loveless ash vac vs shop vac,,

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wildbill

wildbill

New Member
Oct 6, 2015
49
newhampshire
After using a shop vac for years I bit the bullet and went for the cougar ash vac, the shop vac works well but after having the filter bag rip and fill the house with ash, [ where the bag goes on the cardboard separated from the bag, the wife was pissed !! ] and with new carpet being installed later next week I went for the ash vac, I heard all about how loud, not much power etc. all I can say is its not as loud as the shop vac and yes the suction is a little less but not that much, picked up the acc. kit with it and I'll say cleaning is soo much easier now and does a better job. I cleaned out both stoves in less time it took to do one. both stoves had over 6 bags burned since last time I did a minimal cleaning and it didn't loose any suction, so all in all I'm impressed so far with it, that and after the blow out with the shop vac bag I'd say it was a good investment. The small attachments in the kit I got made doing the fines box, igniter clean out, fan's and all the little nooks in both the 52 and 68 was a snap to do, I'll never go back to the shop vac , well I'm using it to make it clean up after its self !! lol,,,,, :ZZZ
 
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I got the same vacuum. Occasionally, I will actually give the stove a quick 10 second superficial vacuuming while it's still running.
 
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I have a love-less from 1998 and replaced the filters for the first time last year. I don't know if it's because I take such good care of my stuff or what?
 
My Stainless shop vac with accordion style cleanable filter works amazing. $70.00 shipped on EBay.
 
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I'm glad I made the switch, after the blow out with the shop vacation I'm all set with that.. Lol
 
I found that if you use a drywall filter bag (to collect the ash) and get one of those plastic sump pump hoses you can leave the vac outdoors. I've been doing this for years and because the shop vac sits outside I never get any dust in my house.
 
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Thank you for this post, I am currently in the market for an ash vac, I've been shoveling it out thus far and need a much cleaner process as my wife is rightfully complaining about the ash in the air afterwards.

Obviously, I'd like to not pay more than necessary, but I'd definitely pay a bit more for one that is reliable, effective and allows the least amount of ash into the house as opposed to simply the cheapest option.

Do you have any recommendations of what to buy or avoid? Thanks!
 
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I use this Shop Vac model. It has a cleanable paper accordion filter. Never had any ash in the house using with wood ash or pellet ash.... I clean the filter after every 3 uses.

350-895484-847__1.jpg
 
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Cory S said:
My Stainless shop vac with accordion style cleanable filter works amazing. $70.00 shipped on EBay.
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I have the same vac with no problem. The dry wall yellow bags, and the filters get expensive,
with some of this stuff.
Good luck
 
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Powersmith bought it last year for around 80 bucks and the thing works great. No complaints and it's been very reliable. I have an extra filer ready to go if needed.
 
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Love the Powersmith. Kevlar bag that is easy to shake out and no more paying a fortune for Shop-Vac filters that don't stop the dust anyway. And a new filter for it is ten bucks if it ever does go South.
 
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JRA said:
I have an extra filer ready to go if needed.
Click to expand...

I ordered a spare filter from Home Depot after I got my vac. It showed up packed inside a whole new Powersmith. Sent three emails to HD telling them to email me a shipping label and I would send it back but I was keeping the filter I had paid for. Never heard a word from them.
 
I know the dustless tech { love-less } cheetah and cougar are expensive but after the shop vac incident and trying the neighbors power smith I went for the cougar and so far have been really happy with it, I've prob burned 30 + bags with 2 stoves , cleaned 2 friends stove's and only dumped out the ash, haven't cleaned the filters only shaken them out when I emptied it out, and by that I mean I haven't removed the filters from the motor. I still cant believe how shaking the little rod for a min has restored the suction, not as powerful as a regular shop vac like the 4.5 hp one I had been using but a lot cleaner and I'm not worrying about a filter blowing out or a hot ash burning it either. so imho I'm glad I spent the extra bucks and kept in America ,,, oh and its not any louder than the big shop vac
 
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Thank you, I'm definitely considering the Powersmith. It's def that one that keeps coming up most on searches.

I was curious how that compared to the models that cost twice as much like the Loveless Cougar or Cheetah. Also I wondered how it might compare to the comparably priced Bad Ash 3 which uses the HEPA filtration system (we have some allergies in our home). Anyone try any of these? (Thanks Wildbill for you thoughts on the Cougar)
 
Harman Lover 007 said:
Many of us have the Powersmith Ash Vac. At $75 it's a tremendous vac for the money. Fleet farm has them on sale from time to time for $69 free shipping. Just have to check every once in a while...
http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/powersmith-ash-vacuum/0000000087075
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You know, if someone offered me $50 for my power smith I'd take it, paid $60. I would get another one of those metal air tight cans. It takes less time to scoop it out rather than all the fuss with getting out and putting it away. And it is very noisy. My insert are 2+ feet off the ground and its awkward reaching the nozzle into the box.
 
mass_burner said:
You know, if someone offered me $50 for my power smith I'd take it, paid $60. I would get another one of those metal air tight cans. It takes less time to scoop it out rather than all the fuss with getting out and putting it away. And it is very noisy. My insert are 2+ feet off the ground and its awkward reaching the nozzle into the box.
Click to expand...

Interesting. My concern is reducing the amount of ashes in our home. Don't you think if you want back to manually cleaning it out you'd have a lot more ash in the house?
 
BillLion said:
Interesting. My concern is reducing the amount of ashes in our home. Don't you think if you want back to manually cleaning it out you'd have a lot more ash in the house?
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No, if you use a large scoop and carefully transfer it into a bucket there's minimal ash escaping. There's a thread on here somewhere all about on dust/ashes in the home, I don't think ash removal is the main culprit.
 
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Putting the vac outside with a longer hose us what I do too. I just raise a nearby window, run a hose extension out to my vac. No blow by dust in the house. I have a Harman, so when I turn the stove on but have the door open while vacuuming, the exhaust blower still runs, further pulling any dust out of the house. Love my Harman.
 
For years I put the Shop-Vac out on the deck with the long hose and vac'd out the wood burning insert. One year I was shoulder deep in the stove vacuuming away and then backed out into an entire first floor with visability of about a foot. A piece of old coals had nuked the filter element in the vac and yanking on the hose had turned the vac where the outlet was aimed back through the door. She was not amused. And it took weeks to clean the joint up.
 
BrotherBart said:
For years I put the Shop-Vac out on the deck with the long hose and vac'd out the wood burning insert. One year I was shoulder deep in the stove vacuuming away and then backed out into an entire first floor with visability of about a foot. A piece of old coals had nuked the filter element in the vac and yanking on the hose had turned the vac where the outlet was aimed back through the door. She was not amused. And it took weeks to clean the joint up.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a nightmare! Yikes!
 
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