Sooteater ? anyone have one?

[paulie]

I seen a "Sooteater" flex rods on a drill. And it seems like it may work well for me. I am afraid of hieghts, "hate paying the price for something so simple to do" and would like to clean from the bottom if possible. has any one use one? And if so will it also nock loose stuff that may be on cap?

 

[BrotherBart]

Don't have one but several here bought them last year and said they work well. Two years ago a forum member used a pellet gun to unplug his chimney cap.

 

[paulie]

haven't had a problem with plugged cap....but will certainly keep the pellet gun thought open......thats funny! So they do work well enough huh?

 

[polaris]

I have one and it works well. I use it to clean a rear exit Jotul and it makes 90 degree bends fairly easily. It also does a passable job of cleaning the cap. In my opinion it's worth the asking price. I found the best deal on Amazon.com. You can perform a search and there are a couple of posts that give more details.
Joe

 

[fossil]

I have one. Works well. Although the rods really are pretty flexible, I managed to snap one by bending it too tightly while it was spinning. Bought another set of rods, which I needed anyway because of the height of the flue on the Lopi. I'm careful to have my drill running in reverse as I approach the cap, just to make darned sure I don't spin it off the top of the chimney. Rick

 

[rdust]

Don't know if they work but I plan to buy one soon. I'll sweep from the top down once a year but once the snow hits there is no way I can get on my roof to sweep. My cap is pretty open so it shouldn't plug up unless I'm burning wood I have no business burning.

 

[spendaviscpa]

I bought one last year after reading Fossil had one. It work great! I cleaned my parents, my in-laws, and my own flu with it this last fall. They were all straight shots, so no big deal. They do seem flexible enough to make a tight bend. I was a little concenred I might damage the flu. It can be rather noisy as as the drill spins the rods and ball. I figured it paid for itself in one year. My sweep was charging me $90. I normally left him a key and a check. I did this for 3 or 4 years. The last year (in 2008) I was home when he arrived. He was there maybe 15 minutes at most. He send a fat, rude, pig on the roof to run the rods down why he vacuumed out the firebox. I was very disappointed. I thought I was paying for some professional inspection of my stove and pipe. He did not even take the surround off! Not to mention the very nice gentleman he sent on the roof did NOT even screw the cap on correctly. It flew off in the first wind storm. I'll get off my soap box now.

I'm a big fan of the soot-eater. I'd recommend it!

Also, as you can see I don't post much. I've been reading this site for a few years. I'm a little addicted at times. keep up the good work everyone.

Happy Burning!