Drain cleaners are great for a wide range of jobs varying from commercial, domestic, residential to municipal applications. 

Drain cleaners use a long, flexible, lightweight thermoplastic hose with a nozzle to direct the high pressure. Hoses are small and are able to fit into tight areas and around bends. When choosing your drain cleaner, make sure you select the correct drain cleaner accessories to accommodate to your specific drain cleaner job. Pumps Australia can manufacture small portable units to large trailer mounted units.

Petrol drain cleaners and diesel drain cleaners are both high performing high pressure systems. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, but it comes down to the high pressure job you’re performing as well as your personal preference.

Electric drain cleaners rely on a reliable power source to perform work. Electric drain cleaners are ideal when petrol or diesel drain cleaners can’t be used on site. Before purchasing an electric drain cleaner, confirm your power source on site and whether the source can supply power for the high pressure of the drain cleaner.

Drain cleaners require a reliable steady flow of clean water. Dirty water can result in poor performance of the drain cleaner if there is debris in the water. Check your water source before performing work by turning the tap on fully, releasing water into a bucket and use a stopwatch to time how long it takes to overflow the bucket. To calculate flow rate, divide 60 seconds by the time it took to fill the bucket then multiply that figure by the liters in the bucket.

Electric driven drain cleaners rely on a power source to perform work. For drain cleaners that are electric driven, we recommend checking your available power source for the job first. Check if the available power source on site can handle the power of your drain cleaner. If so, then electric driven drain cleaners could be a good choice. Electri Driven Drain Cleaners are generally limited to 240 Volts 2.2 Kw. Pumps Australia has a  unique 240 Volt Jetter which can produce 3000 psi from a 240 volt GPO outlet

Choosing the correct pressure for your drain cleaner is crucial for performance. If the drain cleaner’s pressure is too high, it can result in damage. If the drain cleaner’s pressure is too low, performance will be poor. 

Class A and Class B pressure cleaners require specific training. Class A high pressure water systems produce a maximum energy between 800 bar liters per minute – 5600 bar liters per minute. Class B system is a high pressure water jetting system that exceeds 5600 bar liters per minute. HPWJ training is required for both Class A and Class B pressure cleaner systems. Talk with our team at Pumps Australia for more information.

To work out the Class of your drain cleaner system simply multiply the pump’s maximum flow in liters per minute by the maximum pressure in bar.

Like all pieces of high pressure systems, drain cleaners require regular maintenance. To maintain your drain cleaner equipment, regularly change the oil and assess if your drain cleaner’s heating coils require any descaling. Assess for any wear and tear, in case any parts need to be replaced e.g. the drain pressure cleaner’s trigger and nozzles. If you use your Pump Equipment regularly, you might want to consider 2-3 services per year.

Read the operating maintenance manual supplied with your machine or refer to the Pumps Australia maintenance booklet.

Drain cleaner safety requirements change depending on the drain cleaner equipment. As mentioned, different Classes require different safety. For more information on safety for high pressure water blasting, see our safety video here. 

Selecting the right high pressure jetting hose for your drain cleaner jetting job is just as important as selecting the right drain cleaner unit. Pumps Australia stocks a wide range of high pressure jetting hoses. Choose the correct high pressure jetting hose by checking the required operating pressure. Typically, the hose’s burst pressure will be a minimum 2.4 times the working pressure.For the hose going into the drain we recommend a lightweight thermo-plastic hose generally 60 meters long on a portable hand carry hose reel.

We recommend a Hammerhead Nozzle Kit with our specially design Hammerhead rotating nozzle, this will knock over the majority of Projects. Pumps Australia stocks a wide range of nozzles for your drain cleaner system. Different drain cleaner nozzles will change the penetration of the jetting system. Browse our selection of drain cleaner nozzles to find the correct one for your job.