Ash pan plug taking in air!

[chriscarson]

Hey everyone and suggestions on sealing up the plug on the bottom of the stove for emptying out ash? Usually I have ash over the plug which works sometimes but other times like now it must be taking in air, the stove is just a big ball of orange inside which is nice and warm but there’s air getting in. My gasket is good, I done a check on that earlier.
Osburn 2000 free standing wood stove.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Cut a plug of firebrick and pack ash into the gaps around it.

 

[chriscarson]

There is a cast iron plug in there already. It just seems that it’s not a tight fit it’s sloppy

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Cut a better fitting one.

 

[Corey]

Possibly take a file and go around the edges of the plug and the 'hole' in the bottom of the stove? Maybe something warped a bit or you got a small burr on one piece of metal or the other, keeping the plug from making a good seal?

My old dragon has an 'ash drawer' but no plug in the actual stove - just a steel grate in the bottom. I bumped the corner of the drawer on the ground and a little dimple of metal held it open a tiny fraction of an inch...Talk about some HOT burnin'! I filed the burr and got things back to 'normal' but it would still pull some air during the very cold / high draft days. Ultimately I used some high temp silicone and installed some 3/8" flat graphite gasket material around the drawer. Now it's pretty air-tight.

 

[begreen]

This could be a piece of charcoal or clinker is caught there and preventing the trap door to close tightly. Inspect carefully when the fire cools down.