Video inspection cameras are among the more valuable tools in a drain cleaner’s service truck. Inspection systems have come a long way since the days of VHS recordings. Who imagined 10 years ago that technicians could leave customers with a tiny disc to show them exactly what’s blocking their sewer lateral?
New technology provides a wide array of inspection options, including high-resolution color cameras and television monitors, easy-to-use control boards, and self-leveling and pan-and-tilt camera heads. Different jobs demand capabilities almost as varied as the problems to be solved. Here’s a look at what three contractors prefer in pipeline inspection systems.
“Reliability is one of our top priorities with inspection cameras,” says Jarvis Sester, a technician for Champion Cleaning Specialists Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. “We want something that’s going to work day-to-day without those small technical issues.
“We also require a good wheeled system that can get through pipes in our area. We deal a lot with clay and stacked-brick pipes that were put in during the 1930s and ‘40s, and they’re in really bad shape. Wheeled vehicles seem to do much better.
“A color monitor is important, too,” Sester says. “We work with the gas industry, so we’re always looking for those tell-tale yellow PVC pipes they’re using now, so that we know when we’re running into something bad. We switched over to LCD monitors for that extra bit of clarity. We keep the resolution at 480 lines, which is sufficient for our customers to see.”
Owning high-tech equipment definitely helps the company market its services. “Thanks to our equipment, we get business we otherwise wouldn’t get because we can hit the laterals,” Sester says. “In our area, there aren’t a lot of companies that actually get up into the laterals. But right now, we can produce a video on a DVD and hand it off on site to a customer. We can make a DVD in about 20 minutes.
“We’re recording it anyway. If you’re out in front of a house, the owner usually wanders out to see what we’re doing. We get to talking and soon they get curious and ask, ‘What does my lateral look like?’ Then we can show them.”
“The top feature we look for in a video inspection system is a good, high-resolution camera,” notes Jerry Kubu Jr., an application engineer at Pengat Technical Inspections Inc. in Deer Park, N.Y. “We like a minimum of 525 lines of resolution. That enables us to easily see defects even in the largest-diameter pipes with minimal lighting.
“We also prefer equipment that’s easy to incorporate into our existing systems, so we don’t have to retrofit our existing equipment just to use a new camera. As technology advances, some older systems become so outdated that they’re completely incompatible with new technology. So instead of just upgrading one part of your system, you end up replacing your entire system.”
The ability to produce high-quality images leads to more jobs. “We get more work because the quality of the end product is so much better,” Kubu says. “Instead of providing a fuzzy, grainy black-and-white picture in the report, which makes it difficult to point out the defect, you can offer an image that easily shows exactly what you’re describing to the customer. People are blown away by the quality of the images.
“Quality is king. The higher the video quality, the more apt you are to get repeat business and new business. Word-of-mouth referrals in this industry are very important. Good visuals help us obtain new business, because we can show images from previous jobs to potential customers. You can’t always judge a book by its cover, but a lot of times it gets you in the door.
“We try to differentiate ourselves by using the newest technology,” Kubu says. “In this industry, you always have to upgrade. You always have to maintain your edge over the competition – offer something that sets you apart.”
“I take a close look at the electrical connections on the camera head itself,” says Ron Johnson, owner of Economy Sewer and Drain Cleaning in Dallas, Texas. “That’s the weak point where most of the problems occur – the connections tear out and start leaking.
“I also prefer a unit that has a control box that’s separate from the monitor and the recording device. If it’s an all-in-one unit, and the monitor or recording device goes bad, then you have to buy a whole new system. Or if you send it back to the manufacturer for repairs, you’re out the other pieces of equipment. If you break down in the middle of a job and have to wait two weeks to get your camera system back, that’s not very good.
“On the other hand,” Johnson says, “if I have a unit with one control box into which you plug a monitor and a recording device, if the recorder or monitor goes bad, you just run down to the electronics store and buy a new monitor or recorder. Or you can snatch another monitor or recorder from a standby camera, plug it in and keep working.
“On the recording side, I use voice narration. Otherwise, if it’s just a video, a customer won’t know what they’re looking at. If you talk and explain things as the inspection goes along, they understand what’s going on. Right now, we’re using DVD recordings, but we’re looking at buying an all-digital system.”
