When other drain cleaning tools such as sink machines and drain cable machines are not enough to get a sewer and drain cleaning job done, you need something that packs a bigger punch. Something with more power and force behind it. This is where hydro jetters can be of significant help to you. With one of these powerful drain cleaning machines at your disposal, there will be almost nothing that can stand between you and unclogging the toughest of blockages from a line. That said, there are multiple types of hydro jetter. Spartan Tool is here to help walk you through them today.
What is a Hydro Jetter and What are its Uses?
So what exactly is a hydro jetter and what is it used for? To put it simply, a hydro jetter, or sewer jetter, is an industrial grade piece of sewer and drain cleaning machine that employs the use of high pressure water in order to clean out any obstructions or build-up from a line. Many of these hydro jets can be equipped with water tanks that are sized to fit your personal requirements. Depending on whatever access to water you may have at a given moment, these hydro jetter machines can be made store anywhere from 100 to 1,000 gallons.
Water jetters are incredibly versatile in terms of how they can be used, as they have a wide variety of different types of sewer jetter hoses and jetter nozzles that can be mounted to them. Each of these has their own unique skill sets and applications that they can be put toward where they do their best work. By knowing what kinds of drain cleaning jobs you are called out to do most often, you can purchase the kinds of hoses and jetter nozzles that will be the most effective, efficient, and reliable in getting your best work done time after time for years to come.
Hydro jetters can be used for a variety of different purposes, but among the more common ones are things like:
- Clearing out debris and sludge
- Pulverizing oil and grease
- Smashing through clogs of ice
- Washing out sand and silt
- Removing calcified scale
- Washing off graffiti from a wall
- Flushing out a stagnant system
- Breaking up tree roots
- Scouring pipe walls
What to Keep in Mind with a Water Jetter Machine
When you are working with a hydro jet, one of the most important things you need to keep in mind is that this is a heavy duty piece of machinery. It packs some serious punch, and if you do not know what you are doing, you could end up doing serious property damage and personal injury to yourself or others nearby. Because of this, it is of the utmost importance that before operating a hydro jetter that you are well versed in its proper operation practices as well as all safety practices. It is also important to wear protective gear such as gloves, vests, jackets, and boots that are all designed and manufactured to protect you against high pressure water strikes.
What are the Types of Hydro Jetter?
Just as many different types of hydro jetter hoses and jetter nozzles exist to lend their strengths to various different applications, there are also a number of different types of water jetters in general. They all vary in their size, power, mobility, capacity, and intended uses, but each of them has a number of different ways that they can help plumbing professionals such as yourself take on all sorts of heavy duty drain cleaning jobs, among other types of heavy duty jobs. In order to find out what is the right type of hydro jetter for you and your professional purposes, let’s have a look at some of the most common kinds and see what their different strengths are.
Portable Jetters
Some times, depending on the space you have available to work in and where the particular drain or sewer that needs to be cleaned out is located, you may need a hydro jetter that is easily able to be moved around. When transportation, efficiency, and space are a concern, a portable sewer jetter is just the tool for the job. They are often times durable, reliable, and effective in removing a variety of different types of drain obstructions that you might end up running into such as soft clogs and grease – particularly in the kinds of situations where a portable hydro jet would be of ample use to you.
Many portable hydro jetters can provide you with around 1,500 PSI or 2.0 GPM, offering you some considerable power despite its small size. This means that you do not have to sacrifice power, effectiveness, and efficiency for the sake of saving space in your vehicle or in your work space. Keep in mind, however, that it is not a go-to solution for sewer and drain cleaning jobs that require extra power and force in order to remove whatever is obstructing them. Other types of obstructions such as small objects, roots, and other things may require a larger type of hydro jet in order to break through.
Cart Jetters
If you have a sewer and drain cleaning job that requires more power and push than a portable hydro jet can provide you with but still need to be able to move it easier than other heavier machinery, then a cart jetter may be the tool you are looking for. Cart jetters can be rolled from one place to another relatively easily, depending on what kind of area you are trying to navigate. Many cart jetters will come equipped with rugged tires that help you get through bumpier areas with less of a problem. They are also fairly easy to store in a vehicle or other storage area.
These kinds of high power drain cleaning tools can provide 3,000 PSI or more at 4 GPM. They send a steady pulsation through the hose you are using to assist it in moving up and down a blocked line directly. This cuts down on whatever friction you might face. As a result, this makes cart jetters. the next option up when a drain clog is something more difficult to remove than things such as grease or other types of soft clogs. Many cart jetters have electric based starters and direct drive engines, which as a result provides you with dependable performance for a long time to come.
Skid Mount Jetters
Let’s face it. Some drain clogs just need a bigger punch than a portable hydro jetter or cart jetter can provide. Though such hydro jets can provide you with convenience and a significant amount of push to get many types of common clogs out of a drain, some times it is time to call in the heavier duty machinery. This is where a skid mount jetter can be of significant help to you in getting the job done with ease. Though nowhere near as easy to transport as other hydro jetters, a skid mounted jetter can help you punch through the bigger, tougher clogs with more power and efficiency.
Skid mount jetters are mounted to the backs of vehicles, such as trucks, vans, and other vehicles that are geared towards heavy duty work. They can provide operators with a significant amount of strength, with PSI ranging from 2,000 to 4,000 and GPM from 12 to 21. Plus, their hose reels can reach multiple hundred feet and pivot in many directions in order to be able to reach whatever drain or sewer that needs to be cleaned out. Additionally, skid mount jetters can hold considerably more water as well as fuel than portable hydro jetters as well as cart jetters, so you can keep working longer on removing an obstruction without having to stop to refill.
Trailer Jetters
When you need a hydro jet drain cleaner that has the power, strength, efficiency, and reliability to get even the heaviest of sewer and drain cleaning jobs done, a trailer jetter may be the tool you need. These trailer based hydro jet drain cleaners that are pulled by your work vehicle are designed to be some of the most powerful and reliable machines for getting the heaviest of clogs out of a drain or sewer. For instance, if stubborn tree roots have managed to find their way into a line and are not responding to other methods you have employed, a trailer jetter may be able to help provide you with the powerful blast of water necessary to rid the line of them and get things flowing properly once again.
Many types of trailer jetters have the ability to provide you with 2,000 to 4,000 PSI and 18 to 35 GPM. This offers you a significant amount of power to help you rid a line of obstructions during sewer and drain cleaning jobs. A trailer hydro jet drain cleaner can have a water carrying capacity of anywhere between 150 gallons to 600 gallons or more depending on what kind of model you have. Most trailer jetters run on diesel engines. Some come equipped with air-purge systems in order to help you better deal with colder temperatures when you have line cleaning jobs in the winter.
Types of Hydro Jetter Nozzles
In addition to there being numerous types of water jetter machines, there are a wide variety of kinds of jetter nozzles as well. As you might guess, each different type of nozzle has its own individual application that it works best for as a drain cleaning tool. Just as no two drain clogs are the same, neither should your approaches to tackling them be. If you are aware of each jetter nozzle’s intended purpose, you will have a significantly easier time when approaching a clog at a sewer and drain cleaning job. Let’s have a look at what the different types of jetter nozzles are and how best to use them when cleaning out a drain obstruction:
Regular Dome Nozzle
A regular dome nozzle is one of the most common types of jetter nozzles available for hydro jetters. Most often, regular dome nozzles are used for breaking up deposits of soap and grease. These kinds of nozzles are “open”, and are used most often for initial penetration of a 3” – 10” sewer line that is dealing with stoppages that are medium to heavy in size. They provide a forward jet stream, which breaks up obstructions. Once the obstruction is broken, rear facing jets flush all the debris down the line.
Closed Nozzle
A closed nozzle is a type of jetter nozzle that has only rear facing jets. They are designed to work with 3” – 10” lines for general cleaning tasks, and are typically the best option available for pulling the hose that is furthest down the line.
Rocket Nozzle
When you are dealing with a 3” – 12” line that is heavily compacted with sand, silt or sludge, a rocket nozzle is your best choice. These kinds of jetter nozzles come equipped with orifices that are able to be switched in order to provide an open or closed nozzle in order to best suit your current needs.
Sand Nozzle
If you are currently dealing with a storm sewer or other kind of sewer that is blocked up by a heavy sand build up and need something that can break through it with ease and efficiency, a sand nozzle is your best choice of drain cleaning tools. These jetter nozzles are typically bigger and much flatter than a standard nozzle. The reason behind this is that sand nozzles are designed be able to lay in the bottom of a pipe and then remove the sand as it falls in a downward direction.
Q Nozzle
A Q nozzle is a type of jetter nozzle that is designed with a triple-pointed tip that is intended to to push debris it encounters forward as it makes its way through a line. It is an ideal drain cleaning tool for cleaning lines in situations where you are unable to get to the blockage through the lower side of the pipe.
Rotating Nozzle
Rotating nozzles are a type of jetter nozzle that works much like a standard nozzle, but rather than just jetting water forward, it also is able to jet water from its side in a rotating fashion. This makes them incredibly useful for when you are in the midst of a sewer and drain cleaning job and want to clean the line as you go. Rotating nozzles are also useful for when you want to clean the sides of a drain after you have managed to dislodge an obstruction so that the client is less likely to run into such a situation again any time soon.