Sum rumblings from a grumpy semiolf man.

First off, Hitzer 82FA and company. Good company and we'll designed for simplicity equipment.

Called into the Hitzer shop with a technical/parts issue (bimetallic damper). Even tho 3rd generation Mark was busy out in the yard, he took about 10 minutes and spoke with me. Very nice to see that kind of customer service.

2nd, my 10 tons of READING Nut bagged, so far is bad, if I had a trailer, I'd dump it back in their office. Will need to buy different (Lehigh maybe) for days I need maximum heat. Oh, bad is in clicker storm, less heat, some bags are half fines, misc trash in some bags, I hate them.

Bimetallic damper; this year the flapper did not have the solid sounding "clink" when pulled closed. Being the semi genius I am, I thought that maybe all the running at Max heat last year demagnitized the magnet. Hence the call into Hitzer for parts. Mark explained that should not be the problem, he suggested first checking for ash debris blocking the flapper from closing. This was not the issue, I have been using a vacuum wand to suck out any Ash by jamming it down into there (the fan housing blocks easy straight in access). Next he suggested the magnet might of moved, they don't tightened them down hard. So, use some kind of brome handle, push in through Ash pan area and tap/knock magnet back, but don't knock it back too far. If you do, the flap will stay shut to strong causeing the furnance to have large temperature swings. Still working on perfect magnet positioning, got it close.

Ball chain length, I think Hitzer sets the length for Max safe output. With my setup, anything below 6 was in danger of going out. Back to being a semi genius, I can do better. So I shorted up the chain to make it useable all the way down to 1. Thinking about it now, Hitzer might of been right, safety first.

Another observation. As long as the FAN is working and you are not on the first burn after a clean out, I don't think it is possible to over fire the 82FA, even with the ash door wide open. Maybe this is just my setup due to crappy coal? Lots of Ash? It couldn't be the operator, I've read every Freetown Fred post here.

If you've read down this far, bless you.
Any/all Grammer/spelling/lack of or inappropriate humor are NOT my fault, I am the result of public schooling.

C, I hate to be the grim reaper but for yrs I've read about READING--how can I put this???? OK, got it--being crap coal. Should I even ask how you ended up with 10 ton??? OK, I regress. Ya need to get some decent coal & get every thing set back where it was. Might try mixing a little READING just to get rid of it. ORRRRRR, get hold of the dealer & share some thoughts with them!!!

Enjoyable reading (coal source pun intended). I like a mix of humor and personal observations.

CorrosionMan wrote: ↑

Sun. Dec. 24, 2017 3:51 pm

being a semi genius ... I shorted up the chain to make it useable all the way down to 1.

That's the way mine is set. First and last months of the heating season the stove has to run pretty low. The only reason to shorten the chain more is if the max dial setting doesn't make the stove hot enough. But then you have to lengthen it again come spring time. I suspect your original chain setting was just the "best guess" of a fellow semi-genius at Hitzer or at the stove store.

Not so RB. HITZER actually researches their stoves--YEP--uses them. The normal setting is 28 balls from the lose end on the 50-93's so I'm sure they had the 82 set properly. Dean nor Mark play that guessin game. C, I still contend ya gotta get some different coal before you panic on the stove. And it's sounds like you're doin the right stuff with your stove. PS--no matter the coal--bimetallic chain is impossible to adjust properly while the stoves hot--just set it where it's putting out what you want like you're doin!!