Ash Drawer Mistake

[OilNoMore]

About a week ago I noticed that I had little control of the temperature in my fire. This was also around the same time that I went from one pile of not so dry wood to one that was a few months dryer. Then one night my stove really took off, limiting the air did nothing to knock it down. So to get by a few nights I just put one or two splits on it and went to bed, thinking that this new pile of wood was super dry of something. Stupid of me. This morning I go to change the ash pan out and when I put the second one in (have two just for this purpose), I noticed it did not go in all the way. What was happening was that any ash that had fallen through while I was changing out ash pans over the past few months had accumulated on the 'floor' of the ash drawer and was being pushed to the back of this 'drawer' each time I changed out an ash pan. What I had accidentally been doing was compacting all that ash in the rear of the drawer, thus not allowing the ash pan to fully fit with the stove for a tight seal as it should. I had about a 1" gap of air from the pan not being pushed in all the way. It is a miracle I didn't ruin my stove or chimney, the temp never was higher than 600. So, if your new to wood burning 24/7 like me, don't make the same error. Scrape those ashes out once in a while so they don't get compacted in the rear of the drawer.

 

[colebrookman]

Same thing happened when I bought the Oslo. Live and learn.
Ed

 

[ansehnlich1]

Yep, I got a long handled shovel just for this purpose, shoveling out leftover ash that falls behind the ash drawer. I empty my ash drawer daily, and when burnin' hard always get more down through the grates than the drawer can handle.

 

[Shari]

Good tip, OilNoMore!

Shari

 

[webby3650]

Don't really see how this could be a problem if the door shuts all the way. I have a oslo and I have to shovel it out every other time I dump the ashes.

 

[woodconvert]

I had about a 1” gap of air from the pan not being pushed in all the way.

Like said above....snot a problem as long as the door shuts and seals. That's common. You may have gotten into a portion of your pile that is actually "seasoned". 600F aint nuthin but a good thing depending on where your thermometer is at. I'd suspect that your most of your wood isn't up to snuff. The ashpan, at least in my stove, has ample gap aroung it and ash buildup on "the front end" happens...aint nuthin' but a thang.

 

[fossil]

OilNoMore, that's a great tip for folks new to burning a stove with that ash pan configuration, and I applaud you for bringing your experience forward here in concise and easily understood terms for the benefit of others. That's exactly the kind of stuff that makes this forum a valuable resource. Post on! Rick

 

[Ithaca]

I have a hearthstone homestead with the ash pan set up too. I haven't touched it since installation. Shovel and bucket for me. I don't want to have to worry about the ash pan seal and I figure it is just as easy to shovel it out as it is to mess with the grate and ash pan. The homestead has a high R-value for floor protection, much higher than average. I figure it is insurance against leaky ashpans or forgetting to put the pan in so I just leave it alone. The hearth beneath my stove gets warm but not hot to touch so I can't figure why else the manufacturer would have a 6.6 (short leg) or 2.5 (6 inch leg) for R-value floor protection.

 

[webby3650]

I have a hearthstone homestead with the air pan set up too. I haven't touched it since installation. Shovel and bucket for me. I don't want to have to worry about the ash pan seal and I figure it is just as easy to shovel it out as it is to mess with the grate and ash pan. The homestead has a high R-value for floor protection, much higher than average. I figure it is insurance against leaky ashpans or forgetting to put the pan in so I just leave it alone. The hearth beneath my stove gets warm but not hot to touch so I can't figure why else the manufacturer would have a 6.6 (short leg) or 2.5 (6 inch leg) for R-value floor protection.

Wow! I think that you are really missing out on a real convience !! A new gasket every season at the most would only be a few bucks, a gasket should last a few years. I only dump mine once a week! This is my first stove with an ash pan and I love the feature!

 

[LeonMSPT]

It'll be good to have run the stove long enough to know by looking at it, and listening with the blower off, to know when something's leaking. Even though mine has been around, and I've had some pretty drastic runaways, I now know by the look, feel, smell, and sound, of it that something's wrong before it gets too far out of hand. Just wiggle this and shake that, watch the flame... evenly distributed, coming from underneath... pushing on way or another, coming around a door...

 

[OilNoMore]

Yeah my wood definitely is not as dry as I would like it to be, but we just bought the place last spring, so we'll be catching up on that next summer. On that same front, the 6" of snow and ice that we just got hit with remind me to have my wood shed design set once the ground is try enough to build. No more tarps/plywood covers trying to keep snow off it once the shed is built. Even with the more moist wood that we are using this year there was very little creosote build up in my chimney. I climbed up yesterday to sweep it out but won't be doing that again this season.

All in all, I'm very happy with the Shelburne. Even with this ash problem, I can't fault the design of it. Initially I thought, "why don't they just put a notch on the bottom of the stove so you know when the ash pan is in all the way and can't push it beyond?" But I realize that without the drawer (or if they left the rear wall of the drawer off) people would unknowingly push hot ashes out the back, and who knows what kind of problems that would lead to.