The DCM 345S high-flow vacuum has been on the market a relatively short time, but its work legacy already includes cleaning pipes from the middle of the 19th century. The dual-purpose cleaning vacuum was employed by Savy & Sons in the descaling of cast iron pipe running under the historic Colt firearms building in Hartford, Connecticut.

When the Connecticut infrastructure repair and restoration company ran its Picote milling cable through 79 feet of the 5-inch sewer line beneath the landmark armory, it vacuumed out the descaling debris using the DCM 345S, leaving a clean interior ready for lining. Company owner Travis Savy is sold on the machine. “It really sucks,” he says playfully. “I’ve been dying to say that.”

His company principally uses the vacuum, which was purchased a year ago, in cleaning out descaled sewer pipes 2 to 6 inches in diameter. However, it also has been rolled out to help clean up concrete dust and steel filings from media-blasted structures. Savy has used the versatile machine alone to vacuum up debris after the fact and in tandem with a descaling shaft to draw out debris as it is created.

The GI Industries vacuum boasts several features that set it apart. Among them are its power package: three 1.5 hp 115-volt electric motors. They can be individually engaged, meaning that an operator can dial in the required cfm for a job and use only as much power as needed. “If you need only a little bit of suction power, great,” Savy says. “Or use it all.”

For small jobs, the machine can be operated off a generator. Its capacity is 360 cfm, abundant suction power that Savy has drawn on to retrieve chunks of pipe and other solid objects from pipes. The vacuum has a 15-gallon tank and weighs 65 pounds, so it can be easily moved by an operator.

“We have 10 other vacuums, a lot of other kinds of vacuums,” Savy says, “but this is a great product. Its overall quality is high and we get great service from GI Industries. I highly recommend the machine.”

Read more about Savy & Sons in the February 2021 issue of Cleaner magazine.