Ash vacuum crapped out mid-job yesterday, had to finish by hand

Was cleaning out a heavy creosote buildup in an old farmhouse near Lancaster and my trusty ash vacuum just died. The motor started smoking about 10 minutes into the job. I had to sweep the rest of the flue by hand with a dustpan and bucket up on the roof. Took me an extra hour and a half to get everything cleaned up. Customer didn't even notice the delay cause I played it cool. Anyone else had a tool fail on them at the worst possible moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_murphy366d ago

Hang on, you kept working after the motor started smoking? That's wild. I would have dropped that thing and let it cool off before even thinking about touching it again. You're a braver man than me, I've seen those things catch fire if you push them too hard. And an extra hour and a half on the roof with a dustpan? That's brutal, but I gotta respect the hustle.

richard_shah5d ago

Nah man, those motors actually have thermal protectors that trip before they'd catch fire... it's more of a burnt dust smell than the motor itself going up. I've had one do the same thing, let it cool for twenty minutes and it fired right back up. Still sucks to lose that time though.