I was dead set against buying a carbon fiber brush rod until a job last winter changed my mind

I've been in the chimney business for over 20 years now, and I always figured carbon fiber rods were just a gimmick for the guys who want to look fancy. Why spend $300 on a rod when my old fiberglass one has gotten the job done since 2005? Well, last December I had a job up in Portland where the flue had this crazy 45 degree bend halfway down. My fiberglass rod just kept binding up and I couldn't get my brush through no matter how I twisted it. The homeowner was watching me struggle and asked if I had a more flexible option. I ended up borrowing his buddy's carbon fiber rod that they use for a local sweep company. First pass through that bend was night and day, the rod just followed the curve without fighting me. Finished the whole job in half the time it would have taken with my old setup. Has anyone else had a moment where they had to eat crow on some gear they swore was overpriced?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylan_bell5h ago

Bought a set of carbon fiber rods last spring after fighting with a spiral flue liner for three hours. The old rods just couldn't snake through that twisty section without kinking up on me. First job with the new setup took maybe 45 minutes total, and I felt like an idiot for being cheap for so long.

wendy_jackson3h ago

Bent a set of poly rods on a tight offset last winter and learned that lesson the hard way. Carbon fiber is the only way to go once you hit those tricky angles.