Can't Seem to Get Heat

Tucker · Post by **Tucker** » Tue. Jan. 06, 2009 7:40 pm

I just installed a hitzer model 82 stove and just can't seem to get any heat out of it. I am burning nut coal. I can get the fire going easily enough.The only time the automatic damper on the side of the stove closes is my initial ffire when I am burning kindling. I am getting about a .05 on a draft gauge and am using a manual damper.I have tried all positions with the damper and it doesn't seem to make a difference.The first filling of the stove seems to make most heat and then I usually end up with the coal burning orange and the fire seems to slowly die .I can keep it going,but it seems to me like I don't have a good draft. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Ashcat · Post by **Ashcat** » Tue. Jan. 06, 2009 8:57 pm

Welcome, Tucker.

There are several recent threads about similar problems. Sounds like you're getting ash built up and restricting air flow thru the bed. How long does the first fire burn? When does the fire start to die down? Myself included, many new burners may not shake the grates aggressively enough, allowing ash to build up and compact over time, choking the fire. Although I don't weigh my ashes, one rule of thumb I try to keep in mind is that, if I'm loading ~60 lbs of coal per day, I should be removing at least ~ 6 pounds or so of ash per day. This assumes the coal has 10% ash (which will vary somewhat with different coal brands) and NO unburnt coal. In practice, the presence of some amount of unburned coal is almost inevitable, and will increase the weight of the daily ashes. I always shake until I begin to see an orange glow under each grate coming from the fire above, not merely until I see the first few live coals drop into the pan.

braindead · Post by **braindead** » Tue. Jan. 06, 2009 9:39 pm

The other important point is to be sure your adding enough coal--all the way up to the bottom of the door (or top of the fire bricks). Coal likes a deep bed. I made both mistakes, first I wasn't adding enough coal, then I was letting ash build up. Finally got the hang of it though.

sharkman8810 · Post by **sharkman8810** » Tue. Jan. 06, 2009 10:34 pm

The lever runs the heat through a secondary burn chamber to get more heat out of your coal before it goes up the flue, this is operated manually. The dial controls the air intake and is a bimetal thermostat, you will want this up high to get it started and then once you get coal started and going,9-10 would probably be a good number to start at. I have mine at 11 and it is kickin, stove temp above the door at 400*F and heating approx 2400 s.f. Make sure your spinner on the door is only at 1/2 or 1 turn. Ash can build up in the corners and at the slanted bricks on the right. I keep this clear by raking the ashes from here over the coal bed.

Post by **Rob R.** » Tue. Jan. 06, 2009 11:39 pm

Tucker, can you describe your chimney setup and how it is connected to the stove? (Height, flue size, stove pipe size, # of elbows, etc.)

How much coal are you adding to the stove once you get the fire going?

Tucker · Post by **Tucker** » Wed. Jan. 07, 2009 5:53 pm

My chimney is about 35' high and is 8x8 flue size.Could I maybe be filling the stove to fast after I get it started? How long do you normally wait to fil it to top of brick.I have been filling it right up after my first couple inches get going good.I will try shaking it down more also.I have been leary about shaking it to much and putting fire out.I have the dial on the side set wide open and the stove just doesn't get hot. Is a .05 draft good enough or do I need a draft inducer.

Post by **Rob R.** » Wed. Jan. 07, 2009 6:07 pm

Hmmm, I'm using the same stove, same flue size, and the same chimney height...and my stove will maintain at least 600 degrees with the dial turned up to #15. These stoves seem to prefer a good draft, I set my baro at 0.06 and spent a lot of time sealing the stovepipe joints and cleanout door. A few more questions for you:

Are you using 7" pipe from the stove to the thimble?
How many elbows are in the pipe?
What size coal are you burning?
Do you know what company the coal is from?

It takes me about 1 hour to get a fire started. I do it the same way you described, with kindling and slowly add the coal until a few inches is burning good, after that I add the coal in 1" layers or so until I have at least 4-5 inches burning well. During this time I usually leave the ash pan door cracked to help get things going, once it is burning well I load the firebox to the top of the firebrick.

I have found that it is important to give the stove lots of air when getting the fire started to keep the flue warm, sometimes I open a basement window when first lighting the stove to help it draft correctly.

Tucker · Post by **Tucker** » Fri. Jan. 09, 2009 5:50 pm

Boy this is getting discouraging.I have been shaking the fire down until I see a good red glow and still can't seem to produce heat.The side regulator stays wide open all the time,it just seems to be a slow burn.I bought a stove thermometer and it is only at 200 degrees right now.I am going to try leaving ash pan door open some and see what that does.Can the brand of coal really make a difference? Right now I am using reading nut.

braindead · Post by **braindead** » Fri. Jan. 09, 2009 9:32 pm

Tucker, I feel your pain. I had a heck of a time with my stove the first couple of weeks. But thanks to this forum, I got it figured out. There are a lot of knowledgeable folks here willing to help, and I'm sure if you keep working with them, you'll have success. I don't know anything about your stove, so I'm not much help. But I am burning Reading Nut, and it burns fine. Have you tried poking through the coal bed to make sure there's no ash build-up or bridges? Seems if you have good air flow up through the coals, they ought to burn hot.
Good luck.

Post by **coaledsweat** » Sat. Jan. 10, 2009 9:15 pm

Tucker wrote:I bought a stove thermometer and it is only at 200 degrees right now.

What is 200*, the stove itself? Can you put the thermometer on the stovepipe? If that is around 400* or so, it's where your heat is going. If so, try lightening up on the draft by going to .04 and then .02 with the gauge on the stove and see what happens. With a 35' chimney, I would think the baro should be getting a workout.

Devil505 · Post by **Devil505** » Sat. Jan. 10, 2009 9:28 pm

Tucker wrote:Boy this is getting discouraging.I have been shaking the fire down until I see a good red glow and still can't seem to produce heat.

Try opening a window in the stove room. My daughter was having a similar problem & it turned out to be not enough air in the room to burn hot. It's worth a try!

sharkman8810 · Post by **sharkman8810** » Sat. Jan. 10, 2009 10:53 pm

Try getting a baro damper. I am not real familiar with a manual one, but the premise is open when loading and the gas is burning off, and then close off when idleing it. When the bed gets thick you need more heat and draft to pull the air through the coal bed. Is the nut well graded and clean or are there a bunch of little stuff mixed in. I had problems with a bunch of little stuff gravel size clogging up the bed and it not getting hot. Open the ash door before loading to get the fire hot, then load while it is open, and leave it open till you got a good blue flame fest, then close the bottom door, this can take a little while for it to get hot. Is you cleanout sealed?

Post by **Rob R.** » Sat. Jan. 10, 2009 11:06 pm

One other thing, make sure the chimney is clear!

baldeagle · Post by **baldeagle** » Sat. Jan. 10, 2009 11:22 pm

Tucker -
Boy this is getting discouraging.I have been shaking the fire down until I see a good red glow and still can't seem to produce heat.The side regulator stays wide open all the time,it just seems to be a slow burn.I bought a stove thermometer and it is only at 200 degrees right now.I am going to try leaving ash pan door open some and see what that does.Can the brand of coal really make a difference? Right now I am using reading nut.

When you say "side regulator" do you mean tha Bi-metal raft damper to control the temperature? On my Hitzer 354 that unit opens to about a 2' x 3" opening when opened full - you can move the chain to get more opening at lightup. This door stays open about an inch for me at start and then as the stove gets cracking I adjust the setting down to about 1/4" above closed,
then wait for the room to reach your desired temperature - 76F or whatever and adjust the auto damper opening a bit as needed. Once it is set it stays there for the season ......... if your setting is to low it will close off the air. I never need to use the air holes in my ash door. If it is not the auto-damper than as others are mentioning check on the draft.
Best, baldeagle

Tucker · Post by **Tucker** » Sun. Jan. 11, 2009 9:04 am

Thanks for all the input! I appreciate it. Things seem to be getting better.I had a reducer from 7" to 6" right at my chimney. I changed the thimble to allow 7" right into the chimney and also added a cold air return into the basement and am now getting good heat.The regulator is still set at high,I am going to try turning it back a little at a time to see how things go. With the thermometer on the stove pipe it was reading about 300 and about 350 on top of stove. I am also thinking of replacing manual damper with a baro but I hate to see the baro take warm air out of the house and send it up the chimney.