you are not from the PA area, most folk's don't know what Anthracite is. I am not kidding, I never heard of it until 3 years ago.

If I tell people I heat with coal they go "YUCK".

If I say I heat with Anthracite, they say "What is that" They have no idea.

You all have kept it to yourselv's long enough!

BK

bksaun wrote:You guy's need to realize, if you are not from the PA area, most folk's don't know what Anthracite is. I am not kidding, I never heard of it until 3 years ago.

If I tell people I heat with coal they go "YUCK".

If I say I heat with Anthracite, they say "What is that" They have no idea.

You all have kept it to yourselv's long enough!

BK

This is very very true. I am told that in CT and some other NE states it is illeagal to Burn Bit. Coal for private use, problem is everyone still thinks "Coal is Coal" and like you said.....people think Yuck, soot.

Ed.A wrote:I am told that in CT and some other NE states it is illeagal to Burn Bit. Coal for private use, problem is everyone still thinks "Coal is Coal" and like you said.....people think Yuck, soot.

It is illegal to sell in CT because the sulpher content is over 1%, I do not believe there is any restriction on burning it. It costs more than anthracite because of the extra distance involved in shipping it to CT so it doesn't make much sense to use here.

In reply to e.alleg I asked for coal to be used in a stoker boiler to which I was told I need house coal. I did not know until coming here there was a different types of coal , but hey a black rock is a black rock right ! LOL not hardly I have found. If there is anyone in ohio besides me that has a stoker boiler ( hehe ) I have found Anthracite in Van Wert OH at a place called Rural Energy Products they have a nice website just type in under google and you will get there. I have bought 4 skids that contain 60 , 40lb bags for 315.00 delivered By the way I live 3 hours from Van Wert , I could find nothing at all where I live. So I feel I got a good deal based on the travel involved for them

I get my coal tommorow and can hardly wait cause we have had no heat for the last 2 days it going to get cold tonight ( 24 deg ) brrrr , I will let you all know how it goes when I get the stoker up and going. by the way I got my draft checked today and it was .08 on the stoker being turned off and .01 when running so we adjusted the baro damper and got it to .02 on the off cycle and did nothing on the on cycle since it was .01 , any comments here would be appreciated. I think with that heavy draw and using the wrong coal I should have no more hopper fires , Thank you all again for helping someone who was lost and reaching out. WWJD has happened in here thanks again

Love in Christ Jesus

Jay Williams