My Chimney Problem
I recently purchased a unit on the 2nd floor of a 4 story building. My goal was to install mini-split AC which needs a condenser installed outside. I checked with the other owners and I’m not allow to put the condenser in the yard. The next idea was to install the condenser on the roof and run the AC lines through a dead chimney. The electrician was able to install a cutoff to supply the condenser with power. He even left a lead for me (nylon rope) in case the AC guys nee. ed to use it. The AC guys came to install everything then stopped saying “we can’t get through the chimney you need to hire a chimney person”. The first chimney guy came and gave up right away. The 2nd one worked on it for a while and left saying “Ok looks like there’s room for the AC lines now”. The AC guys came back and still couldn’t get through the chimney. So then I started doing some DIY solutions.
My end goal
What are some ideas for me to try to get a 3” PVC pipe through the obstruction? Then the AC guys will have the access they need to run the lines to my apartment.
Information about the building/chimney.
The building is 4 stories tall and contains a basement and a roof. The roof is accessible by the staircase and has a deck on top. Each story is approx 11 feet tall. The chimney I was told was originally built to vent a boiler that no longer exists. My unit is on the 2nd floor facing the front of the building. It’s in a historic district and I was told if I run AC lines on the outside of the building the city would make me remove them. So it appears going through this chimney is the only option. The chimney has a cast iron access door in the basement. It’s full of electrical cable feeding the apartments.
Information about the obstruction
The obstruction is about 18’ down from the top of the chimney putting it somewhere between the 3rd and 4th floors. It’s supported by wooden slats on the bottom. On the top is a few inch layer of sticks/leaves and dirt. What’s between the dirt and the slats, I’m not sure. Could be plaster that was part of the chimney liner that fell down? Could be some sort of insulation, could be some plaster top created over the wood slats? No idea. When I bang the obstruction with a pole it sounds like I’m hitting something solid and hollow. The slats seem to be resting on an old flue? Or some seemingly metal ledge that was installed inside the chimney.
What I’ve tried already
I bought a 20 foot utility pole and a rake attachment at the end of the pole to try to clear some of the debris laying on top. That didn’t really work great b/c it’s too hard to control the end of the pole from 20 feet. I then bought a large metal screw anchor and attached that to the pole. It got through the dirt/leaves but no matter which part of the obstruction I tried it kept hitting something solid. Also the utility pole is telescoping so I can’t add a lot of downward pressure without it de-telescoping again. I also tried putting a chisel at the end of the pole but got the same result as the screw anchor.
I also tried to tie a 3” pvc pipe at the bottom of the chimney to a rope and brute-force pull it up with no luck.
I bought a 30 foot endoscopic camera to record pictures/videos. Here’s all the video/images I’ve taken.