Trying to Avoid Puffback With a Hitzer.

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Muss44
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Post by Muss44 » Sun. Nov. 08, 2015 7:39 pm

I have a hitzer 82 fa and ran it for one whole season and was pretty happy with it. I was wondering if I should leave the feed door spinner knob open a bit. Will having some air coming in over the fire avoid puffbacks? I had a few last year and I am just trying to be cautious. Do I really lose much heat by having it open a half turn or so? Thanks in advance.

 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Nov. 08, 2015 8:14 pm

That's a tough one. The answer for both depends on the strength of the draft.

Do you remember specifically, what the conditions were when the puff backs occurred? Was it during the shoulder months when it was mild outside, or was it cold outside?

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sun. Nov. 08, 2015 8:22 pm

All stoves & settings are different M. Try it & see if it works. I'm thinkin it won't hurt anything, nor will you lose any heat.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Nov. 08, 2015 8:28 pm

Always leave that knob open 1 turn. I went through this with 3 Hitzer 82's in 3 different houses, same results in each. I actually took the knob off mine and put a washer behind it so that it couldn't be closed tight.

When reloading the stove, do not cover the entire firebox with fresh coal. Only 80-90%, leave some of the burning coal exposed to burn off the gasses.


 
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michaelanthony
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Post by michaelanthony » Sun. Nov. 08, 2015 8:30 pm

freetown fred wrote:All stoves & settings are different M. Try it & see if it works. I'm thinkin it won't hurt anything, nor will you lose any heat.
^^^agree, my box stove will do it if I don't cover the baro when reloading.

 
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Post by franco b » Sun. Nov. 08, 2015 8:31 pm

Muss44 wrote:I have a hitzer 82 fa and ran it for one whole season and was pretty happy with it. I was wondering if I should leave the feed door spinner knob open a bit. Will having some air coming in over the fire avoid puffbacks? I had a few last year and I am just trying to be cautious. Do I really lose much heat by having it open a half turn or so? Thanks in advance.
Some over fire air is good all the time. Conditions and firing rates vary. With a deep bed and restricted air carbon monoxide also is generated which that extra air might burn. Instead of costing heat that air might produce more.

Puff backs are caused by gasses generated usually by a fresh load of coal that fail to either burn or get exhausted up the chimney. When conditions of heat and air are right they can explode.

To avoid that the general advice is to provide enough heat and air to burn the gasses as they are produced. You can provide heat by leaving a portion of the bed exposed to red coal or you can take a poker and drill down through the fresh coal to grate level leaving a passage or several for very hot gas and air to pass above the coal bed. Either way will help. Opening the ash door while you are present for a time will get thing rolling and gasses burning, but that can be deceptive too. Too much air up through the bed can just blow hard enough to exhaust the gas and when you close the door and slow the air down they ignite and burn well. What I am saying is that things will vary depending on how hot the stove is being fired, so a period of observation on your part to better understand what is happening with your particular system is helpful.

Much harder without a glass window to see what is going on. Just opening the load door changes everything so you have to look quick. My advice is to take 15 to 20 minutes at loading time to see that all is well and gasses burning. I think one half turn open on the load door all the time is fine and a full turn open for that critical time with a fresh load. The more you keep track of what you do and the results on stack temperatures and coal burned, the more you will fine tune things, maybe even keep a journal or log for awhile.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Sun. Nov. 08, 2015 10:03 pm

Going a little bit with franco's advise, if you can afford it, have Hitzer modify your door with a small window (mica). (Ive read that they will do this) You can do it yourself too, but it does take some fabrication skills. It will help you see whats going on in the stove... glow being good, dark being not so good. I'm using a similar designed stove and the 2.5" window I made for it helps a lot.

 
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Post by Muss44 » Mon. Nov. 09, 2015 7:04 am

It never happened at a consistent time or weather condition. I have heard that people leave them open a bit but I was concerened that I was doing something wrong. It worked better when I had it open a bit. It makes me feel better that other are noticing that it works better with it a bit open. Thanks for the advice as always!


 
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Post by sharkman8810 » Mon. Nov. 16, 2015 8:12 pm

Generally I will run mine with a half turn open, but if it is windy I will use a full turn to help minimize the draft (I alot of time run with a straight pipe, and don't use the barometric damper.

 
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Post by Ashokin » Sat. Nov. 21, 2015 2:25 pm

I have an 82fa and it can be a puffing beast. I think it is partially due to the tall area above the fire brick being able to hold a lot of gas. Make sure when you tend it, you leave a portion of the burning coals exposed to help ignite the gasses from the green coal. Also, I usually check mine for blue ladies maybe 15-20 minutes after I load it. Just be careful opening the door at that point, crack it first. If it does puff, it will blow right in your face.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Sat. Nov. 21, 2015 6:14 pm

Ashokin wrote:I have an 82fa and it can be a puffing beast. I think it is partially due to the tall area above the fire brick being able to hold a lot of gas. Make sure when you tend it, you leave a portion of the burning coals exposed to help ignite the gasses from the green coal. Also, I usually check mine for blue ladies maybe 15-20 minutes after I load it. Just be careful opening the door at that point, crack it first. If it does puff, it will blow right in your face.
Good advice, as were others. and this is why I mentioned a small window as you don't have to wonder or get "poofed" in the face :lol:

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sun. Nov. 22, 2015 9:29 pm

Rob R. wrote:Always leave that knob open 1 turn. I went through this with 3 Hitzer 82's in 3 different houses, same results in each. I actually took the knob off mine and put a washer behind it so that it couldn't be closed tight.

When reloading the stove, do not cover the entire firebox with fresh coal. Only 80-90%, leave some of the burning coal exposed to burn off the gasses.
Seems like very good advice based on personal experience & not just one situation but three different ones.I would follow this experienced advice rather than opinions on what to do,you can always experiment with the opinions given when life is boring you. ;)

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