Hitzer 503 Dead Spot

question for the 503 's out their. I had left the stove unattended for a better part of the day and what had developed was a huge dead spot at the rear of the stove.its the better part of 1/3 of chamber. the front and middle burns great.I shaked the hell out of it but still no burning in the back.what should I do? create a big pile of burning coal and push it back and go from their? or what?

dead spots are caused by ash buildup that has not fallen. sometimes the ash bridges and won't be shaken down, and you need to poke it down from the top or bottom. I use a small metal rod about 3 Ft. long, with a 90 Deg. bend at the end.
If the hopper is in the way, try poking up from below.

Hey,thanks pete69. No problem getting metal for that poker.I'll see how it works.

When you load your hopper are you pushing the coal to the back of the hopper? If you just dump the coal in the top sometimes it doesnt get all the way to the back. You might have just run out of coal in that dead spot. Just a thought!

You can get a bunch more coal if you push coal to the back...
Thru the hopper when it is half full...
My DS Basement #4 has a similar problem but not quite as bad as the 503...
I quick poke to load it up on the back side...
I can get another 20# in both stoves but the DS will hold 175# of coal...

Yes,I did notice that I can add more if I push the coal back,that should force the ash down.On another note the sales rep told me to just jiggle the shaker,i think it needs more than just a jiggle to get rid of the ash build up.what do you guys think?

Sometimes it takes more than just a jiggle to sufficiently remove the ash build up. I can tell the difference in the quality of the fire when my wife does the shaking compared to when I do the shaking. I always get more ash than she does so more air is able to get to the fire. I do have to poke the ash down every couple of weeks as I can see the dead spots getting larger. I never thought about pushing the coal to the rear of the hopper however. Learn something new here every time I stop by. Thanks.

More than a jiggle...
But you do not have to beat it up either...
Once a week the 'rents hit it hard and make sure an even red glow across the bottom grate...

Something to watch with the 503 is that the grates are,let's say, less than heavy duty. I have had my 503 for 4 years now and had to replace one grate already after just couple years. The end snapped off of the one and the other was badly worn. I wound up taking them out (Very easy job!) and repaired as needed one and replaced the other. No help from Hitzer either - it's a $40 part that isn't warranted at all. Their excuse was that it happens. Love the stove, but the warranty is totally useless. One of the fan motors started making a bunch of noise after the first year and of course they didn't cover that either. I now take the grates out every year and square up the ends to fit the shaker tool. No problems since!!!

What exactlly happens? does the cast iron wears because the very loose fit between the shaker tool and the grate end.

i don't "jiggle" the 503 grates - I "thrash" them solidly twice a day - morning & evening - I poke periodically - but not very often - works fine for me - no issues for my 503 - but I am only in my second winter with it

Well the end of one of the grates snapped off. The other was rounding from the tool and twisted slightly. I straightened and squared up with a welder - been ok so far.