Stuck brush...yep noobie did it.

[rngrfromthemtns]

Noobie mistake please be gentle. I am getting prepped for the first fire of the season. I bought a house that was a rental and I don't have a good record of how often it was cleaned. I know it's been awhile and they were burn some pretty wet conifer. It has pretty bad stage 3 creosote (possibly a prior chimney fire) so I decided to run the metal brush down that is in the garage. Big mistake there was enough build up that the brush was hard to push after about 4 feet and it's possible that it's too big of a brush to begin with. I tried pulling it out but no go. I dont think i can force it down with risk of getting the whole thing stuck. I tried leveraging it out with a chain wrapped around the conduit/pipe and some boards. I'm afraid to put too much pressure on it which could break the clay liner. I tried bending a few bristles with a floor scraper but nothing.

There are no local chimney specialists so I thought I'd ask here before I call a random contractor.

I read some older threads about pushing it all the way down and a could

I'm about to drop a running angle grinder with the guard on to cut some but that risks damage to flue.

What do you do?


Once clean I intend to line it with a flexible lining system

 

[bholler]

Noobie mistake please be gentle. I am getting prepped for the first fire of the season. I bought a house that was a rental and I don't have a good record of how often it was cleaned. I know it's been awhile and they were burn some pretty wet conifer. It has pretty bad stage 3 creosote (possibly a prior chimney fire) so I decided to run the metal brush down that is in the garage. Big mistake there was enough build up that the brush was hard to push after about 4 feet and it's possible that it's too big of a brush to begin with. I tried pulling it out but no go. I dont think i can force it down with risk of getting the whole thing stuck. I tried leveraging it out with a chain wrapped around the conduit/pipe and some boards. I'm afraid to put too much pressure on it which could break the clay liner. I tried bending a few bristles with a floor scraper but nothing.

There are no local chimney specialists so I thought I'd ask here before I call a random contractor.

I read some older threads about pushing it all the way down and a could

I'm about to drop a running angle grinder with the guard on to cut some but that risks damage to flue.

What do you do?
View attachment 299929

Once clean I intend to line it with a flexible lining system

You pretty much have to stand on top of the chimney and give it a quick yank to reverse the bristles. It sucks. Things like that are why my shoulders are in the shape they are in. And why very few of us pros still use brushes

 

[rngrfromthemtns]

You pretty much have to stand on top of the chimney and give it a quick yank to reverse the bristles. It sucks. Things like that are why my shoulders are in the shape they are in. And why very few of us pros still use brushes

Not sure I'm brave enough to climb an extra 4' to the top but I just might have a friend crazy enough to give it a shot. I'll try a quick yank tomorrow but open to more suggestions.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

In the future, you can always clean from the bottom up through the clean out.

 

[EbS-P]

How about some vice grips 2x4 pieces and your car Jack or two

 

[begreen]

How about some vice grips 2x4 pieces and your car Jack or two

Good suggestion. Just stay safe up there.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I like the vice grip idea much better than standing on top of a chimney!

 

[rngrfromthemtns]

How about some vice grips 2x4 pieces and your car Jack or two

I might give this a try again. I wrapped the pipe with a chain then jack it up but pulling from the side wasn't really efficient. Maybe pulling from both sides at the same time will keep the pull straight up.

 

[GrumpyDad]

yikes how much larger is the brush than the opening?! If it's not that much and not that far down, Ive used a 2x4x 10 and just deformed the bristles and easily pull it back up. I could have just forced it back down as well.
I also have been attaching a pull rope for when stuff like this happens. Had the wife pull while Im cramming it through.
Ive only had this happen to me a few times. Im much more deliberate with my clean actions so I havent gotten stuck since.

 

[rngrfromthemtns]

yikes how much larger is the brush than the opening?! If it's not that much and not that far down, Ive used a 2x4x 10 and just deformed the bristles and easily pull it back up. I could have just forced it back down as well.
I also have been attaching a pull rope for when stuff like this happens. Had the wife pull while Im cramming it through.
Ive only had this happen to me a few times. Im much more deliberate with my clean actions so I havent gotten stuck since.

I didn't think it was too much bigger but starting to think it's a bit too big. I have a friend with a 1x1 square tube. I think we're going to try to tap the wires down to get them to switch direction enough to pull it out.

 

[GrumpyDad]

I didn't think it was too much bigger but starting to think it's a bit too big. I have a friend with a 1x1 square tube. I think we're going to try to tap the wires down to get them to switch direction enough to pull it out.

It may have gotten twisted as well. Stuff happens