Hitzer 503 Installation Photos

Great to hear from you guys....it's rather warm here tonight @ 47* and raining....
Van...I do it the same as Jafa....open up everything....shake down...then open the hopper lid....I haven't had a puff back yet....
As far as coal consumption...I'm on the last of my 4 tons and probably won't make it through March with what's left....this year it'll be 5 tons in the bin for sure.

Hi Guy’s … great to hear from everyone … Van, how’s the new family doing???

I agree with Jafa and Bear, I open everything up, the reason for the “pop” is that when things are closed down and you don’t have much air moving through the fire, you have an accumulation of gas in the burn chamber that is oxygen starved. When you open the hopper, air and oxygen enter the burn chamber and the gas ignites all at once … hence the “pop”.

I’m closing in on the last of my 3 tons, looks like I should get just about another month out of it … by then we should be in the warmer weather and time to shut her down and give her a good cleaning.

I’ve said this before, this being my very first year burning coal … I am amazed at how easy it was, how little oil I consumed 35 gal. and that was when I was away for a week in Dec. I even got the wife to admit that I actually made a good decision …

Hope all is well with everyone ... Tom

JD, Tom, Bear

thanks so much for your speedy replies and suggestions. looks like the oxygen strvation when I open the hopper must be the cause then. I was firing it up before I added and then closing all air but not always shaking so I think when there is coal still in the lower part of the hopper as Tom says it is like a contained chamber. during the colder months this was less of a problem as the coal would have moved down and out by the time I added coal - this one off was unusual as there was still coal that had not moved down. Appreciate the suggestions and will change my hopper top off routine accordingly !!

Family in great shape Tom - thanks so much for asking - much appreciated !!

Like Tom I am enthused by the oil I saved this season and if March is mild I'll actually have coal left over ready for next season. we had windows open yesterday all over the place due to the high temps - I had stove down to smouldering. Garbage guys took the ashes all season long in bags with zero complaints so that was easy. I ran a pellet stove in the basement for a few days but it seems lame in comparison to the coal - might get rid of that and get another coal stove in - would keep the floors on ground floor very warm.

ok guys chat again soon - sincere thanks for replies !

Van

Ashes, ashes, ashes! I have SIX 42-gallon contractor bags full of ashes in the garage. I was using them to fill potholes and spread on the ice, but once the temps got cold and I started burning harder, I was producing a metal garbage can of ash every 1 to 1.5 weeks! I couldn't fill the potholes (since they were filled with frozen water and covered with snow), and spreading them on the driveway was a messy, messy chore (especially if there was the slightest wind). So my solution was to transfer them from the metal garbage can to plastic contractor bags and save them for Spring when the potholes show themselves again.

As for the Spring 503 cleanout, what are everyones' plans? I was going to scrape any accumulated fly ash, vacuum it out good, spray the internal surfaces with WD-40, and hang a 40-watt light bulb inside. I was also going to touch up all the nicks and scrapes on the outside with stove paint. Am I missing anything, or is this the normal routine?

Hi Jeff,

I must say storing the ash till spring … I lucked out, I have a friend who takes it from me … I’m not sure what he’s going to do with it, but he claims it’s good to put in the garden??? I’ve also put in my normal trash stream and removed in the weekly pick up, no problem. I never have more then 3 - 50 lb bags of ash in the garage at one time.

As far as the clean up is concerned, I plan on doing intensive vacuum job. I’ll remove the fire brick, the hopper (if you remove the screw in front of the hopper, it slides our) and the grates making sure that I get all the ash out of the stove. I’ll wipe or lightly brush any residue off the metal components. I like your suggestion of spraying WD-40 on the metal parts. I’m not at all sure about the 40 watt light bulb. Is your intention to keep the moisture out of the unit? I would think a 7 watt night light would do the same job with a lot less electricity – your thoughts?

With the cold snap that we’re currently having, my consumption is back up .. I do hope I have enough coal to make it through the season.

Tom

Yes, the intention of hanging a bulb inside is to keep it warm enough to help prevent condensation/rust from forming inside. I'm not "up" on what temperatures different wattage bulbs produce in a small environment like the inside of the stove. I just figured a 40W would keep it warm enough, considering that there is bound to be some air movement (unless I seal off the flue and/or flex pipe). I also think some kind of cover/screen for the glass door will be necessary, unless having a constant white light coming from the stove doesn't annoy me as much as I think it will.

VanBuren -- I follow the practice suggested by JafaDog, only we normally fill the hopper to the top after each shaking. When we are running 60-70#/day we usually Poke gently into the side and front areas (gently) at mid-day ... this will often settle the coal from the hopper and on a reload we have had a small pop/blue flame for that fill. Best, baldeagle

503 Owners: Just saw the post about "Spring" cleaning ..... we have done a full cleanout each spring but after the shopVac routine saw no dust/ therefore believe no chance at enough moisture to cause corrosion. We did have a loud noise from one of the fans last week had to vacuum fan/tighten shroud to eliminate the noise. This year we will try to clean both fan enclosures/fans in the spring. Looks like 3.5 tons will just about do it for this year, but next weeks lows are forecast to
return to the 20's. baldeagle

hey guys

hope all is well - wow it was warm on weekend - windows open all day and stove down to a smoulder fans off. I love cranking it up again from darkness as I did this morning just to bring it from 71 to 73 in about 15 mins coz I can ! - i'll miss my toy during the summer months me thinks !

JD, sorry I can't offer any help on stove clean out - I'll be coming to you for tips as usual ! Your plan sounds good.

Baldeagle - thanks for your reply.

I'll oil the fans I guess and I need to replace some fire bricks. Did anyone else have any cracked bricks ? If so do you get replacments from Hitzer or generic bricks will do ?

I think I'll be spot on 4 tons this season - maybe a bag or two left over to show sceptics in the summer what anthracite actually looks like. am considering getting an LL stoker for the basement for next season and would plan to burn both stoves on lower setting - this way I'll get warm floors and benefit from radiant heat from underneath and make the basement useable space in the colder months. Will have to justify the expenditure so that will take about 5 months of pondering !

Van

Hi guy’s

Well, the season is drawing to a close and once again, I can’t say enough about how pleased I am with the 503. My wife and I were just discussing this morning about how much coal I’ll get next year … Looks like I have just 10 – 50 lb bags left out of 3 tons … I may have to burn some oil .. but once the coal is gone, that will be the end of my coal heating season.

The 10 bags could get me another 15 – 20 day … depending on how cold it is. Each day now should bring milder temps. We’ll have to see how it works out.

Van, I made it thru without any damage (that I can tell) to the fire bricks. I think you have to purchase new bricks from a masonry supply store. Make sure you let them know that you need fire brick for a stove. I do believe that they come in standard sizes.

Spring cleaning is only a couple of weeks away and boy does my 503 need a good cleaning. Lots of ash that will need to brushed out of the unit. I’ll most likely end up removing all the bricks, the hopper, vacuuming the interior and looking for any obvious defects.

Tom

Well, the season is done for me. I ran out of coal (I had 3 tons) this weekend. I must say thanks to everyone for there support, kind words and help. It was a great learning experience.

When I started this adventure, I wasn’t at all sure what I was doing, just that I had to do something different. At the end of the season, I’m already looking forward (in time) to using my insert again next year. From my initial inspection, the unit came through the year in great shape, a little vacuum here and there and she’ll be ready for next season.

To date, I’ve consumed 3 ton of coal … and 35 gal of oil (when I was on vacation). My wife who was skeptical at the beginning is now talking about how warm the house was all winter long.

Once again, thanks to all for the advice and help.

Tom

Tom

congrats on a successful season ! I'm still running mine on very low and have about 20 bags left so I'll run it through april I think or less if it gets warmer. 46 today not hot by any means. I don't use the blower much now days atall.

I finally found what I was looking for to load the hopper without crumbs - some photos attached. It is a duct work connection of sorts and cost $6.70 at HD. Works really well and means I never have to clean the hopper lip.

good wishes to all

Van

Good find

Hi Van,

Looks like you have a good idea there … I use the coal hord (I think that what it’s called) although it does get some chips on the lip of the hopper, and yes I did burn myself a couple of time cleaning it.

Congrats on getting close to finishing your coal. I was thinking that I should buy a couple more bags just to finish the year out but decided that enough was enough. I reached my goal and the couple of gallons of oil that I’ll burn to take the chill out of the air wasn’t going to be a problem

Tom

[quote="tfaath"]Hi Van,

… I use the coal hord (I think that what it’s called)

Close Hod if you are American, Skuttle if you are English. I grew up in America calling these handy little buckets skuttles due to my English heratage no doubt. )