Had my brush head snap off mid-sweep yesterday

I was working on a job in an 1880s Victorian downtown and about halfway up the flue, the brush head just popped right off the cable. It was one of those poly heads I've been using for maybe 6 months. I thought I was gonna have to fish it out with a magnet or something, but luckily it got stuck at a bend about 10 feet down. I ended up having to pull the whole cable out and tie a knot in a rag to shove it past the brush and coax it back up. Has anyone else dealt with a brush head failing like that, or did I just get a cheap one?

2 comments

2 Comments

brooke_jones6h ago

I mean, steel wire heads can scratch up the inside of an old flue though.

dylan46311h ago

That poly head snapping off mid sweep is brutal. I'd be wondering if the retaining pin or whatever was loose from the get go. Maybe you got a dud, but also if those heads get any kind of crack from hitting a rough spot in the flue, they can fail real quick. I had one on my residential drum sander that did the same thing, just popped off after hitting a nail head. For a chimney like that old Victorian, I'd stick with the steel wire heads they just grip better and wont snap as easy.