Keystoker 105 Trouble

I'm new here but am an owner of a Keystoker 105 for about 6 years. After startup following a cleaning, my fire is tiny. The combustion motor is not turning at all. Fire stays lit but coal is not burning it's just red hot. It seems that the fire is not getting stoked at all. It was fine before the cleaning. What happened??

Is it your combustion fan or your convection fan that isn't turning? If you coal is staying red hot than your combustion fan is definitely blowing air through the coal bed. Coal won't stay lit without it. If your convection fan isn't turning on, your stove may not be getting hot enough to turn on the fan limit. Did you turn the screw feed in (clockwise) to increase the feed rate of the stoker so more coal is burning?

The coal is definitely red hot and the size of the hot coal bed is large enough. The pusher is definitely working. The coal is piling up on top of itself on the grate , though and the flame is only about an inch high. It's not creating much ash or heat. Something is def wrong. I have my thermostat cranked up to 80 deg vy the way. It should be calling for heat. The holes in the grate are clear too- no obstructions.

METLHED27 wrote:The coal is definitely red hot and the size of the hot coal bed is large enough. The pusher is definitely working. The coal is piling up on top of itself on the grate , though and the flame is only about an inch high. It's not creating much ash or heat. Something is def wrong. I have my thermostat cranked up to 80 deg vy the way. It should be calling for heat. The holes in the grate are clear too- no obstructions.

Check for a restriction on the combustion blower. The one that blows through the grates. At full burn the flames should be several inches high coming off the burning coal. Is there a metal plate covering the intake for the blower? Perhaps it got closed off somewhat not allowing enough air to be drawn in and pushed through the grate.

If the coal is not burning enough and heating up the stove enough, the convection blower may not be getting turned on to blow the heat off the sove into the room.

Rick

Check for a restriction on the combustion blower. The one that blows through the grates. At full burn the flames should be several inches high coming off the burning coal. Is there a metal plate covering the intake for the blower? Perhaps it got closed off somewhat not allowing enough air to be drawn in and pushed through the grate.

If the coal is not burning enough and heating up the stove enough, the convection blower may not be getting turned on to blow the heat off the sove into the room.

The plate on the combustion blower is open as it always has been. I realize that the flames should be much higher. That's how I noticed that there is a problem. Nothing has changed- except for the fact that I cleaned the stove out as I always do during the season. The coal is burning but the flame is tiny and the stove is not getting hot enoough to turn on convection blower. Can it be an issue with my thermostat????

The coal is piling up on top of itself on the grate

Your thermostat simply turns on your stoker motor causing it to push more coal on the grate. It sounds like it's doing that.
I'm guessing you may have fines and ash under your grate that are obstructing the air flow from the combustion blower. When you did your cleanout did you pull the motor off and vacuum out under the grate?

CoaLen wrote:

The coal is piling up on top of itself on the grate

Your thermostat simply turns on your stoker motor causing it to push more coal on the grate. It sounds like it's doing that.
I'm guessing you may have fines and ash under your grate that are obstructing the air flow from the combustion blower. When you did your cleanout did you pull the motor off and vacuum out under the grate?

...or did you actually REMOVE the grate.??
Coal should not pile up.. sounds like it is not freely sliding down the grate.
Also.. if you did remove the grate...did you reseal it?
... combustion air may be leaking around it and not pushing UP THROUGH the coal.

I pulled the motor out and vacuumed under the grate. No- I didn't remove the grate. The combustion motor seems to be running hot. That's not normal is it??

METLHED27 wrote:I pulled the motor out and vacuumed under the grate. No- I didn't remove the grate. The combustion motor seems to be running hot. That's not normal is it??

No... the motor itself should be barely warm

METLHED27 wrote:I pulled the motor out and vacuumed under the grate. No- I didn't remove the grate. The combustion motor seems to be running hot. That's not normal is it??

Remove the combustion blower and check to make sure something did not get pinched or bent to prevent it from spinning freely.

Did you oil the motor ?? Will the motor sound like it is spinning faster when it is not attached ??

Did you clean off the fly ash from the squirrel cage ?? If you removed the squirrel cage, did you put it back on the correct direction ?

Don't want to send like you don't know what you are doing but sometimes it is these little things that bite us in the keister !!!!

Rick

Motor might be going bad? Also, I had trouble with coal piling up on my Keystoker 90 so I sanded down the grate and that helped. Stove cement I used to seal the grate in caused the problem I think.

good point Rick
.. use incense ( or a cigarette if you smoke) to determine if the combustion blower is DRAWING air well.??
by any chance did you have to disconnect the wiring in order to remove it ?
... it is definitely something simple... But a pain in the ass nonetheless
... if by chance the squirrel cages in backwards... it would blow air out ...and NOT draw it in

The combustion motor was bad. Got a new one- all good now. Thanks for everyone's input.

Good to know..!
Hope this one is trouble free...happy burnig...