Coal Ash

Here is picture of my coal ash that is mostly from idle and very little demand for dh. Stoker is set at 170 high & low 155 but stove only reaching 160. 12 turns on red nut using 4 pins. Coal is from Casey, to me ash looks ok but you guys are the experts. I removed 1 pin just now, on idle it holds 3 in of hot coal with 4 pins.

Looks like some unburned coal in with the ash, and this time of year that is VERY possible. You're only running on the timer now, so keep an eye on it....spread it where you can see what is left after the fall rains wash it off.
You still haven't mentioned that a Keystoker is a VERY quiet machine.........hint, hint........

Is the small combustion blower running when the stoker is idle? Is the small air shudder on that blower 1/2 open?

If you don't have any zone controls hooked to the aquastat on the boiler, it will just maintain the low limit. Probably ok for this time of year, but when the mercury drops you may need to bump it up.

Rob R. wrote:Is the small combustion blower running when the stoker is idle? Is the small air shudder on that blower 1/2 open?

If you don't have any zone controls hooked to the aquastat on the boiler, it will just maintain the low limit. Probably ok for this time of year, but when the mercury drops you may need to bump it up.

Rob,yes first 2 questions.. On Keystoker I don't have thermostat hook to it. Oil burner controls 2 zones. I ran thermostat wire to stoker tied it into oil burner thermostat wire. Once I did that it would dump into the one zone and over ride thermostat settings. Bedrooms got up to 85degrees with thermostat turn off.

whistlenut wrote:You still haven't mentioned that a Keystoker is a VERY quiet machine

whistlenut, wife walked into shop yesterday and ask when are we going to start keystoker. I had a grin and said we are. My kitchen stove over head fan is louder then keystoker.

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You have 4 pins grouped together on a 30 minute timer? Try two groups of two pins, 15 min apart. If that doesn't help, it is what it is

Edit: I assume each pin is 30 seconds. Keystoker recommends 1 minute every 15 as a starting point for the timer.

Too much black and looks like a lot of slate in it. You're going to have some black and some minor clinkering with a stoker but I would suggest that's excessive.

My brother who has one of the 110 boilers from LL had some really nice coal from Hazleton and was down to 11 pounds a day over the summer, he ran out and went and got some from Casey's. He went up to 14 pounds a day when he could keep it lit. Just gave up on it....

Not far from Casey's is Hudson, they charge a little more but you know how the saying goes.

Richard S. wrote:
Not far from Casey's is Hudson, they charge a little more but you know how the saying goes.

Next year I'll try Hudson.. I'll need to deal with 7 ton for now.

Is the air adjustment on the big blower 1/2 open?

Rob R. wrote:You have 4 pins grouped together on a 30 minute timer? Try two groups of two pins, 15 min apart. If that doesn't help, it is what it is

Edit: I assume each pin is 30 seconds. Keystoker recommends 1 minute every 15 as a starting point for the timer.

Each pin is 15 secs... two groups of 3pins 15 mins apart now, Was 2 groups 4 pins 15 mins apart

Yes on fan

In mild weather I get a better burn by increasing the timer to 2 groups of 7-8 pins and decreasing the coal feed by 4 turns (on buck). I also run the small blower full open.

According to the manual, you should have 1.5-2 inches of hot coals at idle.