Soot Eater - Yay or Nay?

[bholler]

It's not the 90 degrees that kills you. It's the bend radius you use to get that 90 degrees. I do not think you could shove a sooteater through a 90 degree tee or 90 degree bend in a 6" pipe but you can go into the door of a stove and up through a top exhaust just fine which is also 90 degrees but a much larger bend radius.

I've snapped one rod while trying to push the sooteater through the stove and up the chimney from across the room with like 4 rods attached, I was getting lazy. Pushing towards the stove bent the rod too sharply and it snapped.

There are rods that easily go through 90s in 6" pipe. I dont know about the soot eater rods though. I do it with ours all the time but they cost a little bit more than sooteater.

 

[Ashful]

I've snapped one rod while trying to push the sooteater through the stove and up the chimney from across the room with like 4 rods attached, I was getting lazy. Pushing towards the stove bent the rod too sharply and it snapped.

lol... I hope your wife got video!

 

[Highbeam]

It’s not violent when they break. At least it wasn’t for me. I now feed and load one rod at a time and minimize the bend radius.

The dang thing works great on our dry stack deposits. Can’t imagine the mess it would make with gooey tar. Then again, all brushes would make a mess with gooey tar.

 

[Ashful]

Oh, that reminds me, Highbeam. Someone had asked about how they do with the cap. My cap is stainless 5/8” expanded metal, and the SootEater does a great job at knocking any dried stuff off that. I suppose if you had one of the gooey stacks I sometimes see posted here, it might not work so well, but that’s never been an issue for me.

 

[bholler]

I dont care what you are cleaning with if it is gooey no mechanical cleaning is going to work. That crap takes chemicals. Same with thick glaze in round liners nothing will touch it but chemicals

 

[Highbeam]

Oh, that reminds me, Highbeam. Someone had asked about how they do with the cap. My cap is stainless 5/8” expanded metal, and the SootEater does a great job at knocking any dried stuff off that. I suppose if you had one of the gooey stacks I sometimes see posted here, it might not work so well, but that’s never been an issue for me.

I have Simpson caps with no screens on my class a systems. I push the sooteater up until it bumps the bottom side of the cap and let it spin a little bit one way and then reverse the drill and spin it the other way before coming back down. I purposely switch directions because I think it cleans differently in each direction.

I’ve been happy with the cap cleaning job it does but be warned, if you don’t remove the cap every few years it can really seize on to the pipe.

 

[Ashful]

I push the sooteater up until it bumps the bottom side of the cap and let it spin a little bit one way and then reverse the drill and spin it the other way before coming back down. I purposely switch directions because I think it cleans differently in each direction.

I do the same exact thing, but in my case it’s bumping the bottom face of the flagstone toppers you can see on the three chimneys shown in the photo above.

 

[chichas]

I bought one and it worked well for me. I ran it from the top down though because I have 3 feet of horizontal pipe run through my wall.

 

[chichas]

After hearing all the good things about these on this forum I'd like to get one myself. Where's the best place to order them online?

got mine on Amazon. less than $50 if I remember correctly.

 

[fire_man]

I'm getting faster at using the sooteater now that I figured out how to easily separate the extensions.
My only complaint is it does take longer than the brush used to but its worth it not to climb on the roof.

 

[Rickb]

I have Simpson caps with no screens on my class a systems. I push the sooteater up until it bumps the bottom side of the cap and let it spin a little bit one way and then reverse the drill and spin it the other way before coming back down. I purposely switch directions because I think it cleans differently in each direction.

I’ve been happy with the cap cleaning job it does but be warned, if you don’t remove the cap every few years it can really seize on to the pipe.

Hell I never thought about reversing direction....... I usually just push it up slowly going up and down till im out of rods then pull it down. Totally going to reverse direction next spring and see if I get more crap out.

 

[Sodbuster]

got mine on Amazon. less than $50 if I remember correctly.

Ditto on Amazon, just bought a second one because I was 2 lengths short for my chimney, now I have extra sections and an additional brush head.

Question for you guys that are using one; on a 6" chimney do you trim the whips or leave them factory length? All I have in my chimney is fluffy ash residue.

 

[bholler]

Hell I never thought about reversing direction....... I usually just push it up slowly going up and down till im out of rods then pull it down. Totally going to reverse direction next spring and see if I get more crap out.

In a round liner or chimney running both directions is not important at all. But you should do it in the cap. In anything but round absoluly run both directions.

 

[Rickb]

In a round liner or chimney running both directions is not important at all. But you should do it in the cap. In anything but round absoluly run both directions.

Yea mine is round and looking up with a camera it looks clean, but it only takes like 10 minutes to clean it so reversing it and seeing if there is any difference wont take much time. I dont burn a ton of wood so my chimney is not very dirty. 1.5 cords or so per winter.

 

[Highbeam]

Ditto on Amazon, just bought a second one because I was 2 lengths short for my chimney, now I have extra sections and an additional brush head.

Question for you guys that are using one; on a 6" chimney do you trim the whips or leave them factory length? All I have in my chimney is fluffy ash residue.

I trim to length per the instructions. A touch long is better than a touch short.

Don’t forget the secret trick. The original whips are more than twice as long as they need to be so you loosen up the clamp bolt and slide the whips in the head so you only cut from one side of the ball. The cutoffs are long enough to give you a second set of whips for when you wear out the first.

 

[bholler]

We leave ours fairly long it doesnt hurt anything and just makes them last longer. As it is they last a month at most for us.

 

[Ashful]

I bought one and it worked well for me. I ran it from the top down though because I have 3 feet of horizontal pipe run through my wall.

A lot of guys will replace the outdoor elbow with a tee, and leave the unused leg pointing down. Cap it when in use, then pull the cap to sweep straight up from the ground outdoors. Keeps the mess outside, and lets you do a thorough cleaning.

Ditto on Amazon, just bought a second one because I was 2 lengths short for my chimney, now I have extra sections and an additional brush head.

Question for you guys that are using one; on a 6" chimney do you trim the whips or leave them factory length? All I have in my chimney is fluffy ash residue.

I trimmed mine, per the instructions. Did the same trick as Highbeam, to get 2 sets of whips out of one.

 

[bholler]

A lot of guys will replace the outdoor elbow with a tee, and leave the unused leg pointing down. Cap it when in use, then pull the cap to sweep straight up from the ground outdoors. Keeps the mess outside, and lets you do a thorough cleaning.


I trimmed mine, per the instructions. Did the same trick as Highbeam, to get 2 sets of whips out of one.

It needs to be a tee outside regardless.they dont make 90s in class a.

 

[toddnic]

The Sooteater works great and should work fine in your application.....

 

[SuperJ]

I've ordered one based on this thread, should be here Friday or Monday.

 

[Ashful]

It’s been said a few times elsewhere, but worth repeating here. If you need extensions, it’s usually cheaper to just buy a second full kit, which will give you the length you need, along with a spare head, door plastic, and drill adapter.

I have never used the plastic sheeting, I just do it with the door open and a big-ass shop vac hose running in the stove. I’ve never had any dust come out into the room, that I can see.

 

[bholler]

One thing we do that does help if you are running through an area with sharp edges or even a tight turn is we run our rods through a lenghth of flexible plastic conduit. It keeps the rods from getting cut up and minimizes the rods kinking at the fittings. It also works well if you are going through a cleanout you can stuff something around that conduit to help contain dust.

 

[showrguy]

Where are you guys finding the kits with the white rods ??
All the ones I have seen all have the black rods..

 

[shoot-straight]

i have a 10/12 roof with a masonry chimney that sits "off" the roofline, and up several feet. i have a crazy, well insured chinmey sweep jump out to it to clean and inspect every year or so for insurance purposes. i use the sooteater maybe 1-2 times a season when we get a warm spell. it works pretty darn good, but getting the garbage from behind the bypass door is a pain. easier to get it out if you pull the combustor, but then you need a new gasket.

 

[SuperJ]

i have a 10/12 roof with a masonry chimney that sits "off" the roofline, and up several feet. i have a crazy, well insured chinmey sweep jump out to it to clean and inspect every year or so for insurance purposes. i use the sooteater maybe 1-2 times a season when we get a warm spell. it works pretty darn good, but getting the garbage from behind the bypass door is a pain. easier to get it out if you pull the combustor, but then you need a new gasket.

Can you just lift your stove pipe off the stove with the bypass closed and vacuum it?