No Heat Output on Keystoker Furnace

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JoeYank
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Post by JoeYank » Mon. Dec. 28, 2009 10:05 pm

My Keystoker coal furnace is not working right and I need some help solving this dilemma. It ran great last winter, and this year periodically it will not put out any heat. The thermostat activates the stove (red light turns on ) and the hopper is running but the convection fan is not blowing heat to the house. It ran probably an hour or more this way. The coal appears to be burning appropriately, the draft gauge is at .03 and everything seems to be fine. I am wondering if the coal is not burning hot enough to activate the convection fan (when set on auto, which it is). What can I do to correct this? Please help! It's 18 degrees and windy, would be great to have some heat! (it's working now, but don't ask me what changed) Thanks!
Joe

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Mon. Dec. 28, 2009 10:45 pm

Welcome!

There should be an adjustment for the on/off temp settings of the convection blower. If you pull the cover off, you should see a dial with temp numbers on it. Those little pegs inside the gap can be moved to different temps -- one is for FAN ON TEMP and one is for FAN OFF TEMP ... and there might be one more ... can't remember.

At least that is how my warm air furnace in the barn works. I'm sure someone with better knowledge of this unit will chime in at some point. 8-)

 
JoeYank
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Post by JoeYank » Mon. Dec. 28, 2009 11:01 pm

You're right, but I don't think that's where my problem is. I also checked and it seems my feed adjustment is maxed out. I have resorted to setting the fan to constant on but its just not putting out enough heat... thanks for reading.

 
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Post by LsFarm » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 2:13 am

Take a look at your fire, is the bed of burning coal covering all of the grate but for the last 1.5"-2" ? How tall are the flames coming out of the burning coal? They should be well over a foot tall.

Did you clean under the grate last spring when you shut the furnace off for the season?? If not, then you probably have a lot of fines under the grate, blocking the airflow to the coal fire. The underside of the grate can be accessed buy removing the blower motor and vacuuming under the grate. Also check the fan blades for accumulated dust and dirt, cleaning the fins with a 'Q-Tip' works well. You want to maximize your airflow to the coal..

Let us know what you find out.. There are several threads about the same problems in the last two weeks.. look on these pages for more info.

Here is one thread: K- Stoker Doesn't Seem to Be Heating Right?...

Greg L

 
JoeYank
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Post by JoeYank » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 8:21 am

Thanks for those links. I read through and checked a few things. My fire is a foot high and looks like its burning all the way across. It was cleaned before this winter. The draft seems to be an issue but I'm not sure what's wrong. I had it set and then I checked it this morning and it was down to .1! How could it change overnight? Yes it was windy but it was fine before that. Today I readjusted it to .03. Its finally up to 64 in the house. Was 55 last night! Sorry for the questions, and I will read more too today. Searches didn't work right for me last night.


 
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Post by WNY » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 8:27 am

Is your grate all the way full of Burning Coal ? or do you have a lot of ash at the end? You should have about 1" of ash at Full burn, if not, turn your Stoker Feed adjustment in maybe 1 turn (clockwise) at a time and check it.

On the Convection Blower, if you have the black box controller, there are setpoint inside it that can be changed to have it come on faster.

As for the Draft settings, seems weird that it changed that much. Unless you have a lot of ash build up on the back of the baro damper.

 
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Post by JoeYank » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 12:29 pm

Well, we took the cover off the damper and it's got some ash coated around the pipe but not much, shouldnt cause problems. I cleaned out the horizontal chimney pipe so that's clean. The fire seems to be appropriate sized on the fire bed. There's probably 2 inches of ash, but one inch of it is hanging partway off the end like it's about to fall. The adjustment screw for the hopper (sorry if i'm using the wrong terms here) is adjusted to the max that it can go. there's something on the top that stops it, and it's all the way there. That wont turn anymore clockwise. I can try to take photos of anything you want if anyone thinks they might have a better idea. The house is at 61 right now. not the greatest... but better than 50. brr... I have not adjusted the setting for the convection fan yet, been just keeping it on full time for now.

 
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Post by WNY » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 12:31 pm

Which Model Furnace do you have?

With max adjustment, I would think it should be pushing hot coals off the end as long as the thermostat is calling for heat.

Only other thing is the combustion blower/grates/holes to be cleaned.

yes, take a few pics of the burning area and your setup, then we can take a look/see and give more suggestions.

 
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Post by JoeYank » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 12:48 pm

Ok, thanks. Take a look at the gallery on my daughters website:

I will have to check out the convection blower this evening.

Photo number 3 in that gallery is the adjustment for the damper. I have a neighbor with the same model stove who has a very very similar setup. His adjustment is only half of what mine is so I have to think my damper is the problem? Maybe?
Last edited by JoeYank on Sat. Apr. 01, 2017 2:31 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: <removed dead image link>

 
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Post by WNY » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 1:02 pm

Thanks. That definitely helps.

The T-Handle adjustment on the Direct vent adjusts the Draft on the stove (moves a plate for the inlet of the blower), it can slightly vary with each stove, BUT needs to be adjusted properly to maintain your -.04 (approx) draft on the stove itself. Is that what you are running at? The blower blades can get coated with ash and your draft will start to decrease, then it needs cleaned out. The farther out the T-Handle, the higher the Draft on the stove. I was playing with mine and pulled it all the way out and the draft shot up to .12!!

AS for burning in the pics, is your stove MAX'd out/calling for heat or at idle? Looks like slightly about idle. The coals should be closer to the end of the plate on a full burn. You adjustment doesn't sound correct if you have it turned all the way IN (Clockwise).

Also, Check your thermostat wires and make sure you hear it click on/off when you adjust your thermostat. Maybe something came loose or do you have your hot water tank hooked in somewhere electrical maybe not telling the stove to run higher if it's satisfied? I see a Taco controller? etc...

What' the small wooden/metal thing sticking out down by the stoker assembly (in pic #2)?


 
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Post by North Candlewood » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 1:11 pm

Where is he picking up his return air?
I had the same trouble till I put a elbow in the plenum towards the return air.
Check the throw of the pusher block, mine the adjustment cap nut came off and it was not pushing enough coal.
IMG_1108.jpg

Pusher block pulled apart

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IMG_1155.jpg

running about 1/2

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Post by JoeYank » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 4:06 pm

Well, perhaps I have my eureka! I looked at the photo of the parts and it seems the bar for the pusher on my stove is slightly bent. I think it must have gotten really hot and warped, I had a couple hopper fires last year. I bet it's not pushing the correct amount of coal, based on what people are saying. I think I have to take that apart and replace that bar. Will the stove have to be shut down in order to remove that? I am guessing yes...

as for the supply air for the stove, it's just being pulled in from the basement through a fiberglass filter. also I don't think the hot water heater has any affect on how the furnace runs and the thermostat. Yes, it's attached, but it's also on fuel oil backup and stays hot.

Thanks for all the help on here, and the ideas. I have a few things to check into tonight!

 
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Post by jpen1 » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 4:59 pm

if you had a coulple of hopper fires what conditions is the nylon cam in. From what I have seen a hopper fire usually = a cam replacement.

 
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Post by CoaLen » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 5:17 pm

I agree with Dave, the fire you've got going in the photos are what I would call a "medium" burn at best.
I've attached a photo of the factory setting for the baffle on the combustion motor. Check yours to see if it's in about the same position. This baffle regulates the airflow into the coal for the burn. If it got closed up a bit you won't be able to get the fire hot.
Just a guess.
Good luck,
-Len

Attachments

Koker combustion motor.jpg

showing proper position of baffle plate

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