Thought those magnetic sweeps were a gimmick until last week

I saw an ad for a magnetic chimney sweep tool that claimed to grab all the soot and ash without dust. Rolled my eyes. Then my buddy let me borrow his on a job in Portland. Ran it through a 8 inch flue and it pulled out a glob of nails and wire I missed. Not a gimmick. Anyone else find one of those tools that actually works better than you thought?

3 comments

3 Comments

benc5314d agoMost Upvoted

Magnetic sweeps absolutely have their place, you just have to know what you're doing with them. That story about pulling nails and wire is exactly why they're worth having around. The trick is to use them slowly and carefully in metal flues, not yank them through like a regular brush. A lot of the problems people have come from rushing the job or using them in the wrong kind of setup. Yeah, you get some dust no matter what, but that's true for any tool if you're not smart about your setup.

taylor66812d ago

I mean, is it really that serious though?

west.anna14d ago

Honestly can I ask what kind of chimney you were sweeping? I've been doing this for a few years now and those magnetic sweepers freak me out. The magnet is so strong it can pull on the metal liner if you're not careful, and if you hit a sharp edge it'll snag and rip the whole thing apart. Plus the soot and ash still fly everywhere while you're pulling it back out. I tried one once and ended up with black dust all over my truck seats. Just didn't see the big deal compared to a regular brush and shop vac.