Ash Drawer - Does Anyone Use These?

[CTYank]

Just because of the ease of cleaning out the stove without broadcasting ash in the house, I wouldn't have a woodstove without a grate/ash-tray. BTDT.

My Morso has (2) doors, for firebox & ash-tray; both seal tightly. Just gotta remember to open the firebox door a bit before opening the lower door, unless you want to see what a blast-furnace looks like. A Morso tool can grab & hold the ash tray outside to where a metal bucket with cover awaits.

I'm working on feeding schedules so that fewer unburnt coals end up in the tray. Gotta have something to study. Meanwhile, it's simple to remove them from the ash with a sieve, and toss them back in the firebox whenever.

 

[Deleted member 83629]

i use my ash pan i just shake my grate twice per day and dump the ashes daily.
old ashley circulators are awesome.

 

[Whitespider]

Yeah... being able to empty the ashes, even with a full-blown fire blazin', is a big plus.
And keeping ashes separated from coals is another... to some extent, a grate does that for you automatically.

I empty the ash drawer of my furnace every two or three days... usually when I get home at night before takin' my boots off. I walk in and down the steps, load the box full first, then pull the drawer and dump it in the metal trash can. I empty the trash can every couple weeks or so.
On the other hand, I have to clean the ashes from my elitist stove, which is a pain... and an even bigger pain unless the fire is completely burned out. I really hate that stove.
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[Chris-PA]

I think we're mixing two things; a bottom clean out in a firebrick lined stove and a grate/tray design. My stove has firebrick on the floor of the firebox, and a grate would completely change how it functions. There is a plug once removes to sweep ashes into the pan, which is outside the firebox.

I rarely accumulate so much ash that it is a problem - I shovel some out every couple of days and only clean it out fully once in a while. Having to remove ash with a lot of coals is rarely an issue, mostly when it has been reloaded too soon too often in the burn cycle. If it's got a lot of coals I throw in some ash or tulip and open up the air inlet a bit more.

Having a second smaller stove is a help when I want to do a bit of cleaning or maintenance on the big stove. The Hampton is more than decorative and can really put of the heat when I load it good.

 

[steved]

Well, a grate would lift the wood to allow more air flow though from below, which defeats the way a secondary combustion stove is supposed to work. Plus then the grate would be in the way when I went to shovel out the firebox!

Some stove manufactures state right in their literature not to use a grate. I think its because you can over fire easier.

My stove has the option for the pan, but because we chose the fan option, that deleted the ash pan option. The hole is still there, but its got a plug and fire brick in place of a door.

I think its just personal preference...mine would be too small to be of any use. My parents had a Volzegang and the ash pan got used once then never again because it was too small.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G730A using Tapatalk

 

[laynes69]

There's times where it can be a pain to remove ash, if it's allowed to accumulate in our woodfurnace. The old furnace had the shaker grates which made for quick and easy work for removal, however I can shovel a few scoops of ash out before reloading and rake coals up front and go.

It was more of a pain trying to keep up with wood consumption, chimney maintenance, etc. with the old furnace, even though ash removal was easier.

 

[brenndatomu]

pain to remove ash

Ah yes, the dreaded pain in the ash syndrome...
(happy thanksgiving y'all!)

 

[slowp]

I'll tell ya what your missing. A coal grate! I honestly can't imagine having a stove without a grate and ash pan. That's part of why I haven't bought into those new stoves, none are made with a grate and ash pan! Like brenndatomu said, rake the grate on every reload and then just dump the pan one a week, no shoveling no mess. I've thought about buying a thermo control 500 and cutting the bottom out and adding a grate in the bottom to an ash pan. I'd add it's own door.

I think my Communist Elitist Socialist Feminist stove has one. It has a grate and a pan underneath. You shove the ash through the grate and wrassle with a lever which theoretically lets go of the pan and it slides out. I find it easier just to use my little grandpa forged shovel and a bucket. It wasn't an option. They come with them.

 

[zogger]

I *think* the zogger smogger was originally shipped with a grate and an ash pan. Certainly looks like it from the design, some wingnuts on the front piece where the two air feeds are. Looks like, undo those, take it off, slide alleged pan out. But that stuff is long gone, just keep some ashes in there and shovel it out every few days, leaving an inch or so deep. An hour or so before I shovel it, I use the same shovel and heap all the big coals up right in front of the air opening, it burns down fast then. Having both a top and front door, it makes loading and cleaning easy. I can go a whole week sometimes, but usually two or three times a week once I start burning a lot.

 

[Vibes]

I have the Shenendoah r-65. It has the same door and pan set-up as Marshy's , except my stove is round. I can't just pull out the drawer and dump it and slide it back in because its usually packed by the time I empty it.

What I do is get a nice fire going when I empty and open my damper. I shut the door to the basement and most of the ash dust goes up the flue with the heat of my roaring fire. I have a fireplace hoe and a galvanized Wheeling wash tub that fits under my open door. I made a half cirle lid for my Wheeling tub and scrape he ashes into the tub. The half circle keeps more ash dust in the tub while scraping. I do this once a week, and dump the ashes in a low spot in my yard.

Oh yea, I wear welding gloves while I do this.

 

[Fred Wright]

Yup, we've used the ash pan in our US Stove since we got it. The ash pan/trap door was a selling point for us.

Let the fire get low and reach in with the poker to hook the trap door cover handle. Lift it out, set it on the door lip. Use an old license plate to scrape the ash down in the pan. Replace the cover, restart fire.

We've found this method to generate less dust than shoveling ash out the door.

 

[Idahonative]

Hasn't been a stove in the family in the last 35 years that's had the ash cleaned out more than once per year. Easiest way to clean ash out is wait until the burning is done at the end of the season. I guess you could say pine is good for something...and a deep firebox.

 

[sachsmo]

Can't lump every stove err ash pan in one heap eh?

Guess y'all gotta forgive Chris, after all he is an engineer.

I luv my ash pan, O' course it came with the stove built back in the '70s.





Yes Sir, the old gal laughs at the term 'over fire'!

 

[Whitespider]

I prefer KISS... and ashes falling through a coal grate, into a separate pull out ash drawer, just don't get anymore KISS.
It don't matter what state the firebox is in, from fully loaded to near dead, draft blower runnin' or not, I just move the drawer lever a ¼ turn, pull it out, dump and replace. I keep the metal trash can down by the furnace, pop the lid off, set the ash pan on the can edge with one hand, lid in the other hand over the ashes (sort'a)... in one motion I tilt, dump, and pull up on the pan as I set the lid on the can. No fuss, no muss, no dust in the air. It takes me less than 30 seconds to "clean out the ashes" from the appliance, and I can do it whenever... even with the thing at full crank.

There's a lot of things I don't like about my elitist stove... but ash removal is a joke. First, the firebox needs to be dead (or as near to it as possible), which is flat stupid in itself... I mean, it ain't makin' heat when its dead, is it?? Then you drag the ashes across the firebox floor to the little hole, meaning the door is open as you're stirring up the ashes... yeah right, there ain't no dust being raised. And with the combustion air coming in over the top, there ain't proper draft to carry away the dust... flat stupid. Now you poke the ashes down the little hole... sure hope there ain't a sizable chunk of charcoal in them ashes to get wedged in the hole... damn, yep there is. Finally you can pull out the ash collection drawer... except... no you can't, because after stirring the ashes, then poking them in the hole, and then having them fall in to the drawer, the damn collection cavity is a regular cloud of airborne dust. And the cavity ain't "open" to the firebox so draft can carry it away... ya' gotta' wait for it to settle (and it settles everywhere in the cavity, not just in the drawer). Are you kiddin' me?? I've let my firebox burn out, and then screwed around for 10-15 minutes... and I still can't dump the damn ashes?? Flat stupid‼ I learned right quick to just shovel them out, and live with the dust in the air (at least it was less dust then the little hole plan).

With a coal grate, and combustion air coming in under it, only the "heavier" ash falls trough to the drawer... the "lighter" fly ash is carried away via the flue pipe as the fire burns (yeah, particulates, so what??). Meaning, not only is it a whole lot easier, faster, and most importantly more convenient... the actual ash you remove is a whole lot less likely to make airborne dust. Y'all can say it ain't a big deal to clean ash out of your elitist stoves all ya' want... but, don't expect me to buy into it. Just the fact that the firebox needs to be burnt-out is a huge PITA all by itself.

Have I mentioned I really hate my elitist stove??
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[Chris-PA]

And with the combustion air coming in over the top, there ain't proper draft to carry away the dust... flat stupid

Wait - I thought you said the door was open... Oh yeah, in the sentence just before! Not enough draft to pull air out of the firebox?


Maybe too much Holiday draft, not enough flue draft...........

 

[Whitespider]

Wait - I thought you said... Not enough draft to pull air out of the firebox?

Nope... didn't say any such thing. What I said was...
"...with the combustion air coming in over the top, there ain't proper draft to carry away the dust..."
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[Chris-PA]

Nope... didn't say any such thing. What I said was...
"...with the combustion air coming in over the top, there ain't proper draft to carry away the dust..."
*

When you have the door open you probably have no "combustion" air coming over the top, as the flue can pull all the air right through the open door and up. There isn't going to be much pressure differential to pull air through the manifold.

When I am shoveling out mine, the dust I kick up in the stove, and what is made as I dump the ash into the bucket sitting right in front of the open door, gets pulled right up.

 

[Whitespider]

When you have the door open you probably have no "combustion" air coming over the top, as the flue can pull all the air right through the open door and up.

Yeah... you would think so... but that ain't the case.

There's still some draft being pulled through the "manifold"... you can see it blowing/stirring the ash cloud. And then, to make matters worse, the "draft" exits the fire box in the front, just above the door, where the "manifold" air flow is the strongest. Opening the door increases the velocity in the stack, which causes it to pull harder through the "manifold", which just stirs up the ash cloud even more. Air coming in the door doesn't make it to the rear of the firebox, it just makes a 90° turn up and out... and the ash cloud comes out the door in "puffs" of gray. Kind'a like the way a pop bottle "glugs" if you hold it upside-down. It ain't about enough draft, it's about proper draft... a smooth, steady flow, in the door, to the rear (away from the door), and out.
(Of course, a separate ash drawer, under a coal grate, makes it all a moot point... don't it??)

There ain't anything I like about that stove... other than it was free, and it's already in place out in the shop (now). It's seen its last installation... I'll cut it apart and use the steel for something else when the time comes.
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[brenndatomu]

^^^ 'Tis the season! ^^^

 

[Chris-PA]

Yeah... you would think so... but that ain't the case.

There's still some draft being pulled through the "manifold"... you can see it blowing/stirring the ash cloud. And then, to make matters worse, the "draft" exits the fire box in the front, just above the door, where the "manifold" air flow is the strongest. Opening the door increases the velocity in the stack, which causes it to pull harder through the "manifold", which just stirs up the ash cloud even more. Air coming in the door doesn't make it to the rear of the firebox, it just makes a 90° turn up and out... and the ash cloud comes out the door in "puffs" of gray. Kind'a like the way a pop bottle "glugs" if you hold it upside-down. It ain't about enough draft, it's about proper draft... a smooth, steady flow, in the door, to the rear (away from the door), and out.
(Of course, a separate ash drawer, under a coal grate, makes it all a moot point... don't it??)

There ain't anything I like about that stove... other than it was free, and it's already in place out in the shop (now). It's seen its last installation... I'll cut it apart and use the steel for something else when the time comes.
*

There is clearly something amiss - the flue opening on mine is at the front, right behind the airwash outlet from the upper air manifold, similar to your Spectrum. With the door open dust/ash from within does not get out of the door opening. Neither does smoke. It doesn't matter if incoming air makes it to the back of the firebox, only that any ash kicked up back there can't get out.

Maybe the door is too big. The area of the flue should be at least 10% of the door opening area. That's the ancient rule for fireplaces and I found out the hard way why that is.