Vac System Build: Cheap and Effective!

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VTPellets

New Member
Aug 14, 2015
23
VT
A few weeks ago I posted here asking for some advice about a pellet transport system. I need to store them in bags in my basement, and the stove is on my main floor. PITA hauling bags up the stairs all winter. So, lazy-engineer-me took over and I got a lot of great advice from you guys.

My goal was to suck pellets up from a mass storage bag in my basement vertically about 12 feet into a bucket next to the stove that I could then easily dump into the hopper. I've assembled this cheap vertical transport system that's effective and a hoot to watch.

Album here.

Parts:
  • Kanaflex 2.5" ID vacuum hose. Before anyone asks, it's grounded. No static. And it won't buckle under pressure. (15ft at $60)
  • Shop Vac 6.5HP wet/dry vac ($120)
  • Dust Deputy cyclonic filter kit with 5-gal buckets ($100)
  • FIBC bag, waterproof ($15)
  • 2.75" hole borer with arbor ($50)
I was skeptical about it, but damn, it works. The only gripes are that the shop vac is a bit noisy, but no more than vacuuming your house for example. It's also not pretty, so I may build a nice shroud made to look like a chest or something around it.
 
Last edited:
I love the dust deputy cyclone, I own 2. I can't believe that you get a 12 ft lift out of the shop vac, but I am not familiar with the weight of pellets. Good on you for inventing the lift system. I'd probably be looking at a corkscrew feeding method instead.
 
Low cost. I like it. I built a box with 3 sheets of plywood and some bracing and hinges from HD-neater maybe but can't beat 15 bucks.
Do you think the vacuum filter will pick up a lot of dust?
 
Nice setup. I'm sure it will save a lot of work for years to come.
 
Nice visuals and explanation (FWIW - LGTWhit, I missed the album the first time too, so was glad you asked about the pics first ;)). Is that an electrical extension in that last pic (that big red/orange knot near the ceiling)? Ya know, they make shorter extensions ==c
 
Haha, yeah it's normally hooked into something across the basement, since outlets are limited down there. I had it running along the joists and needed it for something else a closer so I figured I'd just wrap it up!

And we'll see about dust in the filter. I've only sucked up a couple hundred pounds of "test" pellets, and so far the filter and shop vac are clean as new.
 
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Reactions: velvetfoot
beautiful job, maybe make a second 2.75 inch hole and mount the shop vac in the basement to cut down on noise.
 
Nice job! Interested to hear how that works out over a full season. You'll need to keep us posted. How do you move that big bag of pellets around?
 
Out of curiosity, are there issues with static buildup in theses systems?. When I was doing a lot of woodworking, I had dust collector system set up and there was a lot of warnings that the entire system needed to be grounded so that sparks wouldn't ignite the dust in the piping. I did ground mine and never had issues but have read over the years of systems exploding due to dust ignition.
 
@pass: I don't move it around. Once it's full, it stays put. It's pretty heavy!

@peak: the reason I went with the kanaflex hose was because it is grounded, and specifically designed for waste material/liquid suction. I heard a lot of recommendations for grounding the hose because of the risk of static buildup.
 
Thanks for the info on the hose, I ran bare wire inside my pipes as I was paranoid about static.
 
So you manually fill the bag in place from individual 40 lb bags? No bulk delivery or buying a 1 ton bag available where you live?
 
A few weeks ago I posted here asking for some advice about a pellet transport system. I need to store them in bags in my basement, and the stove is on my main floor. PITA hauling bags up the stairs all winter. So, lazy-engineer-me took over and I got a lot of great advice from you guys.

My goal was to suck pellets up from a mass storage bag in my basement vertically about 12 feet into a bucket next to the stove that I could then easily dump into the hopper. I've assembled this cheap vertical transport system that's effective and a hoot to watch.

Album here.

Parts:
  • Kanaflex 2.5" ID vacuum hose. Before anyone asks, it's grounded. No static. And it won't buckle under pressure. (15ft at $60)
  • Shop Vac 6.5HP wet/dry vac ($120)
  • Dust Deputy cyclonic filter kit with 5-gal buckets ($100)
  • FIBC bag, waterproof ($15)
  • 2.75" hole borer with arbor ($50)
I was skeptical about it, but damn, it works. The only gripes are that the shop vac is a bit noisy, but no more than vacuuming your house for example. It's also not pretty, so I may build a nice shroud made to look like a chest or something around it.


VT Pellets: Can't get the album link to work.
 
Hi VTpellet
I would really like to see the pics, but
When I Click on Album
I See pic 1 below
When I click on the link
I see pic 2 below

Am I doing something wrong or has something changed?

Click on pic below to enlarge:
 

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