Keeping My Keystoker Going and Too Much Unburned Coal

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rae4556
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Post by rae4556 » Tue. Oct. 07, 2008 11:10 am

Hello, I just Purchased a house with a keystoker coal insert. I am a longtime woodburner and I am having trouble keeping my coal going. I can get it going great but it seems to go out before the coal turns to ash. I have been emptying my ashpan 2 times a day and I am wasting a lot of coal. any suggestions, is it maybe bum coal or my lack of knowledge? also I must be doing somthing wrong because I am getting more heat out of split maple.

 
rae4556
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Post by rae4556 » Tue. Oct. 07, 2008 12:47 pm

I have a very basic Keystoker hand filled insert with a shaker and a ashdoor air control.
**Broken Link(s) Removed** bottom right. Since it is an insert with a stainless liner, I have no draft control, just the load door the ashdoor and a blower. I was also wondering If I may be using Reading coal since I bought 3 tons second hand for $500 and I live in Pennsylvania.

 
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SemperFi
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Post by SemperFi » Tue. Oct. 07, 2008 10:49 pm

REA4556, welcome to the forum. Your insert is a fine coal burner and basic is good for burning coal. There is nothing wrong with reading coal so don't sweat that. If your insert burns wood then it will burn coal as it was designer as a coal burner. Try to load your insert to the top of the fire brick sloping forward and mounded in the center. A coal fire once burning well will not burn to ash like wood unless fed fresh coal on top of it. And at that only the coal on the bottom of the fire burns completly to ash. Keerp all air fueling the fire coming from the ash pan adjustment and don't try to build a small coal fire, fill the fire box full once you get a good hot fire. Once a coal fire is rolling along all it needs to thrive is air and fuel. Good luck with the insert, im sure you will do fine.


 
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SemperFi
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Post by SemperFi » Tue. Oct. 07, 2008 10:52 pm

I forgott to mention that if you are emptying the pan twice a day and getting unburnt coal in the pan then I would guess that the coal is to small( yours takes nut or stove ) or you are shaking it to soon and to hard.

 
fixtillbroke
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Post by fixtillbroke » Sun. Jan. 04, 2009 5:43 pm

I'm a new coal stove user as well. It appears that the coal supply that I got for this stove is too small (pea) as I loose a lot through the grate even at loading, and certainly every time I shake. I pull the handle twice. Is there a way that I can install a removable restriction for this undersized coal. I just want to burn it up before I invest in the correct nut size coal. I was thinking about the chain link curtain that's in my fireplace screen, or something like a basket of diamond grid steel. Anybody tried stuff like this?
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grizzly2
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Post by grizzly2 » Sun. Jan. 04, 2009 6:09 pm

If I had the coal all bought I would try to support it as you suggest. However you will need to devise a way of shaking the screen you put over your grates. My stove burns pea coal, and the fingers on the grate are about 3/8 inches appart. notice most grates have long rectangular openings. I think that is because the 3/8" gap keeps most pea chunks from falling through, and yet the long opening provides less restriction for ash to try to get through than would a screen with 3/8" sqare openings. Perhaps you can sell the coal you have and start over with nut coal. Personally, I prefer burning nut anyway. My Hitzer with burn either. :)


 
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Razzler
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Post by Razzler » Sun. Jan. 04, 2009 7:39 pm

fixtillbroke, How long did you keep the fire going with the pea? Maybe if you get a well established fire with some ash build up in there it would work ok for you. You could go get 200lb or so of nut and blend it with the pea for a week or so until you get some ash in there. :notsure:

 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Sun. Jan. 04, 2009 8:49 pm

SemperFi wrote:. A coal fire once burning well will not burn to ash like wood unless fed fresh coal on top of it. And at that only the coal on the bottom of the fire burns completly to ash.
Not sure I understand what you mean here?

 
fixtillbroke
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Post by fixtillbroke » Mon. Jan. 05, 2009 5:53 am

Razzler wrote:fixtillbroke, How long did you keep the fire going with the pea? Maybe if you get a well established fire with some ash build up in there it would work ok for you.
My ash tray gets so full of coal and clinkers that air flow is blocked. My fires will not last the night. Perhaps I'm pulling the shaker too often, but when I've added coal without creating air gaps, either by a pull on the handle or with the poker from underneath, the fire has gone out.

 
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Freddy
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Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 130 (pea)
Coal Size/Type: Pea size, Superior, deep mined

Post by Freddy » Mon. Jan. 05, 2009 2:27 pm

Maybe buy some nut size, start with a layer of nut, put the pea on top.

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