50-93 With No Hopper

BlackBetty06 wrote:Yes OP I am happy with the stove. Construction is high quality. The bi metallic and manual draft is nice. The top feed is quite handy. I don't know but the hopper just seems to be a bit of a nuisance. Maybe I'm not running the old girl right. I do know it's heating my house just fine. Had I known I probably would have just bought the 354. However then I couldn't top load

Also for you Hitzer fans and or owners, do any of you know what the baffle inside the 354 looks like

The hopper stoves are nice as a rule. Especially in the HITZER. The design of the HITZER is well engineered to run with a hopper. It puts out more than enough heat. The hopper, if nothing else, pre-heats the coal. That in itself lessens the up & down temps of a batch fed stove. To start with (you said it yourself), you'd miss the top feed. You don't get top feed with the 354. In the case of my D.S., in my opinion, the hopper is in it's own way. That being said, if I hadn't run the HITZERs, I may not have known any difference. The HITZER engineering is superb.

the baffle plkate is some what as wide as the stove it is opperated by an external handle via top mid center of stove and allows gasses and heat to be kept in stove for longer flame path or open er up and it shoot rite up the flue but does a good job , I worked mine with a mpd to and even got nice burn times outa bit and my well aged hard wood ,no complaints an she threw the heat to !!.

I'd chuck the hopper just for the fire view. That is freaking spectacular!!!!!

Does anyone want to wager a reason as to why the coal doesn't dump out of my hopper throughout the day? I've read other members in here have had the same problem but others have great results

Lightning wrote:I'd chuck the hopper just for the fire view. That is freaking spectacular!!!!!

Lightning, you shovel your coal in the front door NOW, don't you? You'd get along just fine with a 354. Myself, After having the hopper fed HITZERs, I don't think I'd want to shovel in the front door.

The view of my HITZERs wasn't bad. It was actually nice. Probably not quite as nice as the 354, but nice.

The view of my D.S. isn't bad with, or without the hopper. Again, a little better view without the hopper. If my D.S. hopper wasn't hindering performance, I'd have it in now. I do enjoy dumping coal in the hopper door.

I don't actually shovel it into the stove. I use an oversized bucket with a tin chute attached to it. I can heave 60 pounds in thru the load door in one shot hahaha.

But yeah wow, those fire views are just beautiful on those stoves!

BlackBetty06 wrote:Does anyone want to wager a reason as to why the coal doesn't dump out of my hopper throughout the day? I've read other members in here have had the same problem but others have great results

First, let me ask you a question. Is the coal you see in your hopper all burnt up, but still holding it's shape. If so, you're running too hot. You are over firing. If the coal in your hopper is still black, your hopper is warped. Or, the bottom of the hopper (Hopper ring) is warped. Other than that, the coal should drop. Especially when shaking.

Scott, what size coal ya using? I stopped using a nut/stove mix this year due to the stove size constantly getting hung up in the HITZER hopper. Just got sick of having to poke it down at almost every tending.

freetown fred wrote:Scott, what size coal ya using? I stopped using a nut/stove mix this year due to the stove size constantly getting hung up in the HITZER hopper. Just got sick of having to poke it down at almost every tending.

I've never used stove size Fred. I believe all I've ever used in the 50-93 was nut. I have used both nut, and pea in the 30-95. Nut was the better of the two. I've also used buckwheat in the 30-95, but only in a pinch. I'd rob it from the house coal.

coalder wrote:With all due respect; never really figured any advantage to a hopper style unit, other than an expeditious tending. Hell, ya seem to sacrifice coal burning area due to hopper, the hopper also impedes proper poking & raking of the coal bed & unless you are stressfully employed, what's the point??? I actually enjoy experimenting with my hand fed boiler. Been 4 years now & still tinkering. & enjoying every minute of it!! Personally, to give me a hopper unit, would be the likens of depriving me of personal entertainment. Oh well, each to their own liken.
Jim

It's funny how after years of running a natural draft coal stove, one can still learn something new. I did all the time. They are so much fun............ It's the only part of winter I like. Well, actually, I do like winter. Just don't like working in it anymore. Thinking back, it never was fun working in it.

BlackBetty06 wrote:Does anyone want to wager a reason as to why the coal doesn't dump out of my hopper throughout the day? I've read other members in here have had the same problem but others have great results

I don't think coal ever dumps out of my hopper on its own. unless the whole center of the fire completely burnt out and the coal above collapses on it.

+1--it's a gradual thing, on occasion I can hear some coal drop but not often. When I give her 3 or 4 good shakes & then open the hopper door, she has surely dropped sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much. I just top her off & poke the hopper a few times.

coalmaster wrote:

BlackBetty06 wrote:Does anyone want to wager a reason as to why the coal doesn't dump out of my hopper throughout the day? I've read other members in here have had the same problem but others have great results

I don't think coal ever dumps out of my hopper on its own. unless the whole center of the fire completely burnt out and the coal above collapses on it.

With my 503 I have noted that it does feed via the hopper. After 8 hrs of burning for example, I note that the coal level in the hopper has been reduced...the level at the top (where I fill it up) is lower than when I filled it.

Likely due to what coalmaster said ... the "tower" of coal collapsed due to being burnt.

My 30-95 will "auto" feed the coal down the shoot as it burns through out the day or night.

The auto feed of the hopper will depend on the coal burned. Some coal when turned to ash will be very soft and compress easily enabling the hopper to feed. Other coals tend to retain their shape as ash and not make room for the hopper to feed.