Nearly wrecked a client's flue with a rotary cleaning attachment I'd never tested

I tried that spiral chain whip I saw on a YouTube demo - you know, the one that promises to scrape creosote in half the time - and it practically chewed up the terracotta liner on a 1920s house near downtown. Has anyone else had a tool they trusted turn out way more aggressive than expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

joel28011h ago

Yeah, "designed for metal flues, not old clay liners" - that hits home. I had a similar thing happen with a paddle brush I bought online. The guy in the video was whipping it around in a metal pipe like it was nothing, so I figured it'd be fine for the clay liner on this 1930s place outside of town. Took one spin and it started kicking up chunks of clay everywhere. I ended up having to pull it back out and just use a standard brush for the whole job, which took twice as long. I mean, maybe it's just me but it feels like some of these tool makers don't test their stuff on anything but brand new pipe.

thomas_johnson351mo ago

That "spiral chain whip" thing... yeah, it's not really meant for terracotta at all. Those are designed for metal flues, not old clay liners.

tyler8221mo ago

Hold up did you check the mfg specs before you ran it or just trust the demo video? A lot of those "pro" tools have fine print saying terracotta is a no go because it crumbles way easier than steel. Seems like the real issue is who made that tool and what did they actually test it on before selling it?