Chimney sweeping rods and brushes?

[spudulike]

21 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

Righty tighty lefty loosey!

Like a dick I was looking at it from the top rather than from underneath if that makes sense.....anyway, losing a brush up the chimney isn't fun, did one once from not turning enough and managed to get it out with a very course wire brush that locked in to it and brought it down...phew!!

[Muddy42]

2 hours ago, spudulike said:

Like a dick I was looking at it from the top rather than from underneath if that makes sense.....anyway, losing a brush up the chimney isn't fun, did one once from not turning enough and managed to get it out with a very course wire brush that locked in to it and brought it down...phew!!

A long time ago I made the ‘no turning’ mistake. The draft seemed fine so I ended up just burning as usual. A half burned plastic fireball emerged a few weeks later. I learned my lesson and no problems since.

 

Dont try this at home, i do not advise this technique, open fires are nasty, hot and dangerous etc etc.

[eggsarascal]

Lock fast rods, anything you can’t turn anti-clockwise will give you trouble if you get the rods/brush stuck.

[ChrisNewport]

2 years ago i got these Flexible Chimney Sweep Set 8m 26ft Flue Sweeping Brush 8 Rod Kit Soot Cleaning | eBay  after my sweep retired, ive used them a dozen times sweeping chimneys for family and so far so good. Dad was a bit nervous at first as when he used to sweep them with drain rods he tied a rope round the brush so he could retreive it if it came off up the chimney as with the ones you attatch to the drill you cant.

[Muddy42]

5 hours ago, eggsarascal said:

Lock fast rods, anything you can’t turn anti-clockwise will give you trouble if you get the rods/brush stuck.

True, but the lockfast ones slow you down if you have to do repeated passes.  With tricky flues I might go up and down three times (with progressively wider brushes).  I've only had a 3/4 inch threaded one separate once and that was simply user error. 

[eggsarascal]

37 minutes ago, Muddy42 said:

True, but the lockfast ones slow you down if you have to do repeated passes.  With tricky flues I might go up and down three times (with progressively wider brushes).  I've only had a 3/4 inch threaded one separate once and that was simply user error. 

My mistake, I didn’t realise it was a case of speed, I thought it was a case of sweeping chimneys/flues and not loosing your rods.

[Muddy42]

2 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

My mistake, I didn’t realise it was a case of speed, I thought it was a case of sweeping chimneys/flues and not loosing your rods.

No problem at all.  Some sweeps or drainage people will only use the lock fast ones. Most require use of a key or spanner to lock/unlock every rod. It comes down to personal preference.

[eggsarascal]

12 minutes ago, Muddy42 said:

No problem at all.  Some sweeps or drainage people will only use the lock fast ones. Most require use of a key or spanner to lock/unlock every rod. It comes down to personal preference.

You could get one of these rod retrieval tools, which are good, if you have a camera to see what you are doing with it, otherwise, if you have difficult fliuezchimneys to sweep get locking rods.

Edited October 31, 2023 by eggsarascal

[cessna]

Many thanks for all your replies  much  appreciated.

[Tikay Musiiwa]

For your chimney, grab some sturdy fiberglass rods and a brush with good bristles. For septic pipes, though, get a separate set; trust me, it's worth it for the mess.