The suction is applied to the top; the way the “improved design” works, you apply the vac’s exhaust to near the bottom. I can see how it helps - it creates a closed loop that keeps the really fine dust down because it’s recirculated until it’s finally caught by the vac. It would also tend to boost the strength of the column of air inside the duster.
The suction is applied to the top; the way the “improved design” works, you apply the vac’s exhaust to near the bottom. I can see how it helps - it creates a closed loop that keeps the really fine dust down because it’s recirculated until it’s finally caught by the vac. It would also tend to boost the strength of the column of air inside the duster.
Oh, you’re talking about the pelleduster, now I’m tracking again....
Tried buying the plans online and get a Paypal error. Emailed the site addy and got a reply that they’d look into it...nothing since. :-( Time for me to figure out how to make it myself.
“How about scooping the pellets out with a small strainer, shifting them around to get the fines out over a trash can? Cost ~$2.”
sounds like a lot of work for 2-3 tons of pellets
has anyone used the corn vac for pellets?
i will need a storage container near my pellet bags, a hose into the cornvac over a bucket and a hose from the cornvac to my shopvac
questionis does my initial storage conatiner need to be airtight as well, say i get a large plastic storage conainer that you would put clothes in you attic, do i need to worry about moisture getting in? and how closedoes the hose need to be into the pile in there for it to suck into the cornvac?
i will look on the corn forums well
i would like to also see some pics of peoples home made setup
Here’s a photo of mine. Was in the middle of some other work, and the pellet duster stuff was just shoved to the side. My wife would kill me if she saw that I made a photograph of my workbench while I was in the middle of a project, so I took a moment and fuzzed it out.
You can see that I had to build it out of ABS; which essentially doubled the cost of the entire gizmo. But it does work well. Got a couple of mods for it that I’m going to try once I have some spare time from doing yard work.
No problem. You can see that I used a 5.5HP shopvac which is about twice the recommended power for the duster. I want to try putting in a baffle to ‘spin’ the air inside the duster to make it more of a cyclonic separator. This will burn off some of the excess horsepower, but is going to take a while to get to… (low on the list...)
I guess I’m either very lucky, or missing the whole point. To date I’ve burned approximately 40,000 lbs of pellets, many different brands, hard and soft wood varieties without dusting or massaging them in any way without ANY problems.
I guess I’m either very lucky, or missing the whole point. To date I’ve burned approximately 40,000 lbs of pellets, many different brands, hard and soft wood varieties without dusting or massaging them in any way without ANY problems.
Well, I burned 15 years’ worth of pellets in my old Austroflamm, and could easily reach into it to periodically clean (vacuum) the accumulated fines out of it. It was necessary to do that every couple of weeks.
Consequently, I NEVER had an auger jam, NEVER replaced the auger motor in all those years. That’s burning at least 3 tons a year, sometimes as many as 4 or 5. Those old Austros were built like tanks.
But with this new stove, the access into the feed hopper is so narrow that I can’t get my hand into it to properly clean it; and so I need a different way to control the amount of accumulated fines in the bottom of the hopper. Therefore the only way for me to do so with this stove is to keep them from going in there in the first place.
You might also be really lucky to be able to obtain fuel that is consistently low in fines. Some of this stuff I get in this area can have a double-handful of fines in a single bag.
to reiterate what steamguy said.....i consider the need to reduce fines to be a great preventative measure if deemed necessary or not. For the small amount of cash it gives me piece of mind
but the screening solution takes care of several objectives at once
my fiancee is very alleregic to dust
1.screen the fuel to eliminate fines/dust for the girl and stove
2.move the pellets from basement to main floor w/o lifting a single pellet by hand
3.provide a small container w/in feet of the stove with pellet fuel clean and dry and ready to burn....good for the girl to fill up as well as me
This looks like a fun project. I thought I was all set with my contraption until I saw this. I paid $7 for the 4” round vent pipe and used scrap wood from the shop. Curious though, How long does it take to fill the 5 gal bucket of clean pellets ?
Also, how does the user operate it ?
Fill hopper, turn on vac, turn off vac, wait for cleaned pellets to drop then feed hopper again and repeat
Or
Fill hopper, turn on vac, wait for cleaned pellets to drop then feed hopper again and repeat
Or
Turn on vac, feed hopper continuously until pellet source empties, then turn off vac?
This looks like a fun project. I thought I was all set with my contraption until I saw this. I paid $7 for the 4” round vent pipe and used scrap wood from the shop. Curious though, How long does it take to fill the 5 gal bucket of clean pellets ?
Mine takes me I think about three minutes per bag to clean. Imagine pouring a “stream” of pellets about the size of two-three fingers continuously out of the bag and into the feed chute - that’s how long it takes. Just long enough for my arm to tire out.
Also, how does the user operate it ?
Fill hopper, turn on vac, turn off vac, wait for cleaned pellets to drop then feed hopper again and repeat
Or
Fill hopper, turn on vac, wait for cleaned pellets to drop then feed hopper again and repeat
Or
Turn on vac, feed hopper continuously until pellet source empties, then turn off vac?
The last.
What usually happens with me:
- Vac on, pierce end of bag with small hole while vac is winding up
- Start pouring at about the right rate - pour about 2/3 of the bag at that rate
- Arm gets a little tired, so I get impatient and pour faster - momentarily clog the feed
- Set bag down and wait about 5 seconds while feed clears
- Pour the rest of the bag at the right rate.
Takes about a bag and a half as I recall to fill a 5-gallon bucket. If you build yours with an adjustable height, you can lower it down if you’re using a washtub for instance and that in turn lowers the height of the feed. You want the output tube as low as possible so the pellets don’t go all over when exiting. To feed it, I put the bag across my elbow in imitation of the way the old hillbillies used to do when drinking moonshine from a crock and control the speed of the feed with my free hand.
If I was truly lazy, I’d have some kind of shelf that I’d set the pellet bag on and then just slash the bottom… or maybe an Archimedes screw with a feed hopper… Hey, a new project for this winter...!
i bought the schedule 40 1 1/4” pvc and 90 degree elbow
ordered the cornvac
have an 18 gallon tote to practice with then moving to 45 gallon garbage can for main storage
going to convert the 220 to a double 110 outlet to power the insert and the shopvac on dedicated breaker
i also decided to run the pcv thru a return in the floor, i bought a few threaded two piece connectors
a few c-clamps and steel strapping so i can have a 3 foot piece of pipe permanently attached and supported in the duct and i can unscrew the top in the off season and put the grate back
and i can unscrew the bottom to switch bins, clear clogs, and get out of the way in off season etc
I guess I’m either very lucky, or missing the whole point. To date I’ve burned approximately 40,000 lbs of pellets, many different brands, hard and soft wood varieties without dusting or massaging them in any way without ANY problems.
You are missing the point. Any pellet stove with a bottom feeding auger will absolutely have fines built-up in the auger. These fines will eventually jam the auger system. Pellet stoves with top fed auger, where pellets and fines are “dropped” via gravity have less of a chance for obvius reason. Salesman will never tell you this. And until they start selling pellets in clear bags, and you buy a ton at a time, you will always get bags that are crappy.
I guess I’m either very lucky, or missing the whole point. To date I’ve burned approximately 40,000 lbs of pellets, many different brands, hard and soft wood varieties without dusting or massaging them in any way without ANY problems.
You are missing the point. Any pellet stove with a bottom feeding auger will absolutely have fines built-up in the auger. These fines will eventually jam the auger system. Pellet stoves with top fed auger, where pellets and fines are “dropped” via gravity have less of a chance for obvius reason. Salesman will never tell you this. And until they start selling pellets in clear bags, and you buy a ton at a time, you will always get bags that are crappy.
I disagree. I believe fines will most likely jam the auger within a top feeder than a bottom feeder. Within a top feeder system the aurger has to push up the fines and dust with the whole pellets. The dust will find its way down between the auger shaft and auger chamber hall. Over time, the dust would accumilate at the bottom of the auger feed, eventually causing the jam.
With bottom feeders, the auger shaft is horizontally feed into the fire pot. Fines are eventually pushed towards the fire pot taking pellets with it. This is why we do not here of Harmons having auger jams. There bottom feeders.
