Hi everyone,
We just moved into a new house that has a Alaska Co Kodiak coal stoker, we FINALLY got the darn thing lit - and KEPT it lit -- that was a major achievement haha! Now that it's been going for a few hours - I am finding that it's not producing quite as much heat as I'd like for the kids. I've been reading things about combustion air fan high/low but I don't see any buttons anywhere that have this? Could anyone point me in the right direction to get this thing warming up our house better? Thank you so much! I am going to attach some pictures if that is helpful. I don't really know the names of any parts yet.
Alaska Co Kodiak - Produce More Heat?
- freetown fred
- Member
- Posts: 30293
- Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
- Location: Freetown,NY 13803
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
- Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut
Welcome to the FORUM V. Top right search bar--type Alaska Kodiak Stoker--see what pops up--suggestion--listen to people that have experience with your stove for initial getting started properly. Getting to old to be twistin my neck on your pix!
Last edited by freetown fred on Fri. Jan. 22, 2016 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- New Member
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Fri. Jan. 22, 2016 9:35 am
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Kodiak
Thank you!! I did try searching...but gave up after flipping through about 10 pages all responses to one person post that didn't apply to me - ha! My thumbs are too cold for that!freetown fred wrote:Welcome to the FORUM V. Top right search bar--type Alaska Kodiak Stoker--see what pops up--suggestion--listen to people that have your stove for initial getting started properly. Getting to old to be twistin my neck on your pix!
And I have no idea why my pics came up sideways..I took them the right way!
- freetown fred
- Member
- Posts: 30293
- Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
- Location: Freetown,NY 13803
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
- Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut
Ahh, one of them thar not so SMART Phones--I wonder if people took the pix sideways to start, they'd come out right-side up??
VanLoon12 wrote:Thank you!! I did try searching...but gave up after flipping through about 10 pages all responses to one person post that didn't apply to me - ha! My thumbs are too cold for that!freetown fred wrote:Welcome to the FORUM V. Top right search bar--type Alaska Kodiak Stoker--see what pops up--suggestion--listen to people that have your stove for initial getting started properly. Getting to old to be twistin my neck on your pix!
And I have no idea why my pics came up sideways..I took them the right way!
- Rick 386
- Member
- Posts: 2508
- Joined: Mon. Jan. 28, 2008 4:26 pm
- Location: Royersford, Pa
- Stoker Coal Boiler: AA 260 heating both sides of twin farmhouse
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: LL Hyfire II w/ coaltrol in garage
- Coal Size/Type: Pea in AA 260, Rice in LL Hyfire II
- Other Heating: Gas fired infared at work
- Contact:
What you have there is an older Alaska triburner stoker stove. Try searching for triburners, then Alaska
If you can take a pic of the fire will really help.
When that stove is burning at max heat output, you should only have about 1" of ash before it drops off into the ash pan. To adjust the feed, you turn the cam lobe on the inside of the carper feed. Usually from low fire to high is about 4 turns total.
The other issue could be an accumulation of fines under the grate as well as having some grate holes plugged up. Both can diminish the amount of combustion air and prevent the coal from burning a hot as possible. You can remove the combustion blower and vacuum under the grates. If you remove the grates, you must replace the gate gasket and strongback gasket. You can also run a 1/8" drill bit through the grate holes.
Any other questions, fire away
Rick
If you can take a pic of the fire will really help.
When that stove is burning at max heat output, you should only have about 1" of ash before it drops off into the ash pan. To adjust the feed, you turn the cam lobe on the inside of the carper feed. Usually from low fire to high is about 4 turns total.
The other issue could be an accumulation of fines under the grate as well as having some grate holes plugged up. Both can diminish the amount of combustion air and prevent the coal from burning a hot as possible. You can remove the combustion blower and vacuum under the grates. If you remove the grates, you must replace the gate gasket and strongback gasket. You can also run a 1/8" drill bit through the grate holes.
Any other questions, fire away
Rick
Hello VL12... Welcome to the forum....
Rick covered it pretty well. A good cleaning is a great place to start before firing it up. Do you have a chimney or a power vent?
Please make sure to have a CO monitor with a numeric display as well as other CO alarms through the house. Good to see the barrier to keep the little critters away from the stove.
Some other info....fly ash from the stoker will accumulate in horizontal sections of the flue pipe. Since this is new to you, those should be checked to make sure they are not blocked. I noticed what looked like surface rust on the flue pipe, make sure there are no pinholes in the flue pipe.
Rick covered it pretty well. A good cleaning is a great place to start before firing it up. Do you have a chimney or a power vent?
Please make sure to have a CO monitor with a numeric display as well as other CO alarms through the house. Good to see the barrier to keep the little critters away from the stove.
Some other info....fly ash from the stoker will accumulate in horizontal sections of the flue pipe. Since this is new to you, those should be checked to make sure they are not blocked. I noticed what looked like surface rust on the flue pipe, make sure there are no pinholes in the flue pipe.