Keystoker KA-6 Coal Burn

Hello,
Thanks in advance to any of you that might be able to help me understand this. I just installed a Keystoker KA-6 Boiler. It seems to be holding right around the 180 degree mark fairly well. But, what I am noticing is that when I empty the ash pan I am seeing quite a bit of small black (what seem to be un-burned) coal?
Any ideas on it?
Thanks again folks...

Rice or Buckwheat? Another guy on here was having the same problem and switched to buckwheat.....wasn't getting enough airflow thru the rice on idle (when not calling for heat). OR just junk in the coal, rocks, shale, non=combustible things...

I am burning Rice Coal. I think I'll try and mix a bag of Buckwheat in with it? Maybe it is shale?? Not too sure. Little bit of clumping going on but not too bad? Although I am a NEWBIE to the whole coal burning.
Thanks a bunch and Happy Holidays..

You may have to adjust the stoker plate a bit for the buckwheat, but it should burn better on the lower settings when idling. I would a mix in my Keystoker 90K to prevent the clumping/Clinkers when really cold outside and burning it really hot. Could be the Coal too.

i too have a k-6 and am also seeing unburnt coal . i have increased the air on the blowers to max settings . started blending buckwheat coal , am monitoring stack tempts, i am slowly DECREASING push arm settings. The prob seems to be when it idles . thats when i get the unburnt coal . When its burning at speed it seems to be fine . I also have tried lowering the boiler temp . This seems to give the best result becouse it makes the boiler fire longer and house temp is not sacraficed. 180 seems to be to much and all i do is burn coal for nothing . One other thing ive done is on my bypass loop i installed a ball valve . This lets me control the amount of water going to my zones , as it gets colder i am shutting the bypass loop closed , but not all the way . When warmer i open the bypass loop . this is where i am at and Honestly i am still not happy , but i will learn this thing yet !@!!

I too was seeing what I took to be unburnt coal in my ashes from my Harman boiler and I did the same things as you. I turned down the boiler temperature (140*) and reduced the feed rate. This made a big difference and also naturally reduced the amount of coal I was burning. I see very little of the unburnt coal now. I've been doing this now for a couple years and it works great. If we get a cold spell, I turn up the temp (160* max) and maybe the feed rate if needed. When I first started using this boiler I was keeping the water at 180* like my oil boiler did. It's just not necessary and the reduced temp and feed rate uses the coal more efficiently also. I do see a larger section of ash on the end of the grate when using this procedure. Probably 2-3 times the typical 1" of ash at the end of the grate.

How about some pic's of your k-6 boiler?? i'm interested in seeing your setup's because i'm in the process of piping up my k-6 as we speak.

mino ide be glad to help with any advice. my k6 is plumped into my gas boiler, all the zones were left as they were . was easy and less expensive to plump it this way . Water circles from the coal boiler to the gas boilerthen from the gas boiler returns to the coal boiler. Simple and it works , any questions ide be glad to help

Hello Again,
I spoke to the folks at Blaschak Coal today. They said that it is normal to have some small what seem to be unburnt pieces. The gentleman that I spoke with was VERY informative and spent a bit of time on the phone with me. Wasn't rushed at all. In fact Blaschak Rice Coal is actually more or less a blend of Rice and Buckwheat.
Thanks again..
Korey

HDRIDERNH wrote:Hello Again,
I spoke to the folks at Blaschak Coal today. They said that it is normal to have some small what seem to be unburnt pieces. The gentleman that I spoke with was VERY informative and spent a bit of time on the phone with me. Wasn't rushed at all. In fact Blaschak Rice Coal is actually more or less a blend of Rice and Buckwheat.
Thanks again..
Korey

I get little black pieces in my ash also. You'd think they were coal, but they really don't have the same consistency. If it idles alot, I DO get a few pieces of partially burt coal that come from the very sides of the grate area, but it's not much. Having the combustion air blower running 100% of the time helps that as there always is a hot fire going, just a small one.

HDRIDERNH wrote:Hello,
Thanks in advance to any of you that might be able to help me understand this. I just installed a Keystoker KA-6 Boiler. It seems to be holding right around the 180 degree mark fairly well. But, what I am noticing is that when I empty the ash pan I am seeing quite a bit of small black (what seem to be un-burned) coal?
Any ideas on it?
Thanks again folks...

I am burning blaschak and also see some pieces of un burnt coal .I have a ka-4 boiler I tried with and without the aux blower kit no difference . I do get a lot of ash compared to what I used to burn in my old Alaska but that was also different coal . Dave

I am burning a decent quality of coal, a deep mined and strip mined mix from a local breaker and I get the odd piece of slate and even unburned or actually partially burned coal makes it down the grate. The Keystoker design does not appear to allow for good air flow on the sides of the grate. During the summer and warm spells when the fire shrinks to a minimal strip, if you use a light and shine in you can see coal on the sides of the grate sneaking down unburned. If it is in the middle of the grate and still black that would have to be slate or something else that will not burn. I would not lose any sleep over a few black pieces in the ash. If it is a lot of black pieces and you know the grate is not blocked and the coal is receiving good air flow through the grate I would try different coal and compare.