Loveless Ash Vacuum Cougar+ for pellet stoves-Made in the USA. Fireplace vacuum, pellet stove vacuum cleaner for hot ash

The MU405WS Cougar Ash Vac is by far best home use canister system available. I use it on two stoves with no problems. It works best for pellet stoves, but can be used on woodstove's. Follow the instructions, don't expect it to eat big lumps of charcoal. Some reviews complain that it plugs up, no big deal if that happens, easy to clear,also easy to set up and easy to use. A quality product made well, looks right at home next the stove, motor is quiet, suction powerful and excellent for fire safety. Don't buy the accessory products, keep extra filters on hand. The perfect tool for the winter job of keeping your stoves in top condition and home free from ash dust and hot coals. Clean you stoves daily, don't be lazy!

When we first got the woodstove eight years ago we had no idea how much dust would be generated from cleaning it out by hand we quickly saw we needed A better system to Keeps the stove area dust free In fact the ash dust gets on everything It was a little cheaper back then as I recall and there weren’t many options or other brands Full disclosure to get it to One only pick up the fine ass takes more than starting it up and sticking the hose into the firebox There is a little learning curve. It wasn’t uncommon for me to pick up more than just Ash and fill the hole was instantly getting hot because not only has it sucked up a hot coal But you are shooting air at a it Like a little a blast furnace. It has been my experience that less is more I quickly stick the pick up tube straight down so it’s sitting on the fire brick And then quickly move it right to left working my way back the whole process takes me less than 20 seconds there are always going to be times where the hose gets clogged up “mostly user error “” it really is a quick fix I simply disconnect the hose and reverse I have found that works nine out of 10 times sometimes I also have to bang the hose on the hearth a little. and a couple times a year I have to push something usually my finger through the intake hole on the side of the vacuum Now remember the unit is eight years old and it’s used 150 times a year occasionally breathing fire without blowing any ashes into the air not most of the ash but all of the ash !! The hose has grown shorter due to it unraveling and having to cut it. But to tell you the truth I think it clogs less now because the hose is a little shorter The hose is more rigid than one may like but considering it’s task it has done well. Tip I wrapped the end of the hose with electrical tape on and around the area being cut this stops the metal hose from unraveling more I have used a hacksaw , but I think a grinder with a cutoff wheel worked better. The bottom of mine was just metal and it would scratch the wood floor so I put a piece of door edge protector which is made of vinyl or rubber and it fits perfectly The filter is only now starting to show wear I wish the clamp and filter was easier to use it can pop off when trying to empty and clean it out or even when I use the agitation rod that helps shake and clean the filter if it is starting to loose suction the lip that the clamp and filter bag are clamped against is simply not big enough we have a wood stove and it works great. Given the alternative of destroying shop vacs or some of the lesser quality or worst of all doing it by hand it’s worth it’s weight in silver “ not gold”. And empty not full TIP. To keep the hose more organized I put a strong little magnet and this lets me keep the hose wrapped around the vacuum and mount on the side of the vacuum I keep it next to the stove and it doesn’t look that bad Unless Martha Stewart is stopping bye It’s my experience that the fine ash makes the fire hard to start because it blocks the air flow the larger pieces or coals left behind by the vacuum create voids which helps the fire start. All that said for me and my wood burning stove it rates an A. Even with its short comings how many products do you use as frequently that last as long as this performing such a hazardous task.?

The Cougar vacuum is better than the first one I had, one of those Tack Life $50 models. When the Cougar vacuum is new or has recently been cleaned out of ash, it provides adequate suction power. Many people have complained that the hose ( a narrow hose, about 1 inch in width) easily gets clogged -- it does. The best technique is to keep the metal nozzel pressed against the bottom of your wood burning stove to try and prevent larger chunks of charcoal from getting sucked up and blocking the flow. Even this is not fool-proof and I have to remove the hose and use a metal drain cleaning cable to bust up the blockage. Maybe someone can invent a clog resistant attachment that sucks up only dust and small charcoal pieces. The little hose that comes in the accessory bag didn't have sufficient suction, and just didn't seem to work as well as the steel tube attachment. Fine ash dust clogs the filters. That seems to be an issue with all these vacuums. The dust-cleaning shaker tool doesn't work all that well. You'll have to clean BOTH filters by hand after a while, which means loosening up the hose clamp to take off the outer filter -- not a pleasant task. No noticeable dust comes out the exhaust. That said, it does work. I can vacuum the wood-burning stove 5-10 times before it becomes time to take it outside (wearing a dust mask and protective outerwear). I empty the can, shake the outside filter, then brush off the remaining dust with a soft bristle brush. The quality of the hose, accessories (You DO get accessories), the steel can, and the motor seem above average, and it is made in the USA. The motor is not all that quiet as advertised. Is it worth six times the price of a TackLife vacuum? You be the The Cougar vacuum is better than the first one I had, one of those Tack Life $50 models. When the Cougar vacuum is new or has recently been cleaned out of ash, it provides adequate suction power. Many people have complained that the hose ( a narrow hose, about 1 inch in width) easily gets clogged -- it does. The best technique is to keep the metal nozzel pressed against the bottom of your wood burning stove to try and prevent larger chunks of charcoal from getting sucked up and blocking the flow. Even this is not fool-proof and I have to remove the hose and use a metal drain cleaning cable to bust up the blockage. Maybe someone can invent a clog resistant attachment that sucks up only dust and small charcoal pieces. The little hose that comes in the accessory bag didn't have sufficient suction, and just didn't seem to work as well as the steel tube attachment. Fine ash dust clogs the filters. That seems to be an issue with all these vacuums. The dust-cleaning shaker tool doesn't work all that well. You'll have to clean BOTH filters by hand after a while, which means loosening up the hose clamp to take off the outer filter -- not a pleasant task. No noticeable dust comes out the exhaust. That said, it does work. I can vacuum the wood-burning stove 5-10 times before it becomes time to take it outside (wearing a dust mask and protective outerwear). I empty the can, shake the outside filter, then brush off the remaining dust with a soft bristle brush. The quality of the hose, accessories (You DO get accessories), the steel can, and the motor seem above average, and it is made in the USA. The motor is not all that quiet as advertised. Is it worth six times the price of a TackLife vacuum? You be the judge...

Good old American made quality. I feel the extra price is worth it you can tell this isn't some China made pile of crap all metal components well thought out and Engineered the only gripe I have is how the bottom of the metal container pops when vacuum is created this could have been avoided if a small x crease was made in the bottom of the canister. Other than that it quiet, the suction is adequate, and it apears it will provide a decent service life I also think the filter is note worthy it isn't a hepa filter but I feel that would not be good for this application due to constant plugging and risk of fire. This unit has a two stage bag system with a plunger that can be accessed by the twist of a screw very nice feature when sucking up lots of ash and the filter clogs. You just unscrew the toggle pull the plunger up and down until you have suction again preventing you from having to pull the unit apart to clean the filter "nice touch" Downfall of this is the small amount of dust that enters the room yes there is a small amount sorry to say very small but it is there I am still pleased overall with this unit

When I bought my pellet stove, I noticed another version of this vacuum advertised on the back of a bag of pellets. At the time I looked up the price of the ash vac and thought it was too expensive and bought a much cheaper "Shop vac" for cleaning my stove. BOY WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WAS!!! After a year of having ash and soot spread all over my house, having to clean out the vacuum EVERY time I used it and finally trying to place all kinds of Duck tape over the silly thing in order to keep it from leaking ash all over, I decided to invest in the "Cougar Ash Vac." I was a little put off by some of the negative feedback this item received from people stating it wasn't worth the money, was hard to use and kept getting clogged up when they used it. I am happy to say, this was NOT the case for me. This attractive vacuum worked perfectly for me, sucked up every bit of ash from inside my stove and did not clog a bit. I no longer have black soot billowing out all over my house and my stove stays clean and ash free. I am not sure why others are having problems with their vacuums clogging up unless they are trying to use this vacuum to clean up debris left from stoves that burn large logs and lumps of coal. In which case, the vacuum may not be able to suck up larger pieces of unburned wood or coal. That would make sense, considering the selling feature of this product is that it is supposed to be good for cleaning fine pieces of ash that go through a regular shop vac. In short, this is a well built and hard working vacuum and a great investment. I am glad I bought it and wish I would have gotten one a long time ago.

Good quality , useful attachments especially the horse hair brush . Good suction power if you keep up the maintenance , dump the ashes and dust off the fire resistant filters so the suction works well.

This ash vacuum has moderate suction strength when its clean. The in-the-canister device to unclog the bag from ash is not effective. I so much wanted this to work, I wanted to buy an American product. I returned it, losing ~$100 for a restocking fee. Here is what I did to replace it. I am cleaning two Harmon Allure50 pellet stoves. I bought a Rigid WD1200 wet/dry vac, and installed a Rigid HEPA filter (green one) and Rigid HEPA tank liners bags, green colored as well. These are rated for very fine particulates. These are not included in the WD1200, but widely available. This works very well overall. When the bags are 1/4 full, I replace them, not wanting any soot in the house, and not wanting soot build-up to decrease the suction. I DO NOT LOSE SUCTION! This was such a hassle with Loveless unit, as early on the suction would weaken so much that I could not even finish the cleaning job. I gently wash the green HEPA filter every 2 cleanings. We clean our two pellet stoves every 6 weeks in the colder months, and consume more than one ton of pellets per season, to give you an idea of our use. I also purchased the Ridgid automotive detailing accessory kit, it helps with smaller attachements, an finally, I bought a Milwaukee AIR-TIP hose accesory kit, this has 5 small flexible hoses of various diameters and lengths, and this last bit of kit allows me to get into sensitive areas, such as the ignitor chamber, and exhaust channel, without damaging them. The Milwaukee hoses attach to the Ridgid hoses perfectly. As a reminder, YOU MUST DO THIS WHEN THE STOVE IS COLD. Never suction warm or hot ashes. I wait 24 hours after the last burn to clean our stoves.

It works - but it could be so much better. The main flaw is that the filters clog with ash rather quickly greatly reducing suction. To counter this, this machine has an agitator which shakes the ash from the internal filters. But (and here's the problem) you have to shut off the unit, unscrew a cap and manually shake the agitator by manipulating a small brass rod. I have to do this a number of times just to get through one cleaning of my pellet stove. The obvious solution would be to incorporate a crank type agitator with a rubber boot that would obviate the need to stop the machine and could remove the ash from the filters with a simple turn of a crank. For the money, it should really contain such a device. Also, the handle (like that on a pail) just barely fits over the motor hub on the top of the machine which means your fingers barely have the clearance to fit between the handle and the top of the machine. Why???? Would it have killed the manufacturer to spend a nickel or less to make a larger handled??? Again, for the money..... Come on.... really, a little more effort and this would be an A rated product. Right now I give it a generous C minus.

The Cadillac of ash vacs there is nothing better.

This is a quite difficult piece of equipment to review. There is no question that if you follow the manufacturers recommendations for use EXACTLY it works very well. However, it is very unforgiving, if there are any hot ashes lurking in the ash you will be in trouble. On my second time using the vacuum on my wood stove, that is exactly what happened and it burned a hole in the outside. so called flame resistant, filter along with a worrying burning smell. That will cost me approx. $35 for replacement filters. I am mystified as to why in an age we can land men in the Moon and rovers on Mars we cannot design a vacuum that will safely and efficiently handle HOT ash. Come on Dustless Technology, it's not rocket science (pun intended) get your engineers working on something more advanced. How about micro perforated stainless steel filters, or something far better than coated cloth! I would recommend this unit with reservations