Fired up the Hitzer 503 Insert...

davemich · Post by **davemich** » Sun. Dec. 03, 2006 8:37 am

...and its a balmy 80 degrees in the living room where the insert is located. I have the damper on the ash door closed now and its still kicking out the heat after 1 shakedown last night. I forget to open the air wash on the front door when I fired it up Friday night so thats now opened. I want to let all the other 503 users know that in my setup, I shake the grates once every 24 hrs instead of the usual 12 hours. The fire never dies and I use less coal than if I shook the grates every 12 hours. This is my fourth year with this unit and I may have to replace the door and ashpan gaskets next year as I think I may be getting a few leaks as it runs with the damper completely closed. I also noticed thin shhets of rusted steel/iron on the sided of my firebox peeling off. I should follow the instructions here on the forum and put a coat of oil/WD-40 on it in the spring. Anyway, its great to be burnin' again!! I hope the pricing and availability of coal stays reasonable for years to come as I'm hooked...an addict...obsessed!!!

hgmd1 · Post by **hgmd1** » Sun. Dec. 03, 2006 11:15 am

Do you get more ash than one pan can hold when you shake it every 24 hours?

davemich · Post by **davemich** » Sun. Dec. 03, 2006 9:22 pm

I just emptied it and it was overflowing with ash but it stayed in when I pulled it out. I did not shake after that one ash pan full and the fires crankin fine. My stove top temp is about 250 degrees and the house is about 78 in the room where the insert is and about 68 to 70 in the perimeter rooms. Its about 21 here now and breezy.

hgmd1 · Post by **hgmd1** » Sun. Dec. 03, 2006 9:35 pm

I put a damper in the 503 that they sent me from Hitzer which replaces the rectangular piece of metal suspended in back of the hopper. It is the same piece with a 4 inch tube that faces up to lower the draft.. My stove is running much hotter now and supplying a lot more heat than last year. The ash pan is now incredibly hot when removing it. Any tips for handling it. It is too hot to hold even with welding gloves.

davemich · Post by **davemich** » Mon. Dec. 04, 2006 6:05 am

I use regular rawhide gloves...and I have to be quick with the ash pan or else it gets too hot. Can you pull it out and lay it on the hearth and close the ash pan door and let it cool a bit?? What typically are your stove top temps?? How much coal are you going thru per day??

bobkat · Post by **bobkat** » Mon. Dec. 04, 2006 7:39 am

hgmd1, The ash pan on my 50-93 also gets a might warm when emptying. What I use is either the rawhide work gloves or an oven mit. They seem to be really good in keeping the fingers from getting to warm.

LsFarm · Post by **LsFarm** » Mon. Dec. 04, 2006 8:02 am

You might price a second ash pan from Hitzer, they may not be very expensive. Then just swap, let the one cool down before dumping it.

Just don't let the kids, or the cat near the pan full of ashes, or they will be all over the room and house. Or the cat may be thinking Hmmm. a nice warm preheated litter box. You know the rest of the story.....

I made a second ash pan for my boiler so it can cool prior to dumping.

Greg L

ohiocoalburner · Post by **ohiocoalburner** » Mon. Dec. 04, 2006 4:18 pm

Hey HGMD glad to hear that your stove is now producing heat! Sounds like the people at Hitzer steered you in the right direction. Yes Dave my wife and daughter are now spoiled as our house has never been this warm! The 503 really found a home at our house.

davemich · Post by **davemich** » Mon. Dec. 04, 2006 4:45 pm

OCB...great to hear your 503 is purring along!! How much coal are you going thru a day? Have you tried the once vs twice a day shake?? Have you bought a stove top thermometer yet> If so, how many degrees is your stove top??

ohiocoalburner · Post by **ohiocoalburner** » Mon. Dec. 04, 2006 4:57 pm

No Dave never tried the once a day shake, but I certanley am going to give it a try. There have been a couple times the fire was really cranking along and I thought it was kind of a shame to shake it, but had to leave for work and didn't want to leave it for another 12 hours. With outside temps in the upper 30's I was running the stove pretty low and only using about 25 lbs a day with a stove temp of about 200f. Now the temps are in the 20's and I am running about 30 lbs with a stove temp of 250-300. If my wife didn't want the house at 80 degrees I would cut it back a little. What a great stove!

hgmd1 · Post by **hgmd1** » Mon. Dec. 04, 2006 9:26 pm

My stove top temperature is between 175F and 200F. I am now putting the ashpan down on the hearth for about 10 minutes so I don't burn my hands. I can only imagine what the temperature of the pan is when I take it out of the insert. I am going through 30-35 lbs/day of either pea or nut coal. One advantage of the pea coal is that it doesn't get stuck in the grates when shaken like the nut sometimes can. I do have 2 ashpans. It comes in handy.

wells · Post by **wells** » Wed. Nov. 19, 2008 10:06 pm

This is going to be my first year with the hitzer 503, Actually picking it up tomorrow. 11-20-08 When installing the insert, do I need to do anything special, example have flue pipe enter up past exixting damper. Any help would be a big help Suggestion welcome with anything

LsFarm · Post by **LsFarm** » Thu. Nov. 20, 2008 2:41 pm

Hello wells, welcome,, you will find a lot of current info and photos in this thread: Hitzer 503 Installation Photos

Greg L

You might also look through the 'venting, Chimneys, ducting' forum for info on an insert's chimney.

Greg