Blowers for small wood stoves

[Chemist]

So last year I tried a mattes inflation blower with a copper pipe for introducing air into the box. I used an ice flasher battery. Worked great, improved burn, but killed the battery in about 2 hours before it needed a recharge.

So this year my CPAP machine started blowing inconsistently so I turned it into a blower. It works great for my little 16 x 36 inch pan and stove.

[djmocknh]

That't interesting. I am interested in what other blowers people used. (obviously CPAP is an expensive blower unless you have one that dies) :-)

[Haynes Forest Products]

There are so many things that have blowers on them the sky is the limit. I just scrapped out a Jennair pop nup vent blower and that thing ripp. Has 3 speed switch and would be great for an Arch I would consider it to be high pressure. I would get hold of a good HVAC guy and ask to pick his bone yard. New furnaces and water heaters have draft inducer fans and they would be great for the small evap's. You just have to find the right guy and you will be up to your arse with blowers.

[G263]

I have an bath heat/fan exhaust blower on a speed control blowing in the draft door of a homemade barrel stove 20 x 30 pan. Works great.

[michael marrs]

i used my shop vac on reverse, and this year, a hair dryer thrift store $1-2

[Zucker Lager]

I don't use AUF for my tiny operation but thought trying the squirrel cage blowers that are used in over the counter microwaves for the vent hood part would be a great option just make a trip to the dump and find one. a couple screws and there out 110 volts. Here is a link to what I'm talking about. Jay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-microwave-fan-motor-SMV-360UA-AL/142686165842?epid=1701468998&hash=item2138c21b52:g:7x0AAOSwObhaV0R2

[blaircountysugarin85]

I was lucky enough to find a used Harman add on blower kit on eBay for around $60 shipped. It has a fully adjustable speed control also and works great

[blaircountysugarin85]

You can also get a good Dayton blower on Amazon and add a router variable control speed switch from harbor freight

[Greenthumb]

If you put one in it has to blow air up. I put a cage fan on my leader half pint smoky/ smoky lake full pint. I just hung it on the vent door. It just blows air past the fire and doesn’t make a difference. I Have not had time but need to make a tube that the fan blows in forcing the air up at the grate/fire

[Merklin Maples]

That is exactly what I did and it made a big difference. Keep expermenting and you will figure out what works for your setup

[jputney]

I use the draft inducer blower from an old high efficiency gas furnace... should be able to find one for free off junk furnace. I hooked it up with a dimmer switch and you can regulate the speed of the fan with the dimmer.

[Trapper2]

That't interesting. I am interested in what other blowers people used. (obviously CPAP is an expensive blower unless you have one that dies) :-)

Person? Or cpap? ;-)

[prairietapper]

if your rig is not very big. the blower on a clothes dryer looks promising

[Boomer]

I agree with prarietapper, blower from a clothes dryer is the way to go. This is my second year using the one I got for free from my local appliance dealer out of a used clothes dryer. We love free stuff don't we!? It's very quiet and easy to regulate. I'll post some pictures soon of my set up.

[needmoremaples]

i used a bathroom exhausht fan. piped right under my barrel stove wood grating. attached it to the barrel with a furnace boot like you would bring ductwork thru the floor of your house. then went from 6"-3" and attached the fan to it. easily kicked off if it starts to over boil or it has a rheostat attached to it. some motors are not meant for a variable speed but this one made it thru its first season. it seems to work better just plugged in tho. for whatever reason they have an internal plug in for the motor to the switch so i just plug it in there if i want full speed.

[Rodshobbies]

I use a 12 volt fan from a car . Wired to three switches using the resistor switch for the heater blower . With a homemade adaptor into my draft opening. Using it now for six years works great had to line my door with fire brick cause it turned it bright red lol

[mellondome]

If you put one in it has to blow air up. I put a cage fan on my leader half pint smoky/ smoky lake full pint. I just hung it on the vent door. It just blows air past the fire and doesn’t make a difference. I Have not had time but need to make a tube that the fan blows in forcing the air up at the grate/fireYou need to block off the front and bavk of your grates. This will force the air into the fire. If you put a duct and elbow, you will create a hot spot in the firebox.

[maple flats]

I feed my air in (but it is high pressure) via a 4" galvanized 20 ga. piece of stove pipe from the back of the firebox. The pipe has a cap on the end which is about 6" from the feed door. In the pipe I have 3 rows of holes, 5/16" each spaced about 3" apart. One row is top center and the other 2 face towards outer edge of the grates. I have about 4.5" of the door end of the grate blocked off using a layer of half brick flat. I have no such block in the back. Being high pressure I only need to clear ash off it about every 20-25 hrs of use. If you do similar but use a squirrel cage blower you may want the holes slightly larger and may need to clear ash off daily.
This works well for me.

[Sugarbush Ridge]

My first try at AUF. Boiling in flat pan on a stand, fire actually in ground. Got a big pile of coals that doesn't boil sap. Took a pieces of old exhaust pipe from my tractor and cut slots with 4" side grinder. Pushed that under the pile of coals. Put a vacuum cleaner back side blow duct taped to end of pipe. With only 6" sides was boiling over in 30 seconds. After I got the pile of coals burnt down and just feeding wood as needed has it boiling like crazy. Then built an arch. Then to SL pans. One thing leads to another,,,,,,,,,

[maple flats]

Brace yourself, it never ends!