what is considered "warm ash" Looking at Ash vacuums

[Rob_Red]

I am sorry if this has been previously asked to death but what is considered warm ash? I would like to buy a proper ash vacuum and I'm wondering if I can vacuum ash that has some visible embers?

Currently when I shovel ash it is still has little bits of glowing embers as I'm digging through it, I place it in an ashcan with a tight fitting lid and I place it 10 feet from anything flammable for a week or so until I need to clean more ash. The sides of the bucket will get hot when doing this (not hot enough to burn the paint) Can I do something similar with an Ash Vacuum?

 

[bholler]

I am sorry if this has been previously asked to death but what is considered warm ash? I would like to buy a proper ash vacuum and I'm wondering if I can vacuum ash that has some visible embers?

Currently when I shovel ash it is still has little bits of glowing embers as I'm digging through it, I place it in an ashcan with a tight fitting lid and I place it 10 feet from anything flammable for a week or so until I need to clean more ash. The sides of the bucket will get hot when doing this (not hot enough to burn the paint) Can I do something similar with an Ash Vacuum?

Nope you cannot suck up live embers with any vacuum

 

[SpaceBus]

I bought a Panther Plus ash vac and couldn't be happier with it. That being said I do not suck up any glowing ash.

 

[Rob_Red]

10-4 that's what I thought.

So what separates an ash vac from a shop vac with a HEPA filter? Is the fact that it's metal just in case embers get sucked up? I would imagine it would do a better job of containing a fire than a plastic shop vac.

 

[SpaceBus]

10-4 that's what I thought.

So what separates an ash vac from a shop vac with a HEPA filter? Is the fact that it's metal just in case embers get sucked up? I would imagine it would do a better job of containing a fire than a plastic shop vac.

You pretty much got it. The filtration is also much higher with a more powerful motor. My vac has a "jiggler" to knock dust loose from the filter.

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

This is what I have:

Amazon product ASIN B00F3DRDMM
Works great so far, it even sucks up wood debris around the stove! Never use on ash or coals in a hot stove, obvious safety disclaimer

 

[Max W]

Yep , you definitely want that ash vac filter. We have had and maintained a cookstove for most of the last 50 years, first a little Princess Atlantic then a Waterford Stanley. A few years back l thought I had a clever idea, use the shop vac to pull out the soot scraped and knocked down from the cookstove channels That is until I turned around to see a black cloud exiting the vac‘s exaust. Not one of my finer moments.

 

[SpaceBus]

Yep , you definitely want that ash vac filter. We have had and maintained a cookstove for most of the last 50 years, first a little Princess Atlantic then a Waterford Stanley. A few years back l thought I had a clever idea, use the shop vac to pull out the soot scraped and knocked down from the cookstove channels That is until I turned around to see a black cloud exiting the vac‘s exaust. Not one of my finer moments.

I bought my ash vac just for cleaning my wood cookstove. I can't imagine the mess of trying to do it any other way!

 

[savageactor7]

Ash is most generally white, now if you poke into it or stir it to see red areas I's say that constitutes as 'warm'. Any way that is the kind of ash we add to our bucket every morning...

...then we rake the hot coals forward before reloading.

Metal buckets are a time tested fail safe way for handling ask/coals.

 

[BigJ273]

Do not under estimate the power of one single hot ember. Even a small one. Lesson learned after a fire (5 company response) on a very windy day, and insurance claim. I now scoop my ash into a metal pan. When it is about half full, I fill the rest with water and stir. I then let it sit for about 3 days before I dispose of it. I only use my ash vac to vacuum the mess around the stove and the ash cloud when I scoop into the pan. Never hot or warm, or anything close to warm, coals or ash.

 

[GENECOP]

I use this one, never intentionally suck up embers..

 

[bholler]

View attachment 275328
I use this one, never intentionally suck up embers..

We use a professional soot eater and once every couple of years we get an ember in it and light the filters on fire. It gets exciting quickly. And expensive. A full set of filters for that is about $150

 

[BigJ273]

View attachment 275328
I use this one, never intentionally suck up embers..

Same one I have

 

[firefighterjake]

Ash is most generally white, now if you poke into it or stir it to see red areas I's say that constitutes as 'warm'. Any way that is the kind of ash we add to our bucket every morning...

...then we rake the hot coals forward before reloading.

Metal buckets are a time tested fail safe way for handling ask/coals.

Safer . . . yes. Fail safe . . . maybe not so much.

I think I recall Brother Bart or someone mentioning in a thread about someone putting an ash pan that had live coals in it on their wooden porch . . . and having it burn through the deck.

That said . . . I would use an ash pan any day over an ash vacuum when it comes to fire safety.

 

[SpaceBus]

Safer . . . yes. Fail safe . . . maybe not so much.

I think I recall Brother Bart or someone mentioning in a thread about someone putting an ash pan that had live coals in it on their wooden porch . . . and having it burn through the deck.

That said . . . I would use an ash pan any day over an ash vacuum when it comes to fire safety.

I use the ash vac for my safety, but it's not the embers/coals I'm worried about

 

[cabinwarmer]

My VAC says 100F max. That to me means = no ambers at all.