New Guy Needs Help

So, Just bought house in upstate NY. Has a keystoker KA-4 Boiler that is plumbed into an Oil Boiler. When the Coal is running the oil boiler is just used as a circulator system. On Oct 27 I had the local co that the previous owners bought the stoker from come out and clean and service the Keystoker. They showed us how to start it and basic instructions how to run it. So last night the CO2 alarm went off, I didn't have the ash door tight enough. So, last night I searched Youtube and found some videos how to run and adjust it. NOW my Issue. I am running through ALOT of coal. So far 1100 pounds since Oct 27th for an 1800 sqft house. I made sure my high Low wasn't too high, it was and still is set at 160 to 180. So I adjusted the dial for the feed. I backed it off quite a bit, don't know how many turns, but now the flame is farther back from the edge. Now, my house won't get above 69 degrees, where before we set it at 72 and the house is at 75 and have to open windows. The water temperature is within the 160 to 180 range and my domestic hot water out of it is scalding hot, but it's just not circulating through the baseboards anymore? I am slowly turning the feeder clockwise to get the flame farther away from the hopper. I don't know how much of the small blower fan intake needs exposed either. Thanks For the Help.

If it's not circulating water to the baseboards, that's the main issue. Is your circulator running? If not, do you have 120v going to the circulator when the thermostat is calling for heat? FYI, the circulator will not energize if the water temperature is below the low limit minus the differential. The differential is typically 10 degrees so if LL was set at 160, the circulator would shut off below 150. And the air flap on the blower should be about halfway open

Welcome. Without knowing how the entire system is setup and wired it is tough to tell why water is not circulating through the zones. If I had to guess, I would say that your boiler can’t reliably get over 160 degrees, and the circulator is Wired to not run if the temperature is less than the low limit setting. This is how it is supposed to work using a tankless coil. To verify this turn your low limit down to 140 or so. If the circulator starts working, you have your answer.

Your system may also be setup to dump heat if the boiler gets too warm. This would explain the house overheating on warm days.

It is a balancing act to get the right feed rate and timer setting. I would start with whatever Keystoker recommends. If you haven’t already, read the manual.

Pictures of your setup with close-ups of the controls and wiring would help with the diagnosis. With the oil boiler controlling the circulator, your coal boiler is likely running on the high or low limit, depending on if you have a jumper on TT at the coal boiler...

And 1100 pounds in that time period does sound excessive, depending on your weather. I've burned right at 475 lbs in that same timeframe in an uninsulated Cape cod in NEPA.

1100 pounds for 21 days works out to about 52 pounds per day, which isn't terrible but we did have some warm weather during that time frame, most recently its been pretty cold. How many people are using hot water? You said the house temp won't reach the thermostat set point which is certainly concerning, is that since the temp dropped outside? Are the baseboards getting hot at all? Is the home insulated well? and how many feet of radiators do you have?

The Carbon Monoxide alarm may also indicate that its not drafting well and is also a bit concerning even if the ash door wasn't tight. How is the boiler vented? Thru a block and mortar chimney? Stainless Steel chimney? Did anyone check the chimney or stove pipe for obstructions before lighting it up? It's a matter of preference, but I always have a manometer installed to make sure that there is negative pressure in the stove pipe at all times.. Just trying to cover some bases here..

First things first, the air shutter door needs to be returned to its original location
and the screw holding the air shutter in place used to secure it needs to go back in to hold it.

Second, you need to screw the stoker feed adjustment all the way in until it stops with
little pressure and back it out six full turns and leave it alone.

Setting it this way lets you reduce the stoker feed rate if the fire gets too hot without
overfiring the boiler.

I do not have a secondary combustion fan on my keystoker kaa-4-1 and you really do not
need it either. You can unplug it and just close the shutter door on the small fan and your
coal consumption will go down.

If you want to cut down your coal use even more buy 2 pieces of 1/8" steel flat stock 2 inches wide
and 6 inches long and place them over the hoppers inlet with one covering the left side of the opening
and the other covering the right side and you will reduce your coal use and still have a good fire with
2 inches of ash and one to two inches of burning coal and 3+- inches of unburned coal and less coal spilling
over the side of the stokers firebed and your house will be warm.

lzaharis wrote: ↑

Wed. Nov. 16, 2022 4:21 pm

First things first, the air shutter door needs to be returned to its original location
and the screw holding the air shutter in place used to secure it needs to go back in to hold it.

Second, you need to screw the stoker feed adjustment all the way in until it stops with
little pressure and back it out six full turns and leave it alone.

Setting it this way lets you reduce the stoker feed rate if the fire gets too hot without
overfiring the boiler.

I do not have a secondary combustion fan on my keystoker kaa-4-1 and you really do not
need it either. You can unplug it and just close the shutter door on the small fan and your
coal consumption will go down.

If you want to cut down your coal use even more buy 2 pieces of 1/8" steel flat stock 2 inches wide
and 6 inches long and place them over the hoppers inlet with one covering the left side of the opening
and the other covering the right side and you will reduce your coal use and still have a good fire with
2 inches of ash and one to two inches of burning coal and 3+- inches of unburned coal and less coal spilling
over the side of the stokers firebed and your house will be warm.

He said he has a KA-4, not a KAA-4. The stoker is totally different.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Wed. Nov. 16, 2022 5:04 pm

He said he has a KA-4, not a KAA-4. The stoker is totally different.

Looking at the picture of his fire Rob, it is a kaa-4. Flat bed stoker...

nepacoal wrote: ↑

Wed. Nov. 16, 2022 5:09 pm

Looking at the picture of his fire Rob, it is a kaa-4. Flat bed stoker...

ok good. I am looking on my phone and couldn't tell.

So, Just bought house in upstate NY.

What town are you in? You might live next door to a stoker guy and not even know it.

Wow thanks for all the replies. I work nights so i will be doing the troubleshooting in the morning. Here are more pictures of the 2 boiler system. I live in Apalachin, NY just west of Binghamton so technically upstate but not up up state but cold enough.

You have a large flue breech, a small diameter flue draft inducer and a smaller flue, that is not good.

Your kaa-4-1 looks nothing like mine; are you sure it is not a kaa-6??????????????????

Wow, you got a lot going on with your wiring...
I can see one of the grey aquastat's is wired to the triple aquastat. What is that aquastat set at? Where is the second grey aquastat wired to and what is it set at?
I'm sure I'll have more questions, but those two are key to finding out what triggers a heat call, what triggers the dump zone, and how are the two systems interacting...

lzaharis wrote: ↑

Wed. Nov. 16, 2022 11:32 pm

Your kaa-4-1 looks nothing like mine; are you sure it is not a kaa-6??????????????????

Looks very, very similar to my kaa-4... Except that his combustion blower is mounted upside down...

Why is the power vent run into the chimney? I mean why have a power vent IF you have.a.chimney?