Feed Problem With a Keystoker KAA-2

looks like she is fixed. I lubed the motor like keystoker said to do and all is well just got home from work and checked the time of the motor and I am down to 55 seconds. I guess the oil worked into the dry bushings and now seems to be running good. I will check back with another update

chris

:punk: Woo Hoo!

Glad to hear you're back in business!

What kind of oil did you use?

Glad to hear it Chris! Just in time for the sub zero temps tonight.

GREAT! Happy for you. I'll bet all of us KAA-2 owners lube our motors at least once a year.

Chris, I am glad all is well again.You have helped prevent a similar problem for KAA2 owners in the future.We all now have a piece of preventative maintenance to use that could avoid a costly replacement.I know mine is now lubed up and happy. Mike

well I spoke too soon I am still having problems. the boiler is not keeping up with demand. I lubed the motor like keysoker said and I got the rpm up to 1 rpm which is what keystoker said it should be . but I am still at full stoke and I cant keep up with demand. I get about 300-325 on the stack with 2.5 inches of hot coals and 2 inches of ash. the boiler is not stoking properly. the two other stove I checked were another kaa-2 and a keystoker 105 and both oif them at full stoke is getting one full inch of travel from front to back and I am only getting 7/8 inch so I am 1/8 inch short. I have another call into keystoker to see what they say but for some reason it is not fully stoking the boiler something is wrong. if other keystoker owners could measure there stroke at full stoker that would be greatly appreciated so I can compare to mine

chris

1975gt750 wrote:well I spoke too soon I am still having problems. the boiler is not keeping up with demand. I lubed the motor like keysoker said and I got the rpm up to 1 rpm which is what keystoker said it should be . but I am still at full stoke and I cant keep up with demand. I get about 300-325 on the stack with 2.5 inches of hot coals and 2 inches of ash. the boiler is not stoking properly. the two other stove I checked were another kaa-2 and a keystoker 105 and both oif them at full stoke is getting one full inch of travel from front to back and I am only getting 7/8 inch so I am 1/8 inch short. I have another call into keystoker to see what they say but for some reason it is not fully stoking the boiler something is wrong. if other keystoker owners could measure there stroke at full stoker that would be greatly appreciated so I can compare to mine

chris

1975gt750, In an earlier reply to your post, I said I couldn't help trouble shoot, due to my KAA-2 not yet up and running. Well guess what? I can help. My unit is still brand new. Not even installed in the boiler yet. Should you need any measurments, or anything else looked at, don't hesitate to ask.

Chris, Have you lubricated the 2 oil ports on the combustion air motor lately? Just one more variable that needs to be ruled out. Mike

I have about 3/4" maximum stroke on mine. (.757 exact)
However the pusher plate does not move all the way out to the sheet metal.
If measuring from sheet metal to the point where the pusher plate is furthest in, is about 1". (.960 exact.)
I am using .417 stroke to heat my home.

How are you measuring stack temp? I have a magnetic thermometer that's about 100 F idling mostly right now. I have never seen it go above 200.

Are you burning different coal this year? Have you cleaned out the inside of the boiler flue passages? Checked draft? Done anything to the house? (weatherstripping, new windows, enclosed the boiler room....)

Have you verified the stoker motor is indeed running 100% of the time? Maybe there's an electrical problem or flaky aquastat that is short-cycling the stoker motor. Does it sound like the stoker motor is struggling at any point during the stroke?

Even with 7/8" of stroke, that is a LOT of coal going down the grate if you're actually stoking at 100% duty cycle. I'm 3 turns out and I estimate I have 1/2" or 5/8" stroke, and I've never been able to let it run long enough to see where the steady-state fire level would be because I'd have a 120F basement.

Machinist wrote:I have about 3/4" maximum stroke on mine. (.757 exact)
However the pusher plate does not move all the way out to the sheet metal.
If measuring from sheet metal to the point where the pusher plate is furthest in, is about 1". (.960 exact.)
I am using .417 stroke to heat my home.

How are you measuring stack temp? I have a magnetic thermometer that's about 100 F idling mostly right now. I have never seen it go above 200.

I too thought the stack temp of 350* when running good was awful high compared to my HITZER stoves, which don't even have barometric dampers. Now that you're down to a stack temp of 200*, you have no heat??? My HITZER stove running a stack temp of 200* would heat my 3,400 square foot house(includes basement) on very cold days. My stack has been running 150* - 175* most of this winter. One of the reasons I'm installing the KAA-2 in my own house is because of efficiency. 350* stack temp doesn't sound efficient to me. I've been following this thread, but can't give any advise on the KAA-2 without experience. Question; Has someone been playing with your barometric damper? Sounds like you have a feed and a draft problem.

Is your boiler sized correctly for your house? Do you have temp gauges on your plumbing, so you know what the water temps are? have you checked all your zones, air bleeds, pumps, etc....

A good probe thermometer inside the pipe works really well.

My LL stoker with a temp probe in the pipe only runs 200-275 above the baro damper on a full fire, 150-200 on idle.

So, your 100-200 sounds about right on the outside of the pipe.

But where are you measuring it? Above the baro or between the baro and stove.?

first off I want to thank everybody for all the help it is greatly appricated.
boiler has been running flawleely for 3 years
i have been running the same coal for 2 years blaschak rice coal
baro damper has not been touched
running a probe style thermometer
.02 draft
all pipes clean oand operational
grates clean and free of coal sands

was runing fine at 4 turnes out until a week ago
now I am at full stoke and having a hardtime keeping up

the only thing I noticed before I had some probelms was the stoker was making some crunching noise but it has done that before.i thought it was some coal stuck in the push plate

here are some pics of how I have been measureing the push plate
so if I could get some measurment s that would be great

let me know chris

Did you start a new pallet of the blaschak at the time it seemed the drop in temp started?

Hi Chris, I just went and measured the same way. I have 1-1/8 inches. I wouldn't think that means anything, because I don't know what position the plastic cam is at. When I get home tomorrow, I'll put some electric to the stoker. When I see the push block is all the way back, I'll remeasure. Looking at that little gear box, along with the crunching noise you heard, I'm guessing maybe you have a gear problem. Maybe some gear teeth skipping. I'll take a closer look tomorrow. Looks like the coal is burning up faster than the stoker can feed it. For comparison of KAA-2 fire, look here.New Stoker in Service