Leafblower and a thank you

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pelletash

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Dec 9, 2011
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Did a full cleanout and the leafblower trick today. I've burned just under 30 bags total, but couldn't pass up what a 40 degree, partly sunny day, since cold and snow is due to return late next week.

To whomever thought up this trick, you have my eternal gratitude. Have a beer on me. The neighbor thought I had lost my mind, but that's probably not the first time he thought that about me.
 
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krooser first brought it to light here but, I believe the credit goes to his dealer(and mine).

BTW no pics= never happened. :lol:
 
Didn't get pics unfortunately. I have a gas leafblower, so it wasn't a "set it and walk away" operation. My wife was tapping the inside walls of the stove while I was on the roof hanging on to the contraption i'd rigged together. It worked, but I plan to invest in an electric leafblower so I don't have to be at ground zero when the cloud forms. Good thing there was a fairly stiff northwest breeze today. I was able to stand upwind of the cloud. :)
 
pelletash said:
Did a full cleanout and the leafblower trick today. I've burned just under 30 bags total, but couldn't pass up what a 40 degree, partly sunny day, since cold and snow is due to return late next week.

To whomever thought up this trick, you have my eternal gratitude. Have a beer on me. The neighbor thought I had lost my mind, but that's probably not the first time he thought that about me.
Click to expand...

We must be on the same wavelength. I was doing the same today and was going to give the same props to whoever the genius is. Nothing like a deep cleaning to bring back the "new" feeling.
 
pelletash said:
Didn't get pics unfortunately. I have a gas leafblower, so it wasn't a "set it and walk away" operation. My wife was tapping the inside walls of the stove while I was on the roof hanging on to the contraption i'd rigged together. It worked, but I plan to invest in an electric leafblower so I don't have to be at ground zero when the cloud forms. Good thing there was a fairly stiff northwest breeze today. I was able to stand upwind of the cloud. :)
Click to expand...

Get a bit of ash did you ;-) .
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
pelletash said:
Didn't get pics unfortunately. I have a gas leafblower, so it wasn't a "set it and walk away" operation. My wife was tapping the inside walls of the stove while I was on the roof hanging on to the contraption i'd rigged together. It worked, but I plan to invest in an electric leafblower so I don't have to be at ground zero when the cloud forms. Good thing there was a fairly stiff northwest breeze today. I was able to stand upwind of the cloud. :)
Click to expand...

Get a bit of ash did you ;-) .
Click to expand...

All things considered, not too bad. My house is a ranch style and the chimney comes up through the center of the roof. I was on the north side with the outlet facing south. There was a bit of swirling ash action going on, but nowhere near as bad as I could imagine it would be if it were calm. The worst part was the engine exhaust pointing straight at me. I smelled like I'd ridden 50 miles on the snowmobile.
 
pelletash said:
SmokeyTheBear said:
pelletash said:
Didn't get pics unfortunately. I have a gas leafblower, so it wasn't a "set it and walk away" operation. My wife was tapping the inside walls of the stove while I was on the roof hanging on to the contraption i'd rigged together. It worked, but I plan to invest in an electric leafblower so I don't have to be at ground zero when the cloud forms. Good thing there was a fairly stiff northwest breeze today. I was able to stand upwind of the cloud. :)
Click to expand...

Get a bit of ash did you ;-) .
Click to expand...

All things considered, not too bad. My house is a ranch style and the chimney comes up through the center of the roof. I was on the north side with the outlet facing south. There was a bit of swirling ash action going on, but nowhere near as bad as I could imagine it would be if it were calm. The worst part was the engine exhaust pointing straight at me. I smelled like I'd ridden 50 miles on the snowmobile.
Click to expand...

Yup, I see an electric leaf blower in your future. I just slip mine over the vent on the side of the house and aim it into the front yard and hit the switch. The crud manages to hit the ground long before the property line so I don't care about what the neighbors might think. The snow gets rather dirty though.
 
Does the leaf blower trick suck out the ash from the inside of the stove as well as the vent or just what's in the vent? Wondering how good it would clean out my PF100 pellet furnace. I have about 10 feet of vertical outside to a tee at the bottom. Then a horizontal sloped run of about six and then a 45 into another T to the adapter on the furnace.

The Enviro is a tee out of the adapter and straight vertical through the roof. I just pull that down and it is never dirty for some reason.
 
Ejectr said:
Does the leaf blower trick suck out the ash from the inside of the stove as well as the vent or just what's in the vent? Wondering how good it would clean out my PF100 pellet furnace. I have about 10 feet of vertical outside to a tee at the bottom. Then a horizontal sloped run of about six and then a 45 into another T to the adapter on the furnace.

The Enviro is a tee out of the adapter and straight vertical through the roof. I just pull that down and it is never dirty for some reason.
Click to expand...

It will suck most of the ash from any "hidden areas' in the stove... and also will help clean the vent although a once a year brush job never hurts.
 
thats funny, i hit about 1 ton recently (probably a little less) and took advantage of the warm day today in NY and did the leafblower thing to mine. Wasnt too dirty at all but im still glad i did it........
 
nancyp said:
My understanding is that you have to disconnect some kind of sensor from the exhaust fan. Is this correct?
Click to expand...

The vacuum hose is what you want to disconnect. It's possible that the pressure could damage the switch.
 
Ill be honest and say ive never unhooked my vac switch,and ive finished cleaning the stove out with my leafblower about 10 times so far with no ill effects. But tomorrow im gonna whittle a golf tee a bit and plug off the hole going to the vacuum switch from the combustion area.Or if it sticks maybe duct tape will work. Also before football starts,a must :smirk: , we are gonna try it on a friends p61 ,which has never seen a leafblower ever.Ill try to video tape that one for sure, Or it didnt happen. :coolsmile:
 

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After reading several threads, I bought a new toro leaf lower this week in order to clean my exhaust for the first time. I tried for the first time yesterday. I nice light brown cloud of smoke blew out of the leaf blower. I'm going to work on getting a better fit over the exhaust pipe.

I left the doors on the p61 open while I had the leaf blower on. I'm not sure where I can find the vacuum plug.
 
Ill know better tomorow, but if I can get at the vac-hose on my buddy's P61, Im bringing a pair of hemostats to clamp it off.....and duct tape...just in case.
 
When using the Leaf Blower try using some compressed air if you have it.
I leave the stove door essentially wide open and use short blasts of air to all
areas of the stove. Everything gets drawn outside, no mess inside. :coolsmile:

Stove will be spotless.
 
Can someone post a link to the actual procedure? I've tried to search it, but all I find are threads of people telling that they did it, and how great it worked. I'm getting leafblower cleanout envy.
 
i saw on one of the videos it looks as if the guy is blowing INTO , the
OAK ???

for those of us that dont have the vacuum feature, would this work just has good ??
 
I'm pretty sure you'll have a big mess on your hands if u pressurize the stove.

Matter of fact someone here has accidentally, it was messy.
 
Yup, any leaks in the stove would just blow air and ashes into the house. And having the stove door open would get you some time in the doghouse - fleas and all!
 
CTguy9230 said:
i saw on one of the videos it looks as if the guy is blowing INTO , the
OAK ???

for those of us that dont have the vacuum feature, would this work just has good ??
Click to expand...

That would be all bad. When people say leaf blower, they mean a leaf blower with the leaf vacuum feature.

You put the suction/vacuum side on the outside vent. It then pulls the ash out. The reason the leaf blower in that YouTube video looked odd, is because the blowing end (long snout) was removed.

So if your in the market for a leafblower... Make sure it is a leaf blower w/vacuum feature. I just bought my buddy one for X-mas. $40 for a good one.

Mine is 240 MPH or 450 CFM. One of the best cleaning tools out there. A must have. IMO.
 
GrahamInVa said:
nancyp said:
My understanding is that you have to disconnect some kind of sensor from the exhaust fan. Is this correct?
Click to expand...

The vacuum hose is what you want to disconnect. It's possible that the pressure could damage the switch.
Click to expand...

I wish I knew my stove well enough to know what the hell this is. There is little in the instruction manual about doing anything more than vacuuming out the exhaust pipe. Anything more complicated requires a "Call the dealer for this service." I'll have to study up on what you guys post here!
 
nancyp said:
GrahamInVa said:
nancyp said:
My understanding is that you have to disconnect some kind of sensor from the exhaust fan. Is this correct?
Click to expand...

The vacuum hose is what you want to disconnect. It's possible that the pressure could damage the switch.
Click to expand...

I wish I knew my stove well enough to know what the hell this is. There is little in the instruction manual about doing anything more than vacuuming out the exhaust pipe. Anything more complicated requires a "Call the dealer for this service." I'll have to study up on what you guys post here!
Click to expand...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Same here,I am reluctant to hook my (vacuum blower) up until I know how to disconnect this hose.Don't want to tear Nellie Belle up.Has anyone got a picture as to where it is and what it looks like on a Harman?Does it go to the conbustion blower motor ?Probably making a mountain out of a mole hill.But you can't un do it after its done...
Thanks
 
IMO if you leave the door open there won't be enough vacuum in the stove anywhere to hurt anything.

FWIW I have never taken any precautions other then opening the door and I've even forgot that a time or two.
 
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