Hey old fellas....

Geek...I don't know what your venting or setup is like but you might want to consider a leaf blower/vacuum for your stove. You might have ash plugged up somewhere that your current vac can't suck out. I believe can be had for $40-60 or check out Craigslist.

Don2222 can hook you up with a new comb. blower and updated impeller. You should be able to buy the new impeller and slap it on your current blower. I think they are relatively cheap.

 

I will send a PM to don2222
I'd love to try the impeller and see what happens, albeit it can be used with current blower.

The vacuum I use from outside is very powerful. I don't know where else soot can be plugged up. I have a leaf blower but never tried it on the cleaning since it'd be pointing down/up and not away from the house?

 

Don't forget to mention you're a member so you get your 10% off.

 

In most cases, a high MPH LB will out "suck" the shop vac. I'd give it a try, and I'm sure there must be some sort of plastic elbow at a big box or hardware store that can be "McGiver'ed" onto the end (duct tape?) to shoot the ash away from the house.

Don't forget....IF the interior walls of the stove are steel, you can do some banging on them to help dislodge hidden, caked-on ash. I was VERY surprised how much came out the 1st time I tried it. BUT, if the walls are cast, don't try it. Remove any "firebrick" first too.

 

don2222 returned my call and recommended first to haul the stove out and with an air compressor to blow every hole and within the exhaust blower area, in both directions.

If that doesn't fix the air flow then buy the exhaust blower and impeller assembly ($200 plus shipping)
I don't have an air compressor so hope my leaf blower can do the job?

This is a project for Friday..,

 

Rent a small air compressor if you must…

 

I may need to, $25 for 4 hours.
I am also thinking if using my leaf blower may do the job, we'll see.

 

Welcome aboard Geek, its been a while.

 

Thanks...

 

Hey geek, nice to text ya.

 

Yep. I have a $39 compressor from Harbor Freight that I've had for at least 6 years now. It doesn't get heavy usage, but it ran a framing nailer and a trim nailer when I finished 800 sq ft of my basement. Still going strong. I bought a lot of harbor freight tools to get started, intending to replace them with nicer stuff once they broke...the reciprocating saw and small compressor are still kicking!

 

Craigslist in my area always has an assortment of compressors pretty cheap.

 

The Chows and ThermoGlo's seem to be on par with ash and heatm although the Chows seem to have just a bit less (no scientific observation though). So to me, the main difference is length and uniformity of length.

 

Welcome aboard Geek. I am new here as well and cant say enough good about the site.
Old Fart

 

I have that exact same stove in the office.
When I've had trouble with air flow in this stove it's been 3 different problems:
1. The door or the ashpan door weren't sealed well.
2. The firepot wasn't seated correctly, or was in backwards, or had ash underneath it, or it's holes were plugged.
3. On both the left and right side of the back wall, toward the bottom, are 2 removable covers. Mine was full of ash inside and had to be vacuumed out.

There's a 4th I just thought of, someone bumped into the damper rod on the side and pushed it in once. I typically pull it almost all the way out.

 

Thanks Scot, I found that the issue was a blockage in the OAK, the outside screen seemed clean to the eye BUT there was lint formation blocking the air from coming in.

 

Thats great Geek !! Simple fixes are always nice