Am I missing something? Advantage of ash pan

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I have an NC-30 in the basement on a 6x6 tiled pad. I keep a metal trash can nearby to dump ashes into.

I don't get the point of the ash pan. I pull out the plug then play around trying to scoop ashes down the hole, shake pan to settle ashes, scrape more into hole, repeat. Then remove ash pan and dump into metal garbage can.

I find it is easier to just take the ash scoop, scoop up ashes, place in garbage can.

Am I doing something wrong? I don't see the advantage.

 

[jeff_t]

Some designs work well, but I think anything with a plug is useless.

 

[Highbeam]

I'm with Jeff_t, ash pans in general and especially the plug/chute style are a stupid waste of engineering and add unnecessary cost to the stove. I believe that they are only installed so that the marketing department can check the box saying that they have an ash pan. What's worse than trying to guide every spoonful of ash into the chute is that the ash pan itself is usually so small that you have to empty it multiple times in order to clean the firebox.

Take a 3 CF firebox (say 16"x20") with 3 inches on the floor (halfway to the loading door on my BK) and you have 4.2 gallons of ash. The ash pan on my Blazeking appears to hold less than one gallon. Totally useless.

If you have a 5+ gallon ash pan and a system such as a grated firebox floor that allows ashes to fall into the pan aither automatically or with the opening of a lever only then we might have something to talk about.

 

[katwillny]

I was just having the same conversation with my son last night. that plug gets filled and i have to rattle the ash pan and all it does is generate more dust. id rather shovel it out directly to can. HOw are other NC30 owners doing it?

 

[Huntindog1]

My ash pan works good. Its big enough for a full load of ashes.

Plus it cuts down on dust in the house.

As I push ash and coals thru the stove floor ash door the stove is still warm and the flue is still drawing air up so it acts like a vacuum for any ash flying around gets sucked up the flue.

You have to be real careful shoveling hot ash out of the stove and carefully letting it slide off your shovel into you ash bucket or your gonna get a plum of ash dust going and settles all over your house then the wife is gonna be chasing you around with a broom.

 

[Slow1]

As pointed out - it is all a matter of design. I'm very much enjoying the ash pan on my PH. No plugs to deal with here - there is a grate at the base of the stove so ashes fall into the pan throughout the burn or when I shift the coals to the front at load time. When I notice the ash isn't falling then it is time to empty the pan. I have a second pan on hand so I just open the ashpan door, give a little shake (if the ashes are really high and it needs to settle a bit), then slide the cover on the pan (while in the stove). Remove full pan, slide empty pan and close the door.

Benefits over shoveling? Much faster, I don't have to worry about dust in the house at all,and I won't spill ashes on the hearth. The pan is large enough to go 4 days of hard burning, longer obviously when burning less. I've swapped the pan out with a 400*+ stove (did that this week) and I can't imagine how that would have gone with the shovel - though I admit that was pushing the limits as the pan was VERY hot and I had to move fast to get it set down safely before the heat through my gloves was too much.

If I had to deal with a plug I think my ash pan would be cleaned fully and used as a bun warmer as someone suggested in another thread...

 

[Highbeam]

The only good thing about the plug system is that it does not add another gasket to the stove which must be maintained leak free or risk a runaway fire.

With the full time open grate system, there is no ash against the wood. Most manufacturers direct you to leave an inch or so of ash in the bottom of the firebox to help the fire by insulating the coals. The open grate system is not unlike an elevated fire up on one of those fireplace racks so air can get to the coals from the bottom. Any issues? Does the fire burn differently when the ash bin is full?

 

[BobUrban]

Pulled mine and put a fire brick over the hole before I ever fired the stove. Useless IMO on the NC30 but other models do have more useful systems. I would be careful with hot ash in a large trash can inside the house. ESPECIALLY if the can is galvanized. Some funky toxic gas can be produced from burning galve not to mention cabon monoxide. I would feel safer with a smaller ash can with a lid to transfer shoveled out ash and coals to the larger can in a safe place outside. JMO

 

[wood burning cop]

my stove has the plug and an ash pan. i do not use the plug and it always stays in place. i will use the ash pan, but scoop out some ash and place it in the tray and then push it back into the stove when i am done. this makes less trips i make outside to dump the ashes. when the pan is full and the stove is full i then use my spare metal bucket and then empty both outside into a larger metal container until disposal. i was even thinking of cutting a firebrick to put over the plug in the bottom of the stove.

 

[Slow1]

The only good thing about the plug system is that it does not add another gasket to the stove which must be maintained leak free or risk a runaway fire.

With the full time open grate system, there is no ash against the wood. Most manufacturers direct you to leave an inch or so of ash in the bottom of the firebox to help the fire by insulating the coals. The open grate system is not unlike an elevated fire up on one of those fireplace racks so air can get to the coals from the bottom. Any issues? Does the fire burn differently when the ash bin is full?

You know I've wondered about that a bit myself. I was very used to the FV with the solid/flat floor and expected a significant change in burn character with this 'open' floor. However I haven't noticed anything during the burn that I can attribute to the grate. Perhaps the fact that the slats are more centered and are a relatively small percentage of the floor keeps it from being as significant (seriously reducing flow of air in/out - i.e. can't really circulate through there). I do notice a change in the PH from the FV with the air injection hole that is centered in the front. That keeps the coals very hot and they tend to burn out from front center through the middle as you would expect with a jet of air flowing in there. I expect that is a bigger contributor to burn-down of coals etc than the ash slats/holes in the floor.

As to full/empty ash pan - I can't tell a difference in the burn but will pay more attention now that you asked. If there is a difference it isn't a major one.

The extra gaskets and door is something that does concern me - especially when I read someone report that they had someone somehow accidentally open the ash door during a burn and not notice... that would be very hard in my setup, but the thought is scary.

 

[Michael Golden]

I have been running my stove just by scooping the ashes every couple of days. Then two weeks ago I said what the heck I'm gonna give this ash pan a try. To my suprise from what I thought would be a pain in the butt has made this stove very easy to clean. I clean it out every other day, this way I don't get a full pan and keeps spillage to a minimal. I would say they got this ash pan right on this stove.

Mike

 

[Highbeam]

In the heritage or the BK, I never had to do anything with the ashes every other day or even every other week. That's seems excessive.

 

[bag of hammers]

Plug system in the Osburn as well. The ash pan is pretty big I suppose but I never use it. The ashes have formed a tight seal around the plug (much like they fill in the spaces between bricks) - and I leave it as is. I'm a weekend burner so it's easy for me (can take my time, scoop out ashes carefully, cold stove, etc.). The plug doesn't seem to have any real value. I do however take the ashes outside to the big can right away (nothing sits inside).