Breaking clay tile in chimney

[Hansenj11]

Has anybody ever used a Clay Flue Tile Breaker to break tiles in a chimney with a drill. I am going to attempt to do it myself and install a 6" liner. The breaker looks like this https://www.rockfordchimneysupply.com/tile-breaker-and-rods-kit-rental.php.

 

[wrx-snowdrift]

I made my own. I welded up the flail style tile breaker from scrap pieces. I bought 3 10' pieces of 1/2" ready rod for $6.59/each and a handful of coupling nuts. Cut 1 of the rods into a 2', 3' and 5' pieces. I just used my 18v Makita cordless drill on high speed and it worked incredibly well. I tried to use serrated flange nuts to act as jams nuts to keep the coupling nuts from over tightening but it didn't work very well and the ready rod sections would often bottom out against each other in the coupling nut and be a pain to take apart. If I had to do it again I would weld the jam nut to the ends of each rod to make it easier to remove.

You have square tile? I'm not sure the flail style will work on round.

Here is the link to the thread, there is also a video of it in action towards the end of the thread.
https://www.arboristsite.com/commun...-on-wood-furnace-chimney-installation.304098/

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Note the 34 second point in the web site video. The structural block also appears damaged by the tool.

 

[sirbuildalot]

I think they are imperfections in the block Sandhill

I have actually been thinking about this myself lately. My stove has a 8" outlet, and my clay liner is 7x11 inside. I'm thinking of adding a 8" SS smooth interior liner with vermiculite insulation. Once the flue is removed I should have around 9 x 13 inside. My chimney is on the outside gable wall and cools off quick resulting in excessive creosote buildup.

 

[Big_Eddy]

I made one very similar to that shown, although I just used chain - no weights on the ends. Attached it to a length of black pipe.
Chucked it in the drill, lowered it a bit at a time. Added an extra piece of pipe every time it was needed. Did not take long.

2 pieces of advice.
Start at the top and don't go lower until the top is completely broken up. Smaller pieces are better than larger. Buddy tried to rush and smashed out the bottom of a tile without break up the top first. Jammed things up nicely.
Better to remove pieces via the clean out a bit at a time, rather than after it's all done. I used 5' pipe sections. Cleaned out every section. Do any more at once, and it packs in pretty tightly.

 

[wrx-snowdrift]

I made one very similar to that shown, although I just used chain - no weights on the ends. Attached it to a length of black pipe.
Chucked it in the drill, lowered it a bit at a time. Added an extra piece of pipe every time it was needed. Did not take long.

2 pieces of advice.
Start at the top and don't go lower until the top is completely broken up. Smaller pieces are better than larger. Buddy tried to rush and smashed out the bottom of a tile without break up the top first. Jammed things up nicely.
Better to remove pieces via the clean out a bit at a time, rather than after it's all done. I used 5' pipe sections. Cleaned out every section. Do any more at once, and it packs in pretty tightly.

Great point, start at the top. Also, know that it is quite messy. My chimney was 28' so tile was falling quite a distance and creating a lot of dust. I would seal the cleanout and thimble with cardboard and tape and then knock out a few feet of tile and then go clean it out. I also advise wearing a mask. I just wore a paper dust mask and it was not sufficient. Apparently I had a lot of bat feces in my chimney and I actually ended up getting Histoplasmosis which is a fungus that is found in very rich organic soils as well as bat and bird droppings and it affects the lungs. Has symptoms very similar to the flu (fever, aches, chills, etc.) lasted about 2 weeks. Wear a respirator style mask if you have one.

Occasionally a large piece of tile would plug up the chimney, I tied my 8# sledge to a piece of rope and would drop it on the clog to break it up.

 

[TimberWolf530]

Just out of curiosity, are you guys busting out your tile just because the SS liner won't fit, or for some other reason? It seems to me it would add an extra layer of fire protection if you can fit your liner with it still intact. That's how I installed mine.

 

[wrx-snowdrift]

Mine was in very rough shape. I was told because it was so beat up it would not qualify as insulation for a SS liner so I would have to put in an insulated SS liner and there was not enough room for that.

 

[Hansenj11]

My liner would not fit down through. Wish me luck, I am going to do this Friday. Happy Thanksgiving

 

[siouxindian]

i thought i was finally going to get to add some helpful info .i have did this before but all the stuff i did is in the reply's already.