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Dropped $260 on a rotary chimney whip that lasted 4 cleanings before the rods snapped
So I bought this rotary whip setup back in April because a guy at the supply house in Albany swore it would cut my flue time in half on the rough stuff. Paid $260 for the kit plus another $40 for the extra rods, and I was pretty pumped about it. First two jobs went great, thing chewed through some glazed creosote on a rental property and I was feeling smart. Third cleaning was on an old farmhouse flue and it started vibrating weird, and by the fourth job one of the rod sections just snapped clean off about 18 inches down. Turns out those cheap rods are pretty much disposable once you put any real torque on them, and the replacement set costs almost as much as the whole kit did. I'm back to my old flat wire brush on a rope and honestly it's slower but it works every time. Anyone found a whip setup that actually holds up past a couple months or am I just burning money chasing the easy way?
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barnes.shane23d ago
Replacement set costs almost as much as the whole kit" pretty much sums up why I stopped messing with those. Heard from a sweep up in Vermont that the rod metal is the whole problem on the cheap kits, they use some soft alloy that twists instead of holding, so it work-hardens and snaps right where the coupler meets the rod. He said the ones with spring steel cores last way longer but you're paying $400 and up for just the rods. There's also a trick where you run the whip at lower RPM and let it do the work instead of leaning on it, keeps the torque down. Some guys swear by it, some say it just slows you down and you still snap rods eventually. Me, I'd rather spend the extra minute with the rope brush than buy rods every season.
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