Charlescraft Bad Ash 2 Fireplace Vacuum

This vacuum was purchased on sale to use for our pellet stove. We purchased a new stove and this vacuum really helped for cleaning up the pipework before installing the new stove. I like the metal canister being able to with hold some heat. I can feel more comfortable about cleaning out the pellet stove and not having to worry as much about fire risk like I would with a plastic vacuum canister. I still only clean a cold stove, but it puts the mind at ease.

I bought this to clean wy pellet stove, I only ues it after I get most of the ashes are removed. it doesn't matter how clean the filter is when you start or how many times you hit the useless hammer you lose suction in a couple of minutes. IT IS JUNK STAY AWAY

Bought 1 already for our home and buying a 2nd one for our cottage. Saw the 2 reviews and thought I would share my experience. The 1st time I used the unit to clean the fireplace I had the same negative experience, loss suction very quickly and was not able to complete the cleaning. I called Charlescraft customer service to share my disappointment and was given some guidance to operate and asked to try again. I did and my experience was very different from the 1st time and was successful in vacuuming all the ashes into the canister. Here is what I did differently the 2nd time: 1: Made sure the exterior cloth pre-filter is secured tight over the main Hepa filter. 1st time it was not and the interior Hepa filter was caked in ash dust also which impeded the suction. 2: Skimmed the ashes instead of putting the nozzle deep into the ashes. 3: Whenever the pitch of the motor went higher or I felt the suction had significantly decreased, I stopped and pulled the thumper knob 5 times to knock the ash off the internal filter cover which restored the suction.

Have 2 woodstoves.....15 seconds after using it the vacuum lost all suction. Both the hose and the filter clogged. Got the ash out of the hose and the filter and tried again. 10 seconds later, same thing. I had picked up only about 1/3 of the ash in the small box high efficiency woodstove. Filter is too efficient. Also the hose diameter is too small. Brought it back. Too bad, nice idea...if only it worked.

I bought this unit this morning (December 12, 2013) as we use our fireplace a lot and with the new heavy grate and older age it was getting harder to clean. THE GOOD: The unit does suck up the ash without letting any of the fine particles into the room. The filters are also easy to clean with water when done, but banging them as they suggest has little or no effect. THE BAD: The filters are so good they plug before the canister is half full. The other bag over the filter does help but the hepa filter was plugged solid and all suction was lost in minutes. I had to stop and clean it 3 times during the process. SOLUTIONS: I would suggest that if they want to sell this they should include at least two sets of filters so you can change it and carry on and then wash them at the end. You can not clean them with water and then use them again until they dry. I would estimate that it took me more than twice as long to clean the fireplace with the vacuum versus cleaning with the fireplace shovel. I think next time I will try to do a manual clean first and use the vacuum for the final "clean sweep". Failing that I think I have a great new vacuum to attach to my saw at the farm - it has a much larger hose (diameter) than a regular vacuum. (I did not know we could add videos / pictures so I will do that next time so you can see)