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A flexible shaft machine can offer your plumbing business a number of considerable advantages when it comes to sewer and drain cleaning work. Not only are they lightweight and easy to transport, but they are still able to offer quite a bit of strength. That being said, there are a number of things that you should think about before you go forward with the purchase of such a small sewer machine. To help you, Spartan Tool is here today to provide you with a list of the top 6 things to consider when buying a high speed flexible shaft machine.
What Can Make Flex Shaft Machines a Useful Tool for Your Business?
A high speed flexible shaft machine is one of the more recent innovations within the plumbing industry. Because of this, there are many plumbers who have been in the industry for many decades who have not yet picked up on the benefits and useful nature of these drain cleaning tools, preferring to go with old school tried and true methods. However, when taking a look at the various pros that come with incorporating a flex shaft machine into your inventory of small sewer machines and other drain cleaning tools, they are a no-brainer to get a hold of and utilize.
One of the biggest benefits of having a flex shaft machine on hand in your work vehicle is that they are easy to transport. They are lightweight, small, and easy to work with, in terms of storage, moving, and setting up in a workspace. In addition, flex shaft drain cleaning machines are an appealing drain cleaning tool for plumbing professionals to utilize when they are in need of something that is able to not only clean various kinds of build up off the walls of a sewer or drain, but also cut its way through obstructions with drain cleaning chain knockers while still being gentle to the plumbing itself. Because of this, it is a reliable and simple way for you to take care of business without having to resort to other heavier drain cleaning methods that might be more time and labor intensive.
Top 6 Things to Consider When Buying a High Speed Flexible Shaft Machine
You now have an idea for how useful high speed flexible shaft machines can be when it comes to removing blockages and cleaning the walls of pipes. These small sewer machines can help you out with making your work several times easier, quicker, and more effective than ever before. However, before you go out and buy one, there are some things you might want to ask. You want to make sure that the investment you are considering making is the right one for you and your business. Because of this, here are the top 6 things you should consider when buying a high speed flexible shaft machine:
1. Will a High Speed Flexible Shaft Machine Improve the Efficiency of My Team?
When out on any job that involves cleaning sewer lines, efficiency plays a key role in determining the overall outcome and success. After all, you do not want to be working with tools that take way too long to do a relatively simple task. Furthermore, you do not want to have to come back to a part of a task you have already completed just because the drain cleaning tools that you were using prior did not do the job properly. High speed flexible shaft machines are considered by many professionals in the plumbing industry to be incredibly efficient as well as effective.
These drain cleaning tools are not only able to clean up a variety of different kinds of drain build up, but also break through numerous types of clogs – some of which include light tree roots. What makes flex shaft machines even more efficient for today’s modern plumbing professional is the fact that they are able to be used in tandem with sewer inspection cameras. This allows for you to be able to fully see everything that is going on in a line when you are in the process of sewer line cleaning. You can know for 100% certain that you got rid of any blockages and build up, and not have to come back later to redo any of the work.
The efficiency related benefits of high speed flexible shaft machines does not stop there, though. Flex shaft machines are also a great way for you to follow up with any extra cleaning you might need to do in a customer’s plumbing after you have gone through it with a heavier duty small sewer machine such as a hydro jetter, drain cable machine, or other means of plumbing cleaning. You can go through the plumbing with a sewer camera at the same time to make sure you got rid of any blockages and build up and use the flexible shaft machine to get rid of any residual elements that the initial cleaning did not take care of. This can help you make sure that you did a 100% thorough job and help you ensure that you do not have to come back soon after just because the customer is having some sort of further issue with their plumbing not working properly.
2. Will I Be Able to Clean Up Faster?
One of the considerable advantages of owning and using a flexible shaft machine for the purposes of drain cleaning is the fact that they are incredibly easy to clean up after. The main reason for this is that they do not require any water in order for you to use them. Flex shaft machines are entirely mechanical in the way they go about sewer and drain cleaning, as they use special cables with wire on them that are rotated at a high speed by a cordless drill with a special flex shaft drill head.
These specially designed drain cleaning cables will scrape the build-up off of the walls of the pipes you are cleaning, rather than having if all pushed off by water being run through at high velocity. Because of this, there is considerably less mess to clean up once you have finished the job. The fact that high speed flexible shaft machines are small and lightweight also helps in lessening the amount of time required in cleaning up. In addition, the cable from these kinds of drain cleaning machines is also wound back into the reel as you are pulling the drain cable out of the line that you came to unclog and clean up.
3. Would a Flex Shaft Machine Help Expand the Business?
As with any kind of drain cleaning tool you may consider purchasing for your business to use in its work, one of the most important things you can ask yourself is whether or not a flexible shaft machine would be able to help you to expand your current clientele. If you are able to market its usage properly, then absolutely. Plumbing flex shaft machines can help you get the job done right the first time, and in considerably less time than other methods of sewer and drain cleaning. When you combine high speed flexible shaft machines with sewer inspection cameras, you can know for certain that you have everything inside of a pipe line all cleaned out and know that any blockages that might have been in there are gone.
Additionally, you can use high speed flexible shaft machines in preparing pipes to be relined. By being able to reline pipes in a timely, efficient, and effective manner, you can add another service option onto the list of what you can provide your customers. This provides you with even more opportunities to grow your business and provide customers with more services that they might have use for at some point in time.
A further way you can use a flexible shaft machine to grow your business is by letting your customers know how much gentler they are on their plumbing. This lets your client base know that any work that you are doing with your drain cleaning tools will not be cause for further repairs being needed down the line because of a small sewer machine beating up their pipes too much while in the process of removing build up and blockages. This can paint you and your business in a much more positive light, and thus bring in more business over time.
4. What Kinds of Sewer and Drain Cleaning Do I Do?
Another thing that should be taken into consideration when buying a high speed flexible shaft machine for drain cleaning is the kinds of drains and blockages you typically clean on a regular basis. If the majority of them are on the lighter side including lighter roots, then a flex shaft machine could be the tool for you. There is no need to bring in the heavier machinery for drain cleaning if the job can be done by a machine that makes faster and easier work with far less set up and clean up time required. If you are mostly dealing with blockages and build up that is relatively easy to deal with, then a high speed flexible shaft machine is a good small sewer machine for you to go ahead and acquire.
5. What Kinds of Maintenance is Involved with High Speed Flexible Shaft Machines?
One of the important things to have in mind when buying any sort of drain cleaning tool like a flexible shaft machine is the kinds of maintenance involved. Fortunately with flex shaft machines, maintenance is relatively simple. They are designed to be easily cleaned due to the way their cables and drums are designed. It is important to wipe all dirt as well as debris from the sheath as you are pulling the drain cable back into the assembly from the drain. This keeps the drum clean and cuts down on the potentiality of it sticking inside of the drum. Additionally, you will want to clean the flexible shaft machine with hot soapy water and drain it as necessary.
It is also important to make sure that the drain cable from a high speed flexible shaft machine stays properly lubricated in order to avoid it getting stuck anywhere during a sewer and drain cleaning operation. Some cables come with a lifetime lubrication guarantee, but it is still wise to make sure that they stay optimally lubricated nonetheless. In addition, it is important for you to replace the cable assembly on your flex shaft machine, should there ever be any reason to do so. Your individual unit’s instruction manual will come with instructions on how to go about doing this properly without causing any damage to the flex shaft machine or any personal injury to yourself.
6. Some Sewer and Drain Cleaning Work Still Require Other Methods
Despite the fact that sewer and drain cleaning machines such as high speed flexible shaft machines have the ability to make a variety of jobs that involve cleaning sewer lines a great deal easier and quicker to deal with, one thing that you need to consider when buying one is that some times there are some jobs that still require higher powered small sewer machines. Flex shaft machines designed for plumbing offer a great deal of convenience and effectiveness in many areas, but some times you need to be able to pack more of a punch with methods like hydro jetters or drain cable machines.
However, even in these instances, flexible shaft machines are still a solid and reliable way to follow up with such powerful machinery in order to make sure that you have cleared out all of the potential leftover build up or blockages that may still be in there. As mentioned prior, doing so in tandem with a sewer camera is a reliable way of doing this and ensuring that you do not have to come back to do further work later on because a client is still experiencing drain back up due to something that was missed during your initial round of cleaning.
