Changing Gasket on Hitzer 503 Door - Not Hard

Skill level: me <so anyone can do it>

Taking the old gasket off was easy, pulled right off. Looks like they only put sealant in one small inch section.

Removing the clamping bars for the window removal (if wanting to change the window too) took a 1/4" socket and screwdriver. 6 of the them...easily removed.

Brushed out and cleaned grooves. Polyprop. bush used.

Put in new gasket for length test. 3/4" gasket rope needed for door.

Added about 1/16th inch of gasket sealant (corners about 2x that)

Pushed in the new gasket (that has a black coating on it - use gloves if wanting to keep hands clean).

Circled around to end then cut off the final end to final length (using general purpose snips like in pic)

Then the hard part .... reattaching to stove and CLOSING the door.

Closing the door took quite an effort. Have 2 people around in case you need help to close the door. Took 2 people in my case and 2 tries (we slid on the wood floor due to our having socks on .. removed socks for better traction and got the door closed). Newton's laws at work.

Just because of this I see this as a two person operation. The door should be re-placed and closed within 1 hr, per directions of adhesive manufacturer (for the gasket adhesive I used that partially cures in an hour). Time to put in gasket about 5 min. after cleaning the area where the gasket is placed. My gasket adhesive directions also note that it will fully cure after 1 hr of the stove running. I would think by the time the stove is used it will be 99% cured.

One does not need to take out the window to replace the door gasket .. but I changed the window as well. New window came with gasket pre-installed, so you just plunk it down and put the clamp bars back on.

I also examined the top hopper lid gasket. That looked OK ~ maybe another 2 seasons of life left. And looking at it I would guess that I would need to use my 12 ton press to get the gasket in just right (almost flush to the surface of the lid bottom, and level). This is a 1/2" gasket rope size (different than door).

All in all not too hard.


I hope that the gasket settles in and next time I need to get it closed will only require a little bit of oomph.

glad it worked out for you and wasnt a major pain in the u know what !! good job, may help other guys here to thanx for posting that info .

Another tip..... Those little screws holding the glass in are known to corrode, and not come out. Yours came out, that's good. You might want to replace them with stainless steel. Should they need to be removed again, they'll come out.

oliver power wrote:Another tip..... Those little screws holding the glass in are known to corrode, and not come out. Yours came out, that's good. You might want to replace them with stainless steel. Should they need to be removed again, they'll come out.

I'm not big fan of SS. Solely due to the reason that I don't think everything sold as SS is SS.

But point it noted. I guess once a year to loosen the re-tighten is a good idear.

davidmcbeth3 wrote:

oliver power wrote:Another tip..... Those little screws holding the glass in are known to corrode, and not come out. Yours came out, that's good. You might want to replace them with stainless steel. Should they need to be removed again, they'll come out.

I'm not big fan of SS. Solely due to the reason that I don't think everything sold as SS is SS.

But point it noted. I guess once a year to loosen the re-tighten is a good idear.

I know my screws didn't all come out without breaking. I put stainless back in. Since then, brother has changed glass with no problems.

Ditto on that--well worth the effort--gonna do a new glass gasket this yr. if I can ever shut down!!!

We need to know if any blood was shed on this project.

freetown fred wrote:Ditto on that--well worth the effort--gonna do a new glass gasket this yr. if I can ever shut down!!!

I too am still burning Fred. In shop, and house.

I am curious as to why the door closed so hard on this stove? Is that normal with this model? Right sized gasket?

Nice write up.

Yep, when using the right size gasket W. She'll transition (KOOL WORD) to the door & make a nice airtight fit. Same with ash door.

Thanks Fred. Ive never had any gaskets that tight and it had me wondering if an over sized gasket was used. I wonder a lot

warminmn wrote:I am curious as to why the door closed so hard on this stove? Is that normal with this model? Right sized gasket?

Nice write up.

The new was comparable to the old. And when I ordered it Hitzer was consulted. So I think that the gasket is correct.

The section causing it to be hard was the side where the door hinges upon.

Opened and closed it today w/o very much difficulty.

warminmn wrote:I am curious as to why the door closed so hard on this stove? Is that normal with this model? Right sized gasket?

Nice write up.

Gasket looks right in picture...