Mystery Solved! Drain Cleaner Stops Persistent Backups

Repeated snaking fails to diagnose a new home’s sewer line problems. Learn how plumbing ingenuity and top-notch tools helped find — and fix — the issue.

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Mystery Solved! Drain Cleaner Stops Persistent Backups
The latest Gen-Eye includes a self-leveling color camera that automatically keeps pictures right side up, letting professionals and customers clearly follow the action as the camera glides through the line.

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The sewer line of a 1-year-old Kentucky house should have run clean and free. But the homeowner kept suffering persistent backups. And repeated snaking failed to work.

That’s when Jarboe’s Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, Electric & Remodeling sprang into action. 

The Louisville-area plumbing professionals marshaled an arsenal of General Pipe Cleaners equipment to diagnose and fix the problem – quickly. 

Among the area’s largest, most respected providers of plumbing and kitchen and bath remodeling services, Jarboe’s routinely calls on General solutions for “big-city service with small-town pride and professionalism.” 

“Serving eight surrounding counties – including lots of rural customers – we have to come prepared for everything,” says technician Dan Powers. “So our tools include a range of General video pipe inspection camera and drain cleaning equipment to do the customer’s job right – the first time.” 

Camera system solves the mystery

Jarboe’s personnel promptly pinpointed the problem at the Kentucky home with a Gen-Eye video inspection/location system from General. 

Gen-Eye systems offer plumbing and drain cleaning professionals everything necessary to troubleshoot 2- to 10-inch lines, including on-screen distance counter, date-and-time stamp, voice-over unit, built-in titler and AC/DC power operation. 

Jarboe’s camera system quickly solved the mystery. A toilet knockout wedged in the new sewer line acted like a baffle, and repeatedly resisted all cleaning attempts. 

“The thing just flapped back and forth during snaking – and clogs kept returning,” Powers says. “Once we spotted the real problem, we permanently cleaned the line with a Speedrooter 92.” 

With plenty of power for long, tough jobs, the Speedrooter 92 blends rugged reliability with optimal control and ease-of-use. 

Powers contends that the right equipment mix saves money and headaches – ultimately boosting business. “We believe in treating customer property like it’s ours,” he says. “By precisely and promptly pinpointing their problems, we spare customers inconvenience – and unnecessary expense.” 

Right equipment saves time, money and headaches

The latest Gen-Eye includes a self-leveling color camera that automatically keeps pictures right side up, letting professionals and customers clearly follow the action as the camera glides through the line. 

The latest Command Module also includes a 10.4-inch LCD monitor and SD recorder, and waterproof keyboard for titling in a padded carrying case. Completing the system is the Gen-Eye Hot-Spot Pipe Locator, offering easy and accurate camera location and instant depth finding capability down to the inch. 

“Lots of our suburban and rural customers experience recurring root troubles,” Powers says. “We use the Gen-Eye to spot the problem – and a Speedrooter 92 to solve it.”

He likes the raw power and reach of the Speedrooter 92. “We have six of them – one for each crew,” Powers says. 

The durable design features a braced frame at key stress points, a drum supported front and rear for longer bearing wear, and Flexicore cable – the industry standard for toughness.

Flexicore cable blends superior kinking resistance and unequalled strength with the right amount of flexibility. The heavy-duty wire tightly coiled around 49-strand aircraft-type wire rope is so tough that it carries the best warranty in the business – one-year protection against breakage. 

Power and flexibility meet professional needs

Design enhancements make Speedrooter 92 exceptionally user-friendly. It’s made for tight doorways, and one person can easily load it onto a truck. The machine’s redesigned frame slides smoothly from the loading wheel to the handle to the stair climbers and finally to the wheels. The new adjustable height, swept-back handle also provides maximum maneuvering leverage. 

“It’s great for one-man operation,” Powers says. “We really appreciate the great balance and forward-reverse, variable speed control.” 

He also values the Speedrooter 91’s operating flexibility. “We like switching cable rotation to achieve just the right angle to extract the clog.” 

With raw driving and pulling power for long, tough jobs, General’s power cable feed drives 3/4-, 5/8- and 9/16-inch cables. Drum changes are easy, too. Switch from 3/4- or 5/8-inch cables to a small drum with 100 feet of 9/16-inch cable to clear smaller lines. The large drum sports a see-through inner cage to quickly determine how much cable remains. And no screwdriver is required for cable adjustments. 

Equipment mix proves critical to business

Powers pulls no punches when extolling the importance of Jarboe’s equipment mix. “We stand behind our work, and we expect the same from the tools we use.” 

That’s why the company’s arsenal also includes General’s Mini-Rooter and Super-Vee machines for smaller jobs. 

“You can find a full line of General equipment in use by our fleet,” he says. “It’s what helps us provide the high level of service our customers count on.” 

For details, contact the Drain Brains at General at 800/245-6200, or visit www.drainbrain.com

General Pipe Cleaners, a division of General Wire Spring Co., is a manufacturer of high-quality drain cleaning equipment since 1930. General serves drain cleaning professionals and plumbing contractors, as well as facilities managers, the rental industry and the hardware/home center market. The Toughest Tools Down The Line.



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