Soot eater with a corded drill

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

Just got my Sooteater and will give it a go before the first fire of the season. Reading the manual it says to use a cordless drill with a medium torque setting. I'm wondering what the reason for this is and whether people have used corded drills with any issues. Obviously I'm asking this because my only serious drill is corded and I'd rather not get a cordless. My liner is about 32 feet and I'm not sure if a cordless would be powerful enough at that length. Do I need to worry that a corded is too powerful and could damage the liner?

Thanks.

 

[JA600L]

I would guess it would have more to do with a variable speed trigger. You probably want to be able to feather the speed a little. Just a guess.

 

[bholler]

We run our pro rotary cleaner with a corded drill most of the time with no issues.

 

[cjgoode]

It is the torque setting, so in case it binds up it does not injure you when the drill whips around. But I have corded drills with the torque control on it so the drill will not start spinning if it binds up. Just hold on tight to the drill.

 

[fire_man]

I use a variale speed corded drill with the sooteater but go light with the speed control. You might break a rod if you spin too quick and the rod is flexing too much.

 

[Sprinter]

It may just be me, but without the safety of a torque control and speed control, I would not feel comfortable doing it. Stuff happens. I do use a SootEater as well, and I just wouldn't do it myself. If you do, be very careful.

Not telling you what to do, but I don't know how I could have gotten along all these years without my cordless drills anyway and they don't have to be expensive.

 

[NoGoodAtScreenNames]

Thanks everyone for responding. I've got a straight up shot with only a slight offset so I think the corded is relatively low risk, but I appreciate the safety concerns. I've used my drill for lots of things and have never had a torque problem but who knows.. Running the drill a little off label in the insert is probably a bazillion times safer than running the chainsaw in the yard exactly to spec.

 

[ElmBurner]

I used a corded drill with my sooteater, also with about 30 ft. of chimney. I have no issues with it, although I do take breaks as I add rods and don't run the drill at full speed. The rods do start to whip around and bang on the sides if you run it too fast...just avoid doing that and you should be fine.