Replacing Ash Pan With Fire Brick

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Todd

Todd

Minister of Fire
Nov 19, 2005
10,342
NW Wisconsin
After reading the thread on the new Jotul 55 something came up about replacing ash pans with fire bricks or just laying them on top. My Keystone's have the ash pan and there is a removable grate above so I took it out and laid some bricks inside. This gives me an extra 1.5" height in the fire box which looks like a lot more than before. I know the old style Keystone and Palladian models didn't have ash pans and I'm wondering if this mod makes my fire box the same as the old ones? The specs say the height is 13" but with the ash grate installed I only get 12", without the grate I get 13.5". I'll fire this stove up later tonight and see what happens, hope I don't melt through the bottom.

Do you Jotul guys have removable ash grates?
 

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here's a picture of the ash grate installed.
 

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Modifying a wood stove. I am shocked. Shocked I tell you.
 
Nope not removable for me. Looking forward to hearing your results though Todd.
 
Maybe I should wait and see what Woodstock says. I might warp that bottom and not be able to use the ash pan in the future?
 
Todd said:
Maybe I should wait and see what Woodstock says. I might warp that bottom and not be able to use the ash pan in the future?
Click to expand...

Does your manual state the thickness of the ash pan walls?
 
mikepinto65 said:
Todd said:
Maybe I should wait and see what Woodstock says. I might warp that bottom and not be able to use the ash pan in the future?
Click to expand...

Does your manual state the thickness of the ash pan walls?
Click to expand...

Nope but it must be pretty thick because it's part of the whole base of the stove not a seperate piece.
 
Todd:

I would 'bury' the firebrick in a couple inches (or so) of ash. You'll want some ash on the firebox floor anyway, and I think it should provide adequate insulation for the ash pan.

Some lost firebox volume, maybe, but for an experiment, what the hey.

Peter B.

-----
 
Hey Todd. If you want the thread to disappear before a copy ends up in your warranty folder at Woodstock, let me know. :lol:
 
BrotherBart said:
Hey Todd. If you want the thread to disappear before a copy ends up in your warranty folder at Woodstock, let me know. :lol:
Click to expand...

HaHa, good one, That folder must be one of the thickest ones there by now. Probably sick and tired of all my questions.
 
as long as you have bricks lining the bottom of that stove, you should be fine. I would do like another poster stated, get some ash and put it all round the firebrick to fill in the voids. let us know your results, I like 'redneck' lab testing and you have my curiousity piqued......lol....
 
Peter B. said:
I would 'bury' the firebrick in a couple inches (or so) of ash. You'll want some ash on the firebox floor anyway, and I think it should provide adequate insulation for the ash pan.

-----
Click to expand...

x2

That's what I did when I modified my stove. But I found I preferred the ash pan, so I went back to it. No harm done.
 
I use sand in the bottom of my Chiminea............
 
Lit her off tonight and it burns much different. I think the deeper box screws up the air circulation. Glass is dirty on the sides and the hearth is much hotter underneath. I suppose if I laid another layer of brick down it would be at about the same level as the ash grate and prolly burn similar. No sense in doing that I was looking for a little larger fire box. Oh well, I tried, it works fine as designed.
 
Thanks for starting this new thread! My Castine has a fixed grate so I can't remove it. Looks like based on your test it may not be worth trying the modification. Appreciate the information!
 
Todd said:
I think the deeper box screws up the air circulation. Glass is dirty on the sides and the hearth is much hotter underneath.
Click to expand...

A lot of R&D goes into these stoves so I can't say I'm surprised, it was worth a shot though. :)
 
rdust said:
Todd said:
I think the deeper box screws up the air circulation. Glass is dirty on the sides and the hearth is much hotter underneath.
Click to expand...

A lot of R&D goes into these stoves so I can't say I'm surprised, it was worth a shot though. :)
Click to expand...
Hey nothing wrong with giving it a try.
 
Nice controlled experiment. When I read this I looked around at the NC30 and wondered if it would be possible to put fire bricks in the ash drawer. The drawer looks like it would hold at least two bricks. Is there any benefit to adding more mass to the stove? Your thoughts?
 
The mass of two bricks probably won't slow the cool down a noticable amount, but I did keep the Century's ash pan full of ash and I think it did help. It was a much smaller stove with a much larger ash pan though.

For the 30 I did remove the iron plug and cut a piece of firebrick to fit the hole. The ash pan on the 30 is useless.

Matt
 
I kinda wish I could do away with the ash pan on my Napoleon 1900 all together and line of with brick, creating a firebox nearly twice as big as it is already......but that's not safe NOR possible as the ash pan is outside the heavy firebox......boy would that make for longer burns......lol!
 
Nothing wrong with experimenting so long as there is no danger involved. That is, danger to person or stove.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Nothing wrong with experimenting so long as there is no danger involved. That is, danger to person or stove.
Click to expand...
+1 Sav!!
 
Todd said:
Lit her off tonight and it burns much different. I think the deeper box screws up the air circulation. Glass is dirty on the sides and the hearth is much hotter underneath. I suppose if I laid another layer of brick down it would be at about the same level as the ash grate and prolly burn similar. No sense in doing that I was looking for a little larger fire box. Oh well, I tried, it works fine as designed.
Click to expand...

Interesting, thanks for trying and keeping us posted!
 
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