Keystone Keystoker Not Working up to Potential

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funktstokerstove
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Post by funktstokerstove » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 8:45 am

Any ideas would be appreciated. We purchased a Keystoker 90,000 4 years ago. We had a hole cut in the top so we could attach it to our duct work (we have a 1900 sq. ft ranch). We bought buckwheat coal from South Tamaqua coal pockets. The first year, the stove worked great. Upstairs, you could place your hand 3 feet of the vents and feel the heat pouring out of it. However, the past 3 years, we have not been able to get the same output of hot air upstairs. I have called Keystone and they have come out to my house and found nothing wrong. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions why it may not be working properly? Thanks :)

 
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blrman07
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Post by blrman07 » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 4:43 pm

Welcome to the forum. Please completely fill in your information as there might be a forum member close by that could help you.

What type of maintenance have you done since you had it? Have you ever pulled the grates to check that the air holes are clear and that there are no fines trapped under the grates?

Rev. Larry

 
Tobytech
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Post by Tobytech » Tue. Nov. 26, 2013 11:25 pm

How long is the fire bed burning when burning at max? Is it approximately 1-2 inches from the edge? Are you spilling unburnt coal into the ash pan? You could check and make sure that the intake to the convection blower is free and clean. Also make sure the squirrel cage internal to the convection blower doesn't have excessive dust/soot built up. That could inhibit air flow from the blower. Make sure the air shutter to the combustion blower is open as well

It sounds silly but try sliding down the air diffuser on the front of the stove and see what kind of hot air is being produced at the source. You shouldn't have very much temperature difference from there to your floor register. Hopefully this helps. Todd.


 
funktstokerstove
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Post by funktstokerstove » Wed. Nov. 27, 2013 7:16 am

Todd-I don't think I have it at max yet. I have a good fire that is not pushing hot coal off the edge. We checked the convection blower and made sure it was clean and vacuumed it out and the screen. I believe the shutter on the air shutter is already open.

I'm not sure what the air diffuser is. I will call Keystone to see if they can tell me what that is. It just doesn't seem like air is being forced up.

Thanks for you post, Todd.

 
Tobytech
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Post by Tobytech » Wed. Nov. 27, 2013 7:56 am

The diffuser is on the front nearly at the top. It is where hot air would blow from the stove if you didn't have the knockout on top. It is usually held in with a screw on either side and will slide up and down.

 
funktstokerstove
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Post by funktstokerstove » Wed. Nov. 27, 2013 2:32 pm

I checked and it wasn't flush against the stove. Their was a small gap. I tightened the screw to make it tighter. Hopefully this works. Thanks for the help Todd. Maybe I'll have a nice warm house this winter :)


 
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WNY
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Post by WNY » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 9:01 am

Make sure your block off plate directs the heat up the duct.

DO you have a manual thermostat on the wall? or a CoalTrol?

You feed rate screw should be about 4 turns out to start, then you can adjust for MAX burn. Only adjust 1/2 turn at a time and wait for it to catch up. Until you only have 1/2-1" of ash at the end and not pushing hot coals off the grate.

Make sure all your blowers are cleaned and nothing is blocking them. Have you oiled them? Some of the blowers have little oil holes.

Do you have the combustion blower inlet cover about 1/2 covered? Sometimes you have to readjust things when burning buckwheat, I always run Rice and maybe a 50/50 mix of buck if the ash starts getting clumpy,thats only if its burning really hot.

Hvae you checked the draft? Is it a power vent or natural chimney?

 
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Wiz
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Post by Wiz » Thu. Nov. 28, 2013 10:50 am

funktstokerstove wrote:I checked and it wasn't flush against the stove. Their was a small gap. I tightened the screw to make it tighter. Hopefully this works. Thanks for the help Todd. Maybe I'll have a nice warm house this winter :)
did it help? FYI when checking for 1-2 dead ash, unit should be on demand for approx one hour. As mention under grates clean fines out, if coal has allot of fines you'll need to clean grates more often.

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