Question for members about 'reverse' leaf blower trick.....

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imacman

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Hey everybody, hope everyone's summer is going well. I have a question to throw out there about something I thought of yesterday.

I know many members stove set-ups allow you to attach a leaf blower to the outlet and suck all that ash out of the stove for the final bit of cleaning, but some of us (including me) don't have that ability due to the exhaust setup.

In my case, the final parts of my exhaust are the original 8" wood stove pipe that goes straight up through the roof, with the end about 12' above that.

My question is, if I were to connect the OUTPUT end of my large shop vac to the OAK connection on the back of the stove and BLOW through it, would it achieve the same result as the regular leaf blower suction? In my mind it seems that it might work, but am I forgetting something?

I guess my main concern is possible damage to pressure switches, etc.

What say ye, all you wise pellet burners??
 
You could just pull the tube off the pressure switch to protect it. My concern would be in pressurizing the burn chamber - I would expect ash to come out every little crack and seam, and if you had an air wash door, out those holes, too. If there was absolutely no ash in the burn chamber itself, it might work, but man, if the door opened - what a mess! Remember the thread where the poster used the wrong port on his vacuum?

I also don't think you'd get enough airflow to do much good…

Sorry to rain on your parade, but it shows that you're thinkin'!

If you have a "T" cleanout, maybe you could block the vertical part, and hook the leaf sucker to the cleanout port? That would draw lots of air through the stove.

Just my newbie 2¢.
 
heat seeker said:
You could just pull the tube off the pressure switch to protect it. My concern would be in pressurizing the burn chamber - I would expect ash to come out every little crack and seam, and if you had an air wash door, out those holes, too. If there was absolutely no ash in the burn chamber itself, it might work, but man, if the door opened - what a mess! Remember the thread where the poster used the wrong port on his vacuum?

I also don't think you'd get enough airflow to do much good…

Sorry to rain on your parade, but it shows that you're thinkin'!

If you have a "T" cleanout, maybe you could block the vertical part, and hook the leaf sucker to the cleanout port? That would draw lots of air through the stove.

Just my newbie 2¢.

Air-Wash door comes to mind 1st.. You could fold aluminum foil and kinda plug then wash up... You could plug the Vacuum switch... As long as your door gasket is good, I think it should do pretty good job.. Will it be as effective in the flue as the "Right" (sucking) way.. No.. But for the stove, it would be the same.. It seems it just would not clean the flue as well...

Just make sure door is closed and air-wash is "Plugged" up.. If everything is sealed well. Should work pretty well.
 
See...that's why this forum is great....I hadn't thought about the airwash. But in my stove, the airwash air doesn't get sucked from around the glass....it actually comes from the burnpot air (in this case, the OAK), so I don't think any ash will get out into the room there, and my door gasket is pretty tight. And I'd only do it AFTER the rest of the stove had been cleaned.

As for the pressure switch, yep, just disconnect it.

Thanks guys.....I knew I could count on ya! I might just give it a whirl and see what happens. If I do, I'll report back here on the results.
 
DexterDay said:
Remember Pete.... Pics or it never happened....
Yep, I know.....not sure what to take a pic of, but in case a HUGE cloud of ash comes out the top of the stove pipe, I'll have the camera ready. :lol:
 
A video would be even better... :lol:

Hey, we could start a new thread on things NOT to do….could make for some great reading!
 
Just a note for all potential people who want to try the vac thru the OAK. Make sure on your pellt stove that the OAK is connected to the burn pot.
On my Enviro Mini the OAK is not direct connected to the burn pot and instead the air comes into the rear of the pellet stove and circulates around before going into the burn pot.
In this case the vac would not work.
 
I have put together an adapter out of PVC and plumbing rubber to fit the exhaust of my stove to put on my shop vac to at least get something out of the stove in this case. Just put the adapter on and have the shop vac suck out what it can, and yes I do this once the stove is cooled down. Once I have my chimney lined for this winter, I'll be able to perform the LBT.
 
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