Open Ash Door To Break Down Coals?

ckdeuce said:

Anybody? Anybody?

Stove is down to 300 and you have a huge coal bed that you want to break down. Open up the ash drawer to give it a blast furnance effect? Can't overfire with just coals.

Hit me.

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I'll get in on this one first, but I imagine it will have some legs. People do it, lots of people say you shouldn't. Overfiring obviously is a concern. Easy to forget. Additionally, you run the risk of something getting wedged in there, at which point you're trying to get it "un-wedged" with a hot, or worst-case, freshly stoked and blazing fire. The potential for problems is there.

That said, I gave it a shot and wasn't impressed. I find it easier to either manage my loads differently, or in a pinch, burn the coals off with a small split (rake coals forward, place split E-W, then full air). Others will chime in I'm sure.

I did just this afternoon. 20-30 minutes and the coal bed was perfect for the next load of splits.

ckdeuce said:

Anybody? Anybody?

Stove is down to 300 and you have a huge coal bed that you want to break down. Open up the ash drawer to give it a blast furnance effect? Can't overfire with just coals.

Hit me.

Click to expand...

Wrong, I think. Remember, a blacksmith's forge only has coals, too. I did a little bit of the open ash door stuff with our old VC until I noticed that I was getting areas where the coals met the firebox floor that were very bright light yellow, almost white hot. That's WAY hotter than the usual bright orange of coals fed with normal airflow. Given enough time, that would have seriously damaged the surrounding areas.

ckdeuce yeah too many coals can be a hassle we rake ours forward and just throw a small split or 2 on them to burn them down. The ash acts like an insulating blanket on them so raking them helps a lot. If it were me sure I'd open the ash drawer and try it...just keep an eye on the temp.

ckdeuce said:

grommal said:

ckdeuce said:

Anybody? Anybody?

Stove is down to 300 and you have a huge coal bed that you want to break down. Open up the ash drawer to give it a blast furnance effect? Can't overfire with just coals.

Hit me.

Click to expand...

Wrong, I think. Remember, a blacksmith's forge only has coals, too. I did a little bit of the open ash door stuff with our old VC until I noticed that I was getting areas where the coals met the firebox floor that were very bright light yellow, almost white hot. That's WAY hotter than the usual bright orange of coals fed with normal airflow. Given enough time, that would have seriously damaged the surrounding areas.

Click to expand...

Yeah.... Never really thought about the floor of the firebox. Good point. Old iron furnance's also used wood coals or charcoal coals from wood. Just added a blast of air and they were melting iron..... Point taken. HOT!!

Click to expand...

+1

Bad idea and a sure way to shorten the life of the grates. Let the ashes build up over top of the grates and rely on the doghouse zipper air to burn down the coals. Better yet, burn dry wood.