Alaska Stoker Not Doing as Good of Job as Old Hand Fed

 
Mustangfstbk70
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Joined: Sun. Jan. 12, 2014 7:06 pm
Location: York pa
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 82
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Jensen
Coal Size/Type: Nut or stove

Post by Mustangfstbk70 » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 11:58 am

I'm trying to locate a pair of blowers, I called Alaska today and they have them for $229 ea. So I'm trying to find a suitable replacement I can get in the same cfm range. I'm not sure if my Channing is set up different but it runs 24/7 it's not on a thermostat it doesn't kick up and then go back to idle. It's on a 5 min cycle timer, I varied from that a little mine is on a 11 min cycle but same idea, Alaska verified that's how it's supposed to be. I don't know how to add a picture but my fire is prolly 2" wide and stove is at 400 at that setting. The way the rep was talking a fire that small shouldn't have he stove at that temp. So I need to move more air off the stove basically, like you guys had said. Do I have any options of a replacement blower with the round inlet on the rear of the stove?

 
xandrew245x
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Posts: 504
Joined: Sat. Nov. 24, 2012 2:26 pm
Location: Gardners, PA
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: keystoker 90
Hand Fed Coal Stove: aarrow stratford 75
Coal Size/Type: anthracite nut/rice
Other Heating: Oil boiler, fireplace

Post by xandrew245x » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 12:02 pm

Ah I see, mine is ran by the Coaltrol thermostat so I'm not familiar with the way yours operates.

 
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SWPaDon
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Location: Southwest Pa.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Clayton 1600M
Coal Size/Type: Bituminous
Other Heating: Oil furnace

Post by SWPaDon » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 1:24 pm

Mustangfstbk70 wrote: I don't know how to add a picture
Click 'post reply', then scroll down the page a little and click on 'upload attachment'. Then click 'browse' and locate your picture on your computer. Then you can double click on your picture and it will add it. Then click 'add the file', give it a second to upload, then click 'submit'. I think you can add like 5 pics on each post.

 
Olllotj
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Joined: Thu. Sep. 04, 2014 10:01 am
Location: Western NY 14141
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KB-8
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat
Other Heating: Utica Propane Hot Water

Post by Olllotj » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 1:33 pm

xandrew245x wrote:
Olllotj wrote:I'll be honest and share my stoker stove story.

I replaced a good size wood stove (comparable to the size of your Hitzer) with a Keystoker 90. Which is the Keystoker equivalent to your Channing.

The woodstove, (if you kept it fed) would radiate heat throughout the house without fans or anything. Even on the coldest days in Western NY. The Keystoker 90 on the other hand ran flat out for most of January, and all of February 2015. By flat out I mean I left the Honeywell thermostat at 90, and the house stayed about 65*

I got tired of trying to move air around the house and tied in a coal stoker boiler into my existing hydronic system.

I'm sorry this isn't helpfull, and im sure it's not what you wanted to hear.

Here is my Keystoker 90 install photos, the old woodburner is in the begining going out. Keystoker 90 Install
My keystoker is tied right into my duct work, it had an 8" take off installed by keystoker. It was down in the 20s last night and it used maybe a bucket full of coal, thermostat set at 72 and it was 74.

It sounds like your keystoker wasn't burning at its full capacity. Also being tied into the ductwork vs it being essentially a space heater in your case makes a big difference.

The guy I bought it off of used it to heat a house bigger than mine and he had no issue.

Then again I do live in South Central PA and you live in New York so temps are different ad well.
I had the feed rate pushed to the max. Draft was in check. BTU requirements- 1, Keystoker 90- 0


 
xandrew245x
Member
Posts: 504
Joined: Sat. Nov. 24, 2012 2:26 pm
Location: Gardners, PA
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: keystoker 90
Hand Fed Coal Stove: aarrow stratford 75
Coal Size/Type: anthracite nut/rice
Other Heating: Oil boiler, fireplace

Post by xandrew245x » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 1:46 pm

That's odd ollotj. How big is your house? I had a Harman pellet stove that was 60k BTU and had that located in my living room for a year and couldn't keep the rest of the house above 60, even when it wasn't that cold out.

Having the keystoker tied into my duct work has made a huge difference.

My keystoker has ran at 100% only a handful of times so far, most of the time the desired temp is reached before it even makes it to 100% then starts to idle down, even at that it's often ends up being 2-3 degrees higher than set temp then it idles for quite a while. At 20 degrees it has hardly even worked.

 
Olllotj
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Posts: 558
Joined: Thu. Sep. 04, 2014 10:01 am
Location: Western NY 14141
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker KB-8
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat
Other Heating: Utica Propane Hot Water

Post by Olllotj » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 1:52 pm

I'm sure it was a distribution problem. It was a nice stove and all but did not work in my 1600 sq ft cape log home. (We have since added on) But the radiant wood burner never struggled to keep the first floor 75 and second floor 65.

 
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McGiever
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Location: Junction of PA-OH-WV
Stoker Coal Boiler: AXEMAN-ANDERSON 130 "1959"
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: BUCKET A DAY water heater
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar

Post by McGiever » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 1:54 pm

http://www.electricmotorwarehouse.com
Mustangfstbk70 wrote:I'm trying to locate a pair of blowers, I called Alaska today and they have them for $229 ea. So I'm trying to find a suitable replacement I can get in the same cfm range. I'm not sure if my Channing is set up different but it runs 24/7 it's not on a thermostat it doesn't kick up and then go back to idle. It's on a 5 min cycle timer, I varied from that a little mine is on a 11 min cycle but same idea, Alaska verified that's how it's supposed to be. I don't know how to add a picture but my fire is prolly 2" wide and stove is at 400 at that setting. The way the rep was talking a fire that small shouldn't have he stove at that temp. So I need to move more air off the stove basically, like you guys had said. Do I have any options of a replacement blower with the round inlet on the rear of the stove?

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