Coal Hopper Size.

We always did & still do call it--wait for it WET high temp paint & a few hands full of course sand thrown on it.Gives ya the course sand paper effect.

markviii wrote::idea: I think the graphite paint we used on the farm was called "Slip Plate". A quick search brought up a comparable product at Tractor Supply...it might be worth a try: http://www.tractorsupply.com/ez-slide-g ... t--2120042

i know what you mean about the LL hopper with the flat bottom BUT i see a vaild point about making the coal go TOO easy into the combustion area with inserts, for some reason with my bad luck i could see the entire hopper flowing into the ash pan.

BeerMonley wrote:i know what you mean about the LL hopper with the flat bottom BUT i see a vaild point about making the coal go TOO easy into the combustion area with inserts, for some reason with my bad luck i could see the entire hopper flowing into the ash pan.

Is that really going to be a problem? Serious question.

There's ~75lbs of coal sitting on top of the feed, and it doesn't flow into it at too fast a rate. Do you think sloping the bottom a little will make that much of a difference?

When my wife gets home with her iPhone I'll have her take a pic and see if other people have similar issues with their bins.

If I were able to fit the larger 110 lb hopper from the Pioneer, the cost of the new hopper would be about $ 120.00 dollars.

For non stick, consider this product from Small Parts Corp >> CS Hyde UHMW Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Tape With Acrylic Adhesive, 5 Mil., White, 12" x 12", This is a self adhesive non stick sheet. You would need to clean the hopper and maybe spray a bit of 3M spray glue to make sure that it's clean..., then apply the sheets of this stuff.

Here is a link to Small Parts Corp:
http://www.smallparts.com/cs-hyde-molec ... 1319820908

-Paul

This is just a picture of how we fix the problem you spoke with the ones we refurb. The ramps are kinds hard to see but the angle is there, and work fine. They are spot welded in. No more mountains on the sides, and do not rapid feed the grate.

k9 Bara wrote:This is just a picture of how we fix the problem you spoke with the ones we refurb. The ramps are kinds hard to see but the angle is there, and work fine. They are spot welded in. No more mountains on the sides, and do not rapid feed the grate.

That's a nice fix.

Now, if you could make them so they could just be insert inside (couple legs on each side) or if SOMEONE would make them....

I believe that I can stack a secong 85lb hopper on top of the existing and just provide added support with metal legs under the bottom hopper. They should be "stackable" and double the stoves coal capacity and eliminate the fear of the fire burning out causing a high CO level. Unfortunately, the combustion blower will keep running after the stove runs out of fuel.

kstills wrote:

k9 Bara wrote:This is just a picture of how we fix the problem you spoke with the ones we refurb. The ramps are kinds hard to see but the angle is there, and work fine. They are spot welded in. No more mountains on the sides, and do not rapid feed the grate.

That's a nice fix.

Now, if you could make them so they could just be insert inside (couple legs on each side) or if SOMEONE would make them....

We have made them for people before. It's not too difficult if you take your time.

EarthWindandFire wrote:When my wife gets home with her iPhone I'll have her take a pic and see if other people have similar issues with their bins.

If I were able to fit the larger 110 lb hopper from the Pioneer, the cost of the new hopper would be about $ 120.00 dollars.

The Pioneer hopper does directly fit the lil heater and vise versa. The sides would have to be sloped to at least 35-40 degrees for the problem to be completely eliminated. I always felt its better to have the extra coal rather than air. Most people I have discussed this with agree.The problem is there are two corners to how people view the issue so which corner do you choose. Thanks, Dave

I have the same problem with my Pioneer others have reported. The hopper usable capacity is significantly less than the nominal capacity since the coal piles on the flat bottom of the hopper.

It seems something like a moving plate on the hopper bottom or sides driven by the feed motor (very slowly, not much motor load) would move coal from the sides of the hopper. Some design work and testing would be needed to avoid jambs. Probably just some "stir rods or plates" on the side with springs such that they don't load the feed motor much and only do work when the center of the hopper is near empty driven by the feed plate motor would end the problem. A retrofit kit would be nice

gerry