Leafblower trick is amazing !

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

UncleAnthony

Member
Jan 19, 2009
233
Southern Maine
First leafblower use of this season.
Throughly cleaned stove, ran blower attached to vent pipe for about 15 minutes.
Was still amazed how much came out !
Many thanks to all posters on this subject, and most especially the person(s) who thought it up !
 
UncleAnthony said:
First leafblower use of this season.
Throughly cleaned stove, ran blower attached to vent pipe for about 15 minutes.
Was still amazed how much came out !
Many thanks to all posters on this subject, and most especially the person(s) who thought it up !

WOuld Love to see video when Members do this.......
 
UncleAnthony said:
First leafblower use of this season.
Throughly cleaned stove, ran blower attached to vent pipe for about 15 minutes.
Was still amazed how much came out !
Many thanks to all posters on this subject, and most especially the person(s) who thought it up !

krooser was the person that brough us the info. Not sure if he thought it up or was showed by someone else?

samm6 there are a few vids out there on youtube.





 
I have to give the credit for the 'leafblower trick' to George Jorgensen a service tech for Earth Sense Energy Systems (ESES) in Dale, WI.

I had a very poor performing St. Croix due to running the stove for an extended time on setting #1 and not having my ash pan tight.... all of this gave me a stove that wouldn't stay lit. I really didn't have a clue as to what was wrong. I can't blame it on Earth Sense (where I bought the used stove)... the sales guy offered to give some pointers on how to operate the stove but I was too smart to let him... I figured I was a long time wood burner (years ago) so what the hell could HE teach me.

Boy was I wrong...

So George came out and did a through cleaning of my stove (which had been done by ESES before I had picked it up two months prior). I had burned almost one ton thru the stove...

I actually had missed the cleaning appt.... but my wife told me he hooked up some kind of loud blower to the horizontal vent and it blew out black soot for 15 minutes. Then he came in and lit the stove and it operated perfectly just like when we first got it.

I was intrigued...

So I drove over to Dale and talked to George in person. He 's one of about 6 service techs on the payroll over there. George explained what he had done and how to make a vent adaptor for a leaf blower.... so I headed right to my local True Value and picked up a $20.00 El Cheapo blower and had to wait for another 40 bags or so to burn thru the stove so I could try what someone hear dubbed the 'leaf blower trick'...

I was just as amazed as the rest of you folks...
So Earth Sense Energy Systems is the originator (AFAIK) of this little trick... I was just the messenger...

I DO remember my first post about using a leafblower... shall I say it was met with a little skepticism?
 
Gave my Advance a good cleaning and the Old leaf blower trick today also, clean flame nice and quiet when the augur spins.

one of the best things I have learned here!!
 
Looks like i need the info on making a pipe adapter. I have a old still working leaf blower. Whats the adapter made from?
Thanks
 
Looking back on the old post Jay I noticed some of our regular members from years past have kinda disappeared...sydney1963, mkmh and big water...

What's cool is those you tube videos are from forum members...
 
krooser said:
Looking back on the old post Jay I noticed some of our regular members from years past have kinda disappeared...sydney1963, mkmh and big water...

What's cool is those you tube videos are from forum members...

Think we scared them all off??? Maybe they will show up later in the season.

Yep! The vids are from members that are from here, So they got it from you. :)
 
I have been using this method every ton since this topic was originally posted. It has worked great for me.

I always unplug my stove first to protect the board. The blower spins the combustion fan much faster than normal operation.

After a few times I found it better to leave the doors open when running the leaf blower. I got a smoke smell when burning after such cleaning if doors were sealed. I am guessing that the strong vacuum was shifting gaskets/seals.

Many thanks to krooser for sharing this and replying to my PM.
 
j-takeman said:
krooser said:
Looking back on the old post Jay I noticed some of our regular members from years past have kinda disappeared...sydney1963, mkmh and big water...

What's cool is those you tube videos are from forum members...

Think we scared them all off??? Maybe they will show up later in the season.

Yep! The vids are from members that are from here, So they got it from you. :)

If the women don't find you handsome at least they can find you handy....
 
Hmm.. never even knew there was a stove dealer up there in Dane. They must not advertise at all in the Madison area.

I do like how in the third video the ladder is propped up right on top of the electrical service for the house.
 
jtp10181 said:
Hmm.. never even knew there was a stove dealer up there in Dane. They must not advertise at all in the Madison area.

I do like how in the third video the ladder is propped up right on top of the electrical service for the house.

That's Dale... Hwy 96 (old US 10) west of Appleton...
 
Thanks krooser for sharing the info.

Did my first leaf blower cleaning this year and was very impressed like the rest of you.

Just a word of warning, if you have neighbors that live close you may want to do it when they aren't at home. Mine was quite a dust cloud.
 
ct_administrator said:
Thanks krooser for sharing the info.

Did my first leaf blower cleaning this year and was very impressed like the rest of you.

Just a word of warning, if you have neighbors that live close you may want to do it when they aren't at home. Mine was quite a dust cloud.

The ash clouds get smaller after you start cleaning after every ton...
 
Awesome vids. Here is another winter use for leaf blowers...

In my case, I keep my secondary corn bin outside on a covered verandah http://forum.iburncorn.com/viewtopic.php?t=6345 . To keep snow out of the house when hoofing by bucket from there, I'd usually shovel off an area on the verandah. No more. The leaf blower does the job now. It's a detachable leaf blower head from a 6.5 hp Ridgid blower/vac combo. Loose snow doesn't have a chance.
 
Question on the leaf blower trick.... Is there any concern with over spinning the bearings in the stove combustion motor? The reason I ask is that that a leaf blower moves a lot more volume of air then the stove combustion blower does, perhaps 10 times the amount. So I'm envisioning the stove combustion motor spinning up like a turbine. I've read that folks keep the leaf blower on for 15 minutes, and was wondering what if any the downside risk is to the stove combustion motor.

Sure does a nice job of cleaning though.

Carl
 
I use a Toro elec leaf blower on my NPS40, it works great! I've had no problems with blower damage or any other.
 
nosaudioil said:
I use a Toro elec leaf blower on my NPS40, it works great! I've had no problems with blower damage or any other.
Same here, clean it out every ton. Good that I don't have to climb a ladder. But, with every ton, the "smoke monster" is much more tame. Now looks more like a thick fog for a couple minutes then it is all over. I open and close the stoves doors during this process. Reminder, you might want to make sure your pellet stove hopper is empty, or plugged off. The suction is so strong, it pulls the pellets right out of the hopper into the stove. You can suck them out of the hopper with a clean shop vac then put them back in when the process is over. This allows you to get any fines out of the hopper and lessens the chance of them plugging the auger. I save out any crumbs and fines and use them in the burn pot when I start the stove back up. With the doors open and the leafblower running, it is a good time to brush down the inside of the stove. No loose ash coming out into the room. All of it gets sucked right outside. Add a remote control switch to your leaf bower plug and you have control of turning it off an on without being next to the blower. Not a bad cost for getting a clean stove. About $40 for the leaf blower, another $3 for the adaptor to down size the suction part of the leaf blower to 3 ins. (crimp the end of the adapter so it slides right into your vent pipe. And $2 for role of duct tape to seal it off each time I connect it to the exhaust pipe.
 
LI-Mini-Owner said:
Question on the leaf blower trick.... Is there any concern with over spinning the bearings in the stove combustion motor? The reason I ask is that that a leaf blower moves a lot more volume of air then the stove combustion blower does, perhaps 10 times the amount. So I'm envisioning the stove combustion motor spinning up like a turbine. I've read that folks keep the leaf blower on for 15 minutes, and was wondering what if any the downside risk is to the stove combustion motor.

Sure does a nice job of cleaning though.

Carl

Some folks are a little cautious about spinning the blower but, in my St. Croix, it really hasn't been an issue. I guess I've done it 9 or 10 times with good results.

I don't have a 100% seal on the pipe adaptor I made so there's some loss of suction on that end... it pretty amazing to see after you just got done doing a through cleaning and then you hit the on switch... wow!
 
LI-Mini-Owner said:
Question on the leaf blower trick.... Is there any concern with over spinning the bearings in the stove combustion motor? The reason I ask is that that a leaf blower moves a lot more volume of air then the stove combustion blower does, perhaps 10 times the amount. So I'm envisioning the stove combustion motor spinning up like a turbine. I've read that folks keep the leaf blower on for 15 minutes, and was wondering what if any the downside risk is to the stove combustion motor.

Sure does a nice job of cleaning though.

Carl
I have a mini also and have cleaned it with a leaf blower twice. Once when I got it and now I do it every month for just 5 minute. Does an excellent job of cleaning even the hard to reach places.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.