Hitzer 503 Installation Photos

what happened no post since saturday my 503 will be here in 2 weeks and you guys quit on me I have read all 11 pages 12 times how do you think I can learn anything when you guys quit.
tell me something

thanks
randy

hey Randy

I'm sure we're all checking daily but you're right we hit a lull probably because we are all running very well but we'll keep the thread alive for sure.

Here's some random observations I've learned in the last few days. When you start off with the 503 don't even worry about having the restrictor all the way in - let it burn fully out and just use the ash pan vent to control heat. Over a few days you will build a sturdy fire and then you can push the restrictor on top fully in or close to. I created a measuring stick so I can have the restrictor at full/0.25/0.5 etc for consistency.

It's been warmer in the last two days and I am down from 1.75 bags from last week when it was in the low 20's here to under 1 bag and the house is at 73 in hallyway, 70 upstairs and probably 76 in stove room and I have the ashpan vent barely open. This menas that when daytime temps are between 30 and 40 I can keep my house warm with stove alone on less than one bag. When it goes into the 20's I need to burn it harder and possible brief hour or so of oil if I need 70 all over.

I have an attic also which is unheated we use it as a walk up closet and it used to be icy. With the chimney passing on one end of it the attic is now warm enough to go in the morning and not get frost bite - that's a significant bonus and again demonstrates the heat rising. I estimate somehwere in the 60's vs low 50's

Next thing I plan on posting is my ash pan before emptying to show how much and what kind of ash I get - somewhat like a stove stool sample !! hopefully others will post/comment on how theirs compare. I notice that when stove is running slow I get finer ash I guess it has more time to burn it but that is mere speculation on my part.

So far my garbage guys are taking my ash away in black bags - hopefully that will last - working well thus far.

The dropping price of oil continues to amaze me

greetings to remnant 503ers - hope all is well

Van B'

Hey Randy, we haven’t left … just up and running and having a good time with the unit. You’re going to love this thing. It’s a lot easier to run then you think. A little common sense goes a long way.

Running my unit has become a matter of routine now. I shake it down in the morning, again in the evening. I refuel and empty the ash pan in the evening.

You will learn to adjust the ash pan vents to control the heat. I’m in central CT and today, I have my 503 idling (vent’s shut completely). In the evening when the temp begins to fall, I’ll begin opening it back up again and get the fire going.

We’re all here, ask any questions you have, we’re more then happy to share our experience.

Welcome to the site and again, you’re going to love this unit.

Tom

Hi Randy.....the 503'ers are still lurking...probably just all cozy & warm.
You're gonna love your 503. As Jeff said it's a lot easier to operate than you might think. And, as you noticed there is much about the 503 specifically and about anthracite burning in general on this forum.
I heated with a coal stove for about 10 years beginning in the mid 80s in my old home and just decided to go back to it...this time with a FP insert....in this home. I've been here at this home since '95 but when oil was .79 a gal it was a no brainer to heat with oil. When it was $4.50/gal I started remembering that warm glow and the "dancing blue ladies" you get from a coal stove.
My daily routine consists of shaking down twice daily.....early morning and evening. I load up the hopper each time with a full standard coal hod/bucket. I'm just learning how to adjust the 503 for more or less heat....each stove and setting is different. My home is large @ 4K sq ft so I only expect the 503 to do bout 50% of the load and so far I think it's doing more than that.
The guys on the 503 beat are very helpful....Tom, Jeff, Van, Dave and all the others who share experiences and observations....and soon you will be doing the same.
Waiting to see some pics from your install and the finished product as well......
Good luck.....

Three years ago, there was one, maybe two Hitzer 503 owners.. davemich and maybe one other.. today I think we have more than 12-15.. A good testimony for the product and the company..

Greg L

Greg.....the pack keeps getting bigger....no one is ever too late to the 503 party......and the 983'ers are here too with their observations....
Regards.....

Randy:

Glad you've found this thread informative. It was certainly never intended to become such a repository of information on the 503--I just wanted to share my intsallation photos with everyone!

Maybe we should ask Richard to create a separate Hitzer topic, perhaps in the Manufacturers' section?

As for me, like the others have said, I'm just chugging along with the 503, happy as a (warm) clam. I work 12-hour shifts (36 hrs. one week, 44 the next), and the 503 fits great with my schedule. During my work week, the stove goes about 13-14 hours between shakedowns/loadings with no problem. There's still coal in the hopper when I get home. As davemich said, the coal will sometimes burn up into the hopper, but never to the hopper lid.

One thing I thought would be more of an issue was the noise associated with shaking/loading. I get home at 3:15 AM when the wife and kids are fast asleep. Of course I have to mess with the stove when I get home. After all, it's been burning for 13+ hours by that point. Having a smallish ranch, I figured the noise would wake them up every time. But apparently they are heavier sleepers than I had anticipated. Other than closing their bedroom doors prior to shaking/loading, I don't make an effort to be quiet. I rattle and bang the grates as much as I need to, and I don't pour quietly either. I make quite a racket, but somehow they sleep through it, or if they wake up they go right back to sleep.

I'm heating my entire 1,250 SF ranch with the 503. When it's below 20*, I'm using at least a bag a day; otherwise it's anywhere from 5-30 lbs. a day depending on the outside temps. I haven't done the math for all the stats I've kept, but I think I'm on track for averaging a little less than a bag a day overall. And I keep the house WARM. It's generally anywhere from 76-80* in the living room where the 503 is and 66-70* in the back bedroom farthest from the stove. Some folks prefer it a bit cooler, but I find that I get used to the heat as long as I don't exert myself too much. If I do, then I start to sweat! For me, the kicker is that I haven't used a drop of heating oil to heat the house this season. My oil burner heats the DHW, so we are using some oil for that, but nowhere near what we used to when we were heating strictly with oil. So as long as Obama doesn't bone us with some crazy carbon emission tax, our investment in coal heat should pay off handsomely.

VanBuren wrote:Next thing I plan on posting is my ash pan before emptying to show how much and what kind of ash I get - somewhat like a stove stool sample !! hopefully others will post/comment on how theirs compare.

Van, you never cease to crack me up. "Stove stool sample." Oh, man....

Since I know Randy is looking for more info, here's a tidbit. I've been experimenting with manually getting a bit more coal onto the bed when I load. This might be "banking," although I am not familiar enough with the term to know if it applies (any help here, Greg?).

What I've been doing is loading the hopper, shaking, loading the hopper again, and then using a regular fireplace poker (the kind with the point and hook on the end) to "drag" extra coal from the bottom of the hopper onto the bed. Of course I can't reach the back side of the hopper, but I do the sides and then the front. I use the hook on the end of the poker to kind of grab coal from the hopper and move it out onto the bed. Gravity does most of the work, but I assist by using the poker to more or less place the coal where I want it to get a nice, evenly-sloped bed. Finally, I top off the hopper (the level goes down from dragging the extra coal out of the bottom) and keep the ash pan door open until I get blue ladies all over. Then I close it up and verify that the restrictor and ash pan damper are where I want them for the time being.

I find that doing this will increase heat output (if desired) as well as extend the amount of time needed between loadings (again, if desired). The same thing could be accomplished by using a shovel to drop the coal onto the sides and front of the bed, but I've found that dragging with the poker gets a more uniform slope. After all, the stove and hopper were designed to work that way; I'm just assisting by making room for more coal to drop down from the hopper.

Anyone else out there trying this or something similar?

Oh yeah--anybody know what the thick white residue is on the inside of the hopper lid? And before you all take a look, know that holding a super-hot chunk of cast iron over your head using a strip of steel with a brass spring to see what's on the inside of the hopper is not for those faint of heart...be careful!!!

thats better when I do get the 503 I will fill like I have burning coal for years thanks for the info. and whats to come
thanks
Randy

JafaDog wrote:
Anyone else out there trying this or something similar?

Oh yeah--anybody know what the thick white residue is on the inside of the hopper lid? And before you all take a look, know that holding a super-hot chunk of cast iron over your head using a strip of steel with a brass spring to see what's on the inside of the hopper is not for those faint of heart...be careful!!!

hey JafaDog,

thanks for update on your experiences - the knowledgebase continues to grow !

In ref to your two points above - I took a look at the hopper lid but don't have the white stuff you are referring to - so far at least. You're right that is a tricky beast to get a look at - always afraid that cast iron slab will hit the floor and trap a toe or two in the process but I did manage to take a peek by putting it on the tiles and levering it up.

In ref to the coal distribution I initially was doing that i.e. pushing coal to the back and sides and filling up again but I found I was consuming more coal that way and not getting too much additional heat as a result. I haven't tried that since though. For the moment I just fill the hopper and let gravity co-ordinate the rollout plan as it burns. If I can still maintain a bag a day by spreading the coal out I'd be happy with that for sure.

54 degrees down here today , sprinkling of snow yesterday - the rollercoaster continues

Van

Hi guy’s,

It’s good to see we’re all still lurking in the background. I hit a milestone this weekend. I consumed my first ½ ton of coal. Now don’t laugh too hard but that amounts to a lot of space in the old garage.

The other thing I did this week (Black Friday) was to buy a humidifier. What a difference that made!! The average humidity in the house had dropped to around 20%. Once I had the thing up and running, I was stunned at how much water it took to bring the house up to 35%. It took the better part of 3 days to get it to stabilize and I was adding about a 2 maybe 3 gallons every 8 hrs. After running it constantly for 3 days, it seems to have reached equilibrium and one tank full will make it 12 hrs.

The difference is how the house feels (warmer) and how little static there is in the house now (I hate the little shocks you get when you move across the carpet). I’m glad I decided to add the extra moisture to the house.

Next weekend will be another cold one .. looks like we’ll give the 503’s a run for the money.

Tom

hey Tom !

nice timing. I am completely ignorant of humidifiers (coming from Ireland we don't exactly have a problem with a lack of moisture over there). For the last few weeks I have been badgered to get a humidifer but dismissed it as a gadget. Based on what you write and espeically that the house feels a bit warmer I am suddenly on board. I have a thermomemter which measures moisture and it reads in the upper 20's %

If you don't mind, could you advise what brand and model you got - did you get a table top one or a multi room one and where did you place it - in the stove room or upstairs.

Many thanks in advance and for the tip !

Van

I just bought this Kenmore 12 gal/24 hour humidifer yesterday. This generally got better reviews than the console-type humidifiers that others here mentioned on the Humidifiers thread. It has already made a very clear positive difference to the perception of warmth/reduction in drafts. The weather has been warmer, but I don't think it's that much warmer to explain the magnitude of the difference.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03215412 ... 921x00003a

It supposedly is powerful enough for a 2700 sq ft space--my space is larger than this, but helps alot.

Hi Van, Ashcat,

I have to agree with Ashcat. The difference in the way the house feels is significant. For the last few weeks, I’ve been mentioning to my wife that I noticed that my hands were chapped and that I just didn’t feel as comfortable in the house with the coal heat vs oil (the burner has an April Air whole house humidifier that is outstanding).

So I did go out and begin to do the research on the best units .. first stop Sears. I did see the unit that Ascat purchased and eventually purchased that unit. Sears did not have any in stock. I did find the exact unit at Home Depot. The price was $109.00

The first day, I think I filled that tank at least 4 times. I was beginning to worry that if that was what it was going to take to maintain the humidity in the house .. then I was going to have a problem. Each day, as the humidity in the house remained the same, the quantity of water went down. Now I get buy on 2 tank fills, one in the morning and one in the evening (same time service the stove). It’s become part of my morning and evening maintenance procedure.

One thing you must be careful of is not to put too much moisture in the air. As the outside temperature drops, you have to change the amount of moisture you put into the house. You must follow the directions that come with the unit with regard to outside temp and in house humidity.

I have an indoor thermometer that gives me humidity. I’ve had it for years so I’m use to what feels good and what doesn’t. The devise on the humidifier also gives you a reading on humidity. They are not at all calibrated. The humidifier tells me I have 50% humidity and the thermometer tells me I only have 35%. I set the humidifier to give me the 35% reading on the Thermometer only because I have experience.

As far as placement is concerned, I put it in the same room as the insert. I wanted to put it close to the heat source and where the air would be moving.

You’ll notice the difference almost immediately .. give it a try.

Tom

Hey guys....many thanks for the heads-up on the humidifier. I actually have one from years ago when I had a coal stove for 10 years in the mid 80s. I'll set it up tonight (if I can find it) to see if it makes a difference. We have a steamer pot on the 503 that we keep filled with water but I don't think it adds enough moisture to replace what the coal depletes.
Amazing how much heat this unit gives off and how easy it is to operate. When the temps are in the mid to upper 20s or more my oil burner never comes on in 3 out of 4 zones...and the 4th zone is the garage and the studio apt above which we keep @ 50* or so when no one is staying there. When we drop to the single digits I'll just have to run it harder...crank it up a notch or two and we'll see what happens.
Good to hear from all of you....

Ashcat & Tom

thanks so much for detailed replies - much very appreciated - so cool to get detailed answers and even prices and links !

Local HD has the unit for 109 also and 6 in stock - I just called to check so I'll grab one tonight. Based on the size it can cover I'll be in good shape and that's also good that the other thread had concluded same - hadn't seen that before I posted.

Thanks also for tips on usage etc - will report back on results in a few days. This forum is like an on line university - all sorts of stuff to learn in any given week

Bear', glad to hear yours is burning well also - good for you ! I'm still burnign with restrictor allthe way in

Thanks again guys !

Van