Dusty Ash Removal problem

[Smiss]

I have an indoor wood boiler, with an ash pan drawer. When trying to empty the drawer into a metal container I get massive amounts of dust, doesn't seem to matter if I just dump the pan into the container directly, or carefully shovel it from the drawer to the container.

What do you guys do to manage the amount of dust?

 

[bing]

I have an indoor wood boiler, with an ash pan drawer. When trying to empty the drawer into a metal container I get massive amounts of dust, doesn't seem to matter if I just dump the pan into the container directly, or carefully shovel it from the drawer to the container.

What do you guys do to manage the amount of dust?

I carry my ash pan outdoors.

 

[tld400]

I think they sell vacs if the ash dust is bothering you. I go through the same thing when I scoop mine. No matter how easy you be with them you make a dust cloud.:msp_thumbdn:

 

[Mac88]

Our VC has an ash tray. We have a custom built bin that fits under the front of the stove a couple inches. Pull the tray, tip it so the ash falls in the bin, no dust. We dump it hot or cold using a pair of welder's gloves. The bin goes into the garage to cool, then outside into a 55 gal. drum.

 

[taskswap]

Our VC has an ash tray. We have a custom built bin that fits under the front of the stove a couple inches. Pull the tray, tip it so the ash falls in the bin, no dust. We dump it hot or cold using a pair of welder's gloves. The bin goes into the garage to cool, then outside into a 55 gal. drum.

+1 on the welder's gloves. I use them for loading, too. They're grrrrrr-eat!

I have an IWB too and have the same issue. Never found a good solution, but I do have a hack. I noticed that the "cloud" is pretty light and hangs around a fair bit. I have a vacuum I keep in the basement, an old Dyson that has a great filter, but you can't hold a vacuum and dump ash at the same time without help. So what I do now is, after I dump it, I quickly grab the vac and wave the nozzle around in the dust cloud. You'd be shocked how much it pulls out of the air - without scientific testing, I'd say it must be 80% of it.

I dump right next to the boiler into a metal bucket I keep there for this purpose. That handles 2-3 loads, which I then dump outside. I don't think I could carry my ash pan outside. It's really long, and so is the walk - I'd probably get ash everywhere.

 

[Mac88]

Be careful you don't suck any sparklies into that vac. Instant blast furnace. :msp_scared:

 

[taskswap]

Be careful you don't suck any sparklies into that vac. Instant blast furnace. :msp_scared:

True enough. I'm very careful about that, and also about transferring first to a metal container, then to final disposal a week later once everything's cool. I don't think there's any risk vacuuming ash dust out of the air, but you'd definitely not want to use a vacuum to clean the ash box itself, or a recently used fireplace. Lots of stories about that going badly.

 

[Incomplete]

Our VC has an ash tray. We have a custom built bin that fits under the front of the stove a couple inches. Pull the tray, tip it so the ash falls in the bin, no dust. We dump it hot or cold using a pair of welder's gloves. The bin goes into the garage to cool, then outside into a 55 gal. drum.

I think I may be your son, because you just described everything I do.

Ddi someone mention welder's gloves?
View attachment 276017

 

[stihly dan]

+1 on the welders glove. I pull the pan walk ouside right next to the door, remove lid, from can, dump ash, cover again. takes 4 seconds.

 

[kevinlar]

I have an old pot that I fill with ash from the fireplace while it's still in the fireplace.. dust goes up the chimney. I put the lid on and carry it outside. Welders gloves are very helpful.

 

[woodchuck357]

I use a 24x24 return air filter

stuck behind a box fan placed near the stove, blowing away from me. The fan sucks the filter up tight and the dust is pulled into the filter which is carried outside and tapped to remove the dust. I don't leave any ashes sitting inside because of the possibility of coals in the ash and I think I can smell it. Might just be my imagination!

 

[Ayatollah]

You can get one of those air filters that sit in an office on a desk, and turn that thing on before you start dealing with your ash, and leave it on for a while after. It'll make a difference, believe me. Our TV is above and to the right of our fireplace, and I always stick the chop vac hose up on it so it can draw dust out of the TV.

Also, about vaccuuming out the ash:
Wood ash is quite fine, and will plug up your shop vac's notmal filter in short order. I do use the vac, but only when I'm doing a deep cleaning inside the fire chamber. Cleaning ash from your 25.00 shop vac filtr is damn dirty and tedious. I make pre-filters out of various materials I come across, and rubber band them over the normal filter. Even with that the standard filter gets clogged, and I use the compressed air to blow it out. After about 10 times, it's pretty well embedded though, and I get a new one

 

[brenndatomu]

My wood furnace is in the basement in it's own "furnace room." When I'm ready to clean the ash pan out, I close the furnace room door 90% (leave it cracked open a bit to let the chimney draw air) Then I make sure the last load is burnt most of the way down, open the firebox door, keeping my ash bucket right next to the firebox door lets the chimney draft suck most of the dust up. I'll wait a few minutes for any remaining escaped dust to settle before I open the furnace room door back up. Keeps the mess outta the rest of the house.

The furnace filter stuck on the back of a box fan sounds like a great idea too! Spend $10 or so to get a good filter, it'll filter out even smoke particulate.

 

[Incomplete]

You can get one of those air filters that sit in an office on a desk, and turn that thing on before you start dealing with your ash, and leave it on for a while after. It'll make a difference, believe me. Our TV is above and to the right of our fireplace, and I always stick the chop vac hose up on it so it can draw dust out of the TV.

Also, about vaccuuming out the ash:
Wood ash is quite fine, and will plug up your shop vac's notmal filter in short order. I do use the vac, but only when I'm doing a deep cleaning inside the fire chamber. Cleaning ash from your 25.00 shop vac filtr is damn dirty and tedious. I make pre-filters out of various materials I come across, and rubber band them over the normal filter. Even with that the standard filter gets clogged, and I use the compressed air to blow it out. After about 10 times, it's pretty well embedded though, and I get a new one

They make these:
http://www.totalvac.com/906-61-00.html

 

[Fred Wright]

Yup, when scraping ash down through the little trap door into the ash pan, the remaining flue draft carries the dust up the chimney. Very little gets loose in the house.

A good pair of heavy leather gloves is a must when dumping a hot ash pan. I carry the pan outside and with my back to the breeze dump it into an old galvanized tub. The tub is covered and I'll empty it as needed.

 

[Whitespider]

Yep... welders gloves and carry the ash pan outside to empty.
I've burned my finger tips, knuckles and whatnot, as well as singed the hair on the backs of my hands so many times that I slip those gloves on out of habit before I touch anything related to the stove... heck, the habit is so ingrained I unconsciously put 'em on before I open the door on an ice-cold stove.

 

[Mac88]

Gloves. Nice long cuffs.

Tray. The stove is cold. It's 60 here today. Got the windows open.

Tray dumped into bin. Bin goes out to the garage until cool, then outside into the drum.

 

[allstihl]

use any old spray bottle you have, mist the ashes with water. problem solved

 

[Ayatollah]

use any old spray bottle you have, mist the ashes with water. problem solved

That's not been my experience, but I don't have an ash pan. You got's to shovel it out

 

[Mac88]

I don't want to wet down the ash. That would turn into muck in the bin.