That expensive ash vacuum I bought is collecting dust in my garage

Picked up one of those fancy $400 ash vacuums after watching a bunch of youtube reviews. Used it twice and now the filter clogs after 5 minutes of cleaning a wood stove. My $50 shop vac with a drywall bag actually works way better for half the price. Anyone else regret dropping big money on specialized tools that don't deliver?

3 comments

3 Comments

cooper.nathan1mo ago

Did you try cleaning the filter between uses or just let it cake up? Those ash vacs need a little more maintenance than a regular shop vac but they're way safer with embers and fine dust.

kevin_wells461mo agoMost Upvoted

My buddy Mike burned through 3 regular shop vacs before he wised up and got an ash vac. He was lazy about cleaning the filter too and that thing still lasted him 4 seasons.

wood.zara16d ago

@kevin_wells46 makes a good point about the safety thing, but I think the real issue is how much maintenance these things need. The filter clogs way faster than a regular shop vac because it's designed to catch finer particles, but nobody tells you that you gotta tap out the ash after every single use or it's worthless. My neighbor has one of those cheap shop vac setups with a drywall bag too and honestly it's been running for years with zero problems. The fancy ash vac might be safer with embers, but if you're constantly fighting with a clogged filter it doesn't matter how safe it is.