Hitzer 503- Mediocre Quality, Good Stove

 
Pete69
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Post by Pete69 » Sun. Feb. 08, 2009 7:46 pm

If It was made in China I would be a lot less concerned with what the weld looked like, and more concerned about if it was real, or just a cheep knock off lookalike weld.
Free trade and those who profit from it are killing our country!!
How can American company's continue to produce and sell quality products, when we are being flooded with Chinese crap made with near slave labor, using substandard materials, and selling for a fraction of the price?
It doesn't help that American consumers seem to be in compliance with this trend.
Quality costs!! Where are your priorities?
Do you think you paid $ for a top of the line stove?
It is what it is! They gave you what you wanted. The Amish are smart business people.
At least it's still serviceable! If it was made in china It might look good until you used it once or twice.
DISCLAIMER- This information may not be worth any more than either a groundhog turd, or what you paid for it (nothing) The author may not even have been either sane or sober when he wrote it down. Do not worry be happy.

 
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baldeagle
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Post by baldeagle » Mon. Feb. 09, 2009 2:06 pm

KeithonLine: so sorry to read your extended tale of woe; it did get me to look at my Hitzer 503. Are the welds you speak so alarmingly about indeed those welds concealed behind the door? After opening the door I was in fact able to view the welds. It has been my practice to only open the door when shaking the grate, now I carefully view what before was hidden from me -- there seem to be no other weldments in view. Is this troubling as well? I wonder if the as-received 503 I have should be either be x-rayed or subjected to magnaflux? I do have a beautifully made bicycle that is now rarely used and it is of "Reynolds" tubing; the welding (doubleButted!) no less would likely warm to you nearly as well as a hot coal fire.
Best Regards, baldeagle
B.S. Metallurgy
C.I.T. '65

 
Paulie
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Post by Paulie » Mon. Feb. 09, 2009 5:30 pm

Sorry you are disappointed with your purchase. I have to say that my Leisure Line is very well made. I am no expert, but
every weld is clean, tight and uniform. And best of all, they work! :D

 
keithonline
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Post by keithonline » Fri. Mar. 06, 2009 11:37 pm

I wonder if the as-received 503 I have should be either be x-rayed or subjected to magnaflux?
Best Regards, baldeagle
B.S. Metallurgy
C.I.T. '65[/quote]

I'm sure one educated in the art of metallurgy wouldn't request an xray or dye penetrant inspection on a weld that failed a visual inspection. Perhaps we shouldn't confuse functionality with craftsmanship. Functionality is something that can be qualified as adequate, craftsmaship is something that is earned and appreciated beyond something categorized as simply acceptable. The Hitzer brand is apparently funcitonal.

Keith

 
Wallymortar
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 503 Insert
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Anthracite
Other Heating: Oil Furnace

Post by Wallymortar » Tue. Mar. 04, 2014 2:39 pm

I just joined the forum as I discovered it when I Googled Hitzer 503. I want to thank Keith, Pete69, DaveMich and others for their helpful comments and advice. I installed a Hitzer 503 on 30 Dec 12, having heated an old 2-story frame house in W. PA with a 1955 oil furnace my parents installed. I took over the house upon my mom's passing in 2009 and heated the winters of 2009-2010 through Dec 2012 with the oil furnace. My mom kept the thermostat at 70-72 but I cranked it back to 66 to save fuel. Nonetheless, my fuel bills were $4,000, $4,000 and $3,500, respectively for the 3 seasons I owned the house. Meanwhile, I rent an 1890s farmhouse that is even more poorly insulated than my house and my tenant asked to install a wood or coal burner to help defray costs. He did the research and he and I installed a Hitzer 50-93 in Nov 12. I was so impressed that I ordered a Hitzer 503 that Hitzer gladly customized to fit my 29 3/4" non-standard fireplace opening. By the time I got the Hitzer, I had heated Oct-Dec with oil that cost me about $500. My heating bill for the remainder of the 2012-2013 heating season was about $400, burning mostly wood from my farm that consisted of hardwood deadfall, blow-down and dead standing trees. I tried burning hard coal but with limited success. This year, however, I was determined to use hard nut coal on the coldest days and finally mastered the technique that I found requires way more draft and coal than I was using in 2012. I now use wood for days that are 20 deg or above and coal on colder days which we have had plenty of this winter. The house is about 2000 sq. ft. and I can adequately heat the main floor consisting of 3 rooms to a toasty 70+ and I get sufficient heat upstairs for comfortable sleeping. The downside is the oil furnace rarely comes on so the basement stays at a nominal 50 deg. I am very satisfied with my Hitzer. I have not experienced poor workmanship cited by Keith and no rattling fans cited by several respondents. The only thing I missed was a thermostat to shut off the fans at a certain temperature. Recently the thermodisc that shuts off the fans when stove temperature falls below a given temperature (I think 120) seems to have failed and my Hitzer dealer has sent me a new one. Hopefully, that will solve the problem. I jury-rigged a thermostat control to shut off the fans by mounting an electric baseboard heater control in a switch box with an outlet mounted beside it. I plug the Hitzer into that outlet and the homemade device into the wall and set it in an adjacent room. When the temperature in that room reaches a desired temperature, it shuts off the Hitzer fan. When it is really cold, however, the Hitzer runs continuously to keep the house warm. With no wind and temperatures 15 deg and above, I have no problem heating and usually have to throttle back the unit to keep the room where the Hitzer is between 75-80 even when burning wood, so I am 10 deg more comfortable than when I was heating with oil at a fraction of the cost. In summary, this is my first venture into the world of coal/wood stoves but I am very pleased with my Hitzer that amortized the first season by March (3 mos after installation). I estimate I will use about 2400 lbs of coal and about 2 cords of wood this season and this has been a harsh winter. The coal cost me $305/2400 lbs in 40 lb bags and the wood that I cut myself is virtually free except for some chainsaw gas and diesel in my tractor to haul it in.


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Tue. Mar. 04, 2014 4:35 pm

Wm, sounds like the 503 is working out well for you & this my friend-IS GOOD :)

 
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nortcan
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Post by nortcan » Tue. Mar. 04, 2014 9:21 pm

I just saw a couple of Hitzer stoves and they look very strong, they can make a very good job for heating a house.. .
One thing surprised me on a previous post is about having issue with the new Ford Focus.. Possible but Honda, Toyota ...also got some issues on some cars. The Focus is a very well made car.
Before I got an Escape 2013, I saw one guy on the parking at Costco having an escape 2012 and he told me to never buy that vehicule. He said that he got many issues with it. But since I have an Escape, all I can say is it's a fabulous vehicule. Having some isues with a car wearing an American name seems to be so bad but many got issues with imported vehicules but never tell it :x
OK, so generalize is not always the best thing to do.
If we want to get rid of the Asiatic cars...and products, we should look at the American built products first. A real shame to see so much Japs cars in America/Canada.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Tue. Mar. 04, 2014 10:27 pm

This is one of the very few reviews that arent excellent regarding Hitzers quality that Ive read on here. Im glad its working for you irregardless and Im glad you wrote the review. Stay warm.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Tue. Mar. 04, 2014 10:37 pm

For the record, I've seen a lot of different model HITZERS & have never noticed any poor craftsmanship. Weld or any other wise :) Just an old farmers observations.

 
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EarthWindandFire
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Post by EarthWindandFire » Wed. Mar. 05, 2014 9:54 am

I have read a few threads/posts about DS and Hitzer quality issues. Keep in mind that the Amish are not as anal about such things as we tend to be. In my opinion, Harman probably makes the highest quality hand-fired stove, followed close behind by Keystoker.


 
chester
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Post by chester » Thu. Mar. 06, 2014 2:16 pm

Its a stove. ya wanna heat with it or dance with it? :angel:

 
sharkman8810
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Post by sharkman8810 » Thu. Mar. 06, 2014 9:03 pm

Thanks for the thread. I never looked at the welding, and I am not versed in welding to really comment. I do have the 82 Ul, and I love the design and functionality of the stove. I am surprised at the lack of customer service for when I called them, I got good customer service.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Mar. 06, 2014 9:38 pm

sm, EVERYONE that calls out to the HITZER factory gets excellent service:)

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Mar. 06, 2014 9:41 pm

I'd personally like to see some pix of this terrible weld you're talking about.
keithonline wrote:I wonder if the as-received 503 I have should be either be x-rayed or subjected to magnaflux?
Best Regards, baldeagle
B.S. Metallurgy
C.I.T. '65
I'm sure one educated in the art of metallurgy wouldn't request an xray or dye penetrant inspection on a weld that failed a visual inspection. Perhaps we shouldn't confuse functionality with craftsmanship. Functionality is something that can be qualified as adequate, craftsmaship is something that is earned and appreciated beyond something categorized as simply acceptable. The Hitzer brand is apparently funcitonal.

Keith[/quote]

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