Sheared a brush head inside a flue in Cleveland, thought I was done for

Last Tuesday I was running a rotary brush through a 30 year old clay tile liner and the thing just snapped off about 15 feet down. The cables kept spinning but the head was stuck tight, wedged against a crusty creosote shelf. My first thought was calling the homeowner and telling them they need a full reline, but that's a $4k conversation nobody wants. Instead I rigged up a heavy duty magnet on a fish tape and spent two hours trying to snag the damn thing out of there. Finally got it by feeding a small claw grabber through the cleanout and working it loose from below, but my arm was killing me for a full day after. The owner watched the whole thing and didn't say a word until I pulled it out, then he just nodded and gave me a cold beer. Has anyone else had a brush head separate mid-sweep, and do you carry a backup way to fish it out or just eat the reline cost?

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