Fellow base burners...Do you leave the ash pan in?

Canaan coal man · Post by **Canaan coal man** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 2:47 pm

As the title says. Would a ash pan half full of ash hinder the the heat from the base chamber to warm the primary air to aid in combustion efficiency?
Sorry this is a quick jant, but i have to get back to work. Any input?

Ill be back later

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 4:02 pm

I don’t think you would notice a difference. I always remove COLD ashes though, never right after shaking.

Post by **coaledsweat** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 5:50 pm

Yes, leave it in. Empty or half full. Otherwise stuff will fall, ash and clumps and then you'll have trouble getting it in.

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 6:03 pm

CCM do you mean run the stove with no ashpan?

Keepaeyeonit · Post by **Keepaeyeonit** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 6:22 pm

I always leave a pan under the grates ( I have 2 ash pans for my #8 ) and a +1 on what Scott said about not pulling the pan with hot ashes in it. I was told by Wilson that the pan helps protect the ash pit floor from the high temp of the burning coal above.

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 6:46 pm

That is exactly why Baseburner & baseheater bottom pans warp! “Pilot error” hahahahaha! The shakedown ashes keep the massive amounts of radiant heat from the yellow coals

from reaching the pan.

Always empty cold ashes.

Post by **Lightning** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 7:02 pm

Although I'm not a member of the elite BB club (yet lol), I do keep my ash pan out of the ash pit area on my furnace. My reasoning is that the floor of the furnace is able to soak up radiant heat from the burning fuel bed just a few inches above it. But, it being a furnace, the convection blowers push air between the floor of the fire box and the bottom air jacket panel. It adds just a little more surface area for heat transfer.

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 7:07 pm

Lee has an air cooled ash drawer

I’d do that too Lee if I had a furnace.

Pauliewog · Post by **Pauliewog** » Wed. Nov. 29, 2017 9:03 pm

On the bb I leave the ash pan in until it's ready for its next shakedown. The ash is cool from the previous shakedown and leaving the ash door open for the few minutes it takes to go outside and dump it, gets the draft cranking, in advance of the shakedown and the fresh supply of incoming coal dropping from the magazine.

I have two ash pans for the stoker and when switching them out, I leave the full one in the furnace room, let it give up its heat, and empty it the following day.

Paulie

wilsons woodstoves · Post by **wilsons woodstoves** » Thu. Nov. 30, 2017 9:01 am

good question.I think the ash pan should always be in when the stove is running. more so ,on a 6 or 8 that pan will protect that thin cast floor. two ash pans is the HOT setup...............wilson

Canaan coal man · Post by **Canaan coal man** » Thu. Nov. 30, 2017 9:33 am

Ya i should have been more descriptive with my op. At night i dump my full ash pan. The Stove then runs for the 12 hrs with an empty pan in the ash pit till the morning tend. Then after shake down the stove will run 12 hrs with a half filled pan. Dose the ash in the pan create "insulation" above the base chamber causing lower primary air pre heat? I dont know if this would matter as much on guys with suspended fire pots because of the gas path insulating the pot.

scalabro · Post by **scalabro** » Thu. Nov. 30, 2017 5:14 pm

Canaan coal man wrote: ↑
Thu. Nov. 30, 2017 9:33 am
Ya i should have been more descriptive with my op. At night i dump my full ash pan. The Stove then runs for the 12 hrs with an empty pan in the ash pit till the morning tend. Then after shake down the stove will run 12 hrs with a half filled pan. Dose the ash in the pan create "insulation" above the base chamber causing lower primary air pre heat? I dont know if this would matter as much on guys with suspended fire pots because of the gas path insulating the pot.

If anything freshly shaken “ash in the pan” would tend to add the the heating of primary air. But I doubt that you would notice any gain.

The main point is to keep the heat off the base casting to keep it from warping and cracking. Keeping ashes in the pan until “cold” does this.

I’ve found the best way to do this on my stoves is to empty the cold ashes, shake and reload.

Additionally, removing freshly shaken ashes does not allow them to possibly release their heat into the stove and hence the house.

Clear as mud?

Post by **Lightning** » Thu. Nov. 30, 2017 5:47 pm

I get that completely Scott. I dump my hot ashes into a galvanized 30 gallon can where they can give up their stored BTUs to the basement.

Canaan coal man · Post by **Canaan coal man** » Fri. Dec. 01, 2017 9:20 am

So the 12 hours i run the stove without ash in the ash pan i could potentially be harming the base chamber?

Sunny Boy · Post by **Sunny Boy** » Fri. Dec. 01, 2017 9:47 am

I think that the ash pan affords some heat shielding of the ash drawer floor even when empty.

Easy way to find out is if you have an IR gun. Run the stove without the ash pan for about 10 minutes. Then open the ash door and take a reading in the middle of the ash drawer floor.

Then put the empty pan in and wait about ten minutes. Quickly pull the pan out and re-measure the middle of the floor to see if there is a difference.

Paul