Need an ash vacuum...

[surfdog]

So yeah, did a quick search this morning...and came up with precious little. :-/ (Champagne probably didn’t help. LOL)

I’m looking for a vacuum that can handle ashes. Cold is fine, as hot ashes present yet another issue.

For the record, tried a shop vac at my parents house some time ago and the "pre filter" clogged almost immediately...making the process almost as time consuming as sweeping them out.

Tried a different shop vac at the GFs house...and it simply blew ashes everywhere. Making a bigger mess than I started out with that afternoon. So much so that I checked that it in fact had a filter. It did. Much of it was clogged...but not so much that it didn’t expel ashes. >:-/

Soooo, can anyone recommend a good ash vacuum?

[FireMan]

No pics, didn’t happen! 🙃

[surfdog]

Probably too irritated to shoot pics. LOL

[Bob's BBQ]

I have an old 5HP craftsman wet/dry that I use only for ashes. Works great. The filter is an open cell foam of some kind.

[latenight71]

I've been looking at this one by Snow Joe - https://www.toolsid.com/snow-joe/4-8...RoCaiYQAvD_BwE


It's Bob Villa reccommended if that means anything. The price isn't too bad, either. I will report back if I decide to make the purchase.

[klflowers]

I use a regular shop vac with the filter removed. I have a dust buster for the pellet grill for when I take it on the road.

[Panhead John]

I’m assuming this is for outside use? What is it your trying to vacuum out? A kettle, pellet grill, fireplace, stick burner? Just guessing here, but I doubt you’re gonna find any kind of consumer vacuum for this. Anything other than a small amount of ash is gonna clog the filters in almost any kind of vacuum. In my fireplace at home I use a dust pan to scoop up almost all of it and then I can use a little hand held for remaining dust. On my kettle grill, I use the ash sweepers for most of it. Then occasionally I’ll use my leaf blower and just blow out any remaining ash and debris.

[surfdog]

Yeah, outside only. Specifically for ash, so I’m not concerned about it’s ability to vacuum anything else. Dad has a pellet cooker, my GF has a "regular" grill. Actually, it’s a Dyna-Glo that I gave them some time ago. It just doesn’t get cleaned as often as it needs to be... I’ve tried but that seems to have been lost on the boyo. :-/

So if I can find a good one, I’ll go ahead and get two...one for each of them. Hoping that will speed up the process when I’m tasked with doing it: like always.

[Panhead John]

Hopefully you’ll get some better answers than mine, 🙄 but over the years my experience with a shop vac with large amounts of dust, ash or drywall dust is the filters always clogging up. Same as yours.

[SmokeyGator]

I have a small Rigid shop vac. The smallest one they make. Works fine for my Primo XL. The filter does not clog immediately, but I do remove most of the ash after using it by smacking the filter against the fence.

The kettle is easier. Behind my house is an open community area. So I drag the thing through the fence door, dump the ash collector, then the 40v cordless blower goes BRRRRRRRR. Because of various reasons I have plenty of dust masks these days.

[Jerod Broussard]

I love my little Rigid. No filter and that dude will dominate ash.

[Troutman]

I'm told that these really do the trick to getting that nice projected image so popular today......



....oh....sorry....I re-read your post and you're looking for an "ash" vacuum. Sorry but I can't be of any help.

[Troutman]

No really he did show us. I still haven't recovered, same symptoms as PTSD.

[ofelles]

All of a sudden I'm very glad I wasn't there for that!

[Razor]

I never knew that was a thing. So let me ask this. Today it is very trendy to have a little somethin’ somethin’ back there. What happens when that is no longer vogue? Do you attach two leaf blowers to push things back in?

[MBMorgan]

This one works well: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003M...b_b_asin_title

Doesn’t seem to want to clog and doesn’t blow already vacuumed ashes all over the place. It’s plastic so I’m careful to wait long enough for any embers to cool. It’s primary job is to keep the OG pellet pooper clean … a job it does quite well.

[bbqLuv]

There is a vacuum that sits on a 5 gal bucket. I saw it in a youtube video during the cleaning of a pit.

I use a cheap vac I got at Walgreens. Works fine lasts a long time. Bought extra bags off of amazon.

I find all vacuums suck, and the more they suck the better they work. Can't say why.

Happy Grilling to you and PBR too

[Troutman]

The one on the 5 gallon bucket is sold at Home Depot. It's called a "Bucket Head", it fits neatly on one of their orange buckets. They cost about $20 (plus the bucket). I use mine for sucking up pellets but you could use it for ash. It has a cleanable filter but it's pretty cheaply built.

[Skip]

I use a 10 gal Wet/Dry Shop Vac with a paper bag filter. I've used it that way to vacuum cold ashes for years. The paper bags last quite awhile Works great IMO.

[CaptainMike]

If you already have a shop vac, or pick up an ordinary one, get the vacuum bags for picking up fine dust particles like drywall sanding. I use them for picking up, well, drywall dust for years and some time ago I thought they'd work equally well for ashes. Viola', they do!! Cheap shop vac and cheap(ish) bags.

p.s. looks like Skip beat me by a minute.

[kenrobin]

+1 for the Snow Joe. It’s lasted longer than anything else that I’ve used for ashes