After 5 or so years of using my soot eater as it was shipped to me, I figured I would measure the head diameter. This was brought on by another member who posted pics of them doing the above. Whoever you were, thank you. You possibly saved me some serious problems in the draft department and possibly worse! Anyway, back on topic. My tool had been used 5 times max. Measured the head and found out it was a little under 5 inches! After line replacement, I began sweeping. I figured I would have lots of extra fluff due to the under sized head previous years. I was right. I had somewhere between 2 and 3 gallons of crap! My normal amount is about a gallon from previous years. (Daily restarts twice a day makes for lots of crap) Moral of the story: measure your soot eater every other year. Just using it once on my 25' run took almost .25" off of it!
How big is the sooteater head to begin with? Ive been thinking about getting one for myself are the rods that come with it very flexible?
That was probably me. I had mine a few years too and the tips were pretty worn down and figured it was time to re-string it. It definitely had more "grab" going down the liner. Matt, the head itself is just a bit larger that a golf ball, and the line can be cut to your flue size. The rods are pretty flexible, but have limitations. I needed the extra rod kit and run about 25' with no problem.
The rods won't bend like a horseshoe, but they easily do 45 degrees plus on my setup. They ship it with plenty of line for any situation , but you cut it down according to your pipe. I also needed the extra rod kit. Small price to pay considering the local sweep charges $169. To further justify the initial cost, it can also clean your dryer vent! It's well worth the $ mattjm1017
So do you do one rod at a time?? I have 25' feet of fiberglass rods on my brush and let them dangle over the side, I could imagine trying to spin the whole thing...
Yes...1 rod at a time. From the bottom! This thing eliminates getting on the roof other than if the cap needs attention.
