# OFFICIAL: Post your leaf blower stove pipe cleaning pics.



## mullet (Nov 15, 2009)

Post them up folks. Lets use this for all stove pipe cleaning.


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## sinnian (Nov 15, 2009)

Can't believe you don't have any rise on that thing.  :grrr:


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## krooser (Nov 16, 2009)

sinnian said:
			
		

> Can't believe you don't have any rise on that thing.  :grrr:


If it went up it wouldn't be a horizontal vent....


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## HeatsTwice (Nov 16, 2009)

Maybe his stove is in the basement 

What is the wife is going to say about that black spot on the lawn?

A 10 foot section of flexible pipe will let you dust anywhere you want.


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## smoke show (Nov 16, 2009)

I'll have to work on some new pictures this year, these are getting boring.


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## kbjelka (Nov 16, 2009)

no pane said:
			
		

> I'll have to work on some new pictures this year, these are getting boring.



Those are some classic shots!  How many tons did you burn before that cleaning?


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## imacman (Nov 16, 2009)

HeatsTwice said:
			
		

> ...What is the wife is going to say about that black spot on the lawn?.....



"Hey honey, remember where you shot all that ash out of the stove last fall...the grass is so green and luxurious now!"


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## krooser (Nov 16, 2009)

macman said:
			
		

> HeatsTwice said:
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Yeah...He's recycling!


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## hockeypuck (Nov 16, 2009)

No pane and Mullet, those are great.. Put that on a post card and send it to Al Gore for christmas.


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## HeatsTwice (Nov 16, 2009)

This is great! Too bad my stove pipe is 8". Perhaps I can buy a 8" to 6" reducer then rock and roll after getting an el chepo blower at a garage sale.

There are probably some ideal times to clean like:

1) When the wind is very high. This will disperse the soot over a wider area.
2) When its raining. Use the gas version of the blower and the soot gets distributed in a different pattern (don't know what type though).

My question is that this type of cleaning will not actually "brush" the insides of the chimney. But is that necessary? I don't know.


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## imacman (Nov 16, 2009)

HeatsTwice said:
			
		

> .....My question is that this type of cleaning will not actually "brush" the insides of the chimney. But is that necessary? I don't know.



If you want to get the pipe completely clean, it should be brushed before doing the leafblower.  The leafblower will get some of the soot in the pipe, but not all, and it will stay hung-up in the little crevices if you don't brush it.


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## theheatelement (Nov 16, 2009)

Is that a grain stove exhaust, just curious



			
				mullet said:
			
		

> Post them up folks. Lets use this for all stove pipe cleaning.


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## smoke show (Nov 16, 2009)

Groundhog said:
			
		

> no pane said:
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3


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## mullet (Nov 16, 2009)

MagnaFlex said:
			
		

> Is that a grain stove exhaust, just curious



No just pellets, the picture was after 20 bags. The stove is on the living room behind that outside wall. My stove pipe is like 4’ long that’s it.


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## mullet (Nov 16, 2009)

no pane's picture is classic against the snow background.


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## HeatsTwice (Nov 16, 2009)

Here's a link to blower evaluations:

http://www.consumersearch.com/leaf-blowers/electric-leaf-blowers


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## StrangeRanger (Nov 16, 2009)

I've been wanting to do this but was wondering if someone could please post their brand/model number that they're using. I'm never quite sure if the blower I've been looking at has the vacuum ability.
Thanks,
j
PS: I did try this w/ my shop vac and it simply wasn't as fun


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## gutterboy2ca (Nov 17, 2009)

Went to the local Pawn shop today, purchased the only Elec leaf blower they had there for $15,will have to try it soon, with pics of course...


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## chrisasst (Nov 17, 2009)

gutterboy2ca said:
			
		

> Went to the local Pawn shop today, purchased the only Elec leaf blower they had there for $15,will have to try it soon, with pics of course...



It does have a vacuum feature right?


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## kbjelka (Nov 17, 2009)

no pane said:
			
		

> Groundhog said:
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I'm about to do mine after 4.5 tons.  I'll have to get the wife ready with the camera, up wind hopefully.


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## katwillny (Nov 17, 2009)

I use a shop vac to clean the pipe. I first loosen the soot and crud with a toilet brush then suck it up with the shop vac. works great. I do that once a month or so.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 17, 2009)

krooser said:
			
		

> macman said:
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Reusing ....


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## timbo (Nov 17, 2009)

hockeypuck said:
			
		

> No pane and Mullet, those are great.. Put that on a post card and send it to Al Gore for christmas.



Thanks! bad day at work...I needed the belly laugh


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## krooser (Nov 17, 2009)

SmokeyTheBear said:
			
		

> krooser said:
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Yea...that, too!


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## mullet (Nov 30, 2009)

Awesome job Groundhog, I am just putting a copy here for reference.



			
				Groundhog said:
			
		

> Finally found the time to clean my 4" stainless liner this weekend using my new Toro 51599 Ultra Leaf BlowerVacuum. Burned about 4.5 tons prior to the cleaning.
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## mullet (Nov 30, 2009)

Awesome job jamesdjs, I am just putting a copy here for reference.



			
				jamesdjs said:
			
		

> I took a video of cleaning the pellet stove with a leaf blower.
> I only had about 20 days of burning but you can see all the ash that comes out from it.
> I borrowed a Toro leaf blower with a vacuum attachement and a little duct tape to seal it and that all I did.
> 
> Enjoy


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## mullet (Nov 30, 2009)

Awesome job krooser, I am just putting a copy here for reference.




			
				krooser said:
			
		

> Ok... here's the long awaited post about how to clean you stove using an electric leaf blower.
> 
> Last Feb I had trouble with my stove producing a lazy flame and having trouble staying lit. I called Earth Sense Energy Systems (Dale, WI) and asked to send a tech out to help me get this thing going again (I bought my used St. Croix stove from them in October,'07). I wasn't home when the service guy showed up but I did speak to him over the phone while he was there. He asked me how often I had cleaned my stove and what pellets I was using. After we spoke a few minutes he told me he was going to clean my stove using an electric leaf blower and he would also reset my air damper as I had fooled with it trying to get the stove to operate properly.
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## jamesdjs (Nov 30, 2009)

mullet said:
			
		

> Awesome job krooser, I am just putting a copy here for reference.
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Krooser is the one to thanks for starting the leaf blower trick. If he didn't pass on what he learned the rest of use would be stuck cleaning the pellet stove the old way.


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## btuser (Nov 30, 2009)

Can you leave the leaf blower on?  To help with the draft?

Seriously, does this help with all the maint on a pellet stove, or just the flue baffles/passages.  I was under the impression you had to practically disassemble the entire pellet stove for propper maint.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Dec 1, 2009)

btuser said:
			
		

> Can you leave the leaf blower on?  To help with the draft?
> 
> Seriously, does this help with all the maint on a pellet stove, or just the flue baffles/passages.  I was under the impression you had to practically disassemble the entire pellet stove for propper maint.



Be our guest, just remember when a hot ember catches the blower on fire and that ignites your house we will disavow even having known you.

The blower just helps suck some of the fly ash out, you still need to loosen it up, which may mean removing parts of your stove.  It is very good at removing loose fly ash.


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## imacman (Dec 1, 2009)

btuser said:
			
		

> ....Seriously, does this help with all the maint on a pellet stove, or just the flue baffles/passages.  I was under the impression you had to practically disassemble the entire pellet stove for propper maint.



Running a brush or LintEater up & down the pipes, plus banging on the metal walls of the firebox some with a hammer will loosen a lot of ash, and the blower just sucks it out...works great!


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## mullet (Dec 1, 2009)

jamesdjs said:
			
		

> Krooser is the one to thanks for starting the leaf blower trick. If he didn't pass on what he learned the rest of use would be stuck cleaning the pellet stove the old way.



I totally agree, it just took me a while to find his post. I just tried to get as much data from everyone into 1 thread.


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## joefraser (Dec 2, 2009)

Didn't get a picture of the leafblower in action but this is my set-up.  As you can see the my neighbor's house is really close and we are on a major road.  The cars pile up in front of the house as there is a light at the intersection.  I attempted to blow towards the ground to keep ash to a minimum but there was quite a cloud of ash in the road at the beginning.  I'll have to pick slow traffic days to do this.

I figured people were driving by wandering what in the world I was doing.


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## krooser (Dec 2, 2009)

James... you're welcome... as I said before I learned this from my dealer who uses the blower to do cleaning on customer stoves. I thought WTF? when he told me how he cleaned it but I was amazed at the crud flying out of my stove after burning one ton and being totally clueless as to how to run a stove...


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## IceNine (Dec 30, 2009)

Would retrofitting some sort of a burlap sack at the business end the leaf blower help keep the dust of black death to a minimum?  I'm in the same boat as joefraser where the houses are close together.


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## watrskir (Dec 31, 2009)

IceNine said:
			
		

> Would retrofitting some sort of a burlap sack at the business end the leaf blower help keep the dust of black death to a minimum?  I'm in the same boat as joefraser where the houses are close together.



thats exactly what I did....put 3 pillow cases (each inside each other) and banded it on the exhaust end not to get the house dirty.....collected almost everything......oh ya..I wet the cloth also    worked great


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## ffspeed (Dec 31, 2009)

Thanks a lot for the pics. I have seen it posted more then once, talking about leaf blower on the stove pipe. I have been dying to ask what it was. Now I know, and didn't get laughed at for asking. Were those pic a little ex-stream. My neighbor is maybe 15 ft away.


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## Sami (Dec 31, 2009)

Oh hell, in the Navy we would run walnut shells through the jet engines to clean the rotor blades.  Me thinkith some pellets on the outboard side of the stove to scrape off the soot.  Then I am going to adapt my 12 HP "Little Wonder" three wheeled leaf blower to the pipe just for Al Gore and the lady across the street with the white poddle hee hee hee..... so much for "cap and trade"

The guy that started this really might have something here.....


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## sydney1963 (Dec 31, 2009)

If my clean out T is inside and the end of the vent pipe is outside, can I make this work for my set up as well?


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## imacman (Dec 31, 2009)

sydney1963 said:
			
		

> If my clean out T is inside and the end of the vent pipe is outside, can I make this work for my set up as well?



Yep Syd, after you brush out the pipe and clean the stove as usual, put the cap back on the T, go outside w/ a step ladder, and hook to the pipe.


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## krooser (Dec 31, 2009)

hey Mac was right... he CAN peek into your window if he stands on his tippy-toes


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## mullet (Dec 31, 2009)

HAHAH


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## stallau (Jan 9, 2010)

It's a sunny but brisk day in Maine so lets climb a ladder and clean out the pipes after burning a little more than a ton for the season.

Enjoy and so much more fun than a brush


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## Mr Fixit (Jan 10, 2010)

LOL you guys are nuts. With my luck, I would try that and destroy some little old ladie's laundry hanging on the line next door. I think I will stick with the shopvac method for now...


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## save$ (Jan 10, 2010)

Did the leaf blower cleaning again today.  This is my 4th time.  Got that black cloud for 2-3 minutes, then just a little gray.  Tapped the stove pipes and opened and closed the stove during the process. It still amazes me how clean the stove is after this.  Got a real hot fire after the cleaning.   Shot a short movie of this, but not sure how to post to You Tube and then link it to this.  Anyway,  real pleased to have a simple method that does such a clean and easy stove cleaning.


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