Spent $500 on a fancy rotary cleaning head and it just sits in my truck

Everyone in my area talks up these high speed rotary heads like they're the only way to clean a chimney right. I bought the SootSweeper 2000 last year for about five hundred bucks. Used it on three jobs. It's loud, it's heavy, and it scared the daylights out of a customer's dog. For most of the brick liners around here, my old rods and good brushes do the job just as fast and way quieter. The rotary head is overkill unless you're doing massive commercial flues every day. I feel like I got talked into a tool I didn't really need. What's one piece of gear you bought that turned out to be a waste for your usual work?

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1 Comment

seanjohnson2h agoMost Upvoted

Rotary heads have their place for sure, but calling them overkill for most brick liners is a bit off. A lot of older masonry flues have serious glaze or heavy creosote that brushes just can't touch. My old rods would skip right over that stuff. The rotary system, even a basic one, actually cuts through it and does a better job on those tougher liners. It's not just for massive flues.