Keystoker 90

Well I never had this happen, until now. The burning coal was way in the back?(like tring to go into the hopper) I tried to adjust the push plate, but nothing. So I finaly I shut it down and here I am now. Any ideas?

1. When did this happen, during the initial light up; or, during "normal" operation?

2. Do you have a good draft? Access to a manometer to check it??

3. My Koker seemed to exhibit this phenomena when I first lit the stove; but, the normal action of the stoker mechanism pushed the burning coal out into the burn pot area.

4. Your stoker mechanism should be pushing coal away from the bin and towards the ash pit. Do you have the stoker mechanism set properly?

She's been running for around two weeks. I had the push plate turned back a couple turns, every thing seemes to be running ok. As for draft all I can say is at the baro damper it will dahm near suck the flame out on a bic lighter. Last season I never had any problems.
Thank You
Gene

Keystokers will burn into the hopper. One of two things is most likely the cause. Too much draft is most common. If air is being drawn in through the hopper the fire will follow the oxygen into the hopper and burn coal in the hopper. NOT GOOD! Most Keystoker stokers want -.02 draft and not a bit more.
Another cause can be if the grates were disturbed for cleaning or replacement and not properly sealed the combustion air will blow up through the seams and cause fire back into the hopper. This is also not good! If you did not disturb the grates check the draft for improper damper setting. If that is good I would consider removing and cleaning and re-sealing the grates. If you have a leak at the rear of the grates it will burn back towards the hopper rather quickly. There should always be about 4" of coal that is not burning on the rear portion of the grate. When you clean the grate off any portion that does not have holes in it should never have coal burning on top of it.

I'll second 'gaw'. I've got an older Keystoker 90 DV that I've just become the new owner and fully rebuilt. In conversations with Don at Keystoker, he mentioned -0.04 draft as the target, but I have a difficult time getting it above -0.02 or -0.03.

At the same time, my initial trials proved very successful, and I was sure to seal the grate well at the rear gap and also the sides up 'til the first row of holes.

I had my pusher mis-adjusted and it wasn't feeding coal properly, so the fire started to die out, stopping at the last holes on the grate, with NO indication of burning back to the hopper (which currently has no lid).

The older units, like mine, had the combustion blower wired to the stoker motor. So, unless it was stoking, it had no air from the blower and relied on natural draft to keep idling. That would require the -0.04 to -0.06 spec. that is in the manual. But, I've rewired mine to run the combustion blower all the time like the newer units, and really you only need enough draft to keep negative pressure in the stove at all times.

I'd check all the grate joints and re-seal them with some good furnace cement. Even better, pull out the grate and clean under it well. Make sure there's no ash/coal buildup under it. Then re-seal it.

Chris

Thanks guys I'll check the grates, as for the draft i'll have to see about getting a manometer.
Thanks again
Gene