My keystoker kaa-4-1 coal stoker boiler

leonz

My keystoker kaa-4-1 coal stoker boiler is back in the Heating Help headlines.



My coal stoker boiler was cleaned the day after Thanksgiving 2023.

Justin Warner from Warners Stoker Stoves and Coal in Owego, New York was the very nice young man that cleaned my coal stoker.

Since Justin cleaned and serviced my coal stoker my coal use has dropped drastically averaging 75 pounds per 24 hour day in below freezing temperatures.

Previous to this I was using more coal because of the chimney extension on my 16 foot tile lined block chimney.

The stainless chimney extension was there for 8 years because I had a down draft problem with my hand fed boiler previous to this.

The stainless steel chimney extension with aspark arrestor and rain cap had rotted and was blown off the chimney and its mounting plate in a windstorm last summer.

Once the chimney extension was blown off the chimney the stoker no longer needed a longer hold fire time as the chimney no longer had a chimney extension.

Justin removed the extra timer pins and returned the timer to the factory timer presets and has been running without a hiccup since the day after Thanksgiving 2023.

I used more coal than was needed to heat my home and hot water but now I am using 2/3 less rice coal than I was.

I am very happy.

STEVEusaPA

No pics?

leonz

I have to find them, but I can upload the manual.

They still use the &%^&*(*&^% hydrolevel 3250 plus. I am glad I have Honeywell & Bell & Gossett controls and a Dwyer triple gauge instead of the chinesium junk they sent that failed twice.

I will upload them as soon as I find them.

leonz

Pictures of my boiler, The 30 year old Reillo burner is junk and gone and I only use rice coal to heat the home. The hydrostat 3250 plus is gone as well as the junk chinese gauges and replaced with a Honeywell L8124L triple aquastat, Bell and Gossett RB-122-E Low Water Cut Off Switch(immersed sensor tab) and Dwyer 4 inch square triple gauge- I have slept well since all the chinesium junk was ripped out and replaced.
I probably could have used two single aquastats for the high and low limits along with the dump zone
aquastat but this works well so, I am happy.

The 30 minute intermatic timer maintains the coal fire when there is no heat call by operating the stoker in 2 minute intervals every 10 minutes.

I burn 75 pounds per day on average now even with the very cold weather.

I tell anyone that is considering a coal stoker boiler to eliminate the hydrolevel 3250 plus as a control because they have failed repeatedly and to add an immersed low water cut off switch.

leonz

To update all of you about my boiler so far;

I have lowered the high limit to 170 degrees Fahrenheit and the low limit to 150 degrees.

I have been burning 50 pounds of rice coal per day for the last week.

I have had to add timer pins to increase the hold fire time as the temperatures have become warmer of late and the fire would go out as there is no heat call and as a result the gaps between the end time of the previous pin set and the beginning next set of pins and the fire went out and I ended up with unburned coal in the ash pail.

So far so good as we have more yo yo weather coming.