Equipment Check

[TONTOROSS]

OK, I looked for it, then there it was stuffed in a dark hidden place in the bottom of the boat - THE BUCKET VACUUM CLEANER!!! It only took about 20 minutes, (I forgot where I put it). Task objective: Clean out the who ever made it Antarctica diesel heater. Simple, take the parts out, turn on the vacuum. With my headlamp in hand to look into the belly of the beast, I start cleaning, head down go like hell. Bent over, I raze my head to relieve the stress in my neck & back. OMG!!! THE ENTIRE SALON IS COVERED IN BLACK DUST SO THICK YOU CAN HARDLY SEE!!! Upon hearing my Oh ****!!!!!!, the Boss Mare emergise from the lower head, see's me through the dust. Makes the bold comment that I look like an Aborigine!! Great, I jump up close the pc's. Open all doors & windows. It takes about 30 minutes for the "dust to settle." Honeycombed insullated blinds, books, every thing caked in very black dust.

After action report: Dust collecter in the vacuum cleaner broke. Instpect said collecter prior to use in a clean enviorment. Boss Mare worked for 7 hours correcting my failure to check equipment. Late that night, on the fly bridge with scotch & fine Dominican, I was at peace. The real work will start tomarrow.

 

[C lectric]

Oh man, I can imagine the mess. It wasn't my boat thank you but my brother in law's.

Even when you repair the broken part DO NOT use ANY vacuum cleaner which is still inside the boat or you will repeat the experience. Maybe not as badly but you will repeat. The filters are simply not fine enough to catch the soot.

At the very least the vac. itself should be on a LONG hose and outside on the dock.

Hope the cleanup goes well.

 

[FF]

If you are willing to spend the bucks HEPA filters for bucket vacs are at home Cheapo.

****

Soot inside an Antarctic does no harm and will depart the first time you run High for a day or two.

One hassle is the feed pipe can get crudded on LOW operation for a long period of time.

Turn the valve off and when the fire is out , remove the plug in the bowl feed , use the screw like device to clear the feed line.

15 seconds or so.,,replace the plug and turn the fuel on low.

As soon as you see liquid fuel in the bowl ,drop in a burning piece of toilet paper .

Total time with out heat perhaps 1 min , which is OK because low operation is mostly in the spring .

 

[TONTOROSS]

Hey Guys thanks for the feed back. Clean up went OK. Man was everything black!! C lectric, I did go to Home Depot for the filters. They work great. I need a long hose for that thing for a lot of reasons. FF, the chamber maintenance is great info. I turned the stove off again a few days ago due to the stove not getting a clean burn of the fuel. For such a small chamber, I took out a good size clinker. Now I'm back to a blue flame

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!

 

[Rebel112r]

Chimney sweep used to use power vacuum to clean out stoves and piping inside house. He had a couple of layers of panty-hose material over exhaust on vacuum. No sign of soot in house after he was done..

 

[Ski in NC]

I've got three vacs between the shop and the boat. One is for sucking up miserable oily nasty crap like machining chips in the lathe, mill, etc.. shop use ONLY. Another is for woodworking, cleaning up cars, dry dusty stuff only. Another one, a little stinger is for clean boat stuff only. If I use that one for wet stuff, I take filter out and vac stays on deck. Then I rinse out bucket and hang up in the sun to dry. It does not go back into the boat til dry and filter back in.

Multiple lengths of hoses very handy with the little spoolpieces to splice together. Got about 15' total for the stinger. With only 6' of hose it is a pita.

Vacuum cleaner management 101.

 

[psneeld]

I have a shop vac mounted in the bilge. Bought a 27 foot pool vacuum hose that fits the intake and have the regular 6 foot black shopvac hose as the exhaust . When I use it, I flop the exhaust hose out the saloon door and have the long hose that reaches the interior decks from bow to stern.

Vacuuming is now a 15 minute job that is quiet, clean and the vac can suck up almost anything.

This setup allows for poor filtration or failure...all exhaust goes outside.

 

[cardude01]

I have a shop vac mounted in the bilge. Bought a 27 foot pool vacuum hose that fits the intake and have the regular 6 foot black shopvac hose as the exhaust . When I use it, I flop the exhaust hose out the saloon door and have the long hose that reaches the interior decks from bow to stern.

Vacuuming is now a 15 minute job that is quiet, clean and the vac can suck up almost anything.

This setup allows for poor filtration or failure...all exhaust goes outside.

That's a great idea. My shop vac filter is usually so dirty I end up seriously dusting the area I'm trying to vacuum.

 

[TONTOROSS]

After I cleaned up the clean up, the bucket vac was so dirty that I walked off the boat, dock, past the parking lot to a open area to open it. After dumping the dust out, I threw away the new-used bag, went back the the boat placed the a new bag into the vac, then turned the vac on, then tried to clean me!! Clothes went to a large garbage bag, then the commercial laundry.

The bucket vac works great. I just need more hose, and couple attachments to make it a viable tool for the boat.

Merry Christmas!!!