Rutland 6 inch poly brush with 6 inch Selkirk Supervent - too tight...

ponderosa77 · Jan 28, 2016

Since the weather is very nice, I just tried to clean my 6 inch Selkirk Supervent double-wall stainless chimney with a Rutland 6 inch poly brush. With much more effort than I thought there should have been to simply push the cleaning brush halfway down the first section of pipe, I decided I didn't want it to get stuck, so I tried to extract the brush. That's when I realized this brush seems way too tight. It took a *lot of effort to simply reverse the brush to extract it.

I've read reviews where people have snipped a little off of the ends of each bristle but this still doesn't seem right. As is, though, there is a very real risk of getting the brush stuck in the chimney as tight as it is. Should I try a different brush or method?

bholler · Jan 28, 2016

If it is to tight trim it. But it can take a fair amount of force to clean. Especially if there is creosote buildup. That is why i have had surgery on both my shoulders

ponderosa77 · Jan 28, 2016

bholler said:
If it is to tight trim it. But it can take a fair amount of force to clean. Especially if there is creosote buildup. That is why i have had surgery on both my shoulders

Geez.... word of warning, eh?

Alright. I did find this post:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/reversing-a-chimney-brush.28860/page-2

I either need to trim a little off of the bristles or use a different brush. I will also do an actual measurement on the Selkirk chimney to see if it is indeed slightly smaller than 6 inches ID....

bholler · Jan 28, 2016

ponderosa77 said:
I either need to trim a little off of the bristles or use a different brush. I will also do an actual measurement on the Selkirk chimney to see if it is indeed slightly smaller than 6 inches ID....

The problem is that if you end up with creosote buildup which is very possible with your stove you will want that brush tight in order to clean it.

ponderosa77 said:
Geez.... word of warning, eh?

I clean allot of chimneys I doubt you would have an issue.

ponderosa77 · Jan 28, 2016

bholler said:
The problem is that if you end up with creosote buildup which is very possible with your stove you will want that brush tight in order to clean it.

I clean allot of chimneys I doubt you would have an issue.

I don't think I will be able to move it up and down (brushing motion) through the chimney as is. It seems like I would have to force it all the way down through the cleanout tee so the bristles can reverse direction, then rotate it a little, then pull it all the way up, then repeat. Doing this with a helper might be easier because the helper could use a pull rope from the bottom.

bholler · Jan 28, 2016

ponderosa77 said:
I don't think I will be able to move it up and down (brushing motion) through the chimney as is.

That is not how you clean typically. Generally you push all the way down then pull all the way up. The only time you scrub up and down is if your brush is to loose.

English BoB · Jan 28, 2016

bholler said:
That is not how you clean typically. Generally you push all the way down then pull all the way up. The only time you scrub up and down is if your brush is to loose.

Being stupid............why from the top ?

bob

bholler · Jan 28, 2016

English BoB said:
Being stupid............why from the top ?

Not always from the top. I actually clean from the bottom allot more often than the top. If i can do it properly from the bottom i see no reason to expose myself to more risk by going on top. But there are some that still need done from the top.

English BoB · Jan 28, 2016

bholler said:
Not always from the top. I actually clean from the bottom allot more often than the top. If i can do it properly from the bottom i see no reason to expose myself to more risk by going on top. But there are some that still need done from the top.

thanks

bob

zig · Jan 28, 2016

Same pipe and Red Devil brush, way too loose. Break out the dykes.

ponderosa77 · Jan 29, 2016

zig said:
Same pipe and Red Devil brush, way too loose. Break out the dykes.

That is helpful to know, thanks.

Squisher · Jan 29, 2016

I would look to a rotary cleaner like the sooteater. I've been in contact with a lot of suppliers and brushes seem to be becoming a thing of the past. To harmful to the liner and less effective at cleaning is what I'm being consistently told. Bholler I'd like to hear your opinion on this?

bholler · Jan 29, 2016

Squisher said:
I would look to a rotary cleaner like the sooteater. I've been in contact with a lot of suppliers and brushes seem to be becoming a thing of the past. To harmful to the liner and less effective at cleaning is what I'm being consistently told. Bholler I'd like to hear your opinion on this?

Well brushes are not harmful to the liners we use but yes they can be to light wall liners. But in general i prefer rotary cleaning if there is anything other than a fine powder in the chimney. I find it easier to do a thorough job. We can also clean from the bottom better with rotary tools because they effectively clean the screen on the cap.

electrathon · Jan 29, 2016

bholler said:
Well brushes are not harmful to the liners we use but yes they can be to light wall liners. But in general i prefer rotary cleaning if there is anything other than a fine powder in the chimney. I find it easier to do a thorough job. We can also clean from the bottom better with rotary tools because they effectively clean the screen on the cap.

I wanted to ask you about this and your responce I would be able to clean up from the bottom through my stove without moving it. I didn't respond in the other thread, I felt it was turning into a hijack. What exactly would I need to be able to go up through the bottom? I know it is impossible with my rods, is there something else that is used?

bholler · Jan 29, 2016

electrathon said:
What exactly would I need to be able to go up through the bottom? I know it is impossible with my rods, is there something else that is used?

I dont know if a soot eater would do it i have never used that system. What we use is 1/2" white nylon button lock rods with a small whip cleaning head. On a set up like yours i would feed the rods through a length of flexible conduit to protect the rods as they went through the 90. In total our setup for cleaning like that is about $600 for 30'. It will last us about a year so for you it will probably last a lifetime.

electrathon · Jan 30, 2016

bholler said:
I dont know if a soot eater would do it i have never used that system. What we use is 1/2" white nylon button lock rods with a small whip cleaning head. On a set up like yours i would feed the rods through a length of flexible conduit to protect the rods as they went through the 90. In total our setup for cleaning like that is about $600 for 30'. It will last us about a year so for you it will probably last a lifetime.

Is there a brand on the whip heads? Does it rotate? By a drill? What kind of flex conduit? Is it plastic, like Carlon or spiral metal? I appreciate the help.

Woody Stover · Jan 30, 2016

bholler said:
That is not how you clean typically. Generally you push all the way down then pull all the way up. The only time you scrub up and down is if your brush is to loose.

Yeah, at my SIL's I reversed a locking Rutland poly , which was a tight fit, and it started pulling apart. I barely got it out.

Beer Belly · Jan 30, 2016

Mine has an area or two where it hangs up a bit, and really basically comes to a dead stop when I get to the bottom, I just go as far as I can, scrub while turning the brush to the right to keep everything together. I give it a fair amount of force to get it thru the tight spots.....I don't think I'm doing any harm (I hope).

bholler · Jan 30, 2016

electrathon said:
Is there a brand on the whip heads? Does it rotate? By a drill? What kind of flex conduit? Is it plastic, like Carlon or spiral metal? I appreciate the help.

I dont know the brand we just order button lock stuff from one of our suppliers they all carry the same type of stuff. Some of the stuff we have is from sleepy hollow and some is olympia. And yes it goes in a drill. As far as the conduit goes we use metal but plastic would work fine as well it is just a sleeve to protect those rods It also means we can then pack around that conduit in some cases to contain the dust.

ponderosa77 · Feb 17, 2016

Well, we had nice weather again and I decided I really didn't want to return the brush so I got out the pruning shears and started shearing.... Shear a little, test fit, shear a little, test fit... Finally got it just right and was able to sweep the chimney. It worked pretty well. I got maybe 4-8 cups or so of creosote (a little ash was already in the bucket) and was able to test that the brush worked and also evaluate burning practices. Nice having a straight run of chimney. Just open the cleanout tee and dump into the bucket. Took maybe 20 minutes.

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