Brand New Keystoker Maybe a Heat Problem?

I installed a new Keystoker Econo 90 with direct vent in the living room yesterday. No duct work. I am just venting through the top of the stove. I lit it up and had everything going by 8:30 in the evening last night. I set the thermostat to 70, which is located about 20 ft from the stove in the next room, and today 13 hours later I only have 64 degrees in the house. I am wondering if I have a draft problem causing me to lose too much heat out the direct vent, or if something is wrong on the stove. I have noticed that the air coming from the blower is not exactly what I would call hot, but it is not cold, and the blower regulator on the side is set to auto and seems to be working properly. It looks to be set to start at 160 degrees and stop when air drops to 100. I haven't checked anything with a thermometer, but the sides of the stove are so hot you can't even touch it.

I have the coal feed at one turn from max, and the shutter on the secondary blower for the grates open 3/4 of the way. This is what my fire looks like. It looks to me like a full bed, and the flames also do reach the top of the stove.

I am surprised that after all this time it has not at least satisfied the thermostat less than 20 ft away. I also noticed that the direct vent pipe coming off the stove is quite hot to the touch, and while the baro damper on the direct vent is swing back and forth like crazy, I suspect the draft needs to be checked and the weight moved.

I am trying to heat the upstairs and downstairs of 1400 sq ft second story with little insulation, so do I just need to give it some more time?

Yes, the only to check the draft is with a draft gauge, the baro damper setting/weight is only an estimate. if it's open more, there is less draft on the stove, closed, more draft from the stove and pulling more heat from the stove.

It should be a steady draft on the stove, the baro with a power vent should remain pretty constant. You could be pulling a little more heat then you need out of the power vent, It still should be heating pretty good.

The adjustment screw should be turned ALL the way IN for max burn, then back it it out about 4 turns to start. At full burn, thermostat calling for heat, there should be only about 1" (maybe a little less) at the end of the grate, as long as you're not pushing hot coals off the end, you have it adjusted properly.

Can you hear the stove Clicking on/off when you change the thermostat to call for heat. ? Make sure the thermostat is on an Inside wall too. it will be a little more accurate setting.

You could just loosing the heat more going upstairs, etc...if it's not insulated. Coal takes time to get everything heated up.

I suspect a draft calibration is needed as well. It's not a power vent, but a direct vent with the vent motor on the back of the stove. Are you saying that the when the baro damper is puling in air from the inside of the house, it should remain open constantly, instead of swing back and forth? Sorry, I don't know much about this stuff.

The thermostat is on an inside wall and does send the proper signals. I can definitely hear it kicking on and going off at the stove.

Ok, direct vent, sorry, they are both a powered type exhaust, just different mounting. but serve the same purpose.

Yes, if the baro damper is OPEN, it's drawing air from the house and less on the stove, if it's closed, it's drawing more from the stove. there a fine line between the direct vent/baro damper and needs to be setup correctly. if it's moving back and forth a lot, then it might be windy outside, usually they stay pretty constant with a direct vent.

Can you post a pic of the direct vent/baro damper setup?

It just sounds like a little calibration/tweeking is all that is needed. It looks like it's burning properly, other than maybe a little more on the max feed adjuster. if it's constantly calling for heat.

I don't believe keystoker recommends using a baro damper on direct vent models?

I also believe your comb fan damper is open too far. Which could be pushing too much draft.

I think some of the newer stoves with direct vent come with a baro damper.

I went to the house today and the temp was up to 70 downstairs with a few degrees cooler upstairs, but it is much warmer here today (20 degrees+) than usual for this time of year. I am worried about how it will react on colder days. I am doing good on coal though with only one ash can change in two days. I think that's about 40lbs of coal.

Here's a picture of the new direct vent with the baro dampers. I have the weight set to the very right, which I believe is the most sensitive position. If I move it anywhere else, the damper will never open.

I am going to move the shutter on the secondary blower for the grates back to half way. I opened it some in hopes that it would generate more heat.

the weight knob can be adjusted for Horizontal Mounting, which yours is and Vertical mounting. Looks like your weight knob is on the left, would be correct.

http://www.fieldcontrols.com/pdfs/DC01575700.pdf

If you move it towards the middle (.02) it will open more, if you move it towards the outside (.08) it will close more. thus creating more or less draft on the stove. it should be at the #4 position approx. You want to maintain approx. .04 on the stove, you need to draft gauge to accurately set it up.
it may vary a little bit depending on how cold it is outside and how hot your are running the stove. so the baro damper may or my not be open or only slightly.

I only have a Direct vent, no baro on mine, I have a permanent Draft gauge on mine and can monitor the draft, it needs very little adjustment once set. if the draft starts going down, I know it needs cleaned. typcially every couple months I vacuum it out and blow out the direct vent good.

Yeah, when I got it from the dealer, the weight was on the right for vertical, so I did move it over and I have it all the way to the center in hopes that it is getting as close to .-02 as possible.

I did close the shutter on the secondary blower for the grates back to the default value of half open, and that stabilized the damper. It no longer swings wildly anymore. It stays open as much as it does pretty constantly now, so I am happy about that.

I am still back to square one with this thing though. Not enough heat. I have the coal feed up to two turns from max. I am hopeful that I can get the dealer to come take a look at it.

Thanks for the help.

Sounds like you getting it "dialed" in, we all have to tweek them sometimes to get the most heat from them. I would get a draft gauge/manometer (they are under $30) to check/monitor your draft.

The Feed screw should be turned in Clockwise for max feed. 2-4 turns out (CCW) then adjust from there. is it satisfying the thermostat? is it a dial type or a digital. I replaced mine with a digital and much more accurate.

anything else just ask or like you said, have your dealer check everything.

I've had mine for 12 years now and with a few mods, it's been a good stove!

I can confirm that Keystoker now does include a barometric damper with new direct vent stoves. I have a 3-week-old Koker, and it has the barometric damper included, as in the photo. After reading many posts on this forum, and hearing that there should NOT be one installed, I called Keystoker, and they confirmed the now-recommended inclusion with installs.

Thanks for the info on the damper Chris, too little too late for me to even try to get the new top part or fabricate my own. In my situation I have had no problem at all with my 160 heating my house so why try something when it works well. The only thing I might add is that from the pic of Farrell's set-up I would probably recommend some type of heat shield at the very least for the baseboard not knowing the construction of the wall or pipe I would think there as well.

WNY wrote:Sounds like you getting it "dialed" in, we all have to tweek them sometimes to get the most heat from them. I would get a draft gauge/manometer (they are under $30) to check/monitor your draft.

The Feed screw should be turned in Clockwise for max feed. 2-4 turns out (CCW) then adjust from there. is it satisfying the thermostat? is it a dial type or a digital. I replaced mine with a digital and much more accurate.

anything else just ask or like you said, have your dealer check everything.

I've had mine for 12 years now and with a few mods, it's been a good stove!

The dealer was nice enough to come check the install and set the draft properly to -.02. The feed rate is up to max. I went over to the house today to find it at 60 degrees with the thermostat set to 70, analog dial thermostat. I am trying to heat just over 1400 sq ft. Everyone I spoke to told me this econo 90 would be up to the job. I am very disappointed and worried that I bought this for nothing.

That Econo 90 should heat that 1400 sq ft just fine if the air flow in the house is correct. You know that the installer set you at a proper draft. Are you running it where you have ash only for about 1-2 inches from the end of the grate? If not you got some more tweaking to do.

farrell2k wrote:

WNY wrote:Sounds like you getting it "dialed" in, we all have to tweek them sometimes to get the most heat from them. I would get a draft gauge/manometer (they are under $30) to check/monitor your draft.

The Feed screw should be turned in Clockwise for max feed. 2-4 turns out (CCW) then adjust from there. is it satisfying the thermostat? is it a dial type or a digital. I replaced mine with a digital and much more accurate.

anything else just ask or like you said, have your dealer check everything.

I've had mine for 12 years now and with a few mods, it's been a good stove!

The dealer was nice enough to come check the install and set the draft properly to -.02. The feed rate is up to max. I went over to the house today to find it at 60 degrees with the thermostat set to 70, analog dial thermostat. I am trying to heat just over 1400 sq ft. Everyone I spoke to told me this econo 90 would be up to the job. I am very disappointed and worried that I bought this for nothing.

Try a different thermostat. What location is the t-stat located at.? If it is old mercury type it needs to be very level or it will be way off.
If you want a recommendation for a good t-stat for a coal stove...get a Honeywell T-87.