8 Things to Consider When Buying a Sewer Inspection Camera

When you are dealing with a particularly difficult clog in a drain or sewer line, you might need to get a closer look at what you are dealing with. Having a better idea as to what you are dealing with can help you choose the best method for how you want to go about removing whatever is clogging the line. In order to do that though, you need to be able to get a clear eye down in the line. This is where a sewer inspection camera can be of real use to you and your team. Before you buy one however, Spartan Tool has devised a list of 8 things to consider when buying a sewer inspection camera.

What is a Sewer Inspection Camera and What Does it Do?

Before we get into what to consider when buying a sewer inspection camera, it would be a wise idea to define what one in as well as what it can do for you. Let’s say for example that you are dealing with an industrial drain that is extremely clogged up. No matter what you are trying, nothing seems to break through and work. This is when having an extra set of eyes that can go where you cannot can come in real handy. Such a set of eyes can come in the form of a high resolution sewer inspection camera.

Pipe cameras can be lowered in through a cable a long way down into a line to give you a better idea as to what you are dealing with. When a sewer camera provides you with a clear picture of what kind of clog is stopping up a drain or sewer, you then can formulate a better, more effective strategy for taking it down.

There are a wide array of incredibly high-quality sewer cameras that are available on the market that can offer you quite the range of features to make a sewer and drain cleaning job even easier for you, such as:

• High Quality Video Recording
• Audio Recording
• Typewriter for Taking Notes
• Data Sharing and Storing

Things to Consider When Buying a Sewer Inspection Camera

Making an investment in a sewer inspection camera is not a cheap one by any stretch of the imagination. It is state-of-the-art technology that has been engineered with the most modern advancements to give you the eye you need where you need it most. Because of this, there are a number of things to consider when buying a sewer inspection camera. You want to make sure that the plumbing inspection camera you decide to purchase is the right one for your needs. Plus, you want to be sure how to go about handling it, amongst other things. Because of this, here is a list of 8 things to consider when buying a sewer inspection camera:

1. How Often Will You Be Using Your Sewer Inspection Camera?

Before you go ahead and spend the money to purchase a sewer camera, one thing you should ask yourself is how often you would actually be using it. Is it a tool that you find yourself frequently needing in the kinds of sewer and drain cleaning work that you do, or would it end up staying in your vehicle or storage area more often than not? If you would not be using a plumbing camera that often, it might be more prudent for you to rent one as needed. If however you find yourself using one all the time, then investing the money to get your own instead of borrowing all the time would save you a considerable amount of money in the long run.

2. Know What to Look for in an Insertion Probe

Your sewer camera’s insertion probe or sewer camera camerahead is an important piece of the overall sewer and drain cleaning operation and an important sewer inspection camera accessory. This is the part of the video inspection system that holds the camera and actually goes down into a drain or sewer to see what is going on. It deals with all of the various water, muck, and other things that find their way down into a sewer or drain over time. Because of this, there are a number of different things you will want to take into consideration and look for when you are looking for a sewer camera for sale, such as:

Length

When you are looking into the insertion probe aspect of buying a sewer inspection camera, you want to make sure that it will be long enough to be able to go from one manhole to another without any problems. Typically, the length of an insertion probe will vary from 20 meters to 120 meters (65.6' - 394'). Should you happen to find yourself in need of a more extended insertion probe, you might need to get a reel that has a stand that will roll the insertion probe in order to provide further comfort or possibly a pipe crawler.

Material

Another aspect that you need to keep in mind when it comes to insertion probes is the material that they are constructed from. For instance, simple insertion probes that are covered in PVC are typically strong and sturdy enough to be used in most sewer and drain cleaning jobs, but unfortunately, they can be damaged and worn out if they are used frequently through routine, heavy-duty drain and sewer inspection. Some insertion probes come covered with Kevlar braids, as Kevlar is five times stronger than steel. Because of this, it makes insertion probes covered in it far more durable and allows them to last considerably longer.

3. Know What to Look for in a Camera

As you might imagine, the camera itself is one of the key components of a sewer inspection camera system. Without it, you have no eye far down a drain or sewer to get a clear unobstructed look at whatever might happen to be blocking it up. You want to be sure that you are getting a high-quality piece of machinery that you can rely on time after time to give you the big picture. When you are shopping around for a sewer inspection camera, you will want to keep the following things in consideration when thinking about the camera itself:

Illumination

Drains and sewers do not have lights in them. Because of this, sticking a camera down a line on its own will end up giving you a picture that is pitch black. This will end up being absolutely useless to you in figuring out where or what the clog you are looking to find is. This is why illumination is a key factor in deciding what camera you want in a sewer inspection camera. You will want to find a plumbing camera that has adjustable and bright LED lights equipped to it. The better lights you have to work with, the better, more clear picture you will have far down a drain or sewer.

Material

As is the case with the insertion probe, you will want to ensure that any camera that you get with a sewer inspection camera system is fully waterproof. You would not get too far with a job that typically involves plumbing if your equipment could not stand up to water. However, most cameras for these kinds of jobs will have some sort of waterproofing fitted into their design and construction. That being said, some of the best kinds of waterproofing for such cameras involves stainless steel housing. That gives you the best chance of having your drain camera stay waterproof and intact longer.

Type of Head

Having a good head to work with makes your job navigating a drain or sewer significantly easier when operating a sewer inspection camera. When you have the right options available to you, it allows you to see things that other drain cameras might not show you. This is an instance where you get what you pay for, as standard heads do not provide you the self-leveling as well as pan/tilt options that higher quality sewer inspection camera heads will provide you. Such heads allow you to see a pipeline’s sides, look around corners, or go behind a wall – all while still giving you the clear picture you need.

4. Know What to Look for in a Monitor Hub

Your pipe camera has a number of important pieces to its equation, but one that is of the utmost importance is its monitor hub. This allows for you to see what your sewer camera sees as it is traversing through the depths of a building’s plumbing or a sewer that has been backed up by some unknown clog. In order to be able to get the clearest picture possible so you can find out what sort of obstruction you are dealing with, a high quality monitor hub is key. Characteristics to be on the lookout for while looking for a sewer camera for sale include:

Screen

Your monitor hub’s screen needs to be able to provide you with a crystal clear picture of whatever part of the drain or sewer line you currently happen to be working in. That being said, having a wider screen that provides you with higher resolution is always the best option possible. Higher end plumbing cameras can often provide you with a Daylight Readable Monitor, which makes it easier for you to look at while operating in sunlight.

Image Capturing and Saving

Plumbing cameras that have been more recently designed are able to capture a variety of different kinds of file formats as well as different resolutions. This gives you the ability to save your drain or sewer footage either as a JPEG image file or as a video file like AVI or MPEG. Having the capability of recording both images as well as video footage on a computer is a HIGHLY convenient tool to have on hand. You would not have to use a pen to write down things to recall them later on. Plus, you can always go back to the images or footage later on, should you need to for any reason.

5. Recording Time

One of the most important things to keep in mind when you are looking to find a sewer camera for sale is that recording time is finite, and you need to get one that has as much space as possible. The more hours that a plumbing camera can offer you, the better. You will be able to get a more comprehensive view of what is going on inside of a sewer or drain and then go back to whatever parts you need to when necessary without having to worry about whether or not the camera was able to save the footage of the crucial moment.

6. Hand-Held Vs. Reel Inspection Camera

There are two different types of sewer inspection cameras. Each of them has their own benefits that can work to your advantage, depending on what your personal needs are when it comes to sewer and drain cleaning jobs. These types of plumbing cameras include:

Reel Inspection Cameras: Reel inspection/open reel cameras offer numerous benefits, but one of the main advantages that makes many plumbers choose them is that they provide you with significantly more cable length when you are conducting a sewer and drain cleaning job. When you are trying to find a clog that is much further down a line than you might have initially anticipated, they are a major help to have ready.

Hand-Held Inspection Cameras: When you need to be able to reach more places, particularly ones that do not have outlets to work with or are set up in an unusual way, a hand-held/closed reel sewer camera can be incredibly useful to have on hand for you to use. Hand-held inspection cameras are in most instances cordless, so this makes them far more portable than reel inspection cameras.

7. Typewriter

In some instances, a sewer inspection camera set-up will come equipped with a typewriter that offers you a functional keyboard. These typewriters can be incredibly useful for taking any necessary notes that you need to take when you are in the process of using a sewer camera to find out what kind of obstruction you are dealing with. You can see how damaged drains and pipes are being blocked, take the necessary notes without having to look away or stop, and then go from there. These are usually on the higher-end sewer inspection camera models, but they make the job a great deal easier in the long run.

8. Price

When you are shopping for drain cameras, price point is an important factor to keep in consideration. You want to make sure that you are getting something within your budget. Fortunately, there are a number of decent budget related options available for sewer inspection cameras. That being said, it is also important to keep in mind that you do get what you pay for with plumbing cameras. The sewer cameras that cost more usually come with extra features and a build that is more stable, solid, and reliable – thus making them last a lot longer than the cheaper sewer cameras for sale.