Does anyone use an 8" Poly Brush to clean a 6" liner?

[fire_man]

I local Chimney guy told me he uses and recommends an 8" Poly brush for 6" SS round liners. He says it does a way better job than a 6" brush and is not hard when using the rods. Anybody else agree??

 

[etiger2007]

No i do not agree, I just bought and used a 6 inch poly brush in my 6 inch liner and it was hard as hell to push through 18 feet of liner to the point it got stuck in a bend, after some cuss words and pulling really hard i freed it up. I took the brush to the garage and trimmed up the brushes bristles. I went and swept my liner again and it was much easier to push and pull the brush through the liner. I didnt trim it too much because i wanted it to scrape the sides. The end result the liner was clean from top to bottom.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

No! Better to use a 6" in a 6" and an 8" in an 8".

 

[lukem]

I think you'd stand a real good chance of getting it stuck then you'd be screwed.

 

[tfdchief]

I can't believe you could even get an 8 in poly brush down a 6 in chimney! I had to trim my 6 in to get it to reverse in my 6 in chimney. The first time I put it down the chimney I thought I was going to pull something lose getting it reversed to come back up. Buy the correct size for the chimney. It will do just fine.

 

[fire_man]

Thanks, guys - that's enough to convince me. Maybe it depends on the brand - but after hearing those stories I'm gonna order the 6" brush. I'm trying to get away from my old 6" steel brush - it's hard to pull through the flue and with brand new pipe, I'd rather use Poly.

But I will really miss being able to clean a warm flue with the steel brush - I hear the Poly melts easily.

 

[osagebow]

Not to hijack, but would tying a rope on the end and dropping it down as a "rescue" for a stuck brush / broken rod work? anyone else do this? I have a cleanout I can pull the rope from if needed. Doing my first sweep this week - 6" ss with 6" poly brush.

 

[tfdchief]

Not to hijack, but would tying a rope on the end and dropping it down as a "rescue" for a stuck brush / broken rod work? anyone else do this? I have a cleanout I can pull the rope from if needed. Doing my first sweep this week - 6" ss with 6" poly brush.

That would work but I wouldn't worry that much about it. If it is screwed on the rod tight, I am not sure how you would lose it.

 

[fire_man]

Not to hijack, but would tying a rope on the end and dropping it down as a "rescue" for a stuck brush / broken rod work? anyone else do this? I have a cleanout I can pull the rope from if needed. Doing my first sweep this week - 6" ss with 6" poly brush.

That's exactly what I used to do with my steel brush. I never needed the rescue rope, but it was nice to know I had it.