Question about Leaf Blower Trick

I picked up the one on sale at Lowes. Troy built. Went back to the thread that said to add a 4 in piece of schedule 40 PVC and a 4 in. metal adapter. I went 4 in. to 3 in. With some duct tape, I was able to put it all together. tape all seams together to prevent air leaks. Tape it to your outside stove pipe. Balance the the blower on something. turn it on, get away, (Need to get about 20 feet away!)then plug the extension cord in. If you run it while holding it, you will be black with soot. The black cloud will go away in a few minutes, and the black snow will soon be covered with a new layer of white stuff. Your stove should run much better. I am anxious to find out if this does anything to clean the blowers.

I was wondering the same thing, cleaned my exhaust pipe last week with a brush got about 2 cups of soot out of it. Yesterday did a good cleaning inside of the stove and behind the firebrick and all of the airways, then I did the leafblower trick I had a stream of black soot for about 30 sec coming out of the exhaust, I wished I had taking a look at the blowers before I started. I should of done a before an after. It's a new Lopi used 1.5 tons so far

I had to log in and tell you about my leaf blower experience.

I have a Whitfield Traditions Pellet stove for five years. I use about 4 tons per year.

The stove has slowly gotten less and less efficient over time. This season, it's just a soot factory. glass is black in two hours and heat output is low. I clean and clean, I used a shop vac on the the exhaust whit little improvement.

Knowing that there were internal areas that must be blocked full of ash I searched the net for a solution.

Who would have thunk that a Troy built Leaf blower / vac (on sale at Lowes for $39.99) would do the trick. I made and adapter, connected it up and plugged it in. I let it run for about five min.

Put the stove back in service and wholly crap, it runs like brand new. It been running now for three days, no soot and just a light amount of gray ash on the glass. Fire pot has remained clean and it's making great heat once again.

Thanks for the info on this trick.

Ted

Is this safe to do on all pellet stoves? Could I do this on my Harman XXV without damaging something in the stove like a sensors or something?

I just bought my Troy-Bilt blower/vac today at Lowes (clearance priced @ $40).

It fit bee-utifully onto my 4" pellet vent pro with no taping or adapters. Awesome !

The stove is Quad CB1200 freestanding, is brand new this year, and has had 2.5 tons of Hamer's Hot ones (love 'em) put through it.

I think it was just starting to get a little congested and the flame was slightly less lively than when new... After the blower trick it is as good as new. I think I won't bother with a proper full cleanout until the season is over.

I am glad to have heard of the leaf blower method. Thanks !

P.S. I wouldn't personally be worried about any damages to an expensive gas powered leaf blower after performing this maneuver with my el-cheapo... Sure, there is some ash visible on the outer housing of the machine and the blower fan has some ash staining but who cares ? There is no heavy build-up and I wouldn't expect any reduced blower performance even after dozens of pellet stove cleanings...

Great to see you guys are having good luck with it...

Can someone post thread to leaf blower trick? I would like to check it out in deatail

investor7952 said:

Can someone post thread to leaf blower trick? I would like to check it out in deatail

Click to expand...

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/29847/

Mark

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