Looking for recommendation for vacumms to clean Pellet ash

[DiggerJim]

DiggerJim question for you. It makes perfect (common) sense to take vacuum outside and dump contents into metal container, but what if an ember is caught and stuck in filter and then slowly starts to burn ( I suspect this is what happened with DAGME and his vacuum catching fire) I mean so we dump the contents of the vacuum into metal can, then bring vacuum back in house and if ember is stuck in filter, then want. How do we reduce that risk other then leaving whole vacuum outside overnight with some type of fireproof cover to protect from possible fire.

Or I wonder if the filter can just be taken out and whacked against ground to be sure nothing is stuck in pleats.

Actually that's exactly what I do. I have the Hepa filter in my vac and I take that off, whack it on the driveway until it's white again (you can also rinse them under water) and it goes in the can. I don't leave it on my vac 'cause my kids will grab the vac and use it for cleaning other stuff so I end up getting hair, slop from the back of his car, etc. mixing with the ash and if it's wet stuff (it's a wet-dry vac) then it's a pain to get the caked crud out of the pleats (lots of whacking). That's also why I took to emptying the vac first (I just dump it in the garden but don't tell my wife -- I figure dirt is dirt). Oh, and the vac lives in the garage. BTW, I don't think the lifespan of a pellet ember is like we used to get in the old days with wood or coal - the pellets are much smaller which means they'll burn themselves out quicker. The ash is also not as thick so isn't as insulative a layer.

 

[hossthehermit]

I've got a floor drain in the cellar, just take the garden hose and clean 'er out good w/ hot water every time I think of it, works great, no dust or nothin'. Don't want to clean the hopper that way if it's full of pellets, tho'

 

[gpack]

A 6 gallon, 3.0HP Shop vac with standard and some improvised attachments works pretty well. Filter bags easy to pull and replace with little ash getting around. Don't spend too much on "custom vacs", these ordinary vacs seem to do just fine.