Diary of a Surdiac

joeq wrote:Now I'm set for a few more days of comfort, as the cold spell passes. Once again, life is good.

Beautiful...

Might need more than a few days worth Joe...this cold winter isn't paying attention to the calendar.

Yes, both of my stoves seem to still have accurately calibrated thermo dampers, yet are different in what setting they like best.

I just took a good look at the hopper on my older stove, and it's totally different: it's not supported by side sockets but bolted to the back wall of the stove (so it doesn't appear to be adjustable or easily removable). It's also shaped different: it tapers in the middle but bells back out at the bottom. It's depth is probably close to the lower setting on the adjustable ones, but because of the bell shape, there's not much of the "business zone" that's exposed to view or air. I suppose Franco would say that is a bad design, but it does burn very reliably with only 2 tendings daily.
The ports are just above where it bolts in place, so I can even reach into them with my hands (easy to fish a hose into). I'll try to get some photos posted. Curious if any other Surdiac owners have this type of hopper...looks like the only significant change in later models.

Also, I watched your video at the library sans audio...I started thinking "is this guy going to shake his stove down or just TELL us how to do it??"
(harhar) I'll have to rewatch it with sound. I like the bent up shaker idea...what would be even better is a rake with multi pointed tines.

Aye John, I would like to see the photo of your "hour-glass" hopper. Is that on a Surdiac? Mine has a funny shape to it also, but it wasn't designed that way. it sort of "evolved". Because they bolt the 2 halves together, and my fwd section is the distorted one, I wonder if the frt is the same as the back. I say that because I have an extra hopper in my shed, but it's more eaten up, than my current one. Maybe I could take the 2 hoppers, (4 halves), and make 1 good one out of them. Now that I think of it, they probably have the hanging tabs on one side only. Probably won't work.
You say your hopper bolts to the inside of your stove John? wonder how easily those bolts are to remove, being in that "hostile" environment. And my 2 videos really didn't show a whole lot. the 2nd one I scraped a little, but don't think you could get a good view of what was going on. More of a generalization film. And from what I understand, you really don't want to hear the audio anyway.

What do ya mean Joe!! I thought ya sounded great

Lightning wrote:What do ya mean Joe!! I thought ya sounded great

He did actually, but I think he took the ribbing to heart.

As Sheldon Cooper would say...."Bazinga!"

joeq wrote:As Sheldon Cooper would say...."Bazinga!"

Ya got me

I believe the record will show that the "ribbing" in this thread originated prior to my last post. But now I feel compelled to clarify:

When you're watching a video without sound, it's like watching the Spanish channel...you're only there for the pretty face or hoping the video will "cut to the chase," because it's boring to watch someone "flapping their gums." He may have been as enthralling as FDR during his legendary "Fireside Chats," but it was lost on this deaf viewer. Upside is, perhaps mercifully for Joe, I'm unable to weigh in on the "accent" discussion.

And Joe, I'm not the least bit curious about how easy it would be to unbolt that hopper....not even in a bad dream.

Still searching for my elusive camera. One picture = 1,000 words. I think the hopper I reinstalled was two nearly identical halves*, with a gradual taper towards the bottom, but didn't notice about the notches it hung from. This one has no notches. I'm thinking this type of hopper may have only been in the earliest models, and then they opted for the adjustable hopper. Much easier to replace. *back has small holes in it

Well, here we are, at the end of March, and I just lit up the 513, once again, because ole man winter keeps rearing his ugly head. When the oats hit high 40s, I let it go out. (Even tho sometimes the nites were in the 20s.). But with a cold coming on from lots of OT the past couple weeks, and one more cold front brushing through our parts, I decided to "re-fire" the Surdiac for the week-end. One reason is to try and duplicate the success I had starting it on Matchlight charcoal last time. Was it just a fluke, or for real?.
I purchased another bag of "off-brand" Matchlight, and a couple more 50lbders of Kimmel pea, and after vacuuming out the stove, loaded it with 1/2 a bag of Matchlight, and some twisted newspaper for the edges, to help out and get the draft started. I learned not to shut the loading door at 1st, cause the fire wanted to die, and smoke. Once all the charcoal started flaming,I shut the load door,the draft jumped to -.05, and off we went.
When trying to start this stove on kindling wood, it would take me hrs, B4 I had enuff coal lit to fill the hopper. The house would smoke, I'ld have to unplug the smoke detectors. Now with this stuff, I got it up and running in about 1/2 an hour. It really works good, and thanx to Scott and you guys for FYI-ing it, I can now burn this stove, on week-ends only because of the quickness of start-up. Question is, how much more winter is left?

joeq wrote:Well, here we are, at the end of March, and I just lit up the 513, once again, because ole man winter keeps rearing his ugly head. When the oats hit high 40s, I let it go out. (Even tho sometimes the nites were in the 20s.). But with a cold coming on from lots of OT the past couple weeks, and one more cold front brushing through our parts, I decided to "re-fire" the Surdiac for the week-end. One reason is to try and duplicate the success I had starting it on Matchlight charcoal last time. Was it just a fluke, or for real?.
I purchased another bag of "off-brand" Matchlight, and a couple more 50lbders of Kimmel pea, and after vacuuming out the stove, loaded it with 1/2 a bag of Matchlight, and some twisted newspaper for the edges, to help out and get the draft started. I learned not to shut the loading door at 1st, cause the fire wanted to die, and smoke. Once all the charcoal started flaming,I shut the load door,the draft jumped to -.05, and off we went.
When trying to start this stove on kindling wood, it would take me hrs, B4 I had enuff coal lit to fill the hopper. The house would smoke, I'ld have to unplug the smoke detectors. Now with this stuff, I got it up and running in about 1/2 an hour. It really works good, and thanx to Scott and you guys for FYI-ing it, I can now burn this stove, on week-ends only because of the quickness of start-up. Question is, how much more winter is left?

I hope it's over after this.

I'm glad to hear you found an easy way to light your stove.

Conclusion
I'm assuming this will be my final post to this thread. (Pending "unusual" circumstances.). I want to end on this note. Being that this stove is my very 1st ever experience burning "any" solid fuel, it was definitely a learning experience. In the beginning, I was frustrated with only a couple, three things, that come to mind. My biggest complaint, as everyone knows, is the lack of extended burn time. Members would mention how long their stoves would run unattended as compared to wood, and how blessed they were to be burning coal, when my stove didn't seem to live up to that criteria. It took many hours of experimenting, adjusting, a few modifications, and as much intelligent information I could ingest that you guys could throw at me, before I learned how to tweak all the performance I could out of it, and also learn the stoves limitations. And when all is said and done, this little stove has done an admiral job for the task I threw at it. And if it weren't for it's contemporary style, for the hassle it was to install, I probably would keep it as is.
For us, in this house, because we really aren't people "always on the go", there's always someone here to keep it running. It provided all the heat we needed to be more comfortable than our oil furnace could muster, at a greater cost savings. I also know we'll miss the big picture window, showing off the entertaining fire that we've enjoyed staring into, during those "quiet" periods. And because of it's "thrifty" appetite, the amount of coal I needed to store for a season, wasn't too much of a concern. And because 85% of the stove is wrapped in protective sheilding, we did't need to worry about the little ones getting burned.
In my opinion, I think the perfect house for a stove like this, would be a small ranch or cape, with a finished basement. If it were to be mounted down stairs, in the basement, in an entertainment room, or living area, it's contemporary looks and window could be displayed and enjoyed, while providing heat, not only down there, but radiating up the stairwell into the 1st floor. Or, as others have mentioned, it also would work well used as a supplemental heating source for something like a huge family room. Or how about a fireplace installation? I think this is what the original designers had in mind, the way its all laid out. It does have its possibilities.
So to all with a stove like this, or looking into a similar stove , I hope this thread will do you some service. And I appreciate all of you, (the 3 of you ) who have helped me along the way, to get all I did out of this 513 Surdiac. Thanx, and enjoy.
(P.S.Dave, there will be no "explosion" party)

That was a sad post, Joe. It's like you are losing a dear friend.

I read your entire thread, I followed along with your heartache and your happiness. I know your thread has helped others, whether it be with that exact stove, or just another stove in general.
I know you will miss it, but I'm also hoping you can find a good home for it. With someone who has as much patience and willpower as you have. You made that stove shine, you can be very proud of that.

Great Job Joe!

Brought a tear to my eye... 3 cheers for the little stove that could.

And there they are folks, the three musketeers. (I'm sure franco and a couple others are out there too.)