It's time to make the jump and move away from your old sluggish drain auger - we'll show you what it takes to replace it with a modern high-speed, high power flexible shaft & chains.
Running your aging, slow-running unclogging equipment such as drain augers is a thing of the past.
Over the past few years, the drain cleaning & plumbing industry has been taken by flexible shaft & cleaning chain storm.
These modern tools enable you to provide a highly flexible, professional and cost effective drain cleaning solutions through running a stainless steel manufactured cleaning chain with or without carbide inserts, and a various collection of nylon and silicone carbide brushes operated by a high quality, high-speed flexible shaft.
Flexible shafts are generally available in few common sizes:
- 6mm (1/4")
- 8mm (5/16")
- 10mm (3/8")
- 12mm (1/2")
This size selection offers solutions for most standard needs within the drain cleaning industry. The smaller sizes offer flexibility and ability to navigate various 90° bends and the ability to enter pipes through confined access positions with accompanying tools. The larger sizes offer rigidity and power for working inside larger pipe sizes and longer runs.
When choosing the right flexible shaft for the right job, there is no single, simple advice. Most pipes drain cleaners end up working inside are various in size, shape and length and so should be the solution to work inside it, too.
The tools available for the flexible shafts should always match the shaft sizing in compatibility, too. If you're working with an 8mm (5/16") shaft, you should always use chains and brushes with a matching size attachment points to make sure you've secured the tool on the shaft, and won't end up loosing your tool of choice inside the pipe. This will lead into a costly & difficult process of removing the tool from the drain (while it is possible with tailormade solutions; see Picote Grabbers.
Ideally, your flexible shaft kit should always contain few key components:
- The flexible shaft itself in suitable size and length
- A cable cover installed on the flexible shaft, allowing your to operate the rotating shaft without risking physical damage to yourself, others or structures you work in.
- Friction bearings which are installed at both ends of the cable cover. These friction bearings provide a shield barrier for the cable cover against friction-caused heat from your drill or the cleaning tool at the end of your flexible shaft. If the cover ends up rubbing against your drill chuck running at 2000rpm without any shield, it may heat up and melt, causing the cover the stick into the flexible shaft, effectively ruining the tool.
- Drive rotator shaft enabling you to use your cordless drill for rotating the flexible shaft.
- Shaft to Shaft Connector enabling you to extend your flexible shaft by connecting two same sized or different sized flexible shafts together.
- Aluminium Brush Locks if you're using nylon or silicone carbide cleaning brushes with your flexshaft. The brush frames are manufactured from POM or other plastics and while they are super durable, they might break under stress, causing the brush to detach from the flexshaft.
Please keep in mind that in order to get maximum service life out of your flexible shaft, you should maintain & service the shaft regularly. The shaft can be taken out of the cable cover, cleaned and lubricated to reach the best possible friction resistance and service capability.
When you've chosen your set of suitable flexible shafts and accompanying tools, you can finish off your kit with a professional Cable Carrier for clean, professional and neat storage and transportation of your flexible shafts. Using a Cable Carrier also allows you to use your flexible shaft without extracting it completely, as our Cable Carrier has drive insertion points where you can bring out the drive end of your shaft from a tailormade entrypoint and run the flexible shaft with your drill even if it's only partly outed from the carrier.
With a kit like this, you'll look professional in front of your customers. Additionally, a thoroughly designed kit is also a pleasure to work with and it actively reduces any risk of harming customers' property by operating the drain flexible shafts indoor.
Thanks for reading, hope this helps! If you have any further questions regarding flexible shafts or any other drain cleaning tools and equipment, please don't hesitate to contact us. Team Pipemade is here to help! :)
