50-93 Hitzer (Ash Agitator)

 
slovak
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Post by slovak » Tue. Sep. 14, 2010 10:47 pm

Hi All; My coal is Chestnut, and although I live in Hunlock Creek, Pa., my delivery guy brings it in from Shenandoah Pa. (Hazleton area) and yea I do have to pay extra. Been using it for a while now, seems to burn well (nice ash) and gives decent heat. I get the impression most of you dudes would rather see me shake more agressivlly and not get it on with the base of the fire and grate idea. The comment about poking from the top and then doing the daly shake interests me. Well I think there is ample time to chew the fat about our situations, because NOAA thinks the winter will be mild, BUT the alminac sees low temps and ample snow. Out my way all the wolllys are pure white, tons of acorns have droped, and the leaves are falling, most still green, several geese are circling the lake and honking loudly, but it is Sept. 14th. and its all down hill from here. Dave K.

 
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dlj
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Post by dlj » Tue. Sep. 14, 2010 11:18 pm

I've been poking coal fires from the top for many years... Never did understand why folk don't think you should... Aluminum is a bad idea though, as others have said. If your fires get anywhere near as hot as mine, you could easily end up with liquid aluminum...

dj

 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Tue. Sep. 14, 2010 11:48 pm

slovak wrote:... my shaking was leaving spent ash build up on the grates, slowly smothering the fire ... eventually I would need to increase the draft, and the fire would still drift off to never, never land ...
Exactly the same problem with my Harman Mk I. Depending how much I'm burning (i.e. how cold it is), I poke from the top every 1 to 3 days. Shake first, then kind of lift the coal chunks and push them toward one side of the firebox and stir the ashes on the other side, especially around the perimeter, so they drop through the grate. Then push the chunks toward the other side and stir more ashes to make them drop. Finally level out the bed and add new coal. It does disrupt the fire to do this, but as long as there is reasonable coal depth it will recover.

 
slovak
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Post by slovak » Thu. Sep. 16, 2010 9:08 am

Hi; OK, OK,, I'l put my aluminum away, I do have several lengths of rebar in the barn (I live rural and yes I'm a junk collector) (just can't bring myself to toss stuff out, cause I know I''ll need it some day). Just out of curiosity, what do you guys use to polk with ?, store bought ?, home made ?, whats it look like ?
Dave K.


 
rberq
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
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Post by rberq » Thu. Sep. 16, 2010 12:42 pm

slovak wrote:what do you guys use to poke with ?
For poking from under the grate, I use the handle and metal rod from a paint roller -- straightened out, then with a right-angle bend a few inches from the end. I got the idea from somebody on this forum.
For poking from the top, just a 1/4" steel rod about 30" long. Mine is straight, but would probably work better with a bend in it. Due to door opening and firebox geometry it is impossible to stir along the front edge of the firebox under the door, though the back edge is easy to reach. The other problem with no bend is, my leather gloves are directly exposed to radiant heat from the coal bed and they tend to get broiled.

 
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fastcat
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Post by fastcat » Thu. Sep. 16, 2010 4:46 pm

I use my old wood stove poker, it is a straight bar about 2' long with a cast head and the head has a hook coming off the side of it, stirs things up pretty good after I shake. Haven't had to poke from the bottom.

 
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dlj
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Post by dlj » Thu. Sep. 16, 2010 9:29 pm

slovak wrote:Hi; OK, OK,, I'l put my aluminum away, I do have several lengths of rebar in the barn (I live rural and yes I'm a junk collector) (just can't bring myself to toss stuff out, cause I know I''ll need it some day). Just out of curiosity, what do you guys use to polk with ?, store bought ?, home made ?, whats it look like ?
Dave K.
Dave,

Here's a link to pictures of what I use:

Glenwood Baseheater-Specs, Photos and Performance

Last page in that discussion shows the tools I made years ago to work with my coal stove.

dj

 
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conesuscoal
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Post by conesuscoal » Fri. Sep. 17, 2010 10:22 pm

Talk to your dealer. Hitzer sells such a tool, and they call it a "poker".. :)

We sell them in our store, $7.99

Bent rebar also works in a bind


 
slovak
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Post by slovak » Sat. Sep. 18, 2010 11:49 am

Hi All; Since there are a few folks reading this, I have another question. Now my stove is a Hitzer 50-93 with a glass insert in the door ( OK its not glass, its Robax). I usually lift he door off and do a good cleaning on the glass and the door. Once the heating season is under way the glass will need further attention. I have herd of a fellow who who has a replacement door, he installs while his primary door cools enough to do a good cleaning, then reinstalls. (on the Hitzer the door may be lifted up off its hinge pins without any tools). When my stove is in operation, and I feel the glass needs attention,(this is rather crude), I have two pieces of turkish towel, which I wet and clean the interior of my glass. And at times it hisses and steams. The reason I use two is because a couple swipes of the glass heats the towels to the point where I am unable to hold them. Yea I know its not a safe operation but it works for me. By the way, did you know that flesh on your fingers will actually melt when contacting a hot door glass ?. See never to old to learn something. Well what i'm interested in finding out is how do you guys handle this task ?. (cleaning the inside of the glass while the stove is burning).
Stay safe; Dave K.

 
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Post by franco b » Sat. Sep. 18, 2010 2:13 pm

I cover the door opening with a piece of sheet metal to let the door cool while open. A 1/2 inch bend on the top of the metal lets me hang it on the upper flange of the door opening.

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Sat. Sep. 18, 2010 6:57 pm

I simply leave the loading door open while I'm doing other things. The worse thing that can happen is the fire going out (hasn't happened yet). Air is being drawn in above the fire. Nothing should fly out the door. Of course, my 50-93 was on the concrete basement floor.

 
slovak
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Post by slovak » Sun. Sep. 19, 2010 11:03 am

Hi; What product or method do you all use to do the actual cleaning ?.

 
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oliver power
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Post by oliver power » Sun. Sep. 19, 2010 9:37 pm

slovak wrote:Hi; What product or method do you all use to do the actual cleaning ?.
I use Rutland's Hearth & Grill "conditioning" Glass Cleaner, with silicone. It's green in color, and has a little grit in it. Works good. Look in the bottle, and make sure you get the green stuff. A little dab will do ya. I'd have to say, I bet this little 8 ounce bottle I have would last 20 years. I've had it 10 years now, and it's still 2/3rds full.

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