Where is the safety shut off reset button?

You are correct about the Keystoker power vent arrangement.

A barometric damper would help the Keystoker, but with an IMPORTANT consideration.

On your stove the factory power vent is located very close to the stove top. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE, as Matthaus pointed out, should a barometric damper be installed beyond the power venter in the exhaust pipe leaving the house.

Still, for the problem you are having, a barometric damper would solve it, if you install the damper between the stove discharge pipe and the power venter.

Of course this requires a fair amount of modification to the top of your Keystoker stove.

Sorry for the misinformation in my previous post on this topic, and thanks again Matthaus.

Byrdy, by the looks of it, you were on the right path with a new vent cap. IMO it's not practical installing a baro-damper on Keystokers set-up. If you do choose to go with a different cap, please update us with your results.

I saw this while I was on line.(pics below) It is suposed to stop wind caused downdraft. It is available in 4". I thought If you were to swap this one for the original, it might help.

I think the only thing you will find wrong is the draft needs to be reset!
Redman has the correct answer. Call keystocker and get a draft meter $100.00 . Set the draft at a -.02 -.04. I am sure this is what is wrong with the stove as long as it was installed as per directions that came with the stove!

100 dollars? Whew...that might blow my budget! I thought we had one at work (I'm a chemist and work in a fume hood which has to be draft checked) but no go. I'm going to look on ebay.

I found some cool looking chimney caps on line too....anti draft ones. I'm going to try to resolve this issue this weekend. I'm also seriously thinking about ripping down the horsehair plaster walls in my bedroom, insulating and sheet rocking the wall on the 'wind' side of my house. I have frozen pipes I'm dealing with too. Fun.

Here's an interesting cap.

Hi brydy, A manometer can be bought for about $30 from Dwyer, and only requires a single hole to be installed in the flue pipe of the stove.

Is this auto shutdown still occuring?? It is possible the reset has gone bad, and is too sensitive... I'm not sure how to check it.

Is there a reostat controlling the draft from the power-vent system, or is there a flapper that is moved to make adjustments in the draft?

Can you just turn up the reostat a little to spin the motor a bit faster and increase the draft over the fire??

If this shutdown occured only when the wind was really howling, you may be chasing a once-a-season problem... pretty hard to verify that the problem is fixed... untill the wind howls again, just the right way...

some thoughts..

Greg L

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Lsfarm, a Keysoker direct-vent does not have a reostat. It runs constantly at the same speed 24/7. But you can adjust the the draft with the t-handle on top of the direct vent unit or by adjusting the combustion air shutter on the intake of the combustion motor.

Thanks Redman.. so many different configurations and systems.

So this reset,, it opens and shuts down the stove when there is not enough draft right?? To protect against CO getting into the house because the vent is clogged with ash..[most likely situation]

If the the gusty winds caused a back flow of draft, triggering the shut down of the stove. A baro would be worthless... it is designed to prevent too much draft, not vent a back draft to the room..

I'm thinking it is either an occasional problem caused by wind direction and force or the override is too sensitive..

Or maybe the stove needs some outside air source, the house is so tight the draft velocity is limited by the tight house..

More ideas...

Greg L

I think it is a once a season type thing. My xh didnt get the stove going until the end of this month in 2006, so we may have passed by the windy time. It is ONLY when the wind blows from a certain direction, and it doesnt do it that often....and that is when my pipes freeze too. If I stay in my house I'll need to modify the plumbing (at the very least) and insulate......a lot. I am not kidding when I say that when it's below zero out with wind chill I can burn through 4 buckets of coal in 24 hours.......easy to keep my house at 68. Is that nuts? It probably can't hurt to get a different chimney cap for it though, maybe.
I'm not going to adjust anything until I get a draft meter. I dont think I should. It was tested when it was originally set up and I havent done anything with it since.
I need to become less ignorant.
I'll check out Dwyer......thanks for the tip Greg.

byrdy, there is a thread here about hooking up a manometer. Ithink the one you want is called a Dwyer no. 25 Mark II.

About $30 new, can sometimes be bought for $20 on ebay.

Greg L

When I was having problems with my stove, Keystoker told me the only way to check this style system was with a draft meter! You need to check to see how much negative pressure is in the stove. A power vent pulls the exhaust out of the stove and creates a negative pressure in the stove, as well as pulling fresh air through the fume switch keeping it cool. When there is not a significant amount of negative air flow through the stove and fume switch, the fume switch gets hot and trips the thermal disc in the fume switch shuting down the system. I am not a 100 percent sure how a manometer works. With a power vent the exhaust is being forced out of the chimney. This reading is not going to be the same as a natural chimney draw would be. Before you buy anything you need to determine what is correct to check YOUR system.

A manometer simply compares atmospheric pressure out side the stove to the pressure inside the stovepipe, the difference being you draft measurment.