Reload Issues in 503 Hitzer

I also have a 503 insert, and have experienced long recovery times.

In my case, I found that filling the hopper entirely cured my problem, because I still have a deep bed of hot coal burning when I shake the stove 12 hours later. A coal fire needs a deep bed of hot coals to be healthy, and when you pile coal on a shallow fire, it's going to take some time to recover.

Here's the routine that works best for me: I open my ash door, air wash control (under the glass door), and pull the manual pipe damper all the way out. I wait about five minutes, or until the fire 'brightens' up nicely, then shake the stove until I see a few red coals drop from both grates from the front of the stove to the back. Ideally, I see two thin red lines of hot coals running from the front to the rear of the ash pan. At this point, I remove the hopper lid, and fill the hopper right up to the manual pipe damper rod. I am careful not to over fill the hopper, because the lid must fit properly to prevent a fire in the hopper or gasses from escaping. I use a small brush to clear the hopper lid support flange of bits of coal that would keep the lid from sealing, and replace the lid. Almost immediately, I see blue flame dancing on the fresh coal that fell out of the hopper during shaking. I wait a minute or two at most, then close the ash door, manual pipe damper, and air wash. I usually wait at least half an hour before emptying the ash pan to let the ashes cool before removing the pan. I repeat this process about every twelve hours.

Because I fill the bin completely, the level never drops more than an inch or two from the bottom of the hopper as I shake the stove, leaving me with a deep bed of hot, glowing coals when I reload. The fresh coal starts burning immediately, my stove top temperature holds fairly steady, and there is no noticeable dip in room temperature.

Finally, one of the posters above mentioned that he leaves his ash pan open for about 15 minutes with his stove. I could never do that with my Hitzer 503, as the fire would be roaring and my insert over-fired by then.

Wow I stand corrected about that ash door, didn't know the shaker was inside. But you got the gist of it. Leaving the MPD open for a period I have found eliminates all those little puffs and flapper banging. Well we will get to see how the stoves are really working here in the next few days temps going to single digits and some minus numbers with lots of wind.

fastcat wrote:Wow I stand corrected about that ash door, didn't know the shaker was inside. But you got the gist of it. Leaving the MPD open for a period I have found eliminates all those little puffs and flapper banging. Well we will get to see how the stoves are really working here in the next few days temps going to single digits and some minus numbers with lots of wind.

Yep amazing! It snowed yesterday about 4" and was blustery and cold. Today its foggy and high 30s. By tomorrow night it drops to Zero! Sunday a high of 10 degrees. Crank em up boys and gals.