Forced Air Manifold

[PerryFamily]

Added a blower ( which was too big!) and what a difference. I used blanket insulation and bricks to block off the draft door and make a ramp directing the air up. It actually directed the air directly at the doors. I had a heck of a time keeping the doors shut and had them glowing ( with insulation on them ) and the casting glowing around them.

Anyway- Has anyone built a "manifold" in their ash pit directing the air straight up? If so, are there any pictures available?

I was thinking about a 1/8" steel manifold, with holes or kinda nozzles facing up using the existing blower. Similar to the wood saver grates just under my existing grates.

Thanks in advance

[maple flats]

In my combination AUF-AOF (air under fire-air over fire) setup I simply used a piece of 4" galvanized smoke pipe. It lays under the grates and starts at the back and runs to about 6" from the front, right on the floor under the arch. In this pipe I have 3 rows of holes drilled, one top center, and one one each side pointing almost to the edge of the grates. These holes are spaced along the length about every 4" and are 3/8" diameter holes. AS such they give the fire good air, but I do need to remove ash every 2-3 days. If they were set up a few inches off the base I could empty ashes less often, maybe next time. This under fire air can be either HP or low pressure, mine it tied to my HP blower for AOF and I just regulate the flow down to what I need for the AUF. By the way, doing like I do does not blow anything at the door and in fact I refuel with the blower running and never get any thing blowing out the door when opened.