Hitzer 503 Hopper Tips?

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Beeman
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Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 503

Post by Beeman » Fri. Dec. 25, 2009 11:18 pm

I have a Hitzer 503 and have been burning coal now for about 2 months. I took the hopper out to make burning wood easier--I wanted to burn some seasoned wood and get it out of the way to focus entirely on coal. Things have been going along fairly well now that I have been burning just coal. I am learning the intricacies of this stove--how much coal is needed, how to most productively shake the grates without losing the fire, how to keep the temparature in the optimal range, etc. So far so good and I am enjoying the long, even coal burn compared to much more work and attention required for wood.
I am off to Texas tomorrow for a few days and I will let the coal fire burn out and rely on my oil burner until I get back. When I return, I plan to install the hopper and will continue to burn only coal. I have been reading suggestions about pushing the coal to the rear when filling the hopper. I also bought and redesigned a Home Depot floor register sheet metal part (recommended on the forum) so that I now have a funnel to use when filling from the top.

What other ideas are out there for using the hopper most productively? Can anyone offer a primer on hopper transition and use? Much obliged!


 
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grizzly2
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Post by grizzly2 » Sat. Dec. 26, 2009 6:57 am

I haven't heard of pushing the coal to the back when using the hopper. I suppose that is just to be able to have more coal in the stove for longer burns. Maybe that will work, but my 30-95 tends to burn more quickly from the hopper forward and leave more ash in the rear after shakedown. I have my doubts that extra coal in the back of the firebox is going to gain you much, but I don't realy know. Also of course, mine is a different model stove from yours.
I find for long burns that ash buildup is a more limiting factor than coal supply. I shake down thoroughly and fill the hopper twice per day, with a less agressive shake sometime between fillups. I have a theory that the hopper and the columb of coal extending down from the hopper to the top of the fire bed acts as a baffel so that the heat produced accross the front of the fire bed has to go arround this baffel to the flue outlet thereby preventing more heat from going up the chimney.
When burning wood, I put the hopper into the stove backwards so that the heat has to go arround the sides of the hopper to escape to the flue. My flue temps when burning wood without the hopper in place were too high without this baffel effect.
If the firebox and/or hopper in your 503 are significantly different from my 30-95, my methods may not have the same results for you, but the priciples stil apply. :)

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