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Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Thu. Aug. 30, 2012 9:36 pm
by rberq
EarthWindandFire wrote:Well, it does indeed have a bimetallic thermostat. I took the thermostat box off the stove and cleaned the strip. Not quite what I had in mind when reading about them on this site. Does any hand-fired stove have a remote mounted thermostat that controls draft and stove temps based on room temperature?
Yes! OK, I have to tout my very own invention here, though I have not yet actually built it. But it will work, I swear it will work. :)

You take a stove with a bimetal thermostat, and you set it to a relatively low temperature.
You take a small electric fan and mount it pointing at the bimetal thermostat housing.
You rig a remote thermostat to turn the fan on and off.
So when your room cools below the remote thermostat's set point, it turns on the fan, which blows room air and chills the bimetal thermostat, which opens the air inlet and the stove gets hotter and the room gets hotter than the remote thermostat's set point and the remote thermostat turns off the fan and the bimetal thermostat warms up and reduces air to the stove and the stove gets cooler and the room gets cooler until it drops to the remote thermostat's set point and .... so on.

With some of the fancy new electronic thermostats that can "learn" their own heat-anticipation values, you should wind up with a pretty even room temperature, automatic programmable setbacks by time of day, and so on and so on. Substitute science for art and your hand-fed coal stove will be just as dull as that oil burner in the cellar. :!:

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Thu. Aug. 30, 2012 9:46 pm
by wsherrick
rberq wrote:
EarthWindandFire wrote:Well, it does indeed have a bimetallic thermostat. I took the thermostat box off the stove and cleaned the strip. Not quite what I had in mind when reading about them on this site. Does any hand-fired stove have a remote mounted thermostat that controls draft and stove temps based on room temperature?
Yes! OK, I have to tout my very own invention here, though I have not yet actually built it. But it will work, I swear it will work. :)

You take a stove with a bimetal thermostat, and you set it to a relatively low temperature.
You take a small electric fan and mount it pointing at the bimetal thermostat housing.
You rig a remote thermostat to turn the fan on and off.
So when your room cools below the remote thermostat's set point, it turns on the fan, which blows room air and chills the bimetal thermostat, which opens the air inlet and the stove gets hotter and the room gets hotter than the remote thermostat's set point and the remote thermostat turns off the fan and the bimetal thermostat warms up and reduces air to the stove and the stove gets cooler and the room gets cooler until it drops to the remote thermostat's set point and .... so on.

With some of the fancy new electronic thermostats that can "learn" their own heat-anticipation values, you should wind up with a pretty even room temperature, automatic programmable setbacks by time of day, and so on and so on. Substitute science for art and your hand-fed coal stove will be just as dull as that oil burner in the cellar. :!:
I doubt it. You see a lot of stoves have the science built into the art. That's why they don't require add on gizmos, but; I don't want to discourage anyone for experimenting. Good luck with your improvement idea. There is nothing wrong with it, however, assuming that stuff that is not covered with gadgetry is inferior or not scientific is another thing altogether, because it is an incorrect assumption.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Thu. Aug. 30, 2012 11:38 pm
by franco b
rberq wrote:Yes! OK, I have to tout my very own invention here, though I have not yet actually built it. But it will work, I swear it will work.
Good idea. I think it will work too.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Fri. Aug. 31, 2012 12:33 am
by wsherrick
EarthWindandFire wrote:Fred,

You have been dogging me for a long time on here. Tomorrow the Hitzer will be on Craigslist for scrap.

As for farming, the house in my avatar is the 4,200 sq ft farm house I grew up in. We sold hay and feed back in the 20's and 30's to Fred Vanderbilt and Franklin Roosevelt. The receipts signed by my great-grandmother are housed at the Roosevelt Library for all to see, just ask the research librarian.

I'll steer clear of this forum and not ask any questions from this point on, I don't want to blind you with my blue headlights.
You have as much right to ask questions as anyone else does. You have as much right as I or anyone else does to participate in any Forum you want to. So, I, as well as many others I am sure; invite you to stay.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Fri. Aug. 31, 2012 7:56 am
by samhill
EWF, don't get thin skin on us like wsherrick said you have just as much right as anyone, not to put words in FFs mouth but perhaps he was getting a bit frustrated because he was trying to help but others & yourself were trying to think of other possible scenarios, a common problem we all get.
I was thinking that you could always cut a hole in the top to allow the hot air to rise or just take the top or whole jacket off & use it as a radiant, like I said I have mine in a 60 x 52 garage with 20 ft. or better ceilings with vents & all open eves, with just a wood fire I can get it tolerable in there fairly quickly.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Fri. Aug. 31, 2012 8:43 am
by franco b
If you ask others for their opinion I don't see any reason to be peeved when you get it.

If answering a post becomes like walking on egg shells, then a lot will be lost.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Fri. Aug. 31, 2012 9:03 am
by freetown fred
Thanx Richard--I've tried to quit this topic, but, hey, I'm not the heavy here. Granted, Dr Phil I'm not & if someone posts a question, I'm gonna answer it useing the knowledge & experience I've acquired on this FORUM--DOGGING??? read all the posts in this topic--I don't think so. When I first started burning coal & came up with a bunch of goofy/ unrealistic ideas that other members had already experimented with, people were honest with thier responses & I am to this day real grateful for that---I think on a couple occasions, oliver power was ready to disown me. toothy But his experience in particular got me to the point that I have had a trouble free burning experience for the past 4 seasons & I thank him for that. I've never been much of a coddler, but hell, my 5 kids all lived through it & are out on thier own doing well :oops2: PS-- youngest girl (22) has returned to the nest awaiting orders from the National Guard & working in a AT&T retail store & paying rent because she feels she should

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Fri. Aug. 31, 2012 11:12 am
by rberq
wsherrick wrote:
rberq wrote:Substitute science for art and your hand-fed coal stove will be just as dull as that oil burner in the cellar. :!:
I doubt it. You see a lot of stoves have the science built into the art ... assuming that stuff that is not covered with gadgetry is inferior or not scientific is ... an incorrect assumption.
You are right. That last line was tongue-in-cheek. Although I think my external thermostat idea would work, the incremental benefit would be mainly in the fun of tinkering, not in better stove performance. ;)

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Fri. Aug. 31, 2012 11:40 am
by franco b
rberq wrote: the incremental benefit would be mainly in the fun of tinkering,
You would need a line voltage thermostat or else a relay for the fan. Any improvement would depend on the particular installation.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Sat. Sep. 22, 2012 8:12 pm
by davidmcbeth3
EarthWindandFire wrote:Fred, I am a white and blue collared guy with two kids and a 210lb dog trying to save enough for retirement so I can be a 70+ year old retired farmer with plenty of time to fiddle with my Hitzer just like you.

So yes, I want a hand-fired stove with a thermostat that shakes its own grates, fills itself with coal and empties its own ashes.

Is that too much to ask Fred ????
A new model that came out has all you want: its called a GOOD wife !

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Mon. Sep. 24, 2012 9:23 pm
by EarthWindandFire
Well tonight I lit a small fire in the Hitzer and as suspected, it leaked like a sieve. :)

I'll remove the top this weekend and scrape away the old furnace cement and apply new cement. The most surprising place that leaked the greatest amount of smoke is one of the copper nipples from the water jacket. During inspection it looked very solid but it may very well have pin holes allowing smoke to escape. Maybe a pressure test is needed?

The next cool night I will start burning some pea coal. This may be burn better in the warmer weather than the wood has, less smell and smoke which my wife was unhappy about.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Tue. Sep. 25, 2012 9:07 am
by Rob R.
EarthWindandFire wrote:The most surprising place that leaked the greatest amount of smoke is one of the copper nipples from the water jacket. During inspection it looked very solid but it may very well have pin holes allowing smoke to escape. Maybe a pressure test is needed?
Could the "smoke" you saw have actually been steam?

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Tue. Sep. 25, 2012 10:45 am
by SteveZee
Mark,

I think you'll find your assumtion to be correct. The coal will work better. Last year, when I first lit the little Star Herald with wood she smoked a enough to set the smoke detectors off but was fine when it burned and ignited the coal. Part of the problem is the chimney is cold and doesn't have much draft initially and doesn't pull that hard in this weather anyways because the temp/pressure differential isn't all that much. I would seal up what I could anyway because you might want to use some wood in the spring and fall when you don't need a 24hr fire.
Honestly, I'd rather burn some wood this time of the year just because once I start with coal, I like want to keep it going because it's a mess to clean out and refire compared to a wood fire.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Thu. Sep. 27, 2012 6:27 pm
by EarthWindandFire
I ordered a Dwyer Mark II manometer directly from Dwyer and it arrived today. This weekend I will get the brake line from NAPA and set the unit up and take a practice reading on a warm day. This should be a big help come the cold weather and these should be considered 'mandatory' by anyone operating a wood or coal stove.

Re: Hitzer 75 Coal Stove.

Posted: Wed. Oct. 03, 2012 5:37 pm
by Rob R.
Any updates?