First year with Hitzer Insert, need some advice

This will be my first year burning coal with the Hitzer insert. I have two topics I would like some advice on.

It seems one issue with coal is all the dust.

1) I was thinking of having something made up (like an L shaped sheet metal) to place over the ash pan when I remove the ash to keep the dust down. also thinking about getting another ash pan and leave the one that's full out in the florida room to cool down and then throw out later.

2) Fan noise. Is it practical to hook the fan outlet to a variable switch to turn the fan speed down?

Please let know your thoughts and ideas. Thanks!

If you shake down every 12 hrs--morn. & eve. leave ash pan overnight & empty in the morn.--Yes on the variable speed. Nice hearth by the way

What FF said about letting it rest till before the next shake down...
Always turn the fans off when removing the ash pan...
Never had issues with the ash getting frisky on the way outside...
It rests in the garage...
Then outside to a pile...
Make sure you get a proper motor controller not just a dimmer switch...

Congrats orrsmills on the new Hitzer. She looks cozy and I'm sure she'll keep your home that way.

While we're on the topic of airborne ash/soot/dust, (and maybe this is more a question for Larry T.) but is the ash pan and the operation of shaking and removing ashes from the stove the only source of airborne ash? My Chubby for instance has a removable plate at the top of the stove and secondary air ports on the sides that could also be a source, The baro for the most part draws air into the stack but could fine dust particles be making their way out of the stack through the baro? I IMAGINE filling and operating a coal hopper might be a source??

I bring this up because it SEEMS to me that the airborne ash that settles on surfaces (mostly near the stove) is black, while burnt ash coming out of the ash door for the most part is grey. This black dust also tends to have more the characteristic of film than dust.

While I enjoy the upsides to burning coal as opposed to wood, I'd like to understand and limit the issue of airborne coal dust/soot/ash.

CapeCoaler wrote: ↑

Fri. Sep. 27, 2019 11:39 pm

Make sure you get a proper motor controller not just a dimmer switch...

Any more info on the motor controller, brand, would Home Depot have this?

Thx.

You can sit a piece of tin on top of the ashpan before carrying it out thru the house too. (I do not know your ashpan design and how to do it with your design) I have to step outside into strong winds pretty often and that holds the ash in the pan without it blowing in my face going out the door. Not everyone has strong winds at their door like me though.

If your draft is normal...
Open the pipe damper, top center knob, to full draft...
Then shake...
Same with adding coal in the hopper...
Small brush for the crumbs that may sit on the hopper lip...
Motor controller at home depot, probably not...

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ACYBGNRBRjSob ... NNxaGuKZiQ

https://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-contro ... sAQAvD_BwE

Harbor Freight to the rescue...

Thanks for all the info. Really appreciated. You''ll be hearing more from me this year Im sure.

orrsmills wrote: ↑

Fri. Sep. 27, 2019 8:18 pm

This will be my first year burning coal with the Hitzer insert. I have two topics I would like some advice on.

It seems one issue with coal is all the dust.

1) I was thinking of having something made up (like an L shaped sheet metal) to place over the ash pan when I remove the ash to keep the dust down. also thinking about getting another ash pan and leave the one that's full out in the florida room to cool down and then throw out later.

2) Fan noise. Is it practical to hook the fan outlet to a variable switch to turn the fan speed down?

Please let know your thoughts and ideas. Thanks!

Regarding dust, last year was my first year and this year I think I can do much better. I did not always remember to do every step in order, or wait between steps.
My ash pan swings out and comes with a lid that slides over it with handle, to take it out--so a cover of any kind might be good. I have heard of people using a mist bottle such as household cleaners come in, and squeeze a fine mist of water over the ash pan before carrying it out.
In my case I will this time always take out the ash first (before shaking or slicing the grates and stirring up the coal). That will also prevent taking out hot embers--they will have time to burn down in the stove later.
Be sure to open the updraft damper if there is one--but I did not really wait long enough for this to help much (at least 5 minutes). In any case, open the primary air intake all the way for at least 5 minutes before opening any doors. Mine loads through the top, so this is even more important.
I think I can reduce dust also by adding coal before shaking and slicing grates. This will collapse the cave under the hot coal and release dust--load and close. It will also make shaking and slicing more effective. If the coal is low, add coal in 2 or 3 levels, waiting a while between loads. I can almost always dump a whole load in at once.
After all the tending bit, leave the primary air on high until the draft is strong again, carrying out the dust.
With an insert, you may have less trouble with dust around the stove than I do--this year I bought a shop vac to keep that dust up (the house vac filter clogs instantly with coal dust and has to be washed).
Actually, I think I had more dust from the woodstove than I do with coal, and it was a good air-tight stove. It had no ash pan--you had to scoop out the ash to a bucket with the front door open.

Has anybody tried a household air purifier near their stove? I suspect anything stirring up air around the stove will stir up dust as well? My central heat (gas) furnace air intake is close to my coal stove. Sometimes I have tried circulating the coal heat using the furnace on "circulate", but I fear this would suck ash out if the doors are open or if there is dust about, spreading it around the house.

Specific to the 503...
The top center knob controls the MPD...
Full open when tending...
No dust comes out of the stove when loading the hopper...
Rather it spills from the coal bucket...
The ash door must be opened to access the shaker grates...
So if the MPD is full open...
When you shake the ashes will get sucked into the stove...
Remember to turn off the blower when removing the ash pan...
That will make a mess if you move the pan off center while lifting up...

The dust that I get is out in my garage where the ash cans sit, when I dump the ash pan into the can is when I get a small cloud of gray dust which does get on everything.
I keep thinking I should keep the cans outside, but thats often cold and or wet.

When I shake in Hitzer Insert down I open the stack dampener about half way, knife and shake the ash down,
then carry the ash pan out to dump it.
I do not shut the blowers down when doing mine.

Lou, I am lucky--my covered porch is a few feet from the stove, so I can quickly put the ashes in a covered container in the open air. The bagged coal is in the garage, which also opens to the porch.

LouNY wrote: ↑

Sat. Sep. 28, 2019 9:44 pm

The dust that I get is out in my garage where the ash cans sit, when I dump the ash pan into the can is when I get a small cloud of gray dust which does get on everything.
I keep thinking I should keep the cans outside, but thats often cold and or wet.

When I shake in Hitzer Insert down I open the stack dampener about half way, knife and shake the ash down,
then carry the ash pan out to dump it.
I do not shut the blowers down when doing mine.

What do you use for a knife?? Thx

The knife that I use came from a poster on this site; cdindustries.
There is a thread on here called "riddle method for ash cleaning"
Starting on page 7 is a picture of the knife that he makes.
If you go to his profile page you can PM him.
I have worn out 3 cranks and a set of grates shaking down the ash, using that knife and sawing in and out while moving it sideways reduces the amount of shaking needed to almost none.