PLEASE......... can anyone help me???

Hi Everyone,
I really need help,I have a Hitzer 75 ,,Yes I know it is really old but it looks just like the one in the pictures that dirvine 96 posted of his new stove....I have never used this stove,,but now I'm forced to use it,, I have bought the nut size coal,, but I can't get it to burn very good,,I thought with the way it was acting, it was being smoothered,so I cleaned it out really well and started over,,and it still is acting like it is smoothered..Can and one help me out here? It is pretty cold and going to get colder in this crappy Ohio weather.
I will be greatful for ANY help...
Thank You
Sharon

welcome to the board!

can you give us some more information on the setup
of your stove? pictures are always helpful and appreciated!

what type of chimney?
what is your starting procedure for the coal?
and how long does it burn until it starts
to fade?
have you ever burned coal before? (sounds like
this is a no)

the more info you can provide, the better the help
will be for you. The folks here are very knowledgeable
of coal burning and are experts! they've helped me immensely!

and welcome again!

Hello Sharon, Not exactly sure what a Hitzer 75 looks like, but here are some things to check.

Coal fires need a chimney that drafts well. When you open the door, can you smell the coal burning or does air rush in? If its the latter, then the chimney is drafting well. If there are any manual dampers on your flue pipe, open them all the way up.

If it doesn't draft well check the following:

Does this stove share the chimney with any other furnaces or heaters?

Is the flue pipe a fairly straight run to the chimney or does it travel a long horizontal distance before it gets there. Is the flue pipe the same size as the opening on the stove or is reduced down to some smaller diameter.

How deep is your coal bed? Don't be afraid to pile it on, 4 to 6" deep on top of the grates. Your stove does have grates, right? Woodburners don't have grates and burn the wood on the bottom of the stove. You can't burn coal in a wood stove, just won't work.

You need a good bed of burning coals before you add your nut coal to the fire. Most people start a wood fire and wait till it burns down to coals, but bagged charcoal will work well too. Add a layer of about 2" or so to the wood coals, when everthing is burring, add some more till you have at least 4" deep.

Hope this helps.

Hello Sharon, Welcome. Please try and use descriptive titles and provide as much information as possible. Rule 7 :

The Forum Rules, Read Me First

7. Do Not Use Help! as a Subject Title.
Use descriptive subject titles when creating a new topic. Help, Question, or other such titles do not describe your topic. In larger forums many times topics with such titles will be overlooked, additionally someone searching for the same topic that you have may not be able to find the answer by searching here or other search engines like Google.


BAD --> "Help"
Better --> "Coal Bin"
Very Good-> "Building a Coal Bin"
Outstanding --> "Building a Coal Bin for 3 Tons"


For the content of your post please try and describe fully what the issue is. Too much information is better than not enough. If for example you have trouble getting coal lit you would want to include the process you have gone through so far that has not worked, adding other relevant information such as the model would also be helpful.

The information you have provided is like asking "I put the key in my car and it won't start". Could be many reasons why but without more information the reason would be impossible determine hence the reason everyone is asking for more info. Please try and provide as much information in future posts here, I'd also suggest the same for any other forums you visit.

Be aware I'm not trying to be nasty but I put that in the rules specifically so people answering questions wouldn't have to go through the process of trying to get more information from the original poster that should have been included in the original post.

what type of chimney? I'm Not really sure
what is your starting procedure for the coal?I started a wood fire after I had a good bed of wood coals than I added coal..a little at a time how long does it burn until it starts
to fade? until all the wood ashes burn up than the coal will not stay burning long by itself I have to keep adding wood on top to keep it burning during the night.
have you ever burned coal before (sounds like
this is a no) no...

Coal fires need a chimney that drafts well. yes it does

Does this stove share the chimney with any other furnaces or heaters?it has its own chimney

Is the flue pipe a fairly straight run to the chimney yes it is fairly straight

How deep is your coal bed? Don't be afraid to pile it on, 4 to 6" deep on top of the grates. Your stove does have grates, right? I have about 4 in. on top of the wood coals

Sharon

I've googled a Hitzer 75 and can't find a picture or any info on it.

On my last question, you said you piled 4" on top of the wood coals, but you didn't say you had any grates. Does your stove have a handle or lever on the side that moves the grates back and forth to shake down the coal? Coal stoves have a series of grates a few inches above the bottom of the stove so that the air can feed up through the fire. Is this how your stove works?

The 75 is just like the hitzer 82 model.Yes I have 2 shaker grates in the bottom of the stove. You are correct that is how mine works.


Sharon

do you just add the whole 4 inches to the wood fire
all at once? is it smothering the fire, and never
really taking off?
you may want to take this approach:
when you think your wood fire is ready,
add another bunch of wood and let that burn
down some more! also, make sure you are using
hard wood, not soft wood or kindling.
then, once that good hot fire is turning to a
bed of coals,, sprinkle a small layer of coal on,
not so much that it covers all of your wood coals
completely,, and see if that gets the coal started.
you may even want to use maximum draft for this,
to get it going. (with my stove i open the ash door for
a bit and watch it closely)
once you see the coal glowing nice and red... then add a little
more.. maybe a couple inches... but not enough to smother the
fire....
then once that layer is going,, you should ge able to lay on a nice
deep bed. again, if you need more draft to get it going, then adjust
accordingly.
if you can get this far... you should be ok for the rest of the day/nite
if everything else is ok. the trick is good hot wood fire, with hardwood,
and start the coal slow enough that you don't smother that.

anybody else with different opinions?

8)

You haven't mentioned how far you've gotten.. you build the wood fire... how long do you wait before adding coal? Does the coal light at all? A good sign that it is lit will be a crackiling sound, it's a very distinguishable sound. Do you have the draft open? Do you understand the basics of how any stove works whether it's wood or coal? As I said above we need information.

If you have sucessfully lit it, it sounds to me that it's not getting enough air. It takes quite a while for a coal stove to ramp up, it's not like wood.

First off, I am assuming you are burning anthracite correct?
Coal fires are really tricky to get burning good. If it is not done quite right you will get what you are getting now. It takes patience.
Get a really good wood fire going until you see good hot coals and a little bit of flame. Then put on the coal but not so much as to smother the fire. Wait about an hour and look and see what you have. If it looks like it is burning well go ahead and add more coal if you want to.
This is only my technique but has worked well ffor me. Some poeple do it toally different that I do though.

I use bituminous coal and this is the way that is usually the most effective for me. Should work with anthracite also I would imagine.

Keep us posted, we are always willing to help out/

I have learned alot from all of you today,,, I think I'm getting a lot better fire,,I had to take my son to the emergency room I was for a good 3 hours I still had a fire when I got back. Now my next question is how do I know where to set the damper for the chimney so I don't set the chimney on fire?I'm trying to get the damper set as not to waste the heat so I can heat both levels of the house.

Sharon

Hi Sharron, one item not mentioned yet, are you building a fire across the entire firebox 'floor' ?? A coal fire must have the air come in from underneath the grate, through the ash pan door air control.
You do not want to feed air to a coal fire from above, through the air control on the loading door.

If you are getting a good hot wood fire with air from underneath, do as suggested above, cover the hot wood coals with several inches of coal, let it catch then fill up the firebox at least 4-6" deep, if you leave a spot on the grates no covered with coal, the combustion air will take this way through the grate instead of through the coal and the coal will not burn.

I think we have covered the basics, Go through all the points made, and give it another go. Let us know how it works out.

Greg L.

.

I hope your son was ok at the ER. Welcome to the wonderful world of coal burning.

I’m sure folks here could help with the specifics of your stove but I’m going to offer a good general suggestion on your damper settings…

You should invest in a magnetic stack thermometer to eliminate some of your guesswork. Any stove shop will have one and you shouldn’t be out more than $15.00. This way you’ll know if your heat is going out your chimney or staying in the stove. Every stove is different, but on my hand fired stove from the 1940s – 1950s around 350 gives me nice heat when its in the 30s outside, 500 degrees stack temp if its in the teens outside. When I bought my stack thermometer I talked to the sales person for about 20 minutes about burning, and you might want to do the same thing 

I have a chimney that goes about 2 feet above my 2nd floor(top), which is ideal. I get a good draft, so I could shut my damper then crack it open just a little. I hated the guess work and invested in a $35 draft meter after 2 months of burning, I just started burning in October. Be careful, if you have a smaller chimney closing your damper will let the coal gas / co in your house.

Make sure you have plenty of smoke detectors and at least 2 CO detectors.

Good Morning Sharon, how is the furnace doing this morning?? I'm curious what you changed that made a difference in your burning.

Were you not covering the grate completely?
Was the depth of the coal too shallow?
Did you have the above-the-fire air open?
Not enough air under the fire?

Let us know what worked and what didn't, the knowledge will help us help the next person in need with a similar stove.

You also might try PM'ng Dirvine with specific questions since he shares a very similar furnace.

Hope your son is OK.

Greg L