KA Boiler Summer Settings

 
User avatar
Wiz
Member
Posts: 926
Joined: Sun. Nov. 27, 2011 8:45 pm
Location: Tannersville Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker Ka 6
Coal Size/Type: Casey Junk Coal :(

Post by Wiz » Mon. Jul. 15, 2013 7:16 pm

Got the cold weather settings figured out now it's the summer settings that's plaguing me. I'm no longer on the one match club, more like 6 matches one :oops: No longer burning rice buck mixes, it's all buck now. Yesterday settings was 4 groups of pins 2-3-2-3 on 30 mins with 12 turns, blower 1/2 open. Idle fire was weak with increase unburnt coal. Today I'm trying 4 groups of pins 2-2-2-2 with 12 turns on feed, blower open all the way. idle fire is 2 inch stove temp 185+ on idle. Hoping ash pan shows better results. Wondering if anyone else is using Ka for dhw?


 
User avatar
Rob R.
Site Moderator
Posts: 17980
Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
Location: Chazy, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr

Post by Rob R. » Mon. Jul. 15, 2013 8:07 pm

Do you run the small blower 24/7 with the shutter 1/2 open?

 
User avatar
Wiz
Member
Posts: 926
Joined: Sun. Nov. 27, 2011 8:45 pm
Location: Tannersville Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker Ka 6
Coal Size/Type: Casey Junk Coal :(

Post by Wiz » Mon. Jul. 15, 2013 8:11 pm

Rob R. wrote:Do you run the small blower 24/7 with the shutter 1/2 open?
yes.. Now it's 24/7 open all the way

 
User avatar
Rob R.
Site Moderator
Posts: 17980
Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
Location: Chazy, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr

Post by Rob R. » Mon. Jul. 15, 2013 8:48 pm

Cut the feed back, lengthen the timer cycle. I would try every 10 minutes.

Is the small blower spinning the proper direction?

 
User avatar
Wiz
Member
Posts: 926
Joined: Sun. Nov. 27, 2011 8:45 pm
Location: Tannersville Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker Ka 6
Coal Size/Type: Casey Junk Coal :(

Post by Wiz » Mon. Jul. 15, 2013 9:09 pm

Rob R. wrote:Cut the feed back, lengthen the timer cycle. I would try every 10 minutes.

Is the small blower spinning the proper direction?
I'll give it a try. Yes blower is proper direction

 
User avatar
gaw
Member
Posts: 4437
Joined: Fri. Jan. 26, 2007 2:51 am
Location: Parts Unknown
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
Coal Size/Type: Rice from Schuylkill County

Post by gaw » Mon. Jul. 15, 2013 11:14 pm

My Keystoker goes cold only if I turn it off or the power fails, which is not too often around here. (knock on wood)

My theory/belief is that a coal boiler should be set it and forget it, much like a gas or oil fired boiler, anything more complicated than that is not worth my trouble. My feed rate was set in winter to accommodate my heating needs. I feed just enough to get the job done and that is about in the ballpark with what you report, about 10 – 12 turns but who is counting? Having good draft my air flap under the large blower is about wide open and the little continuous blower is about 1/3 open, (an eyeball guess). Keystoker says 140 -180 on the aquastat in summer and 160 – 180 in the winter. I am simple and lazy or maybe simply lazy but I keep the aquastat at 150 – 180 year round. Actual summer temps are usually under 180 so no overheating issues. As for the timer, mine is the old style. It takes about 14.5 minutes to complete a revolution. During that revolution it turns the big motor on to run the large blower and feed coal for 45 continuous seconds.

My suggestion would be to troubleshoot your settings one by one to figure out where the trouble lies. You have to look at things like draft, damper settings, air settings, timer settings, feed settings, dirty grates, chimney partially blocked by fly ash, and more. Do a full evaluation of the system and fully check everything in some sort of systematic approach. The shotgun approach is usually a waste of time and fixes nothing. Good luck with the trouble shooting.

 
User avatar
Wiz
Member
Posts: 926
Joined: Sun. Nov. 27, 2011 8:45 pm
Location: Tannersville Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker Ka 6
Coal Size/Type: Casey Junk Coal :(

Post by Wiz » Tue. Jul. 16, 2013 5:17 am

gaw wrote:My Keystoker goes cold only if I turn it off or the power fails, which is not too often around here. (knock on wood)

My theory/belief is that a coal boiler should be set it and forget it, much like a gas or oil fired boiler, anything more complicated than that is not worth my trouble. My feed rate was set in winter to accommodate my heating needs. I feed just enough to get the job done and that is about in the ballpark with what you report, about 10 – 12 turns but who is counting? Having good draft my air flap under the large blower is about wide open and the little continuous blower is about 1/3 open, (an eyeball guess). Keystoker says 140 -180 on the aquastat in summer and 160 – 180 in the winter. I am simple and lazy or maybe simply lazy but I keep the aquastat at 150 – 180 year round. Actual summer temps are usually under 180 so no overheating issues. As for the timer, mine is the old style. It takes about 14.5 minutes to complete a revolution. During that revolution it turns the big motor on to run the large blower and feed coal for 45 continuous seconds.

My suggestion would be to troubleshoot your settings one by one to figure out where the trouble lies. You have to look at things like draft, damper settings, air settings, timer settings, feed settings, dirty grates, chimney partially blocked by fly ash, and more. Do a full evaluation of the system and fully check everything in some sort of systematic approach. The shotgun approach is usually a waste of time and fixes nothing. Good luck with the trouble shooting.
Draft,baro settings good, boiler and chimney clean. Gaw how's your ash? Aquastat is same as yours year round. 150-180.. Haven't had issue until burning buckwheat for the pass 2 weeks. before then it was rice-buck mixes. Last night set timer at 3 groups of 3 pins on 30 mins cycle. I'm checking before work to see how ash looks.


 
User avatar
Rob R.
Site Moderator
Posts: 17980
Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
Location: Chazy, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr

Post by Rob R. » Tue. Jul. 16, 2013 5:30 am

Burning rice is much more forgiving in summer operation. In three years I never had an EFM go out until they were all burning buck. Eventually you will find a balance that keeps the fire alive without getting the boiler too warm, but it is trial and error.

 
User avatar
Lightning
Site Moderator
Posts: 14659
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Tue. Jul. 16, 2013 5:46 am

Rob R. wrote:Burning rice is much more forgiving in summer operation. In three years I never had an EFM go out until they were all burning buck. Eventually you will find a balance that keeps the fire alive without getting the boiler too warm, but it is trial and error.
I agree although I burn nut size in a hand fed hahaha. Seems like smaller coal would work better for a slower burn.

 
User avatar
gaw
Member
Posts: 4437
Joined: Fri. Jan. 26, 2007 2:51 am
Location: Parts Unknown
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KA-6
Coal Size/Type: Rice from Schuylkill County

Post by gaw » Tue. Jul. 16, 2013 5:48 am

I burn rice and ash looks about like during the heating season with the odd piece of unburned getting through I guess because you never have a raging fire going. It is not a lot as in “wow look at all that unburned coal in there”

I started burning buck because it was easier to get but have switched to rice when I bought a direct vent stove that calls for only rice. I want to keep one size coal only, keep it simple. The buck rice mix was real popular years ago with the old time Keystoker users. I never tried it. I can say that rice feeds a lot easier than buck and the feed settings must be adjusted accordingly. You may have to increase your feed a couple of turns but I don’t know for sure because you were burning the mix and I don’t know how that feeds compared to rice. Increasing time on the timer may compensate and get you through the summer but you will find out this winter when you can’t get enough heat. I think Keystoker recommended 7 turns on the feed nut as a general starting point for using buck.

 
User avatar
steamup
Member
Posts: 1209
Joined: Fri. Oct. 03, 2008 12:13 pm
Location: Napoli, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman-Anderson AA-130, Keystoker K-6
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: HS Tarm 502 Wood/Coal/Oil
Coal Size/Type: pea, buck, rice

Post by steamup » Tue. Jul. 16, 2013 8:16 am

gaw wrote:I burn rice and ash looks about like during the heating season with the odd piece of unburned getting through I guess because you never have a raging fire going. It is not a lot as in “wow look at all that unburned coal in there”

I started burning buck because it was easier to get but have switched to rice when I bought a direct vent stove that calls for only rice. I want to keep one size coal only, keep it simple. The buck rice mix was real popular years ago with the old time Keystoker users. I never tried it. I can say that rice feeds a lot easier than buck and the feed settings must be adjusted accordingly. You may have to increase your feed a couple of turns but I don’t know for sure because you were burning the mix and I don’t know how that feeds compared to rice. Increasing time on the timer may compensate and get you through the summer but you will find out this winter when you can’t get enough heat. I think Keystoker recommended 7 turns on the feed nut as a general starting point for using buck.
I bought buck size coal for both my keystoker and my AA130. I found that the buck was a little more touchy under low fire conditions and it was easy to have outfires. I found that about a 20% mix of rice smothed things out. A few bags of rice will go a long way when mixing in a little at a time but gives a better fire as it makes the air distribute better under the grate.

 
User avatar
PRengert
Member
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu. Jan. 20, 2011 11:47 am
Location: Livingston county, NYS
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker K6

Post by PRengert » Tue. Jul. 16, 2013 9:09 am

Been there, done that.

With buck I needed to about double the timer setting (I used 2 groups of 7-8) and cut the feed by 2 turns or so for late spring-early fall operation. Secondary blower was full open.

With rice I run the same settings all the time.

 
User avatar
Wiz
Member
Posts: 926
Joined: Sun. Nov. 27, 2011 8:45 pm
Location: Tannersville Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker Ka 6
Coal Size/Type: Casey Junk Coal :(

Post by Wiz » Tue. Jul. 16, 2013 10:06 am

PRengert wrote:Been there, done that.

With buck I needed to about double the timer setting (I used 2 groups of 7-8) and cut the feed by 2 turns or so for late spring-early fall operation. Secondary blower was full open.

With rice I run the same settings all the time.
Did this help with ash? Unburnt has increase.

 
User avatar
Wiz
Member
Posts: 926
Joined: Sun. Nov. 27, 2011 8:45 pm
Location: Tannersville Pa
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker Ka 6
Coal Size/Type: Casey Junk Coal :(

Post by Wiz » Tue. Jul. 16, 2013 5:23 pm

No out fire but dam issue is unburnt buck. 3 groups of 4 pins. More pins less feed,

 
User avatar
Rob R.
Site Moderator
Posts: 17980
Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
Location: Chazy, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr

Post by Rob R. » Wed. Jul. 17, 2013 9:17 pm

Wiz wrote:No out fire but dam issue is unburnt buck. 3 groups of 4 pins. More pins less feed,
Try more combustion air.


Post Reply

Return to “Stoker Coal Boilers Using Anthracite (Hydronic & Steam)”