Ash Vac

What do you guys recommend as far as a good hot ash vac that's not to pricey

You had me until you mentioned "pricey." Prices I've seen range from $69 to over $300 . . . I am curious to see what the price is on the Shop Vac brand ash vac and how well it works.

Hopefully I get some more feed back then I will decide which one to get and I'll let you know how we'll it works

Previously I had been using the Cricket ash vacuum, which was a total piece of junk, but I was using it until I needed a new one. Then, the folks at Love Less Ash Company did a vacuum giveaway and I won one of them last year. I think firefighter jake won one also. It is a good product that works very well for ash cleanup and the suction is good. I believe normal price for one is around $200...but well worth the money.

I'm gonna try it out. Thanks for the feed back

Yup . . . I won a Love Less Ash Vac . . . and while pricey . . . and while I may never have bought one on my own . . . I have to say I really love this thing . . . makes cleaning up the hearth wicked easy. About the only negative (besides the price) would be the loud noise . . . when I fire it up it drives both the cats and my wife out of the room.

I have a love less also. It work very good. Stay on top of cleaning it though. It sure does beat the shop vac catching on fire.

Bruce

(Go ahead Jake....ask me how I know)

I have whatever the "quieter" Love-Less Ash Vac is and it is awesome other than still being super loud. If this is the quiet model, I wonder what the regular model is like!

One thing with these vacs are that they are truly "ash" vacs only. In other words don't try to pick up pieces of coal or wood or anything with them because that is fuel for future fires you wouldn't want to throw away anyway and also because those things tend to clog the vacuums really quickly.

If you read the reviews of these vacuums the people who don't understand how to use them are always complaining that they are awful because they constantly clog up. That comment right there proves they are not actually using the vacuum the right way.

Everyone else who understands how to use these seems to love them. They make cleaning the stove and surrounding areas so easy and so fast and much more importantly they are super safe because they have flexible metal hoses, fiberglass filter media and double hull bottoms to prevent problems from sucking in some hot ash.

Remember though that the filter media can still get burned by sucking in hot coals (as opposed to hot ash) and also remember that isn't what the vacuum is supposed to suck up anyway ... ash only or else you are vacuuming up fuel, clogging the vacuum and possibly also burning the vacuum's filters. Hope that helps.

How do u prevent from sucking up the hot coals?

Don't vacuum inside the firebox. Most of us shovel out the firebox into a coal/ash bucket and then vacuum up any ash that spilled onto the stove and surrounding hearth.

I tried doing that but dust goes all over the place. Should I close the damper when doing it

Be gentle dumping ash into the bucket, do it in front of the open stove door with a warm, but not hot, stove. That way the stove draft sucks up most of the stray dust. When you dump each shovelful, do it like it's going to explode if you drop it. Easy does it.

Definitely do not close the damper.

It's really easy if you follow the instructions they provide that say you should lightly press the tip of the hose to actually touch against the floor of the firebox. This way the ashes get sucked in past some small ridges at the tip but the coals don't get sucked in. Again the people who have troubles with these vacs tend to hold the hose above the ash bed and then they suck up everything until something gets stuck. After just a few times for practice everyone can easily get a super clean stove without any mess anywhere.

I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I'm gonna go get the loveless vac

I really think that you'll like it lots! Read the instructions included and follow them closely to get the best results.

Oh I suspect I know the answer to that question.

I pretty much only use my vac to clean up the hearth, ash lip and surrounding area where there is a less likely chance of sucking up a hot coal.

So all u use is a shovel then for the firebox. I used it today and it worked like a charm

That's a yes from me

Nope . . . the Oslo has a very useful and functional ash pan that I empty every 3-4 days once I am burning 24/7 . . . the ash vac just is used to clean up the spillage on the hearth and on the stove . . . and interestingly enough the Oslo is infamous for its sticky air control lever that I always fixed with a liberal application of graphite powder . . . for some reason since using the ash vac I have not had to apply the graphite powder (perhaps the vac sucks up any fine ash that causes it to bind -- that's my theory anyways.)

Just as another variation, I use mine for everything from the firebox itself to the ashlip to the hearth etc. I don't even use my ashpan anymore!

Typically to clean the stove I:

1. Turn on the vacuum and hold the hose to hover way above the ash bed/coal bed.
2. Rake all the coals and chunks of whatever wasn't burned to the front of the stove while still hovering the vacuum above the ashes (this is to capture the airborne ash which happens when raking).
3. Vacuum up all the ashes except an even 1/2 or so of leftover.
4. Randomly rake around all the remaining ash, coals, chunks etc to reestablish the 1/2' ashbed (and to also make sure that there's still some ash in between the firebricks) all while holding the vac to get that airborne ash again.
5. Close the stove door and finish all the vacuuming of the ashlip, hearth, etc.

The whole process takes maybe three minutes at most for me now. Again, just vacuum the ash and nothing else as all that is the fuel you haven't burnt yet and also a great way to get the vacuum clogged. Hope that helps.

As does my Rangeley (F50 TL) but IIRC, NYLife's F55 is sans Ash Pan.