Warm Ash Vacuum

[juanboy2k]

ANy one have any experience/reviews of the 6amp 3 gallon canister vacuums that run from $229-$239?

My SUMMIT Oregon Pacific is great, but removing the ashes, especially if they are a bit warm or have a few coals in'm tends to be the main source of ash dust that descends all over my great room, where the burner is.

I searched the topics here and didn't find any posts related ... (at least none titled anything about ash removal).

thanks...!
john

 

[nosoot]

I ordered one of the Cheetah II ash vacs. Hope to get it by the end of this week. I will post information after I get to use it. Looks promising as far as dust retention. My little stove -VC Aspen has some hard to get to spots inside that I am hoping this thing will be able to pull the fly ash out of.

 

[nosoot]

Got the ash vac yesterday. Seems to be pretty well made. The instructions though seem pretty clear that it is designed for ash only . I am hoping it will pick up some of the chimney crusties that drop when it is brushed. The stove cleaning will probably be this weekends deal since we are due for rain here. Will post another follow up after i fill the house with ash!!

 

[juanboy2k]

Thanks ... it will be interesting to see how well the filter(s) work. And... I'm assuming that it can handle smallish live coals, since it is fireproof. In my wood burner, there is no ash pan, so I have to sort of scoot larger burning pieces off to one side and hope I've removed most of the larger coals from the ash that I wish to remove (at least during periods when I really don't want to let the whole thing cool down).

I usually clean it out 'bout twice a week.

The ash that floats up using my shovel (when I ever so carefully slip it into me metal bucket) coats the whole room eventually.

Staying tuned ...!

John.

 

[046]

even if it works... why?

metal scoop into a metal bucket works fine for me..
but most of the time ash goes into chute built-in firebrick.

when the reservoir fills up underneath chute... that's when ash duties awaits...

 

[juanboy2k]

The summit from oregon pacific has no chute, nor pan ... ashes are in the firebox. Thus when you clean them out, they come out via the front door.

When the ash is hot/warm, it tends to rise up out of the bucket, putting a layer of fine dust on everything in the great room. (When I feel really bold, I carry a shovel full of ash /coals out of the stove, across the tile, out the back door, and then dump it in the bucket outside. That's risky business however. Keeps the cleaning lady busy I suppose... but if the vacuum keeps it from settling everywhere, it would be worth it...

john.

 

[CharlieG]

Shovel and bucket method is 100% reliable..........

 

[cityevader]

I'm in the same boat with a wood-burning insert. There is only the front door for access. No chutes, No magic trap doors. Only manual scooping.

If I'm burning Madrone, three days can go by before I need to shovel out ashes. But if burning Oak, every single day...every single day...every single day... I need to shovel out ashes. Each time the finer particles float off into the living room, coating everything in no time.

I was thinking of inventing something back when I was torturously sanding sheetrock from remodelling....the invention taking root from prior years of "smoking"...and I don't mean cigarettes.

If one took a shop vac, and attached sucking hose to lid of a 5 gallon bucket, with another hose (preferrably metallic to suck the sheetrock sanding dust or ashes for safely) whose fitting went down near the bottom of the bucket and then submerged with, oh, 2/3 bucket of water. Resulting in a "bong" that would trap particulates in the water.

Of course, if daily emptying fireplace, the slurry would become very caustic, and I'm unsure of disposal requirements....just an idea.

Now, if one could evaporate of the water in another setup with much surface area, minimal volume, it could rapidly dry enough to send to landfill.

 

[husky455rancher]

i have an insert too and i burn almost 100% oak. sometimes i dont empty the ashes for 2 weeks. it takes practice but if you play with the damper and try different things like a few pieces of pine. sometimes i leave the door open for a while when the fires out to let the ashes burn down a bit. by mid winter i have it pretty much down. when do remove the ashes their all totally dust. last 2 winters i fit all my winters heat inside a 30 gallon galvanized trash can after doing it twice i know you can keep the ashes down its just a constant battle.

only reason i came across this is cuse my insert is in the living room and everything gets covered in crap when i clean it out. so i let the ashes pile up pretty high before i do empty them.

 

[cityevader]

Unfortunately, my Jotul Tamarack is TINY!! 18" length tops, and if the pieces are 4" thick, only five can fit. Once there's a thick layer of ash, the lower air intake gets choked up, reducing burn and increasing ash/charcoal.

 

[husky455rancher]

i got dutchwest. the small firebox size is my only beef with it. i can take 20" logs in mine. im not sure on the dimensions of the firebox itself.

 

[tatra805]

We are on a weekly cleaning shedule where about 50 to 75% of the ashes are removed and the rest stays as it is still red hot.

One thing with the vacuum systems. we had the separate bucket thing as sold by Karcher and other brands.

Please be carefull and empty them after the vacuum job-
You will be surprised how long ashes keep burning even might pick up heat in this closed box and how fast they will damage the metal bucket-eventually burn through.

small shovel and bucket only overhere.

 

[04superduty]

If one took a shop vac, and attached sucking hose to lid of a 5 gallon bucket, with another hose (preferrably metallic to suck the sheetrock sanding dust or ashes for safely) whose fitting went down near the bottom of the bucket and then submerged with, oh, 2/3 bucket of water. Resulting in a "bong" that would trap particulates in the water.

their is already something just like that for drywall sanding that has a hose about 1"X 20' that fits on to a custom sand paper holder that is hollow allowing the dust to go through the holder into the hose then to the bucket. most of the dust settles to the bottom of the bucket of water.
anyway, its all plastic, the 5 gal bucket, hose and all, so i dont know how well it would deal with the heat, but if you replaced the 1" hose with some metal flexible pipe might just work.
i bought the think from home dept for around $30 or so, but it has been a while so it might be more.
i also dont use it much, since it just cant handle the amount of dust created when drywall sanding, as anyone who has done it can attest.