Homemede Ash Arrestor

[RobC]

First off I give all credit for this project to member rona. He sent me the idea via e-mail and I'm just passing it on to everyone, due to it seeming to work pretty well. I have had an issue with soot on my siding since day one with the 7500:



It was due to a short exit pipe and due to being so low on the side of the house. The Ash Arrestor 9000 is the commercially available unit that only promises to prevent "most" of your soot on the siding for a cool $300. Well, here is my $10 unit that works probably better due to being further out from the house:



Basically, you take a used oil drum and clean it out well. I used a power washer and dawn dish soap. Then cut a hole in it the diameter of your exhuast pipe and at the level it comes out of your house at. Cut a second hole near the top of the barrel. Then about 10" or so from the top cut around the whole thing to make the barrel bottom and the top. Then take a piece of roofing valley tin and rivet that in place around the bottom of the top piece to form a "lip" that allows the top to slide on over the bottom of the barrel. Then slide the exhuast in the lower hole and I used pvc for the top outlet. Rona's original design uses more 3" vent pipe and a pellet vent hood, but I used pvc to angle the flow outwards more instead of straight down. Then seal up around the pipes with silicone to make the barrel as air tight as you can get it. The top of the barrel can be turned in different directions depending on wind direction and I noticed the smoke now blows out away from the house instead of on it. Of course I won't be able to power wash the house until spring hence the siding still looking bad in the last pic above. Initially, I thought this would be like adding several feet of vent pipe to the system and I would have to adjust for more combustion air, but believe it or not, no adjustment had to be made. I also plan on painting the barrel black in the spring to make it a little more pleasing to the eye. Feel free to ask questions, comment, or criticize. And again a big thanks to rona for the idea! Heres a pic of the inside of the barrel on the vent pipe:

[sting]

I assume the barrel half's are so you can open and clean out the ash??

Would a steel barrel with a clamp on lid work and function the same?

I expected to see some baffles inside the barrel or turned elbows like a cyclone

Nice ez fix to a dirty issue!

Thanks for posting the pictures!

I wonder how long that bare steel will hold up ? Well no matter this looks like an great EZ project even if it needs annual replacement.
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[kappel15]

nicely done. hats off to rona.
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[RobC]

It should work just fine with a clamp on lid, although you wouldn't have the option of turning it in different directions. That's just a minor feature anyway. Initially I tried to put a 45 degree pvc on the exhuast piece inside of the barrel, but it kept popping off even with silicone and I gave up due to single digit temps outside also. I had those intentions though. Seems to be doing well without it. Also, it's in halves so I can clean it out good in the spring, but actually I hook the leaf blower right up to the pvc outlet and it cleans everything at one time without even having to take anything apart. It's just a wait and see if I'll need any baffles in there or the pvc angle, but I think that just the sheer volume of the inside of the barrel collects most of the soot. Later, when there's some more light out, I'll pop the lid and take a pic of the inside to put up here.

[bluewolf]

If you still have issues you can always put a 90 on the end and a few inches of water in the bottom.
Maybe you could use a plastic barrel too if you had a wall thimble on the outside of the barrel? or would it get too hot?
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[RobC]

I think it may get too hot for a plastic barrel. With the lid off, there's pretty good heat coming up out of there. But it would be worth a try if the barrel is cheap. I used a bucket and water under the exhuast prior to the barrel, and really saw no difference. After the water collects ash on the top, it pretty much bounces off of it so frequent water changes would be needed to make any real difference. I thought of doing water in it, but I wanted it to stay sealed to the exhuast pipe for the leaf blower and changing the water would be a pain. What I'm seeing so far is most of the ash and soot is hitting the side of the barrel and just falling to the bottom. Some makes it by, but this is also getting it out farther from my house to take care of that. I think with any amount of baffles or water, some soot is going to make it through no matter what although they will cut down on the amount of it that does make it by.

[RobC]

Well, I wore my shorts and mickey mouse boots outside to get pictures of the inside. I have to be great entertainment for the neighbors. I opened it and found about a quarter inch of water in the bottom of the barrel due to condensation. So I guess I won't need to add water to it and it looks like I won't have a choice to use it or not lol! It's been running six days with the barrel so far. The inside:



Inside the lid:



The outside. Notice the condensation with ash and soot dripping down the side. Probably wouldn't happen with a clamp on lid. Also notice outside of pvc has some soot on it, but pretty minor:

[cornmeister]

I can see that barrel converted into a flower box stand for the summer months.
Or maybe a portable bar, just add a couple of stools with an ice filled cooler inside ,filled with your favorite beverage.
" If the women don't find ya handsome at least they'll find ya handy"
Or sumtin' like that


Anyhow, Good Job
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[Lucky Phil]

Looks really good RobC. If you used an open head drum with a lid, you could mount the pvc pipes to the lid with a 90* elbow, short section of straight, then a 45* elbow over the side. The condensate would more likely drip back into the drum, as the inside of most lids sit lower than the top lip of the drum. You could also turn the lid to different positions depending on which way the wind is blowing. I wouldn't think you would have to clamp the lid on. You might also think of using 4" pipe instead of 3" to alleviate any pressure build-up in the drum.

I'd also like to thank everyone that is using pvc pipe, as my company makes the pvc resin that goes into these pipes.
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[RobC]

Good ideas on the removable lid drums. I suspect this drum may last 2-3 seasons maybe 4 if I really get on cleaning it out at the end of each year. Then the drum style I find may be different. This was my last drum I had. As far as pvc, I use it in pretty much everthing I seem to get involved with. Strong and easy to work with. I don't plan on leaving the drum there in the off season. I usually remove all of my pipe and gorilla tape the hole in the wall thimble closed. There is a flower bed under the drum along the house.

[sting]

[Corny]

Nice job, RobC. Thanks for sharing.
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