Can the Leafblower trick damage your fan motors?

I do run the brush a couple times the hit it with the leafblower,works great!

The only thing I worried about was the vacuum switch. I just disconnected the hose at the switch. This also allows air to go thru the hose and fitting in the stove to clean it.

But then again I don't let it build to much vacuum in the stove anyways. Let it build slightly and open the door.

Yeah, my pipe runs inside up about 5 ft, 90 degree elbow and out about 5 ft total length horizontal. I just looked under the cap and could see a little ways into the horizontal pipe and could see what looked like fly ash, not much but some. Creosote I thought was always pitch black. True? This stuff is a light gray.

Creosote is black....

stoveguy2esw said:

everyone is doing it see...

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ROTFLMFAO

I wish I knew where the vac switch was located.

MacP said:

I wish I knew where the vac switch was located.

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EZ to spot... it's the only part connected to a piece of vinyl tubing. Your owners manual will clearly show it I would think.

jjdesch said:

It was suggested to me by a knowledgeable tech that performing the "leaf blower" trick could damage your exhaust fan by causing it to spin at much faster RPM's than it is design for, thereby potentially damaging the bushings, etc. What say ye all?

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In a word bullcrap,

krooser said:

Groundhog said:

I've wondered the same thing, can't be good for the exhaust blower. I've been considering buying a pool and hooking it up to my 6.5 hp shop vac to clean my liner. The pool hoses are available up to 50 ft in length for around $30 which is less than an electric blower. I figured I could brush and then drop the vacuum hose from the top down. The bonus is all the ash would be collected instead of dusting the neighbor hood. Any thoughts?

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A shop vac just ain't the same deal... the leafblower creates a 150-200 mph suction. Kinda like comparing Linda Lovelace to Mother Theresa...IMHO.

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Now THATS FUNNY!

Excell said:

I am just to lazy to do it by hand now that I know about this . I am just a little worried about my neighbors pool .I was on my roof yesterday and noticed it is frozen over with no lid . i wonder if I would fill it with soot . Maybe I can do it on a windy day ,and it will blow far enough that no one will know what that dust is .

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I am not very close to my neighbores but didnt want a mess either so I duct tape a 2 pillow cases (one inside the other) that I have wet down to the exhaust of my leave blower and that pretty much contains 90% of the ash and dust to the pillow cases ( dont use mothers "good" pillow cases thought)

To add some realtime info to this thread.

The door of the stove MUST be open to stop a serious negative pressure from forming in the stove and possibly damaging the vacuum switch if there is one.

As far as the exhaust fans go, NO WORRIES

The exhaust fans are not situated in such a way as to allow overspeeding while using the leaf blower

The first time I ever used the blower, I was concerned about this very subject, soooooooooo I had a help run the blower whil I observed the fan motor.

Yesssss, the fan does spin along fairly fast, but nothing even approaching the normal 3000 RPM that it runs during normal operation.

The fan blades are not fit tightly into the housing at all.

These fans are of the centrifugal type and throw air off the outer edge of the blade creating a suction in the central hub area.


The low pressure in the central hub area of the fan blade causes air to be draw through the grates and out through the heat exchanger, exhaust passages and into the fan.

Using the leaf blower is not at all like turning compressed air into the blades of a computer fan.
This situation is far different, as you are directing a highly concentrated stream of air right into the blades.


The leaf blower is a high volume stream, but not a concentrated stream right at the blades.


Spinning the fans is a good thing as it allows the flow of crud coming from the passages farther up stream in the stove to help clean the debris buildup off the blading, sort of like a light bead blasting effect.

My small Whitfield exhaust fan spins right along with the leaf blower howling away, but nothing near what it runs during normal operation.


Not to worry.

If your still concerned, just don't park the leaf blower on the pipe and let it howl for 5 minutes, just buzz it for a few seconds, then back off, then hit it again.


Myself I let the blower scream until the air exiting the blower is free of junk.

Some observations

Snowy

Now about that serious negative pressure in the stove, you see I clean my venting and such with a leaf blower (every 25 to 30 bags which is overkill) without touching the vacuum line.

So far after putting close to 18 ton through the stove and many leaf blower treatments my switch is fine, a number of combustion blowers top out at 100 CFM and that would put a leaf blower around 3 to 6 times more powerful than all but the smallest combustion blowers in terms of air flow rate.

Most vacuum switches can tolerate more than 2" of water column difference and it isn't like a pellet stove is completely closed there is an air intake that is open.

But if you are concerned about the vac switch a piece of tape over the barb or a clamp on the hose will take care of that.

SmokeyTheBear said:

Now about that serious negative pressure in the stove, you see I clean my venting and such with a leaf blower (every 25 to 30 bags which is overkill) without touching the vacuum line.

So far after putting close to 18 ton through the stove and many leaf blower treatments my switch is fine, a number of combustion blowers top out at 100 CFM and that would put a leaf blower around 3 to 6 times more powerful than all but the smallest combustion blowers in terms of air flow rate.

Most vacuum switches can tolerate more than 2" of water column difference and it isn't like a pellet stove is completely closed there is an air intake that is open.

But if you are concerned about the vac switch a piece of tape over the barb or a clamp on the hose will take care of that.

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Smokey, I cleaned with the leaf blower yesterday and today all is well with my stove. I looked (somewhat quickly) for the vacuum hose but only found two electrical connections that I disconnected from the exhaust assembly. I will give it a closer look next time.

My question is do you limit the time with the door closed (a la J-Takeman) or do you even close the door at all? I feel like I might have left the door closed a bit long but, again, the stove seems to working just fine since.

whlago said:

SmokeyTheBear said:

Now about that serious negative pressure in the stove, you see I clean my venting and such with a leaf blower (every 25 to 30 bags which is overkill) without touching the vacuum line.

So far after putting close to 18 ton through the stove and many leaf blower treatments my switch is fine, a number of combustion blowers top out at 100 CFM and that would put a leaf blower around 3 to 6 times more powerful than all but the smallest combustion blowers in terms of air flow rate.

Most vacuum switches can tolerate more than 2" of water column difference and it isn't like a pellet stove is completely closed there is an air intake that is open.

But if you are concerned about the vac switch a piece of tape over the barb or a clamp on the hose will take care of that.

Click to expand...

Smokey, I cleaned with the leaf blower yesterday and today all is well with my stove. I looked (somewhat quickly) for the vacuum hose but only found two electrical connections that I disconnected from the exhaust assembly. I will give it a closer look next time.

My question is do you limit the time with the door closed (a la J-Takeman) or do you even close the door at all? I feel like I might have left the door closed a bit long but, again, the stove seems to working just fine since.

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My door is closed the whole time I'm out holding the leaf blower.

You can normally find the vacuum switch from the exploded parts diagram in the manual and then since the hose has to connect to the switch you look the switch all over for the hose (now it could be possible that there is no hose in some stoves).

I've already forgot to open the door before doing the LBT and nothing happened.

YMMV

smoke show said:

I've already forgot to open the door before doing the LBT and nothing happened.

YMMV

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They say that forgetting stuff is a sign of something, but, damned if I can remember what it is.

SmokeyTheBear said:

smoke show said:

I've already forgot to open the door before doing the LBT and nothing happened.

YMMV

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They say that forgetting stuff is a sign of something, but, damned if I can remember what it is.

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I'm in big trouble then...

I do the leafblower thing once (puts on flame protection gear) a year at the start of the season. I made a blank out of stiff cardboard to replace the motor -- about 10 min. I pull the motor, replace it with the cover, pull the hose from the vacuum switch, crack the stove door and let it rip. This is after the brush and vacuum of course. I thought that the 'hurricane wind' from the leafblower probably spun the impeller about 10 gazillion RPM and might not be good for the motor. This way, don't matter.

I have used a leaf blower on my Whitfield approx. 4-5 times with no adverse affects so far but I do unhook the vacuum switch