Stove heating not only does not lose ground, but is also experiencing its rebirth. For this reason, issues of proper operation and maintenance of solid fuel units are no less pressing than they were several centuries ago. Owners of private households do not have any difficulties with how to light a stove and what kind of firewood is best to use. Problems begin when the draft disappears and smoke begins to flow into the room. And the whole reason is a smoke duct clogged with soot and soot. It is difficult to find a chimney sweep today, so you will have to carry out the maintenance of the chimney yourself. All you need for this is a chimney brush, which you can make yourself.

What causes clogged chimney pipes?

The advantages of stove heating, such as efficiency, autonomy and the ability to create a special, homely atmosphere, cannot be surpassed by any modern heating device. Thanks to this, stoves and fireplaces are still widely used both in rural areas, and in cities. However, the use solid fuel has many disadvantages, one of which is the need to regularly clean the smoke channels. But the frequency of their maintenance can be significantly reduced if you know where so much soot and soot comes from.

Deposits in the chimney can completely block the smoke exit channel

So, the main factors that contribute to chimney clogging are:

• burning of waste, which consists of high-carbon materials (all types of plastic, polyethylene, polystyrene foam, cardboard, etc.);
• use of wet firewood;
• violation of the operating mode of the heating device;
• burning wood that contains a large number of resins (pine, spruce, fir, etc.);
• ash is rarely removed from the working chambers of the furnace;
• violation of the fuel supply mode;
• ingress of third-party debris.

Besides, rapid pollution chimney damage can be caused by increased roughness of the walls of the flues and their incorrect configuration. For this reason, it is better to entrust the construction of the furnace to an experienced master.

Dangers of soot accumulation

It is impossible not to notice problems with the chimney. Most often they will be indicated by the following signs:

• craving decreases;
• firewood does not light well when kindled;
• smoke is coming into the room;
• reduction in the thermal efficiency of the furnace.

All these factors indicate that the gas duct is so clogged that only a narrow hole remains for the combustion products to escape. Using a heating device in such conditions is prohibited, as this often leads to tragic consequences:

Chimney cleaning equipment

You can remove deposits from the chimney using chemicals and mechanically. The first involves burning substances in a furnace, the combustion products of which soften soot deposits and promote their combustion and removal naturally. The second is to remove soot from the walls of the chimney using various scrapers, brushes, etc.

Chemicals to clean the chimney, you can do without mechanical devices, but have a fairly high cost

Practice shows that mechanical cleaning is best done with a hard brush, like the one used for washing dishes with a narrow neck. A wide variety of materials are suitable for the manufacture of such a tool:

• steel rope;
• plastic bottles;
• pieces of steel wire;
• thick fishing line or plastic rods;
• springs;
• thick rubber;
• metal chain or strong rope;
• various weights and sinkers.

Choosing a particular material for making a cleaning brush chimneys depends on how persistent the soot deposits will have to be removed. For regularly maintained chimneys made of steel or asbestos-cement pipes, a tool with soft bristles is suitable, while brick flues with many years of soot deposits can only be cleaned with a metal wire brush. It is best to have in your arsenal several devices of varying degrees of rigidity or make one combined tool.

How to make a stove maker's tool

Before you start making a device for removing soot deposits, you need to consider its design and dimensions. In this case, it is necessary to take into account:

• length of the chimney;
• flue diameter;
• quantity and persistence of deposits.

Based on the input data, conclusions are drawn about the length of the cable, the mass of the load, the size of the brush and its rigidity.

Design of a device for removing soot mechanically

The length of the rope or cable used to hold the brush is taken with a margin of 2–2.5 meters. This will allow you to hold the device more firmly in your hands, and, if necessary, make a loop around the chimney so as not to drop the tool into the chimney. Any weight can be used as a weight - from a specially cast lead blank to some heavy nut or a worn-out automobile part.

Making a plastic brush

A budget brush for removing soot from a chimney can easily be made from available materials. To make a plastic brush you will need:

• broom made of polypropylene rods;
• plumbing cable required length;
• metal pin with a diameter of 8 mm with an eye;
• nut with a diameter of 8 mm with an eye;
• washer with a diameter of at least 50 mm with a hole of 8 mm;
• 2 carbines;
• load 0.5–2 kg.

If you can't find a stud and lug nut, don't despair - a regular bolt will do. Loops for attaching the cable and load can be made of steel wire.

Materials needed to make a plastic chimney brush

The diameter of the brush made of plastic elements should be slightly larger than the cross-section of the smoke channel. This will provide increased pressure on the individual rods on the walls of the chimney and increase the cleaning speed.

The work is performed in the following order:

1. The stem of a synthetic broom is cut off or unscrewed - it will not be needed in the future. To make it more convenient to work, the remaining part is clamped in a vice.
2. The bristles of the round broom are bent to the sides. To make the material more pliable, the brush is dipped in boiling water or heated with a hair dryer.

   
   The rods of the plastic broom must be straightened

3. If there is no hole inside the holder, then drilling with a diameter of 8 mm should be made.
4. On the side where the handle is attached, a steel pin with an eye is inserted into the hole.

   
   The hairpin allows you to fix the bristles in the desired position

5. From the side of the rods, install a washer on the stud and press it with an eyelet nut.

   
   The eyelet nut allows you not only to fix the rods of the brush, but also to attach a load and a cable to it

6. The rods are cut based on the diameter of the chimney.

   
   Excessively long rods should be trimmed

7. A loop is made on one side of the cable, securing the metal edge with a knitting wire.
8. Using carabiners, a cable is attached to one eye and a load to the other.

   
   You can make a chimney brush yourself

In addition to a synthetic broom, good materials for making a soft brush are plastic containers from sparkling water. To make a “lush” brush, you will need 5-6 such vessels and a sharp knife. It is necessary to cut off the bottom of all bottles and dissolve the walls into strips ranging from 3 to 10 mm wide. After this, the neck of all containers, except one, is cut off, leaving a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the neck. Assembly into a single structure is carried out by pushing the parts onto the remaining threaded part and securing them with a lid. After this, drilling is done for the pin and the brush is attached to the cable and weight in the manner described above.

To make the bristles from a plastic bottle more rigid, they are heated with a torch or a hair dryer. The same method can be used to give the brush the desired shape.

How to make a metal brush

To make a cleaning tool from metal, you can use pieces of steel wire (cable) or use a wire brush for an angle grinder. In the latter case, the angle grinder device is simply mounted on a cable with a load and secured with wire. If using a working tool for purposes other than its intended purpose is unacceptable to you, then you can make a metal brush with your own hands. For this you will need:

The technology for making a metal brush is not complicated:

The simplicity of this method makes it extremely popular among home craftsmen. And at the same time, there is another very interesting tool that combines both a brush for removing soot and a weight. In addition to the tools and materials described above, for its manufacture you will need:

• steel pipe with a diameter of more than 50 mm;
• electric drill;
• high carbon steel core;
• a metal drill whose diameter corresponds to the cross-section of the wire or cable;
• sand-cement mortar.

To make a brush, in exactly the same way as in the previous case, prepare required amount flexible elements. Then proceed like this:

1. In the walls steel pipe make through holes. The density and uniformity of the bristles depends on the accuracy of this work and the step between drillings, so this stage should be treated as responsibly as possible.
2. Wire elements are threaded into the holes, placing their edges symmetrically with respect to the pipe.
3. A steel bar is installed in the center, to which the holding cable will later be attached.
4. The inner surface of the pipe is filled mortar, which will ensure the fixation of flexible elements and make the device quite heavy.

The tool can be used only after the cement-sand mixture has set and acquired the necessary strength.

Video: how to make a brush to remove soot from a chimney

What you need to know before lowering the tool down the chimney

The chimney should not be cleaned at the end heating season, and at the very beginning. This will allow you to have complete confidence that there is no bird's nest, cobwebs, leaves or other debris in the chimney. The best time for this is one of the warm and windless days in early autumn.

When cleaning a chimney, you should take care of the appropriate equipment and insurance.

Before you change into a chimney sweep suit and begin chimney maintenance, you must close all stove dampers and doors. Soot is tiny particles that can seep into any cracks and pollute the room and objects that are in it. If you have to service a fireplace pipe with an open firebox, then it is sealed using polyethylene film and tape.

The process of cleaning a chimney is not difficult. The brush is lowered repeatedly into the smoke channel, knocking deposits off the walls. To enhance the effect, alternate reciprocating movements with twisting the cable in different directions. The soot falls down. You can remove it via inspection hatch, using a dustpan, poker and broom.

There are situations when a device encounters an insurmountable obstacle halfway through its journey. This can be any voluminous object - some kind of rag, a bird's nest, or a piece of brick that has fallen out of the masonry. In this case, the brush is unfastened and the resulting jam is knocked out with just a weight, in the expectation that the cork will fall into the stove. After this, the brush is returned to its place and cleaning activities are resumed.

Regular soot removal will be required even where the latest, high-tech solid fuel equipment is used. The brush, which you can make with your own hands, will cope with even the most stubborn deposits with dignity. It is just important not to put off the work of cleaning the chimney indefinitely - not only the thermal efficiency and economy of the stove, but also the safety of your family depends on this.

Stove soot is removed from chimneys as follows:

• burning off carbon-rich deposits using rather complex technology and expensive tools;
• dissolving the settled crust using chemicals introduced into the furnace during fuel combustion;
• scraping off inner surface and removing it from the outlet channel through pre-equipped hatches for cleaning.

Moreover, the first method of combating is extremely dangerous and is practiced only in the case of cleaning chimneys of industrial heat-generating units. The second method involves the destruction of the body of the outlet pipe, which has survived the effects of chemically active drugs.

The third technology - mechanical cleaning - guarantees a high level of safety, while simultaneously ensuring the safety of the chimney itself. Therefore, most household furnace gas exhaust ducts are cleaned only with your own hands using a mechanical method.

Why do you need a brush and how is it used?

This tool works like a scraper or brush, destroying the soot crust and “sweeping” combustion products to the cleaning hatch, for subsequent removal of collected deposits. That is, mechanical cleaning of the canal is carried out precisely with its help.

The chimney sweep inserts the brush into the drainage channel from the roof side and, making reciprocating movements, knocks soot off the inner walls.

Having finished processing the vertical channel, the chimney sweep proceeds to cleaning the horizontal sections, inserting the brush into special hatches and making reciprocating movements already in horizontal plane.

The mass accumulated at the hatch is removed from the channel using a scraper and scoop.

How does a chimney sweep's main tool work?

A typical stove brush consists of the following structural elements:

• flexible cable - spring with minimum clearance between turns;
• a spherical or cylindrical brush – a brush – with “working elements” protruding 360°;
• suspension - a removable weight at the end of the cable located behind the brush.

When working in a horizontal plane, the suspension is dismantled - in this case we need the flexibility of the spring cable. Cleaning a vertical channel with your own hands involves working with a rigid structure. Therefore, in this case, a suspension is fixed at the end of the cable, which neutralizes the flexibility of the spring due to the influence of gravity.

In addition, at professional tool the brush is removed by twisting it from the cable, because the diameters of the chimneys can be different.

How to make a brush for cleaning with your own hands?

To do this we will need the following tools and consumables:

• The plumbing cable is the basis for the future brush. However, if only a vertical channel is intended to be processed, then the spring cable can be replaced with a wire analogue or a fine-mesh chain.
• Skein soft wire- They will make a cleaning attachment out of it. If there is no wire, then you can use tire cord after burning out the rubber. Another option for “construction” material for the nozzle is a plastic bottle.
• Any small-sized load - a heavy nut, a cast lead blank. A coffee can filled with sand or shot.
• Steel stud 8-10 millimeters, two nuts, two carabiner fasteners, copper tube.
• Two tiles measuring 5x5 centimeters made of plywood or metal with a thickness of at least 2 mm

The process of making a pipe cleaner with your own hands is as follows:

1. At the point of intersection of the diagonals of the 5-centimeter tiles, we drill a through hole with a diameter similar to that of a hairpin.
2. We cut the cord or wire into measured pieces, the length of which is equal to 2-2.5 times the diameter of the chimney.
3. We take the pin, fix it in a vice and bend the free end into a loop or weld washers with a large internal diameter to it.
4. Next, turn the pin over in the vice with the threaded end up, screw on the first nut on this side and put on the first tile.
5. We bend measured pieces of cord or wire in half, around the pin, forming a ruff. In this case, the wire bristles should be located evenly around the entire circumference for maximum cleaning area.
6. We put the second tile on the stud and screw on the second nut, fixing the one sticking out in different sides wire.
7. Using welding, attach a second washer to the free end of the pin or make a loop.
8. We pass the carabiner fasteners through the loops or vertically fixed washers, obtaining a removable attachment for the brush for cleaning.
9. We weld or solder the mounting ring to the load. If a nut is chosen as a suspension, then this operation can be abandoned.
10. We attach the weight to one of the carabiners of the assembled attachment.
11. We put a copper tube 4-5 centimeters long on the free end of the spring or weeding cable. The diameter of the tube is equal to 2-2.5 times the diameter of the cable.
12. We form a loop at the end of the cable, passing the free section into the tube.
13. We rivet the copper tube, fixing a loop for hanging the nozzle with a weight.
14. We fix the cleaning head on the loop using a free carabiner.

That's all. You have made a brush with your own hands for cleaning the vertical channel of a stove or fireplace pipe, and it is ready for use.

But to process horizontal or inclined channels you will need a completely different attachment, which you can also make with your own hands:

• Take it plastic bottle 1.5-2 liters and cut off the bottom of this container.
• Spread the body of the bottle into strips 3-4 millimeters wide, cutting them lengthwise vertical axis from the distant bottom to the neck of the container.
• Punch a hole in the cover, the diameter of which coincides with the diameter of the cable.

After this, you will have to string a perforated lid onto the cable and, having first removed the “vertical” nozzle from the loop, screw the bottle turned into a scraper onto it. Moreover, to firmly fix the nozzle on the brush, it is necessary to pierce the neck and plug with a self-tapping screw, passing it through the loop on the cable.

When making parts with your own hands, you should consider:

• The diameter of the brush is 0.8-1.2 times the diameter of the chimney.
• The diameter of the load is 0.3-0.35 of the diameter of the channel being cleaned.
• Length of spring or wire rope = length of channel being cleaned + 10-15 percent.

Good day to you, readers and DIYers.
The author of the following homemade product very often clogs the chimney in his garage stove. That's why he decided to make a homemade brush for cleaning the chimney. Of course, such brushes can be purchased at a hardware store or bought online, but why buy something that you can relatively easily make with your own hands. And the price tag of such a homemade product will be tens of times less than a device purchased in a store.

After using his homemade product for some time, identifying all the pros and cons, he came up with a device for more convenient chimney cleaning.

I suggest you read about production in this article.

Necessary materials and tools.
-Dumbbell
-Cable - length 0.5-0.6 meters (diameter 5mm)
-Cable length depends on the height of the air duct (diameter 2mm)
-Nuts M10 2pcs
-Cable clamps 3 pcs.
-Profile pipe 20x20mm
-welding electrode 3mm
-Welding machine
-Bulgarian
-Hammer
-Vise

Manufacturing process part one.
The brush device itself will be based on an old rusty dumbbell, which was purchased at the nearest scrap metal collection point at a very reasonable price. The author uses a dumbbell with a total weight of 5 kg; the diameter of the dumbbell balls should be less than the diameter of the pipe being cleaned. For the device, you only need one half of a dumbbell, so you can make two brushes at once from one dumbbell.

First of all, clamp the dumbbell in a vice and cut off one ball of the dumbbell with a grinder.

An M10 nut is welded to the cut part of the dumbbell, and the brush load is ready, isn’t it easy?

Now you should start making the brush itself.
To do this, he will use a piece of cable with a diameter of 5mm. You can use a cable with a larger diameter, since the thicker the cable, the thicker and stronger the veins in it.

The author cuts the cable into 10cm pieces. The length of the sections must match the diameter of the chimney pipe.

Now the chopped pieces need to be dissolved into individual fibers. It is better to carry out this procedure with gloves, as the likelihood of injuring your hands is very high.

The cable is loose, now you need to make a frame for the brush.
A 3mm electrode will be used for the frame.
The coating from the electrode is beaten with a hammer.

Since the electrode core is made of fairly stiff wire, it bends and breaks poorly. To soften the wire, you need to heat it until red and let it cool, in other words, let it go. You can warm it in the coals, they sang, gas burner, but the author will warm with welding machine.

We clamp the electrode in a vice to which the mass of the welding machine is connected. We connect the clamp from the welding machine to the free end of the electrode and heat the wire until red. The heating procedure lasts about 15-20 seconds. Now you should let the wire cool on its own.

After cooling, the wire became soft, and now you can continue working with it. The author bends the wire in the center, at the point of bending there should be a small eyelet.

Now you need to place the previously prepared cable fibers into this bracket. You should get a similar structure, the edge of which must then be clamped in a vice, moving 2 cm away from the edge.

Then, inserting a large nail or screwdriver into the eyelet, you need to tighten this structure.

Then you need to make another eye, on the opposite side of the brush. To do this, clamp a nail between the two ends of the wire, clamp the ends in a vice and tighten the structure with the inserted nail.

The result was a pretty decent brush with a diameter of 100mm with two rings at the ends.

Now you need to connect the brush with the load. Connects them using a small piece of cable (diameter 2mm). The ends of the cable are clamped using a screw clamp.

You also need to attach a cable to the second eye of the brush. The length of the cable should be 2-2.5 times longer than the height of the chimney pipe.
This is the kind of brush the author came up with, and he ran off to test his product to celebrate.

And here is a deposit of soot in the chimney pipe.

Now you should install a ladder, climb along it to the top of the chimney and begin this labor-intensive, inconvenient and, one might say, dangerous cleaning process. Hard? Hard.

Realizing that this method of cleaning the chimney is, to put it mildly, inconvenient, I came up with another device. This is a device for immersing a brush into a chimney.

The manufacturing process part two.
It’s very difficult to call it a manufacturing process, but still. To make the device, the author bought profile pipe 20x20mm, 3.5 m long. Of course, the length of the pipe should depend on the height and location of your chimney.

A piece of pipe bent into a half ring was welded onto the edge of the pipe; the tube has a diameter of 10 mm. A cable with a brush connected was passed inside the pipe.

At first the author wanted to make a release mechanism using rollers, but he was unable to weld them. And the design itself would be too complex and unreliable.

Even lower, a kind of hook was welded onto the pipe. The hook should be welded lower than the bottom of the brush when raised.

When raw wood and household waste are burned in a stove, a large amount of soot is released, which... Because of this, thrust decreases and the intensity of fuel combustion decreases. The result of this phenomenon may be poisoning of people carbon monoxide, which stops leaving the room. A chimney brush can solve the draft problem. This device is considered the most effective way to eliminate such problems. Let's look at what it is, its structure, types, advantages and disadvantages.

Boilers and stoves are installed in almost all private houses and cottages, bathhouses and garages. As a rule, firewood or coal is used to fire them. But, quite often, fireplaces are used to dispose of old tires, household items and construction waste. These objects emit thick smoke, which settles in the form of solid particles on the inner walls of the exhaust pipe. Gradually thickening, the soot completely blocks the exhaust duct.

In addition, chimneys become clogged for the following reasons:

• ingress of branches, leaves, small animals and bird nests;
• partial or complete destruction channel due to wear or improper assembly;
• , which upon contact with combustion products forms a viscous and sticky substance.

Signs of a clogged chimney include the fallout of soot fragments into the firebox during boiler cleaning, poor combustion of fuel when the ash pan is open, poor draft and heavy soot when burning fuel.

How can you clean a chimney?

In order to clean the pipe coming from the boiler, stove and fireplace, there are many ways and means.

They are divided into the following categories:

1. Thermal. The essence of this method is to destroy the blockage high temperature. An object is placed in the firebox or directly in the chimney, which produces intense heat when burned. Good results give thermite checkers, anthracite and aspen firewood. The carbon deposits are burned off manually with a gas burner.
2. Chemical. They are available in the form of tablets, granules and powders. The funds are placed on smoldering coals. Under the influence of heat, ingredients are released that turn soot into dust, which completely crumbles into the firebox within a few days.
3. Mechanical. To remove blockages, scrapers, brooms and brushes are used. Foreign objects are removed with a hook or crowbar. Flexible garden hoses, hoes, logs and weights on a rope, poles and telescopic fishing rods, and other improvised means are used as auxiliary tools.

There are also folk remedies for cleaning chimneys. Carbon deposits are removed by burning potato peelings in a firebox, pouring water over it, and immersing compacted snow in a heated pipe.

Advantages and disadvantages of a brush

The most difficult thing to remove is soot that has filled almost the entire volume of the channel. In addition, the length of the chimney also plays a role. In some buildings it can be ten meters or more. It is simply impossible to work with poles of such length.

A brush on a cable has the following advantages:

• light and compact, easy to carry and transport;
• no restrictions on pipe height, shape and section size;
• the ability to adjust the weight of the load and, accordingly, the applied force.

The disadvantages of this device include its inability to break through solid blockages, remove condensation and remove foreign objects.

How the ruff works

The brush for cleaning chimney pipes consists of the following parts:

1. Head. It is a hard pile fixed to the base, made of metal or plastic.
2. Weighting agent. It is made in the shape of a ball or cylinder, made of iron or lead.
3. Cable. It is the basis for fastening all parts. Made from iron or synthetic fiber.
4. Hook. Located on the cable between the head and the load.
5. Tubes They are mounted on a cable and are designed to create a dynamic force when pushing the brush down.
6. Replaceable nozzles. Performed in the form of a pike or hook. Designed for breaking through obstacles and extracting dense objects.

For cleaning pipes certain forms brushes with different parameters are used.

Types of ruffs

The selection of these devices is made according to the following criteria:

1. Diameter. It can be small (up to 100 mm), medium (100 -250 mm) and large (more than 250 mm).
2. Material of manufacture. Heads are made of copper, iron and polymer plastic.
3. Form. Round, polygonal, oval, square.
4. Type of cable. The working part is attached to a rope, plug tubes or cable located inside the tubes.

You should also pay attention to the weight of the sinker. It varies between 5-20 kg.

Make it yourself or buy it

This question invariably faces owners of property heated with coal or wood. If you have the skills to handle household tools, making a brush will not be difficult.

But this will require spending time, which everyone is sorely lacking. Much easier to purchase ready product factory production. Fortunately, today retail stores offer a wide range of similar products, and their prices are quite reasonable.

When purchasing chimney cleaning devices, you should not focus on their cost. A cheap purchase may not be effective and will sit in the pantry for years.

The following factors need to be taken into account:

• can be processed with any material;
• To clean ceramic pipes, only a plastic brush may be used;
• steel chimneys can be cleaned with heads with bristles made of copper or brass;

It is better to purchase a weight with two eyes so that you can tie a rope to it and pull it down if it gets stuck.

The most popular brushes are from the following manufacturers:

1. PCC (Poland) - plastic and metal, with a diameter of 120-400 mm;
2. Hansa (Lithuania) - universal 150-400 mm;
3. Chimney sweep (Russia) - set with replaceable nozzles.

Making a ruff with your own hands

This is a creative and interesting activity that you can do in your spare time. personal plot time or in the off-season. Before you start work, you need to prepare everything you need for this.

Required materials and tools

To make a chimney brush with your own hands you will need:

• hacksaw or grinder;
• pliers;
• adjustable wrench;
• steel washers;
• hard wire;
• hairpins;
• bolts and nuts;

If you have to clean ceramic pipe, then you will need scissors to cut plastic bottles.

Drawing and diagrams

To make the brush convenient, durable and functional, its design needs to be carefully thought out. As a basis for planning, you need to take a scale drawing of the chimney. Based on the available data, diagrams of individual components of the brush and the entire product as a whole are drawn up.

The following details are displayed in detail on paper:

• shape and size of the cargo;
• carabiner for attaching it;
• head device;
• carabiner loop;
• cable configuration.

After checking the schemes, final calculations are carried out.

Size calculation

Help for making a cleaning brush project stove chimney the table will serve:

How to make a ruff

Let's look at how a brush is made from plastic bottles.

1. We take 5-6 containers of the same size, remove the lids from them and cut off the bottom at the same distance.
2. Using scissors, cut strips 4-5 mm wide from the bottom to the neck.
3. We join the resulting blanks together. We fix them with wide washers, a nut and a bolt with a head made in the shape of a loop.
4. We make a weighting agent from an iron can, lead and a thick steel pond. We attach a durable carabiner to the ring.
5. We string thin steel or aluminum tubes 80-100 cm long onto a plumbing cable. We screw the cable to the head using an adapter with internal thread.

The chimney brush is ready.

Production video

Frequent mistakes and problems when making brushes

The main difficulty in making a brush is finding suitable material. The most difficult thing to make is the head of the device. At this stage, precision and considerable effort are required.

Most masters make the following mistakes:

1. Short cable length. As a result, the brush does not reach the end of the pipe. As a result, the most inaccessible area near the firebox remains clogged.
2. Poor tightening of the wire between the washers. This leads to the destruction of the homemade brush during the process of cleaning the chimney.
3. The pole or plugs are not strong enough. When loaded, these parts bend, preventing the brush from advancing. In the worst case, the handle breaks and its fragments get stuck in the pipe.
4. Selecting a cleaning material that does not match the internal surface of the chimney. Thus, a metal brush can hopelessly ruin ceramics.
5. The head width does not match the channel parameters. The head either does not fit into it or does not reach the walls.

Rules for cleaning a chimney with a brush

Since access to the pipe is only possible from the roof, it is necessary to pay attention Special attention security measures. The worker must use a safety line; it is advisable to set up a temporary barrier.

1. Before starting cleaning, tightly close the firebox and vent.
2. Check the tool for serviceability. Test all parts for strength.
3. After passing each meter of pipe, remove the crumbled soot from the firebox.
4. After completing the passage of the pipe, use a hard brush to replace it with a soft one for final polishing of its walls.

Professional chimney sweeps know the secrets of quickly and efficiently removing blockages of any complexity.

Working for solid fuel Stoves and fireplaces are as popular sources of heat as they were hundreds of years ago. Some people like live fire and the crackle of burning logs, others are tempted by the use of cheap fuel, and still others are simply forced to heat their house with wood due to the lack of alternatives. Unfortunately, the smoke ducts of even the most technologically advanced stoves and boilers quickly become overgrown with soot, due to which the draft is lost and there is a danger of suffocation from carbon monoxide. For that category of people who do everything with their own hands, we suggest making a brush for cleaning the chimney. With its help, you can easily and quickly remove soot from all internal channels of the furnace.

Why do stove ducts become clogged and how can they be cleaned?

The need to clean chimneys and internal solid fuel flues heating units(boilers, fireplaces, stoves and various potbelly stoves) has both objective and subjective reasons. The first are due to the fact that any smoke consists of a gaseous part and tiny particles of carbon that did not have time to oxidize during the combustion process. The bulk of them leaves the chimney, flying into the atmosphere, but the part that has the largest weight and electrical charge settles in the chimney channels. The situation is further aggravated by water vapor and creosote, which moisten the walls of the flue and thereby contribute to the adhesion of soot. These deposits reduce the cross-section of the chimney, which reduces draft, which means the efficiency of the stove decreases and fuel consumption increases. But the main danger lies in the fact that further use of the heating device becomes unsafe.

Accumulation of soot in the chimney not only impairs draft, but can also cause a fire.

Subjective reasons include:

• burning low-quality coal and raw wood;
• heating the furnace with waste with a high carbon content (plastic, rubber, etc.);
• incorrectly selected operating mode of the heating device;
• mistakes made during the construction of a stove or chimney.

After analyzing the factors that cause a chimney to become overgrown with soot, you will see that the situation can only be partially improved by reducing the amount of particulate matter in the smoke. Nevertheless, the chimney will have to be cleaned sooner or later.

You can do this in two ways:

• mechanical,
• chemical

The first involves removing soot and soot using various devices - scrapers, blades, brushes, etc. Using such tools in the chimney and flues, you can very successfully scrape soot from the walls, rake it into piles and dispose of it.

For cleaning the chimney mechanically, a variety of brushes with stiff bristles are best suited.

Chemical soot removal involves burning a product with a complex chemical composition in the furnace firebox. The substances released during its combustion interact with the most persistent deposits, which is why they soften, peel off from the walls of the channels and burn. As practice shows, chemical compositions are a fairly effective means of combating soot, but due to their relatively high cost they are used much less frequently than scrapers, brooms and brooms.

Special chemical compounds allow you to remove soot without unnecessary difficulties, but truly effective means are too expensive

Features of mechanical cleaning of a chimney from soot using a brush

Metal or plastic brush is a recognized leader among the tools of any home-grown chimney sweep. Simultaneously playing the role of a scraper and a brush, the brush not only destroys the hardest layers, but also literally sweeps them away from the walls of the chimney.

A brush for cleaning chimneys is a brush made of metal or nylon bristles wound around a rod of twisted wire. The device most often has round shape, but you can also find rectangular samples intended for Maintenance brick chimneys.

Depending on which channels need to be cleaned, the brush is equipped with a long cable (you can use a strong cord) or a rigid handle. In the first case, a core weighing 2–3 kg is used to weight the device. With its help, you can not only lower a stiff brush into the chimney, but also break through the most severe blockage. To clean horizontal gas ducts, a rod is attached to the brush. It must correspond to the size of the longest channel and can be stacked or solid.

Before you start cleaning the chimney, you need to not only close the vent, firebox and cleaning doors, but also curtain them with a simple filter made of thick, damp fabric. Soot is extremely fine and can easily penetrate into the smallest crevices. It is possible that without protective measures, all things in the house will be under a layer of soot and soot. Furnace valves and views, on the contrary, should be fully open.

For cleaning the vertical part of the chimney, a brush with a weight attached to a cable is best suited. The tool is inserted into the pipe and pushed down while rotating the cable in both directions. After the brush reaches the bottom, it is raised in exactly the same way. It is best to do this with a partner, instructing him to rotate the cable, while you make translational movements with the tool in the vertical direction.

Design of a brush with a weight for cleaning vertical channels

If in any place the cable does not pass due to a continuous blockage, then do not rush to throw the cannonball equipped with a brush from a height. Be sure to find out if this is due to a bend in the gas duct or a slightly closed valve. And only after making sure that the load will not damage the structure, tie a nylon cord to it and sharply lower it into the pipe.

The cleaning procedure is repeated until soot stops falling out of the vertical channel. In order not to miss this moment, it is necessary to periodically open the cleaning door and remove accumulated soot using a dustpan and broom.

Furnaces with flue complex configuration and horizontal sections of the chimney are cleaned with a brush attached to a rigid handle. It is best to use a collapsible rod - this will allow you to change the length of the tool. Most often, the places where the flue duct turns 90° are equipped with special doors. Moving from one such opening to another, you can quickly clean the entire gas duct. If the stove was built “anyhow” and its design does not provide for such openings, then the cable will become your assistant. Using it like a plumbing tool, the brush is pushed deeper into the channel and back. After several such passes, it is necessary to remove the soot from the firebox and check the draft with a set of newspapers.

In order to clean the oven from the inside, a long handle is attached to the brush.

Instructions for making a brush with your own hands

Although a chimney brush is not some kind of scarce tool, it is much easier to make it yourself than to look for it in a retail chain. Moreover, in this case the device can be made literally “for yourself”, taking into account the size and features of a particular chimney. Another plus homemade device the fact that it will be completely free, because all the components for making a brush are literally under your feet. Here is just an incomplete list of materials that can be used to make it:

• plumbing cable, synthetic cord or metal chain;
• steel wire;
• nylon broom or lawn mower line;
• plastic bottles;
• long bolts and nuts;
• springs.

When choosing a material for a brush, do not forget to take into account the condition of the chimney. To remove persistent long-term soot deposits on the walls of brick channels, a brush with metal bristles is best suited. If you need to clean a metal chimney, then a synthetic broom or plastic bottles are used to make the tool.

Steel wire brushes

Craftsmen have come up with several types of metal brushes, differing both in design and manufacturing method. We offer you instructions for making the most interesting models.

Design No. 1

To make a metal brush you will need a wire with a diameter of 1–2 mm made of spring steel. If you don’t have one, you can use a segment steel cable with a diameter of no more than 10 mm.

To make a metal brush you will need thin steel wire

It is also necessary to prepare:

• stud 60–80 mm long with M8 thread;
• two washers Ø50 mm for an M8 bolt;
• nuts - 2 regular M8 and 2 cap nuts with eyes.

No special tool is needed. It is enough to have a hammer, chisel, pliers and open-end wrenches “13” or “14”.

Instructions for the progress of work:

1. Measure the cross-section of the chimney and cut the required number of wire bristles. Their length must exactly match the diameter of the chimney. If you will be using a steel cable, chop it into pieces using a hammer and chisel, and then disassemble it into individual components. In this case, the length of the rods should be 5–10% less internal diameter chimney.

   The size of each piece of steel cable must correspond to the diameter of the chimney

2. Each flexible element has a center. In the marked place, the fibers are moved apart and a hole is made. After this, string the cable sections onto the hairpin. If wire is used, each bristle is wrapped around a central shaft.

   When assembling the brush, individual bristles are threaded onto a threaded rod.

3. The flexible elements are evenly distributed around the circumference and clamped onto a stud with steel nuts and washers - the brush is ready.

   Flexible elements are clamped between two nuts and additionally fixed by welding

The excess threaded portion should be cut off, leaving room for the lug nuts. If none are found, then metal rings can be welded to the ends of the central rod. They will be needed to secure the cable on one side and the load on the other.

As the author of this article, I would like to recommend you optimal proportions tool for cleaning vertical channels solid fuel stoves. Having made more than one device, I came to the conclusion that the size of the brush should be chosen depending on the stiffness of the bristles. For brushes made of metal wire, it should not exceed 0.8 of the pipe diameter, while plastic devices performed best with a 10% margin in width. The diameter of the load should be no more than a third of the chimney cross-section, and its weight should not exceed 3 kg. As for the size of the holding cable or cord, I made it 2-3 m longer than the chimney. During work, your humble servant more than once dropped the tool to the very bottom, but always retrieved it from the depths by the end of the rope, which remained on top.

Design No. 2

Another way to make a brush that cannot be distinguished from a factory one involves using lathe. If you don’t have one in your garage, then you can do without it. True, in this case you will have to use brute male strength and build a rigid structure to tension the central rod.

To make a spiral brush, we need two types of wire - steel wire Ø 1–2 mm for making bristles and steel wire Ø 6 mm - as a twisted rod. As in the previous case, flexible elements can be made from thin cable.

To make the steel wire more pliable and prevent it from being damaged when twisted, the material should be annealed. It is best to do this using a muffle furnace. If such equipment is not available, you can use blowtorch. The wire must be wound into the most compact coil possible, heated red-hot and cooled slowly.

The work is carried out in stages:

1. The cable is cut into pieces of the required length and divided, obtaining many twisted bristles.

   The flexible elements of the brush are obtained from sections of steel cable

2. Thick steel wire must be folded in half and an eyelet should be made on one side and the other connected by welding.

   The central rod of the future brush is a wire folded in half with a loop at one end

3. Using a durable metal hook, the double structure is firmly secured in the machine. Be sure to check that the rod is well tensioned between the chuck and the tailstock, and that the gap between its cores is located in a vertical plane.

   When attaching the rod to the machine, it is necessary to ensure good tension and correct orientation of the cores

4. The cut bristles must be laid out in the gap between the wires, distributed evenly along the entire length of the structure and secured to the rod with hot glue.

   After laying the bristles, do not forget to fix it with glue.

5. Spindle rotation begins at the lowest speed. At the same time, the tension of the central wire and the degree of fastening of the flexible elements are controlled. Upon successful completion of the work, the bristles are evenly distributed around the circumference, and the wires are clamped as firmly as possible between the wires.

   When the spindle rotates at minimum speed, the bristles will not fall out of place

Do not rush to release the chuck's jaws - the tensions that arise in the wire can play a cruel joke on you. Be sure to loosen the tailstock. Only after this can the manufactured device be removed from the machine and used for its intended purpose.

A homemade steel brush is in no way inferior to its factory counterpart.

Video: a simple metal brush for servicing chimneys

How to make a device for cleaning horizontal smoke ducts

In order to clean the horizontal flue of the furnace, a long rod is attached to a steel brush. You can build a similar handle from various materials:

• steel bar with a diameter of 10 mm;
• long shaft 30–50 mm thick;
• polypropylene pipes.

The first and last options are also interesting because they allow you to make a stackable handle of any length. To do this, threads are cut at opposite ends of the steel rods. With its help, you can assemble a rod of any length - just use 5-centimeter threaded couplings. In the case of plastic pipes, it is convenient to use fittings welded to them with internal and external thread. According to the testimony of the craftsmen who built such a structure, it has the necessary rigidity and is light in weight. All this makes the polypropylene rod a convenient tool in the hands of a novice chimney sweep.

A homemade dialing rod can be made from polypropylene pipes

The metal brush copes well with the vertical section of the chimney, but in horizontal and inclined channels it has not proven itself to be effective. the best side. Moving the tool along the center of the flue becomes problematic, since it is pressed against its base under the influence of gravity. The situation is aggravated by rather stiff bristles that cling to any protrusion on the canal wall. For this reason, in horizontal sections you should change metal tool a more delicate plastic device.

Plastic broom brush

A brush for the internal channels of the oven can be made from a plastic broom or broom. You will need:

• polypropylene or nylon broom;
• cable or synthetic cord;
• hairpin up to 10 mm long;
• 2 washers with a diameter of at least 5 cm;
• 2 nuts, one of which has an eye.

The diameter of the pin must correspond to the cross-section of the rod from which the rod will be made. This will make the tool more versatile - it will be possible to attach not only a handle, but also a cable, cord and core.