Drill Mounted Brush For Boiler Tubes

[sdrobertson]

I think it was Barnartist that asked about a cleaning brush to really clean the boiler tubes. I went to the hardware store this morning and came up with this. Items: one 36" steel rod, one cable tie, and a 2 inch wire brush that fits on the end of a drill. I hooked them all together and it work really, really well. I thought I had cleaned the tubes pretty well before, but this takes everything off down to the metal. The only problem I had was that I hadn't cleaned for quite a while and the tubes were pretty bad. The brush would heat up and the creosote would coat the wires. I just let it cool a minute and then beat on the brushes to chip it all off. Someone that has a shop should come up with something like this with set screws so you wouldn't have the cable clamp. Could make some money. I have a total of under $7.00 into this (not including the drill!!).

 

[Eric Johnson]

Wow, Shannon--that's a great idea! I gotta clean my tubes this summer, and I was starting to wonder about the best way to do it. You just nailed it, my man.

 

[palmer]

This a great idea. You mentioned that a shop should make a rod with setscrews at the end to mount the brush, and it got me thinking; I bought a 24 inch extension for my wood boring bits that is pretty much exactly what you are describing. It is basically a heavy rod that has a long "Collete" at the end with two setscrews to lock the standard wood boring bits in place. I think I bought it at Lowes or Home Depot. The downside is that it cost around $20. Since I already sunk the money for this thing years ago and really only used it a handful of times I think I will try it this next cleaning season. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Hydronics]

Good thinking -simple & inexpensive is always tough to beat!

I wonder if you made one with small steel paddles to scrape the major portion off first... or cut into washers & bend them like an axial fan blade then weld them to a rod?

 

[Gooserider]

A couple of thoughts based on the last couple of posts -

They make long flexible bit extensions - check over in the electrical department of Home Despot, etc... They use them for drilling retrofit holes in sheetrocked walls and the like - you can get either extensions or ones with the bit already on the rod. Not cheap, but...

As to Hydronics' idea about making a scraper type bit, What about using one of the "speedbit" style flat wood bits, ground to an appropriate size / shape? I would blunt or remove the point and put an angle on the corners, if it was about 1/16" smaller than the tube diameter it should work really well...

Gooserider

 

[jebatty]

Original LOL thought: "Necessity is the mother of invention."
Way to go!

 

[dogwood]

Palmer has it right. The drill bit extensions are easy to find and come in different lengths. You can attach them to one another to get the length you need.

Mike

 

[sdrobertson]

A couple of thoughts based on the last couple of posts -

They make long flexible bit extensions - check over in the electrical department of Home Despot, etc... They use them for drilling retrofit holes in sheetrocked walls and the like - you can get either extensions or ones with the bit already on the rod. Not cheap, but...

As to Hydronics' idea about making a scraper type bit, What about using one of the "speedbit" style flat wood bits, ground to an appropriate size / shape? I would blunt or remove the point and put an angle on the corners, if it was about 1/16" smaller than the tube diameter it should work really well...

Gooserider

Just pick one flexible extensions up this morning...1/4" by 36"s long and I will try it out next week when I tear down and clean the tubes. I'm still working on a "speedbit" but Menards only went up to 1 1/2 and I need a 2" one and then grind it down. I think between the bit and the steel brush it'll work real well. I guess this is one advantage to not having lever activated tabulators as I have the old style EKO and cleaning is pretty easy.