Sooteater for 35 Foot Chimney

[10range]

It appears that the SootEater is generally recomended on the form. I have a friend who is interested in purchasing one. His first question was if it would have any issues making it to the top of a 35 foot chimney. He currently has trouble making it up that high with a regular brush. From conversations it sounds like his setup is a straight shot from the furnace in the basement through the roof with insulated stainless pipe. He is hoping to use a sooteater to be able to clean from the furnace side. Any feedback from those of you who have used one?

 

[showrguy]

It appears that the SootEater is generally recomended on the form. I have a friend who is interested in purchasing one. His first question was if it would have any issues making it to the top of a 35 foot chimney. He currently has trouble making it up that high with a regular brush. From conversations it sounds like his setup is a straight shot from the furnace in the basement through the roof with insulated stainless pipe. He is hoping to use a sooteater to be able to clean from the furnace side. Any feedback from those of you who have used one?

My stack is also 35’, I bought 2 kits for the extra rods..
I shove it all up till I hit the cap, then spin on the way down..

 

[PaulOinMA]

Sooteater no problem at just short of 30 feet here. White flexible rods, too.

What are his brush rods made of that he had a problem?

 

[10range]

Sooteater no problem at just short of 30 feet here. White flexible rods, too.

What are his brush rods made of that he had a problem?

I just checked and he said the issue was that the current rods he have are flexing too much with the standard style brush that it won't go any further. From the last conversation, it sounds like he may have a significant amount of buildup on the upper part of the chimney. With this information, maybe the better question is how does the sooteater work with chimneys with some considerable buildup?

 

[PaulOinMA]

I will post my regular brush rods tomorrow when I am on my laptop.

Have a set of fiberglass, which are pretty rigid. They were advertised as flexible, so I needed to also buy a set of poly rods.

 

[PaulOinMA]

If he has a straight run, he may actually prefer the black Sooteater rods. I have to bend through my insert, then to a 15-degree offset. So I have the white rods.

 

[PaulOinMA]

My white, flexible Sooteater rods do get a bit squirrelly at 30 feet.

 

[PaulOinMA]

These 5-foot fiberglass rods are pretty rigid, if your friend is looking for a rigid rod to use with a brush.

Chimney Liner Brush with Flue Cleaning Rods | Poly Chimney Brush Kit - Rockford Chimney

Use the Poly Chimney Brush to clean stainless steel chimney liners to keep them warrantied. The chimney cleaning rods are 5 ft. long flexible fiberglass.

www.rockfordchimneysupply.com

 

[PaulOinMA]

These poly rods are more flexible.

Fireplaceessentials.com

 

[10range]

These 5-foot fiberglass rods are pretty rigid, if your friend is looking for a rigid rod to use with a brush.

Chimney Liner Brush with Flue Cleaning Rods | Poly Chimney Brush Kit - Rockford Chimney

Use the Poly Chimney Brush to clean stainless steel chimney liners to keep them warrantied. The chimney cleaning rods are 5 ft. long flexible fiberglass.

www.rockfordchimneysupply.com

Thanks for all the information. As I continue the conversation I am beginning to suspect that his issue is more that he has some rather serious creosote build up that may not be able to be resolved with just a brush. It will be a couple of weeks before I have a chance to get to his place to see the issue in person. The rods you posted are the ones that I use but I am not sure which ones he has. My suspicion is that this may be an issues that is better resolved by a professional.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

Maybe have a pro clean it this year and then you just have to maintain it ..