Koker Owners Question

I bought a direct vent koker last month and it came from the factory with a barometric damper on it. Should it not be there? I have a carbon monoxide detector 3 feet away and it always reads 0. My draft stays around .03. I have been burning for about a month now and the stove is working great with no issues.

Could you post a photo of your vent pipe showing the direct vent housing and the barometric damper? I'd like to see how they did that.
Thanks,
-Len

Sure will post some pics. Talked to Keystoker today, and they now install the barometric dampers on all the Kokers, simply recommending a regular shop vac around the vent to avoid blockage.

I don't understand how that will work but if that's what they're doing then I'm wrong about what I told you. I apologize for misleading you.
Thanks for the followup.
-Len

Len, no problem, I'm still pretty sure you know what you are doing. Here is a photo of my setup.

Here is how mine came from the factory

OK, came back from a 5-day vacation, neighbor was tending to my Koker, and we left it set at 66 degrees, with the average daily temperature to be around 35-40. Came home, and pushed the thermostat up to 72. She responded. Boy, did she respond. External temp taken at front of stove an hour later was near 600, fire all the way to the end of the grates, with some glowing coals falling into the ash pan. I mean, I can smell the hot metal. Don't get me wrong, the heat coming out of the vents is soon to have the thermostat temp met, so I assume the fire will settle back to more normal, or at least as normal as I have seen in the first month of using it. Did I ask for too much too quickly?

Of course, once the thermostat temp was reached, the stove slowed down, and was back to "normal" within a short time after I posted my previous question. All draft readings were good throughout, and I trusted all was fine, and it turns out it was. Still, that was impressive heat, almost a bit startling. I still wonder if I should have been more gradual in increasing the heat.

I believe you are OK with the temperature of 600*. It was probably the hottest the stove had ever been and some stuff was burning off the metal creating the smell. The only thing that sounds 'iffy' to me was the hot coals falling off the grate. You may want to dial back the feed rate just a little to keep a small amount of ash on the end of the grate while at full burn.

If the internal temp gets too hot and it reaches the high limit it should shut down as a safety mechanism. I don't think there would be any negatives in what you did but then again I'm new at this also. I've been up and running for one month now and I'm so impressed with this stove. So easy to operate and keeps the house so warm not to mention costs about a third of propane.

titleist, yes, it definitely was the hottest it has been, and the smell was not too concerning, I was just wondering how hot it would actually go. I'll keep an eye on the feed rate when we get into some extreme cold, and the stove is "challenged" to generate more heat. One question on the feed rate, does that also affect the "idling" feed rate? Sorry if that is too basic a question. The idling feed seems fine, but is there a separate adjustment for the "calling for heat" feed rate?

Assuming you don't have a coal trol, the idle fire is controlled by the round timer in the grey box made by Intermatic. This runs based on the amount and position of pins on the dial which control the time (a few seconds at a time) the stoker is running (normally, just enough to keep the fire going). Once the thermostat calls for heat, the stoker goes into full motion mode. This is where the feed adjustment knob comes into play. If the knob is turned clockwise too far in, you will have too much coal being fed onto the grate and will have red coals falling into your pan. This is when you back the knob out, one turn at a time, until you have about an inch of ash at the end of the grate.

samhill wrote:I take the motor off the vent as quick as possible & do a fast cleaning job on that as well then reseal the joints.

Which motor are you referring to? I think I understand, but maybe a photo or a description, as I am near wanting to do this, with a warm day coming up in a week or so.

Maybe this is not specific to the Koker, but since others have a very similar setup here, I thought I would ask. I have 4" SS pipe leading from the Koker to the outside (direct vent). The joints, including where it connects to the stove, are sealed with the high temp silicone, and I know that is a good thing. At the end of the season, should I take them apart, break those joint seals, to clean out the pipe, and then re-seal for next year? Or can I clean the pipe out, while still connected, and leave it that way for next year, realizing that I still need to keep the system dry to avoid rust? From the wall to the stove is only about a 5-6' run, and I could brush it well from the outside, I believe.

I plan on removing the pipe from the stove to avoid moisture from outside all summer. I just cleaned my pipe yesterday and after 6 weeks it was pretty loaded up with ash. I screwed it back together resealed with caulk in about 15 minutes.