Experience with sooteater

[Diabel]

For the first time I cleaned my chimney “bottom up “ with a sooteater today. It was safer and warmer than going up on a lader in January. I have to say it took about the same amount of time (I was taking my time though). Slightly more messy. The sooteater did a good job.

If it was not for this site, I would not know such a tool existed.

 

[bholler]

View attachment 238413 For the first time I cleaned my chimney “bottom up “ with a sooteater today. It was safer and warmer than going up on a lader in January. I have to say it took about the same amount of time (I was taking my time though). Slightly more messy. The sooteater did a good job.

If it was not for this site, I would not know such a tool existed.

Why did you unhook the pipe? I just run through the bypass with the vacume hose in the stove no mess

 

[Diabel]

Why did you unhook the pipe? I just run through the bypass with the vacume hose in the stove no mess

It is a telescopic pipe. I did not think it will go through the bypass. Now I know. You confirmed it, thank you.

 

[bholler]

It is a telescopic pipe. I did not think it will go through the bypass. Now I know. You confirmed it, thank you.

Nothing wrong with the way you did it there is just an easier way

 

[jatoxico]

Not the best pic but to keep the dust down I use the rigid pipe of my shop vac as shown to catch the fines while running the Sooteater. Prob not needed but I put the flex hose on the exhaust side and put it out the door.

 

[Diabel]

Yes
Next time I clean, it will be through the bypass. Will have the vac going at the same time. It should cut the whole process by 1/2.

 

[mar13]

A SootEater will be on my Christmas list next winter.

As for removing the stove pipe or going up the bypass, the Pacific Energy (Super 27) stove manual states:

"Chimney connector pipe should be disconnected from stove to clean and inspect.
Only if this is not possible should you remove baffle assembly."

I do see that in most posts people talk about removing the baffle for the PE before cleaning (which seems simple), yet this thread makes me wonder which route should be taken.

 

[KJamesJR]

A SootEater will be on my Christmas list next winter.

As for removing the stove pipe or going up the bypass, the Pacific Energy (Super 27) stove manual states:

"Chimney connector pipe should be disconnected from stove to clean and inspect.
Only if this is not possible should you remove baffle assembly."

I do see that in most posts people talk about removing the baffle for the PE before cleaning (which seems simple), yet this thread makes me wonder which route should be taken.

Just bought and used the soot eater about a week or two ago for the first time. Works really well and is easy to use. Didn’t have the luxury of doing a bottom up clean without disconnecting the pipe. I have an Oslo though.

Still did it from the bottom up. Good thing about removing the pipe is you can inspect the inside of the pipe/chimney after with a flashlight and make sure you got everything without needing to go on the roof. Still only took 20 minuets or so. Highly recommend the soot eater for what, $45 on Amazon?

P.S.

I didn’t remove the entire pipe. Just disconnected from the stove flue, removed the three screws from the telescopic section of pipe and pushed it up high enough to get a bag and the soot eater under it.

 

[rtrev37]

I just heard about this sooteater device. I am glad to have heard about it before using a poly brush on my delicate smooth wall chimney pipe. Unfortunately, I did not do my total research till after the fact and found that the lifetime smooth wall flex chimney pipe was not that great. I was warned that using a Poly brush to clean it will damage the insides of this pipe. Unsure of the next steps, I found this sooteater which was recommended for this type of chimney pipe. Hope it works well and prolongs my chimney pipe but so far, all I hear are good reports on this rotary chimney cleaner in addition to being able to clean my chimney cap as well.....cant wait to try it and see for myself personally...

 

[ColdNorCal]

Also clean from bottom . Layout a tarp amd have the shop vac with an extension hose laying outside the door. As I remove each section of the sooteater, I hand it to the wife. She wipes it with a damp rag then puts it back in the plastic bag. Fantastic and simple tool!

 

[Ashful]

I just heard about this sooteater device. I am glad to have heard about it before using a poly brush on my delicate smooth wall chimney pipe. Unfortunately, I did not do my total research till after the fact and found that the lifetime smooth wall flex chimney pipe was not that great. I was warned that using a Poly brush to clean it will damage the insides of this pipe. Unsure of the next steps, I found this sooteater which was recommended for this type of chimney pipe. Hope it works well and prolongs my chimney pipe but so far, all I hear are good reports on this rotary chimney cleaner in addition to being able to clean my chimney cap as well.....cant wait to try it and see for myself personally...

I’ve been using a sooteater in two smooth wall liners for the last 6 or 8 years. No issues. I have also read others state problems with smooth wall liners, and I understand the concern, but it’s not as if standard flex liners are forever, either. My personal experience has been fine, but I will likely not spend the extra coin for smooth wall in the future.

 

[fire_man]

I keep hearing how delicate smoothwall liners are but some of the places that sell them say they are superior construction and the only reason to buy single wall corrugated is to save money.

Hard to imagine how a poly brush could hurt the smooth wall.

 

[bholler]

I keep hearing how delicate smoothwall liners are but some of the places that sell them say they are superior construction and the only reason to buy single wall corrugated is to save money.

Hard to imagine how a poly brush could hurt the smooth wall.

The unsupported bottom edge of that extremely thin inner layer can get snagged by the brush when pulling up. Retailers say lots of stuff to up sell stuff. Allot of it is bs. If you want smoothwall get heavy wall or midweight stuff

 

[rtrev37]

I’ve been using a sooteater in two smooth wall liners for the last 6 or 8 years. No issues. I have also read others state problems with smooth wall liners, and I understand the concern, but it’s not as if standard flex liners are forever, either. My personal experience has been fine, but I will likely not spend the extra coin for smooth wall in the future.

Thanks for sharing the info. At least its not all a lost if you had yours for 6-8 years. It seems the Rotary Cleaner will clean and keep it in shape for a long while. I would not buy this smooth wall again but hope it last at least 15 or more years as did my last liner - which was a heavy weight corrugated liner. Too bad it was not the correct dimension to accommodate a 6" stove. I like cleaning my liner 3-4 times a year.

 

[rtrev37]

I keep hearing how delicate smoothwall liners are but some of the places that sell them say they are superior construction and the only reason to buy single wall corrugated is to save money.

Hard to imagine how a poly brush could hurt the smooth wall.

Mine was cut at the end a little too long. I had to cut it and just pulled the liner off while rotating it and folding it as it came off. it was like aluminum foil unwrapping. The actual pipe itself is very strong, not as though you can squeeze it and bend it but once it's pulled out of place, you can keep pulling and undo the whole pipe. pretty questionable stuff. Will see how it does this year.

 

[Ashful]

I suspect that if installed and treated properly, a smooth wall can last a very long time, likely longer than a standard liner, if you never manage to pull out the inner spiral during sweeping. Furthermore, if you only sweep in summer, there should be no surprises that interrupt your heating season, due to the smooth wall.

 

[Woody5506]

I once disconnected my telescopic pipe to run a sooteater through, not that big of a deal for cleaning but I said "NEVER AGAIN" once I realized not only is it a major pain to get a pipe to actually telescope back out but also lining up the holes for the probe thermometer coupled with the stubborn telescoping made me go nuts. Because it's not a simple up/down telescopic motion once the pipe gets the slightest bit of soot on it (residual from your hands even) you have to do some twisting to get it out. That's where you majorly screw up keeping the probe holes lined up.

 

[rtrev37]

I once disconnected my telescopic pipe to run a sooteater through, not that big of a deal for cleaning but I said "NEVER AGAIN" once I realized not only is it a major pain to get a pipe to actually telescope back out but also lining up the holes for the probe thermometer coupled with the stubborn telescoping made me go nuts. Because it's not a simple up/down telescopic motion once the pipe gets the slightest bit of soot on it (residual from your hands even) you have to do some twisting to get it out. That's where you majorly screw up keeping the probe holes lined up.

Hey that is some good info issues on using a telescopic stove pipe I would have never thought of - although I don't have any on my stove. Maybe you should clean it in the same method as you normally do prior to the Sooteater but instead use the sooteater. Seems you changed you not only the tool but also the method of cleaning it.

 

[Woody5506]

Hey that is some good info issues on using a telescopic stove pipe I would have never thought of - although I don't have any on my stove. Maybe you should clean it in the same method as you normally do prior to the Sooteater but instead use the sooteater. Seems you changed you not only the tool but also the method of cleaning it.

I always dropped the baffle and just cleaned from the bottom up. Let's just say curiosity got the best of me that one day and I thought "hmm maybe this would be easier to clean if i disconnected the pipe....." NOPE

 

[rtrev37]

I always dropped the baffle and just cleaned from the bottom up. Let's just say curiosity got the best of me that one day and I thought "hmm maybe this would be easier to clean if i disconnected the pipe....." NOPE

Hey, the fun part of owning a wood stove is the "experiments". If we wanted things to be easy, we go with gas heating and knob turning. No fun in that. I had my share in the "dam- well that didn't work!!" lol, lol, lol

 

[begreen]

Because it's not a simple up/down telescopic motion once the pipe gets the slightest bit of soot on it (residual from your hands even) you have to do some twisting to get it out. That's where you majorly screw up keeping the probe holes lined up.

Make a small witness mark first on the pipe with a pencil that crosses both sections. That will be your alignment guide when lowering the pipe back down.

 

[blades]

And 2 cinch straps of some type to move the blessed devils up down and around . You know those three srews/ holes for locking things in place well they really bite your tail at cleaning time due to burrs left inside.
Used a sooteater type (bottom up) unit last week first time - over all a relatively nice experience compared to climbing a 7/12 roof., balancing on top of the peak and jamming a brush down some 25 ft with all that lovely rod whipping about.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Got a Soot Eater about a month ago. Worked well for the majority of it except the top 6' that has about 1/16" glaze for which it had little effect on. But that was expected. Overall I'm pleased with it.

 

[Sodbuster]

I love mine, I have 25' of Excel class A double wall insulated. I have (2) 45's on a short section, that I'm going to remove this year and clean outside. Last year the Soot Eater made it through the (2) 45's OK, but it's beating the heck out of my fiberglass rods, so I'm going to do them separately. Does anyone have any suggestions/tips for keeping the dust contained, while I'm cleaning the tall chimney?

 

[rtrev37]

I love mine, I have 25' of Excel class A double wall insulated. I have (2) 45's on a short section, that I'm going to remove this year and clean outside. Last year the Soot Eater made it through the (2) 45's OK, but it's beating the heck out of my fiberglass rods, so I'm going to do them separately. Does anyone have any suggestions/tips for keeping the dust contained, while I'm cleaning the tall chimney?

I normally tie a clear plastic trash bag at the opening of the clean-out, then poke a hole near the top of the opening to insert my pole; then open it again to attach my brush or the whip then secure it again. You can of course change the sequence around. During cleaning, all the soot starts to fall inside the bag which is contained during removal. I wipe my poles one at a time as they are being pulled out the chimney, remove the bag, clean the cleanout-cap inside the bag, replace then close the bag. Rarely do I need to vac or do additional clean up after that.

Hope this was an helpful