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Tried a soot eater for the first time this week, skeptical but it worked

Been sweeping for 8 years and always stuck with the traditional rods and brushes. Had a job in Tacoma where the flue had a tight offset and I couldnt get a good angle no matter what. Customer had a soot eater sitting in their garage from the previous guy. Asked if I could try it. Honestly figured it would just fling junk around and make a mess. Ran it for about 20 minutes with a shop vac running. The difference was night and day. All that fine dust got pulled straight out instead of coating everything in my truck. Saves me maybe 30 minutes on flues with bends. Has anyone else switched over or do you still trust the old way?
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carter.hugo
Oh man, I read a forum post a while back from this old timer who swore by them for the same reason. He said he kept a shop vac rigged to his rod just for the fine stuff, but the soot eater basically did the work for him. My buddy in Olympia tried one on a job with a crazy 45 degree bend and said it cut his time in half too. I still keep the brushes for the straight runs where I like the feel of the bristles scraping. But for those tricky offsets, I can see how that flexible shaft wins. I might have to borrow his next time I hit a tight spot.
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