Vacuum to clean SmokeFire


 
J

Jerry We

TVWBB Fan
Searched and couldn't find a post on this. Prior to buying my SF I just picked up my Weber kettles and dumped the charcoal ash in a trash can. Can't do that with the SF so I tried my shop vac and a cloud of dust blew out and luckily I was outside. It was one that has the cloth filter with a sleeve to hold it in place. Next I bought a PowerSmith Ash Vacuum (see picture) and it worked great the first two times but on the third use it wouldn't suck and gave me startling shocks so that's being returned. Don't want to make another mistake so looking for recommendations of a good small vacuum that is easy to move around, doesn't blow dust, has good suction, doesn't give shocks and can also be used indoors to clean my fireplace. Thanks.

powersmith ash vacuum.jpg
 
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I have been using my 20 year old Ridgid shop vac I got at Home Depot with no problems. Have to clean the filter more often, especially when I use it to clean out my WSM. Works great for all my cookers
 
I have a tiny 1.0 gallon Shop Vac and bought like a 100-count set of very cheap, off brand bags. One or two uses and you have to toss them, but the vac is small and easy to use for this job - the only thing I use if for. Works for me.
 
ChuckH said:
I have been using my 20 year old Ridgid shop vac I got at Home Depot with no problems. Have to clean the filter more often, especially when I use it to clean out my WSM. Works great for all my cookers
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You ever try those dry pickup dust bags? I use those on my Rigid for drywall dust. It keeps all the fine particles in the bag instead of blowing out the arse end, and you don't have to clean the filter.
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Edit: It's probably not a good idea to use this. Paper bag and who knows if you still have a hot ember.
 
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Staying at home during the covid I am bored out of my gourd. I have two shop vacs a small three gallon and a medium sized craftsman. both are a pain because of the bags plugging up when vacuuming the ash. We got a new house vac because the old hoover gave up. It was sitting in the garage so out of boredom I decided to restore it. Found out why it quit running and fixed that, cleaned it up I now have the perfect vacuum for my camp chef. Being bag less I just take the canister off and dump it and use the shop vac to clean the side filter, a one minute job. Been using it for almost a year with no problems.
Also use it to vacuum my artificial grass.(y)
 
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timothy said:
You ever try those dry pickup dust bags? I use those on my Rigid for drywall dust. It keeps all the fine particles in the bag instead of blowing out the arse end, and you don't have to clean the filter.
View attachment 19008

Edit: It's probably not a good idea to use this. Paper bag and who knows if you still have a hot ember.
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I used to use those bags when I was grinding and prepping floors for underlayment back before I retired. To be honest I didn’t even think to get any. I always wait at least two days to vacuum out my grills because of hot embers concerns. Thanks
 
I found the ultimate solution for cleaning the ash out of all my grills and fireplaces. It doesn't require batteries or electricity. It's a Mr. Clean Mini Dust Pan and Brush. I saw it at the grocery store for about $3 and actually bought 5 of them and leave them in various spots inside and outside. They are flexible and can get into just about any spot. My wife loves them for small spills.

mr clean mini brush and dust pan.jpg
 
Jerry We said:
Searched and couldn't find a post on this. Prior to buying my SF I just picked up my Weber kettles and dumped the charcoal ash in a trash can. Can't do that with the SF so I tried my shop vac and a cloud of dust blew out and luckily I was outside. It was one that has the cloth filter with a sleeve to hold it in place. Next I bought a PowerSmith Ash Vacuum (see picture) and it worked great the first two times but on the third use it wouldn't suck and gave me startling shocks so that's being returned. Don't want to make another mistake so looking for recommendations of a good small vacuum that is easy to move around, doesn't blow dust, has good suction, doesn't give shocks and can also be used indoors to clean my fireplace. Thanks.

View attachment 19004
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Bought these and have loved it. The H bags are for sheet rock dust and do a great job with the ash. Vacuum is brand new still on the inside.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Staying at home during the covid I am bored out of my gourd. I have two shop vacs a small three gallon and a medium sized craftsman. both are a pain because of the bags plugging up when vacuuming the ash. We got a new house vac because the old hoover gave up. It was sitting in the garage so out of boredom I decided to restore it. Found out why it quit running and fixed that, cleaned it up I now have the perfect vacuum for my camp chef. Being bag less I just take the canister off and dump it and use the shop vac to clean the side filter, a one minute job. Been using it for almost a year with no problems.
Also use it to vacuum my artificial grass.(y)
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Rich, this vid is a review of a Camp Chef pellet smoker. I'm gonna start the vid where Baby Back Maniac talks about the firepot cleanout . Just speaking as someone who does not own a pellet smoker, this feature seems to be a good idea.

Does your model have this ?

 
I'm sure Rich will weigh in on this. I have a similar grill to him. I don't have the sideburner since I have a Weber Genesis for that. The ash dump was one of the selling points as was the pellet dump. No problems at all with the software but I haven't upgraded to Wifi control. I've got a Thermoworks Smoke that handles everything I need. We both got our Camp Chefs before Weber SmokeFire shipped at less than half the price. I only smoke once in awhile, so it was a no brainer for me.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Rich, this vid is a review of a Camp Chef pellet smoker. I'm gonna start the vid where Baby Back Maniac talks about the firepot cleanout . Just speaking as someone who does not own a pellet smoker, this feature seems to be a good idea.

Does your model have this ?

Click to expand...

Lynn, yes mine does have the slide with the removable ash pot. It's a nice feature except that my old body doesn't like getting on my knees to reach under the grill to get the pot off after dumping the ash. I always vacuum the grill after each cook what I do now is pull the slide and dump the ash and take the vacuum hose and stick it down in to the ash pot and vacuum the ash out, very quick and easy. I really don't even have to dump the ash as I can get it out of the fire box but by using the slide it scrapes the bottom of the slide and keeps it from getting built up crud on it.
I like Dan don't have the remote access like the pricier models and I'm happy with that. I use my Maverick to monitor the grill and wrapped up sitting under the tree is a new ThermoWorks Smoke so I'm all set.
 
Earlier on in my SF experiment I used a little handheld Shark vac for the fire pot. I eventually stopped vacuuming and it's been fine through many, many cooks. I do clean the ash and grease out of the barrel on a regular basis, though.
 
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