New to Hitzer 503 - replace fire brick
Posted: Fri. Mar. 20, 2020 10:37 pm
Hi ya'll! This is my first post in the hand fed forum. My wife and I just bought a house whose only source of heat is coal. I am new to burning coal but have already fallen in love with it and wouldn't think of heating any other way. I currently have a koker lite running in the basement heating the 1000 square foot single story home. There is also a Hitzer 503 in the living room that I have yet to fire. The koker is running great but I would like to shut her down and get some action with the Hitzer before all the cold is gone. I think I want to be even more hands on than the koker lite allows. I always just put one bag in the hopper instead of 4 or 5 and my wife yells at me. But it's just because I want to go back to put more in the next day!
I am going to post a couple of pictures of the 503. I am just curious about what you all think of the stove and if you own one, your experience and anything that you think I should know!
You will see in two of the pictures that a few of the firebricks are cracked. How crucial is it to replace these? They are all still in place but a few are cracked. I also took a picture from the inside of the stove facing outwards. There are four fire bricks right below the glass of the fuel door. They all look broken and I'd like to replace them as well. Are those standard sized bricks that slip down to the grate or are they cut to sit right below the sill?
Other than that how do you feel the stove looks? I just gave it a once over with the shop vac. I shook the grates and they move freely, Once I get all the brick out I'll give it an even better cleaning. Is there anything I should use to clean the inside of it? Seems like he burned a lot of wood. The glass was straight black, I wiped it down so it's clear once again.
In regards to the blowers and intakes, are there filters anywhere that need to be swapped out?
I'm sure I'll have more questions but this sure puts a dent in the list!
Thanks in advance for any help. I am super grateful for this resource. Looking forward to all replies!
Best,
Andrew
I am going to post a couple of pictures of the 503. I am just curious about what you all think of the stove and if you own one, your experience and anything that you think I should know!
You will see in two of the pictures that a few of the firebricks are cracked. How crucial is it to replace these? They are all still in place but a few are cracked. I also took a picture from the inside of the stove facing outwards. There are four fire bricks right below the glass of the fuel door. They all look broken and I'd like to replace them as well. Are those standard sized bricks that slip down to the grate or are they cut to sit right below the sill?
Other than that how do you feel the stove looks? I just gave it a once over with the shop vac. I shook the grates and they move freely, Once I get all the brick out I'll give it an even better cleaning. Is there anything I should use to clean the inside of it? Seems like he burned a lot of wood. The glass was straight black, I wiped it down so it's clear once again.
In regards to the blowers and intakes, are there filters anywhere that need to be swapped out?
I'm sure I'll have more questions but this sure puts a dent in the list!
Thanks in advance for any help. I am super grateful for this resource. Looking forward to all replies!
Best,
Andrew