Vacuums (for Dust/Ash) and Searching the Forums

 
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ablumny
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Post by ablumny » Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 7:02 am

Our DVC-500 kicks butt, cant be more pleased with the heating results. Being neat freak(ish) I like to keep the area around the stove as clean as possible all the time. As such I keep a small 2 gallon shop vac next to the unit and use it before and after ash pan removal, etc. Here's my prob:

These little shop vacs arent made for the job. The basic concept of the shop vac isnt good for fine dust and the filter "systems" are weak. They clog too easy and too fast. Most have an exhaust option that allows for conversion to a blower. As a matter of fact, I literally filled my house with coal dust this weekend when during a major cleaning (It was 50f here) the filter must have come off and I was shooting everything I was pulling up into the house through the vac and out the exhaust. Didnt know it because my head was in the stove :D

ANYWAY: Im looking for a recommendation on a small vac suitable for the job. I like the Oreck XL handheld ans it uses a traditional bag system which you'd normally find on a regular house vac and there are bag options for different jobs. Any other ideas?

Lastly and my second comment in the title: What is the best way to globally search the forum to a previously posted discussion for something like this? In other words, before I ping the group I search to see if the topic has been discussed. This almost never works for me though! how?
- Knowledge Base search?
- Google custom Search box on the top?
- "Search this forum" option under each major heading?

thx and happy holidays!


 
CapeCoaler
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Post by CapeCoaler » Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 7:18 am

Looking for a New Shop Vac.
Best Shop Vac?

Google custom search 'shop vac'

 
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Robby
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Post by Robby » Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 10:29 am

Good Morning,

I had the same problem cleaning a pellet stove, which of course is in my living room. It was suggested by a visiting hunter, who also is a drywall installer that I use bags specificaly designed for vacuuming up sheetrock dust. They work perfectly. Absolutly no dust comes through, last reasonably long time. More money but a couple of bags per year is OK.

Robby :D

 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 11:07 am

Reprint from another thread:

How about this idea:

Keep a cheap shop vac outside the house (weather protected) & run a hose into the house near your stove/appliance (or just a cheap wall plate to attach a hose too) Put an on/off switch nearby.
Use this "dedicated" shop vac to keep your stove free of dust. (whatever ash/dust that is not captured by a cheap filter will be blown outside anyway)

Quiet, ZERO dust, move nothing but the hose & cheap! :devil:
Last edited by Devil505 on Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 12:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
djackman
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Post by djackman » Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 11:50 am

They make a "water bong" for vacuuming sheetrock dust, basically a shop vac that sucks thru a bucket of water. For sheetrock work they aren't too good due to low volume of air moved, but are very efficient at trapping dust.

A 5 gal bucket with the inlet hose an inch or two below the water line + your shop vac sucking from above the waterline would equal the same thing.

 
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cArNaGe
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Post by cArNaGe » Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 12:52 pm

Rainbow Vacuum

They are pricey but they work excellent. I have the Oreck XL upright. It works ok but the Rainbow gets it done. I don't use it for ash though. But I have used it for drywall dust.

 
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europachris
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Post by europachris » Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 1:15 pm

+1 on the drywall dust-rated disposable bags. I wouldn't bother with anything else.

I had the opportunity to score a free 16 gal. industrial/commercial quality vacuum with 2.0 hp., 3 stage motor, http://www.mastercraftusa.com/pdf/SpecSheet/PolyVacuums.pdf, brand new, about 10 years ago. It was a sample unit obtained by our sales staff for evaluation....long story, but anyway, rather than being junked during a lab "housecleaning", it found it's way home with me. :D It uses large disposable "TrapSack" bags. The ones that came with the unit were multi-layer high efficiency bags, but when I ran out and bought more, I only found single layer bags at the time, which worked fine for basic sawdust, dog hair from grooming, etc. The vac also has a backup cloth secondary filter. I found with the single layer bags, the fly ash would go right through them and mostly be stopped by the secondary cloth filter. So, I went and bought some of the largest ShopVac drywall disposable bags and use those, which stop virtually all the fly ash. Unfortunately, they really don't fit my vac very well due to the size of my tank and the way ShopVac filters have to fit around the central filter structure which I don't have. I've found some sources for the MasterCraft brand micro-filter bags so I'll stock up on those after I run out of the ShopVac brand.

I also see that Mastercraft makes dedicated furnace vacuums:
**Broken Link(s) Removed**. I'm sure they are rather expensive also.

Two other things - I've seen the Emer Ash Vac, which is an add-on attachment that can be used with ANY vacuum cleaner, and fairly reasonably priced, as well as the Loveless Ash Vacuum.

But, for vacuuming fly ash with no risk of live embers, a drywall bag is the way to go.

Chris


 
jimbo970
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Post by jimbo970 » Wed. Dec. 31, 2008 8:03 pm

I have a rainbow water vac - can that be used for ash cleanup or will it destroy the vac - vac was is but expensive

 
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cArNaGe
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Post by cArNaGe » Thu. Jan. 01, 2009 12:26 am

I used my Rainbow for Sheetrock dust.

Never used it for fly ash.

But dirt is dirt right?

The water should stop it.

 
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ablumny
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Post by ablumny » Thu. Jan. 01, 2009 7:41 am

Thanks everyone and Happy New Year. Lots of good ideas here. I like the vac outside with the hose pass through deal. I'll post pics if I do that. Otherwise I looked into some of your suggestions and appreciate the info on both topics.

 
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azzip
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Post by azzip » Thu. Jan. 01, 2009 6:43 pm

here is a link to rigid, the vacum is sold at home depot they carry the filters there also, I have the 16 gallon vac and it sucks (in a good way). don't have the better filters yet but they are on my list vf5000 filter around $20 vf6000 $25- 30. http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/Which-Filter/EN/index.htm

 
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ablumny
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Post by ablumny » Tue. Jan. 20, 2009 8:46 pm

I went with the handheld Oreck XL vacuum. It wasnt cheap but I like the fact that it;s light weight and uses a bag system. So far it;s working OK but the bag tends to clog but after a lot more time then the shop vacs. Good thing I have 30 days to return it..... :)

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Tue. Jan. 20, 2009 9:26 pm

I have a small Fein. The stock bag doesn't let anything past it, doesn't clog, and shakes clean.

 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Wed. Jan. 21, 2009 6:29 am

I went with the handheld Oreck XL vacuum.
I have the XL hand held, the commercial model, works very well (have to say that because I sell them :D ). For a small machine it has very good suction and the bags are easy to change.

 
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ablumny
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Post by ablumny » Thu. Jan. 22, 2009 10:52 am

Wood'nCoal wrote:
I went with the handheld Oreck XL vacuum.
I have the XL hand held, the commercial model, works very well (have to say that because I sell them :D ). For a small machine it has very good suction and the bags are easy to change.
Well a few days of use and I cant say I'm still thrilled with the XL. Even before we touched ash we used the unit for general household stuff. It seems to me that when you attach both wands and the floor head, the suction is diminished. Now factor in ash which absolutely reduces suction even further and I'm thinking of returning the unit. Can you perhaps advise if my results are not typical?
Freddy wrote:I have a small Fein. The stock bag doesn't let anything past it, doesn't clog, and shakes clean.
What model #?


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