Was skeptical about those magnetic sweeps for cleaning flues, now I keep one in every truck

I've been sweeping chimneys since 1985 and I'll admit I laughed when my son brought home one of those magnetic sweep heads about 3 years ago. Told him it was a gimmick and to stick with the manual rods and brush like I taught him. Then we had a job up on a steep slate roof in February with a nasty north wind blowing. He set up his magnet setup in about 5 minutes while I was still dragging rods up a ladder. He was done and packing up before I even got my brush to the top. Next week I ordered one for myself and now I've got them in both service trucks. The trick is you have to keep the magnet clean of soot buildup or it'll lose grip on the steel flue. Has anyone else switched from traditional rods to the magnetic system and found it works better on certain flue types?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.aaron14d ago

My old crew would've laughed too if they saw me using one. Got a bad chimney on a flat roof that always gave me trouble with rods, kept binding up at the offset. Tried the magnet on a whim, clean sweep in under ten minutes. The only catch like you said is soot buildup, I wipe mine down with a dry rag between jobs. Works best on straight stainless liners, still grab the rods for clay flues though.

hugobarnes14d ago

Not worth the hassle when rods work fine every time.