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[caper]

Hey guys,one thing i noticed,every time i clean the ash box, i find it very hard to keep a nice fire going , it actually doesnt give me any relief until about two weeks when the box partially fills back up again, is this a common issue with the heatmasters..

[CountryBoyJohn]

I to notice a difference in my fire right after I empty my ash pan. But, not to the point of struggling with the fire. I always have a decent coal bed that gets the fire going. What I notice is more of my air hits the front of the box and as time goes on the air migrates to the back. I only empty my ashes every 3 weeks. I went 4 least time and that was too long. Less than 3 weeks and I end up dumping coals.

I think as long as you get a nice coal bed, it shouldn't be a big issue. But, I'll be open to any other recommendations other experienced Heatmaster guys have!

[truecountry]

I cut a 11 1/2 x 12 piece of 1/4 inch steel plate and laid up front on grate to help cut down air hitting front of box

[yoderheating]

 I know it sounds strange but you don't have to empty the ash pan out completely.

[Scott7m]

You are wayyy over cleaning the stove

even after I clean out I leave a few inches of coals in fire box

[CountryBoyJohn]

Yeah, when I empty my pan, my coal bed doesn't change. I just wait 3 weeks and simply pull the pan, dump, and return to the stove. I don't shake or anything. All that comes out is powder dry dust.

[kybaseball]

So I empty mine ever Saturday is that bad? Sure sounds like that I do it way to much.

[yoderheating]

Yeah, when I empty my pan, my coal bed doesn't change. I just wait 3 weeks and simply pull the pan, dump, and return to the stove. I don't shake or anything. All that comes out is powder dry dust.

 Thats the way to do it. The only time to shake the grates is if you are burning coal or if the ash builds up a lot on the firebox.

[Sluggo]

I must be doing something wrong then.  I'm having to empty mine out at least once a week.  I burn nothing but oak or maybe a dab of hickory .  Its plump full usually at 5 days.  Not only is the ash pan full but there will also be 5-6" loaded on top of the shaker grates mixed with my coals so after emptying the ash pan I give several light shakes and empty once more.  I know when it's full as I get a blazing hot spot right I front of the door and nowhere else.  I live in western Wisconsin and its been single digits almost every day if that matters.  Also I see people talking about not having much smoke coming from the chimney.  I find this extremely hard to believe as I get smoke all the time.  Only time I'm getting the clear ripples coming out of the stack is when I'm low on wood and it's squeezing every last little bit out of my coal bed.  I have a 10,000e with the secondary fan deleted.  Come on guys what's going on here?!?!

[CountryBoyJohn]

What does your ash look like?  Are there little black coals or just powder?  When I empty every 2-3 weeks, it is absolutely full of ash.  Almost packed.  But, that ensures I get all the heat out of it i can.  Those black coals are heat you're throwing out.  I COULD pull a full ash pan out every week (in fact I used to do that), but again, there would be coals in it.  When you let your ash pan fill up a bit, it will pull that hot spot back away from the door.  I get that same hot spot for a few days after emptying, but it gradually works its way back as the pan fills up again. 

As far as smoke goes, with the cold temps we're having, I'm noticing a bit more really white smoke.  I think that is moisture from the wood that's really only visible in the extreme cold.  When the temps are a bit warmer, I do have less smoke.  Almost none.  It also depends on the wood I'm burning.  How seasoned is your oak?  I have oak that was cut in July and it smokes a lot more than the other wood I have.  From what I gather on here, it takes almost 2-3 years to get oak down to a good moisture content. 

[Sluggo]

If your ash pan is full after a week,how is air getting anywhere but the very back of your stove?  My oak is only seasoned 6 months at best.

[CountryBoyJohn]

Well, I wasn't 100% sure on that until this week.  I'm having a fan issue (I think) and I was removing other variables by cleaning my stove as much as humanly possible.  So, I pulled the ash pan and shined a flashlight to the back of the ash sleeve.  I noticed that the air opening is above the top of the ash pan.  There is a couple inches or so between the top of the ash pan and the bottom of the grates.  I believe when the ash pan is full, the air comes in that opening and travels along the grates between top of the ash pan and the bottom of your coals.  Additionally, if you hit your shaker it will make that air corridor a little better.  Some guys say not to hit the shaker, but I do it for this purpose and I know Kybaseball does it too.  It seems to open that channel back up.  At the end of my burn cycle when there is nothing but coals left, I notice two cone shaped areas at the 1/3 marks near the front and near the back, where all the coals and ash have been blown out and I can see my grates.  I rake the coals back out nice and even and load.  Air flow is a curious thing and has a mind of it's own.  This is the best I can explain it.  It works for me. 

As far as smoke goes, I think we're in the same spot.  Our oak just isn't seasoned enough.  I was burning a lot of super dry and almost rotted wood and 12 month seasoned soft maple and had almost no smoke.  If you wanted to, you could buy a truck load of well seasoned wood for $50 and just try it. 

[Scott7m]

Sluggo, not sure how your developing that much so fast.  If your roaring in front of thr door seems like your coal bed is the thinnest there

[CountryBoyJohn]

Scott, mine seems to roar at the front too for a couple days after I empty my ash pan.  All that air just runs down the ash pan unimpeded till it hits the front then rushes upward.  What I do in that case is keep my pile back behind the first chimney pass.  I occasionally could hear the water boiling right above the door, between the upper bypass door and the main loading door.  It never evaporated though, because once it rose in the water tank it would cool back to normal temps before it reached to top of the water.  It gets that front end where the first bypass stops pretty hot.  Keeping the pile back seems to help till the ash pan fills up again and pulls the flame back.

[Scott7m]

Yea they can do that... 

Not taking out all the ashes is one answer to it

As rarely as I take ashes out I dont see it that often but have