The famous "leaf blower trick" - where's a detailed description?

[whit]

I see a lot of references to the "leaf blower trick" here, many of them suggesting that details can be found by searching for "leaf blower trick." At this point that search brings up dozens of references to the trick, all suggesting the details are elsewhere. Is there a simple writeup of it somewhere about? I see some mentions of using it from the outside to pull, some that seem to imply it can work from the inside to push. Nothing that's definitive. Maybe both ways are useful? Maybe there are things to know not to do?

Thanks in advance! I hate asking something where the answer's likely to be RTFM. Can't find the fine manual entry on this one too easily.

 

[St_Earl]

definitely from the outside pulling.
absolutely disconnect the vacuum line from the vacuum switch.

some folks open and bump shut the door to shake loose the nooks and crannies.
was just reading one fellow whose wife does that from the inside and also knocks on the vent with a broomstick whle he's outside with the blower.
i imagine a rubber mallet could be employed to gently knock on the stove itself.

there are several videos on youtube
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=leaf blower trick youtube

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

https://www.google.com/search?q=leaf+blower+trick&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 start clicking.

 

[whit]

Ah, that was my problem. Thought I should just be searching here, since this is the definitive site for so much stove knowledge. Thanks.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Yup

Good old leaf blower suck trick.

Can also be helpful to get a payback on a nasty neighbor.

Aim the nozzle their way and let it rip

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Also this result from hearth.com's search results https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/leaf-blower-trick-finally.90065/

The trick was brought to us by the one and only https://www.hearth.com/talk/members/krooser.3567/ from way back when dirt was just invented. He was just a young'en and happened to see the guy that was working on his stove using one IIRC.

ETA: There is another version that is best done outdoors and this time the high airflow device is an air compressor.

Or esteemed member https://www.hearth.com/talk/members/geek.4494/ who is enshrined into the wrong way to do it hall of fame tried it the other way, the missus took great exception.

There are instances on YouTube where folks thought that an OAK would make a fine location to apply the non suction end of the device to. I suspect that their better half’s also took great exception to the use of said device.

Oh well, win some lose some.

 

[whit]

Nice trick! Got a GreenWorks leaf blower from Amazon ($54), which turns out to have a 4+" diameter intake tube that matches up pretty exactly with my 4" vent. Disconnected the vacuum tube, opened the door, brushed out the pipe first, and the blower did pull a fair amount of very fine black dust out of the system. The flame afterwards looks good, where it had been trending lazy before.

 

[Husky]

Do you have to suck from outside or can you blow from inside to outside up the chimney?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Yup

Good old leaf blower suck trick.

Can also be helpful to get a payback on a nasty neighbor.

Aim the nozzle their way and let it rip

Me, I call it the Al Jolson effect. Get downrange of the exit end of the leaf blower and it's instant 'Al Jolson'.....lol

 

[fire451]

I just cleaned mine this morning, pulled the insert out of the fireplace shoved the leaf blower into the pipe and let it go. the snow on my roof is now brown, but man that pipe is clean. I would never have thought of it if it wasn't for this forum. Thanks guys!

 

[mixpat]

I just tried this for the first time too. But, used a large shop vac instead of a leaf blower. I used a rubber 3" to 2" reducer to get the connection outside. Took the filter off the vac (it's an old unit that came with the house we bought) opened the stove door and let her rip. The suction was outstanding. Maybe not as powerful as a leaf vac...but, it worked! Had a giant cloud shooting out the exhaust port of the vac (pointed toward the neighbors, of course). Fortunately, they are about 300 yards away.

 

[alternativeheat]

Do you have to suck from outside or can you blow from inside to outside up the chimney?

On a P series Harman I saw a video where a guy did it from inside. he made up a good seal to the out going tube next to the combustion blower fan and blew the vent out that way. But in other stoves part of the reason for sucking is that it gets the ash from hidden places inside the stove.. The P Harman really has none of those.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Something else I do is take my small 110 volt portable compressor and an air hose and blow gun and blow around the inside of the stove while the leaf blower is sucking on the vent outside. That gets everything inside........ outside. Just be sure you have the leaf blower sucking on the vent outside or you'll get a face full........inside.

 

[chken]

Hmmm...perhaps, we should have a sticky for LBT? And maybe we should rename it the Leaf Sucking Trick, since that's what it's doing, as blowing may confuse people.

 

[whit]

I did it from outside, as mine goes straight out the wall and there's conveniently an electrical outlet right there. I wonder if there's any reason not to do it by coupling to the outgoing air channel from inside too? It's sure a tighter, brighter flame now.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Hmmm...perhaps, we should have a sticky for LBT? And maybe we should rename it the Leaf Sucking Trick, since that's what it's doing, as blowing may confuse people.

Not really, it sucks it in one end and blows it out the other................

Sort of similar to the current crop of politicians.

 

[heat seeker]

You who are just blowing out your venting are missing the main advantage of the LBT. Moving air THROUGH THE STOVE ITSELF at high volume and rate will clean the stove out in places you can't reach.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Not really, it sucks it in one end and blows it out the other................

Sort of similar to the current crop of politicians.

They have different ends?

 

[61snowrider]

Has anyone tried hooking up to the oak pipe? Would this do anything?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Has anyone tried hooking up to the oak pipe? Would this do anything?

I do to clean out anything that may have been pushed into the intake area by being careless with the nozzle of my vacuum.

It won't work on stoves that have a damper inside the air intake path.

 

[heat seeker]

I suppose doing the LBT with the door closed would have that effect, but could destroy the vacuum switch if it's not disconnected from the stove innards.

 

[Husky]

On a P series Harman I saw a video where a guy did it from inside. he made up a good seal to the out going tube next to the combustion blower fan and blew the vent out that way. But in other stoves part of the reason for sucking is that it gets the ash from hidden places inside the stove.. The P Harman really has none of those.

Makes sense. Only problem for me is I would have to get on roof, remove chimney cap and then hook up as I have a continues run from stove to top of chimney.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I suppose doing the LBT with the door closed would have that effect, but could destroy the vacuum switch if it's not disconnected from the stove innards.

Since heat seeker brings up the vacuum switch as being a weak link.

I would think that would depend upon how rugged the vacuum switch is and how much of a pull that diaphragm actually gets.

I have cleaned my stove using the leaf blower without ever having disconnected the vacuum system from the stove and I don't always open the firebox door.

Everyone should always understand that weasel words get used a lot on here because your bucket of parts is different from my bucket of parts and the parts have been known to change on the same model of bucket from one year to the next.

The goal of using the leaf blower or a good air compressor is to flush out all of the crud produced by burning the pellets out of the stove system so it can no longer mess up the combustion air flow for the burn.

A clean stove is a happy, safe, and warm stove, its owners are then rewarded with heat when it is cold instead of a cold stove and no heat.

 

[Papelletman]

Something else I do is take my small 110 volt portable compressor and an air hose and blow gun and blow around the inside of the stove while the leaf blower is sucking on the vent outside. That gets everything inside........ outside. Just be sure you have the leaf blower sucking on the vent outside or you'll get a face full........inside.

Me too!! It beats trying to take stove outside every year to clean.