Got me a LEAF Blower

[Snowy Rivers]

Garn stove ???

Any stove should benefit from the high velocity huricane winds going through its innards.

The whole concept is to dislodge any and all ash buildup that can't be easily reached with the shop vac and or hand tools.

So many stoves have little nooks and crannies that can't be reached.

I just wonder what was in the minds of the original designers/builders when they left these places that were basically impossible to clean.

Proper and full airflow is an absolute MUST HAVE for any pellet stove to work right.

The ash traps between the fire pot and the exhaust blower can usually be accessed and cleaned with a brush and the shop vac, but in many cases there are inside passages behind the fire box that lead to the exhaust blower that simply can't be reached, even if you tear the blower out.

Whoever thought up this trick of using the leaf blower, deserves a ton of Pellets delivered to their door, FREE of charge.

It is amazing at how many stove shops have never heard of the trick.

I did a complete cleaning on my little stove yesterday and finished it off with the Hurricane suck job and it took less than 20 minutes to do it all and have a fire back up and going.

This even included a complete wash job on the door glass too.


Looking forward to doing the big stove soon.



What a fun way to start off a Sunday morning

Snowy

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

http://www.garn.com/

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Interesting stuff, the Garn.

Its amazing how much improvements can be made to something as simple as a stove.


Snowy

 

[Turbo-Quad]

I borrowed my sisters. Don't know the CFM's but it didn't work. The sides of the pipe were still caked and very little ash cloud was observed. I think I must need to rod the pipe out 1st.

 

[imacman]

I borrowed my sisters. Don't know the CFM's but it didn't work. The sides of the pipe were still caked and very little ash cloud was observed. I think I must need to rod the pipe out 1st.

As has been mentioned on this forum many times, the stove & pipes should be cleaned completely ( like after a 1 or 2 tons, or at the end of season cleaning), and THEN use the leaf blower. It is NOT meant to be used to get everything out by itself.....just the ash that is so hidden you can't reach it.

 

[DexterDay]

I borrowed my sisters. Don't know the CFM's but it didn't work. The sides of the pipe were still caked and very little ash cloud was observed. I think I must need to rod the pipe out 1st.

Still have to use a Brush, Lint eater, Soot eater on your flue. Stove still needs vacuumed like you normally would. If it were as easy as hooking a leafblower to the stove, to clean it. Everybody would own a pellet stove. Not that easy. I run my leafblower on its lowest setting, (Has like 5 or 6) the entire time I clean my stove. Then when I am done from the inside. I take the leafblower off, run the vent brush through it a few times to "Loosen" the ash. Hook the leafblower back up and Crank it to Full Blast! Still get a kick out of watching the ash fly. Did my stove yesterday and then went over and hooked it up to my buddy Barnyard's (Forum Member) pellet vent.
So run a brush up and down that pipe, and give it a go again. Even a cheap and weak leafblower should get the vent cleaned out. I used a Shop-vac up till this year and it worked well. Just not as well!

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I use the shop vac to snake down the pipe and suck out the loose junk in there.

I run the shop vac sucker all the way to the exhaust fan housing then rattle it around to knock any other crap loose.

I clean out the fire pot with a brush and then vacuum it out good.

Then I used the leaf blower to get the hidden junk out of the nooks and crannies up in the heat exchangers and other hidden areas.

The large whitfield has access to most areas, just the fan housing and the rear most passages are tough to get to.

Snowy

 

[pfmaloney]

There's no way I'm getting to the top of my chimney. It's over 30' tall and our installer said the cap was not meant to be removed since it was a pre-fab fireplace.

Can I use the Leaf lower technique on the 3" OAK vent on our exterior wall?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

There's no way I'm getting to the top of my chimney. It's over 30' tall and our installer said the cap was not meant to be removed since it was a pre-fab fireplace.

Can I use the Leaf lower technique on the 3" OAK vent on our exterior wall?

It will not have proper access the the exhaust system you need to find a different way of cleaning your stove.

Making an adapter to fit a high powered shop vacuum and using that on the exhaust side of your stove should work fairly well.

 

[St_Earl]

i can get this craftsman 200 mph 25 cc. blower for $50 the guy says he bought it new last year.
has the leaf sucker attachment, so i know it has a reverse mode.
thinking i should go for it because there are just a lot fewer things for sale up where our new house is. might save me a trip later.
it's not rated the higest for comfort as a leaf blower per se. but i don't need it for that.
anybody familar with this one? or see any reason why it wouldn't work?

(broken image removed)

 

[DexterDay]

I paid about $40 for my Troy-Bilt from Lowes. Its a 240 MPH and 450 CFM unit. It will suck the ashes out of the pan. It also has 6 different speed settings.

$50 for a used unit seems high to me. What does it cost new? Most members don't spend $50 total. That's including the PVC adapter (couple dollars/$3).

It must be a "Sucker" though. That is a must.

 

[St_Earl]

I paid about $40 for my Troy-Bilt from Lowes. Its a 240 MPH and 450 CFM unit. It will suck the ashes out of the pan. It also has 6 different speed settings.

$50 for a used unit seems high to me. What does it cost new? Most members don't spend $50 total. That's including the PVC adapter (couple dollars/$3).

It must be a "Sucker" though. That is a must.

great advice. i wont be needing it immediately anyway. thanks.
just ordered my first piece of gear. tripplite ultra4 surge protector. getting an ash vac tomorrow from tractor supply.
now if the sellers (of our new house) would just wrap things up, we could get moved and buy the stove.
i've decided on the ps50

 

[DexterDay]

Great Choice. That's a Good Heater. Should have no problems with it. Also one of the easiest stoves to operate on the market. (High/Med/Low). If you run it on High, don't do it for extended periods. I have only used it a few times and that's just to get back up to temp after cleaning. Other than that I run the Quad 24/7 on low. Heats my 2,180 sq just fine. 4 ton a year and 76 degrees. Congrats, welcome to the Pellet club.

This is great avenue for info. Great place with great people. And I would look into leafblowers/vacs at HD, Lowes, TSC, Etc. They can be had for $20-$50 brand new. There are pretty cheap.

 

[St_Earl]

is that troy-built an electric? i see they have a 245max mph electric for $59
(broken link removed)
have to keep my eye out for sales.

if there isn't any reason not to use an electric, i'd just as soon go that way. eaiser w/ less mess. *sweet! i see the electrics are being used by folks.
had a job running a gas string trimmer all day every day at a huge cemetery when i was a kid. the less i have to fuel and use gas implements nowadays, the better.
lol. then two months of leaf blower duty from oct till thanksgiving.
you haven't lived till you have walked behind/beside a tractor with a blower attachment in the cold rain using a backpack leafblower to move huge quantities of wet leaves all day. *rolls eyes*
i look forward to having a leafblower i never have to use to blow leaves.

 

[DexterDay]

Yes. Its electric. I am pretty sure that almost everyone on here uses an electric model.
I have pavers stacked up beside the flue. When doing my cleaning, I arrange a few of them to rest it on and run it the entire time I clean the stove. Also, depending on your model and flue application, you may need to buy a PVC adapter. I used a 4" to 3". I cut the vacuum side of the leafblower down till I got a good fit and then used liquid nails to seal/hold it together. Some people have been able to adapt the leafblower without an adapter. Every model and stove set-up is a little different, but this is what I had to do. Hope this helps.

 

[St_Earl]

Yes. Its electric. I am pretty sure that almost everyone on here uses an electric model.
I have pavers stacked up beside the flue. When doing my cleaning, I arrange a few of them to rest it on and run it the entire time I clean the stove. Also, depending on your model and flue application, you may need to buy a PVC adapter. I used a 4" to 3". I cut the vacuum side of the leafblower down till I got a good fit and then used liquid nails to seal/hold it together. Some people have been able to adapt the leafblower without an adapter. Every model and stove set-up is a little different, but this is what I had to do. Hope this helps.

yeah, dex- i wasn't even thinking how cumbersome a gas blower would be to use for this app. they're just the only thing comes to mind when i think leaf blower. durr!

i like the idea of the rubber plumbing fitting and clamps some folks have mentioned using.
thanks for the pics.