What's Wrong With This Fire?

Keystocker Koker with Coaltroll min 2 max 70 haven't set max perm yet. Been working great till it got cold out. Fire was looking good up to fr30. Nice even burn across the burn grid. Don't think it's a coaltroll issue because the comb. blower and stoker doesn't know what is turning the power on and off.(might be wrong)
Haven't asked the dealer yet. Thought I would submit to the PROS first. Any help well appreciated.

Totally different stove (LL Econo) but this just happened to me when I came home tonight and kicked on the "FEED 10" to get some quick heat. Made me say....hmmm? It did even out across the grate, not sure if it was after the feed 10 expired , maybe I will try it again and pay more attention. The wife liked the quick heat

Mark

I've seen this when the stoker has been idling all day,and a large amount of unburned coal is in the ash.
Then there is a call for heat and all that unburned coal gets lit up. Typically this is when I find some pretty large clinkers in the ash.

Maybe check to see if some of the holes in the grate are plugged reducing the amount of air flow through the grate. Another thing to check would be the amount of fines under the grate itself. Just a thought.

Jeff

Agree with the last post looks like fines accumulated under the grate in the bottom corners.

It's possessed is all!

Need to clean out the fines by removing the combustion fan and blowing out/vacuuming under the grate, or shut it down and remove grate assembly. Make sure you check the edges of the grate and seal with furnace cement (if you end up shutting it down), in the back toward the hopper is particularly important.

i had the same thing happen to my keystoker 90 and 105
i tried everything to fix and still burned like yours,
as a last resort I swithed coal brands and my
burn went back to normal
hope this helps

howie

Same here on my keystoker later in the burn season, usually fines/ash get under the grate and block the holes, OR you have some small clnikers forming to the sides and it's not pushing the coal easily and sticking. Something is catching the ashes, sometimes, scraping the sides with a putty knife or wire brush to clear them of any obstructions when you shut it down to clean it.

I have a similar but different issue, my firebed has a reverse "V" the sides burn good but it seems like my center is not getting enough coal to burn straight. If you are looking at the fire directly it looks like and inverted "V".

I am burning a rice/pea blend and never had a problem, but for some reason this year the coal doesn't seem to drop as fast through the throat strap, sides feed fine. Should I move the foot/pusher back further to allow more coal to drop as it looks like I have a space between the coal and the pusher foot. Or should I lift the throat higher? It would seem if I did that I would get more coal on the sides than the center.

I still have fire and heat but it looks kind wierd not to see the fire burning straight across.

Any suggestions would be a big help.

Shepherd,

Rice and Pea blend ?????

Seems to me that there is too large a difference in the coal sizes to work effectively.

Maybe rice and buck; or buck and pea; or pea and nut. I think most only go up one size or down one size to make a blend.

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Rick

Sorry, it is rice and buckwheat.