Cleaning out the stove

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Wallace

Member
Oct 8, 2011
67
Prescott, AZ
My first not so negative post about wood burning...today I had to clean out the stove. I have found the ash pan to be just ok. We have been burning alot and the stove had a big bed of coals in it that needed to be removed cause it was causing us to load less wood. It was not particularly difficult but pretty messy. The biggest downer was that I had to rebuild a fire instead of just tossing a few splits on and letting the coals do the rest. Still way better than propane though:)
 
Move hot coals to one side... spray ash with water... scoop ash..... move coals to other side.... spray ash with water.... scoop ash..... Even coals out.... add wood.... feel warmth. No need to rebuild.
 
I always hate to hear of someone scooping put hot coals. That just seems such a waste of good heat. Try turning the draft full open sooner; just before the wood gets down to all coals. That will help. If you still get lots of coals then your wood is not as dry as it should be. For this, sometimes putting a few pieces of kindling on the coals will help, while having that draft full open. Sometimes a small split will do the trick. Dry wood is the easy answer.

As for spraying water in the stove, that seems silly. There should be absolutely no need for that at all.
 
I just cleaned out my insert and was surprised by the amount of ashes I took out. Had to get rid of some coals, as well. Thankfully, I was given 2 free super cedars and I used a 1/4 of one and it took right off.
 
Rake coals around toward the front with air wide open, the ash will fall through into pan. Shake pan back and fourth and empty in proper container. If you empty pan before it gets full you will not have a mess. I do it about every other day just because its so easy and does not make a mess, The ash pan on the Oslo is very handy once you learn how to use it. By all means do not spray water in this stove.


You should get good heat from coals before you load with wood. When you let pan get too full, ashes will come off the back when you slide out pan and make a mess.
If you empty pan more often thinks will get better. Folks will brag around here about not bothering with ashes for days weeks whatever, If you want to use pan empty more often.
 
Wallace said:
My first not so negative post about wood burning...today I had to clean out the stove. I have found the ash pan to be just ok. We have been burning alot and the stove had a big bed of coals in it that needed to be removed cause it was causing us to load less wood. It was not particularly difficult but pretty messy. The biggest downer was that I had to rebuild a fire instead of just tossing a few splits on and letting the coals do the rest. Still way better than propane though:)

Newbie mistake . . . coals = heat = easy starts.

Best thing to do is allow the coals to burn down more before reloading . . . but this is not always possible . . . sometimes the room is cooling down and there are still plenty of coals in the firebox so waiting before a reload is not possible.

If you need to add more wood since the coals alone aren't doing the job and they're building up in the firebox, open up the air control all the way and toss a small split or two on the coals (I like a softwood split or lower BTU split for this purpose) . . . wait 10-20 minutes and you should see the coals have burned down some and the stove is still relatively warm . . . you will not get a secondary burn typically with the air open all the way, but it will burn down the coals.

The ash pan on the Oslo is actually one of its better features . . . another tip is to take your shovel or poker and stir the coals before reloading the stove . . . this will allow some of the fine ash to drop down into the ash pan which will free up some room . . . and allow air to more easily hit the coals in the firebox . . . ash is good when you are trying to preserve the coals on an overnight burn, but sometimes you simply want to burn those coals down a mite bit faster and stirring and leveling out the coals (I also tend to pull them towards the front of the firebox near the air inlet) will help things.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
As for spraying water in the stove, that seems silly. There should be absolutely no need for that at all.
Don't argue with success. Not everyone has the hands of a surgeon. For those that have the hands of a sturgeon, leave what works well enough alone.

Most times I just move the coals to one side and shovel out the ashes. This morning I let the stove go cold and will clean it out when I get home from work.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
As for spraying water in the stove, that seems silly. There should be absolutely no need for that at all.

Helps to keep the dust down, to each their own..
 
LLigetfa said:
Backwoods Savage said:
As for spraying water in the stove, that seems silly. There should be absolutely no need for that at all.
Don't argue with success. Not everyone has the hands of a surgeon. For those that have the hands of a sturgeon, leave what works well enough alone.

Most times I just move the coals to one side and shovel out the ashes. This morning I let the stove go cold and will clean it out when I get home from work.

No arguing. Only stating what is obvious to most.
 
shawneyboy, as I've stated, there is no need for any ash and that is why there is no need to spray water into a stove.
 
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