Where is the safety shut off reset button?

My stove shut down due to high winds (we got a terrible gust) and I went downstairs and my keystoker 90 had shut down. I cant find the reset switch and the manual doesnt say where it is, just that high winds can make it shut down! Is it in a metal box that I have to unscrew the top to get to it? Any insight? I'm going to call keystoker when I get a chance if nobody knows. God, what else can go wrong?

byrdy,

If you have a direct vent, you will have a overlimit switch (I think thats what it called). It's a small metal box with a tube going into the fire box. In the center of this box is a small hole. Get a piece of wire, maybe even a coat hanger, on stick it in the hole. The reset button is in the hole. Push the button back in. It may take a couple of tries to find the button in there, but you'll know you've got it when you hear the stoker come back to life. I have attached photos so you'll know what I'm talking about. Let me know how you make out. The overlimit switch on your stove maybe in a differnt location because I did the retro-fit on mine.

Shawn

I found it, but, couldnt figure out how to get at the button so I took the cover off! I got it reset, and the stove lit again, then the darn thing blew out again overnight! I wonder if I can add some flashing to my outside chimney to prevent the wind from doing this? It's one of those little metal chimney things attached to the back of my house.....not a 'real' chimney, and when the wind blows just right I guess its going to blow out my stove! I was so aggravated this morning!
Thanks so much!

Is your stoker a direct vent or a regular top vent to a chimney.

If it has a chimney (metal tube about 10-15' tall), you may need a weather/wind cap at the top. If it is a powervent is it running?

If your stoker is vented to a chimney, you should already have a barometric damper installed. If you dont have one, get one installed, that could be the source of your problems. Also, some more info on your set-up would be very helpful to the others in this forum.

I have posted pictures of the stove before when I was having other problems. Unfortuneately they are home on my laptop who's hard drive just died......The stove pictures are under the post "did I do a bad thing?' under this same header. I"ll pull a pertinent picture from there to this post.
Yes, it's a direct vent and yes, the chimney is a metal tube (10-15") and it is capped, but the cap must be insufficient to block the effects of the wind. You can see the pipe in the upper left corner of the picture that runs out to the chimney (through my cellar crawl space and foundation). The direct vent is running, but, when this 'event' happens I find the whole thing shut down (nothing running) and I am thinking it has to be due to the wind, although maybe I am wrong. When I got it going again the first time, I stood down there with my baby and watched the darn thing run for a LONG time before going back upstairs to resume life......and it seemed to be fine. It's when night comes and the winds start howling that eventually it shuts down. This is the first time it's run in this kind of weather. When I reset it, the direct vent comes right back on again and I get it lit and after some time it brings teh house up to temperature as if nothing is amiss. The wind is the only strange thing going on, although I can some problem with the pusher bar over the weekend, that seems to be fine. Sorry for the insufficient info.

The direct vent uniuts require cleaning, if the fan impeller and passagways are all clogged up with fly ash, then the vent isn't going to work correctly if at all.

Try removing the pipe from the exit of the direct vent, if it is full of ash, vacuum out the pipe and vent unit, and try again.

Greg L

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If what Greg said doesn't work, then I think you are right and it is the wind that is causing this. Does your termination vent look like the one in the photo? I belive I have read an earlier post about someone with the same problem, with the same type of vent. They said if you cover the bottom opening of the vent, that may stop the problem. It may work, but I'm a little hesitant telling you to restrict the vent. Maybe someone else would like to give their suggestion on doing this. Good luck, it's too cold to be without your stove for very long.

I did that cleaning two weeks ago, and actually unbolted, diconnected from the pipe, and took the direct vent off the stove this morning to double check and there is very little ash in there-the pipe and the direct vent and the baffles all looked pretty clean-as they should since I just cleaned it all about two weeks ago. I have it apart right now because I figured I'd vacuum out everything anyway, but the direct vent looks clean.

My outside chimney looks exactly like the one in the picture. I thought about trying to get some kind of metal flashing to extend the 'roof' part of it down but like you, I"m not sure if that would cause toxic fume build up in the house.........

I am burning heating oil right now and I hate that......I just got a three ton coal delivery a week ago.........

Brdy11,

I remember a post from you awhile back with a venting problem and I think you said you took the pipe apart and cleaned it out. It's alittle hard to tell from your picture but it looks like the pipe off of your stoker travels nearly horizontal an unknown distance into a crawl space before it connects to the chimney. That long horozontal pipe is likley going to be a recurring problem with fly ash accumulation. How long is the pipe? I would recomend you check it again for fly ash so you can (#1) see if that's the problem, (#2) guage how rapidly it is accumulating in that pipe. I have just a short length of horzontal pipe before my chimney and it accumulates quicker than you'd think.

Well it was worth a try, too bad it wasn't that simple, just a vacuum job and back to normal.

Greg L

Sorry Brdy, ignore my post, I didn't read your last post before my fingers started to move.

Do you have access to a draft meter? There is a set screw in the top right-hand corner of the ash door for taking the reading. You will have to have the stove lit to do this, so that will have to wait untill you put everything back together. Draft should be between -.02 to -.04. If you need to reduce your draft, one way is to use the T- hadle (pictured below) on the direct vent. Loosen the set screw and it will move up and down. Up to increase draft down to decrease draft. If your draft is fine, then maybe you can start a new post about reducing excessive draft in direct vents due to high winds. Good Luck

thanks everyone....I'll check the draft!
Coalkirk...how often do you clean out that horizontal pipe? Mine is probably 6 or 7 feet long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!