Specific ash vac recommendation

[heffergm]

I was hoping to get some info on what ash vac to get for a specific task I'll need to use it for: vacuuming out the rear baffles of my encore via the bypass damper (ie from the inside, rather than by removing the collar which I can't do because of my intallation).

I can get back there with the regular house vac, but it'll destroy it if I keep doing that, never mind the wife. Basically, I need a very thin, very flexible hose. I know some have longer rigid extensions at the end, which I need to avoid if I want to thread the thing through the bypass.

 

[gunnerpgh]

I have the cheta ash vac, with steel hose. Seems to work well. Have used it 2 years now with occaisional sucking up of hot ember. No compliants, in fact sits near the insert to clean out 2x a week.

 

[DBoon]

I have the Cheetah ash vac also - not happy with it, really. For it to work right, you have to vacuum at right angles to the stove box floor - if you don't, it will suck up a lot of cinders and clog itself. Problem is my stove box is small, so a right angle means a really bent hose, which failed after a short period of time. And, those hose rusted when I kept this vac in the basement over the summer (you would think it was a stainless steel hose, but I guess not).

If you had a big stove box, I could see where it would work better. But frankly, all I use it for now is to keep the dust down when I shovel out ashes, and to clean up dry ashes and debris from around the stove. I could have paid a lot less for something to do just that.

 

[LLigetfa]

You should be able to stick a length of flexible hose onto the end. I do that with my shopvac when I connect it to my random orbit sander.

 

[Fsappo]

Cheetah makes an attachment for pellet stoves and small nooks and crannies. I know a lot of folks dont like to buy stuff when they can just make it themselves, so this is how my installer did it. He found a rubber plug, the right size to fit into the end of the vac hose, drilled a hole thru it, attached a 3' length of what looks like 1/2" diameter plastic hose (says he found it in a place that sells parts for fish tanks) and it works like a charm. Me? I would spend 15 bucks and get the cheetah premade version...possibly

 

[DBoon]

Next time I'm in the hearth store, I'll check out the Cheetah attachment. That sounds like it might work better for me.