Imperial Industries introduces durable plastic sight eye

Imperial Industries is marketing a new shatterproof sight eye for vacuum trucks serving septic pumping and portable sanitation contractors.

“We had problems with our old sight glasses breaking,” says Troy Hanson, engineering manager for Imperial Industries. “Being tempered glass, they would shatter into a million pieces if anything hit them, or they’d break from tightening them too much. So, we just tried to come up with something better.”

A sight glass breaking can mean a big mess on a client’s property, or even in your own shop. “We did have a customer that had basically a full load in their trucks and one of the glass eyes blew out, so they dumped half their load in someone’s front yard,” says Hanson. “That makes for an unhappy customer.” Hanson and the team at Imperial have been working on a solution for nearly a year.

The end result of their research is their new Shatterproof Sighteye made from injection-molded plastic. This clear bowl is similar in shape and size to present glass models so it will be compatible for replacement.

“We use the same 5-inch frame, so if you want it on your portable service truck or septic truck, they’re good for both,” Hanson says.

The Shatterproof Sighteyes have been pressure and vacuum tested, and significant attempts were made to break the product. Strength testing started with a simple drop test, followed by running over the Sighteye with multiple vehicles from a standard pickup truck to a 24,000-pound vacuum truck, all of which failed to break the shatterproof material. 

“The product is pretty new, so we only have a few of them out in the field right now. We gave some samples to some of our local customers around here to get them tested in the field,” Hanson says. “Feedback from them has all been really positive. Everybody using them likes them.”

The Shatterproof Sighteye was designed to remove the worry of breaking tempered glass. With plenty of parts to maintain, any component that can be relied on to not break while on the job is a bonus. 800-558-2945;  www.imperialind.com.