Hitzer 30-95 Stack Temp.

John27elec wrote: I would assume you are trying to match your baro with your actually draft of the chimney?

You adjust the baro to bring your chimney draft into the ideal range your stove was designed for. Hitzer calls for a range of .03-.06 which is pretty common. Kept within this range you won't see abnormally high stack temps, you won't be heating the outside by sending excess stove heat up your chimney & you won't be pissing away your coal.

My stove seemed to be working fine early last season but the stack temps were high. After installing the manometer I could see that my chimney draft was WAY too high & my MPD wasn't going to cut it. With the baro & manometer I was able to tame the draft, put more heat in my house/less up the chimney & save coal.

J, I would re-read FB's post here & let you know I totally agree--unless you want to confuse the hell out of running that stove-which unfortunately people enjoy doing in this day & age ---just to check--foil over baro, Mpd wide open--initially these stoves were designed to run exactly like that--sounds like you're gainin on the old girl

franco b wrote:If I had that stove I would install no dampers and I would open the ash door only to retrieve the ash pan to empty it. I would let the hopper and thermostat do what they are supposed to do. Just shake down and top off hopper. Why short circuit it and produce burning gas faster than the heat exchange can handle it? It's not a batch fed stove so why treat it as one?

franco b wrote:If I had that stove I would install no dampers and I would open the ash door only to retrieve the ash pan to empty it. I would let the hopper and thermostat do what they are supposed to do. Just shake down and top off hopper. Why short circuit it and produce burning gas faster than the heat exchange can handle it? It's not a batch fed stove so why treat it as one?

......and to quote a Hitzer owner, "keep it simple st pid", nothing personal. My vigilant has the bi-metal inlet only for heating and I only use the ash door for ash removal and pumping up the fire during reload so I must agree with FB and FF....2 wild and crazy guys! (said with Steve Martin eastern block accent and 70's clothing)

freetown fred wrote:just to check--foil over baro, Mpd wide open--initially these stoves were designed to run exactly like that--sounds like you're gainin on the old girl

Actually Hitzer is very clear about the draft range the stove is designed to run in. If you can hit that range (.03-.06) without a baro or mpd that's great. But if you are pulling a much higher draft you are just wasting heat & coal (money). It only costs $30 to find out & the stove sure isn't going to tell you unless you've got a very poor draft. My Hitzer ran fine with a .15-.20 draft. Certainly didn't have any puffbacks! Of course my heat was going right up the chimney along with that draft. House was warmer & coal consumption was down with the baro controlling my draft.

freetown fred wrote:J, I would re-read FB's post here & let you know I totally agree--unless you want to confuse the hell out of running that stove-which unfortunately people enjoy doing in this day & age ---just to check--foil over baro, Mpd wide open--initially these stoves were designed to run exactly like that--sounds like you're gainin on the old girl

franco b wrote:If I had that stove I would install no dampers and I would open the ash door only to retrieve the ash pan to empty it. I would let the hopper and thermostat do what they are supposed to do. Just shake down and top off hopper. Why short circuit it and produce burning gas faster than the heat exchange can handle it? It's not a batch fed stove so why treat it as one?

i don't have a Hitzer though I do have quality hopper fed and bi metal regulated stove and I can assure you that the 2 above quotes are in your very best interest to benefit from.

it's also some of the hardest advise to take. because these stoves need very little from the operator other than to understand the fine engineering and coal practice in them and co-operate with it.

unless you have crazy chimney draft use the least amount of control you can to get the stove draft down to -.02 / -.04 then keep opening the bi metal till you are comfortable with the heat level in the house.

believe me, the stove will roll off the heat, the coal use will level out to a nice low amount per hour and the hopper will spill just the right amount of coal over the top of the fire to keep a nice little blue lady chorus line going pretty much non stop.

you are already on the right path, soon you will be rewarded.

steve

I agree that a tight stove with a bimetallic thermostat doesn't need a damper. It's possible that the manufacture recommends a .03 - .06"wc so it can't pull too much air thru any fixed secondary ports/window air wash system that it might have. I'm guessing...

First off the 30-95 & the 50-93 are not air tight stoves. Even with the rear damper flap closed it allows some air in plus there is a big gaping hole around the shaker handle shaft. Most owners have placed a gasket or washer over that shaft to try to seal that area up.

Secondly the OP wasn't having problems running his stove he was complaining about high stack temps after a shakedown. Removing any & all dampers; baro or MPD, certainly isn't going to improve that situation.

It's 60° outside right now with a howling wind. At that temp you'd expect to see a low draft reading but due to the high winds my baro is working over time. Just for the hell of it I covered the baro with foil. Draft shot up to a steady .15 with bursts up to .20. Stack temp went from 150° up to 400°. Remove the foil & the draft dropped back to the .03-.06 range & stack temp returned to 150°.

Whether it's windy or just damn cold that's the difference I see between no baro or with the baro working. I'm not interested in sending all that heat up the chimney so you guys can run your stoves any way you'd like but I'm a firm believer that a barometric damper or at least a MPD is a good thing unless you are blessed with the perfect draft under all conditions.

The OP might be able to control his high stack temps with his MPD but A/he's not always going to be there to play with it when the rear flap opens & B/ he's already got a baro installed which is why I suggested installing a manometer to properly dial it in/monitor the draft.

It likely will run high stack temps after a shake down as volatiles are burning off the fresh coal coming in.

I agree the draft should be controlled, for the reasons you stated. A mano should be mandatory to operate a coal appliance. It sure does take guess work out of things..

I feel a damper is not requred on these stoves for the purpose of preventing overfiring. The thermo will keep that in check. The damper mpd/baro will help retain heat by regulating the draft.

Stoker6268 wrote:I feel a damper is not requred on these stoves for the purpose of preventing overfiring. The thermo will keep that in check. The damper mpd/baro will help retain heat by regulating the draft.

Nobody has been talking about over firing. The OP has too much heat going up the chimney after a shakedown which tells me that the baro he has installed isn't dialed in for the higher draft he sees when the stove is coming back up to temp. Once properly dialed in he won't be seeing those 400° surface temps on the stack.

Correct! Just stating why Hitzer says its not required.

Yup, they told me the same thing & if your draft falls within a reasonable range & stays there you wouldn't need it. Of course even if it runs quite high the stove will still run just fine but you end up heating the neighborhood. So in either case you don't NEED it but if you want to save some $$ you might WANT one.

I don't mind having a high draft that requires the baro as it gives me options as the draft varies with the outside temperature throughout the year. I thought I might have to cover the baro today as it's 62° outside but the stove is idling away at 250° running on the bi-metal control with no ash door vent required. Draft is running in the normal range w/baro due to the constant wind I guess. Normally when it gets this warm the draft would drop way off, I'd cover the baro & run with the ash door vent to keep a constant flow of air through the coal bed.

My baro sits behind the stove back in the fireplace so it isn't pulling heat off of the top of the stove & sending it outside. If you had to mount it right above the stove that would be an issue unless you always ran the blower.