Pipes, Valves, & Fittings

Bronx plumber, Sylvan Tieger with his Speedrooter 92 with ClogChopper cutter.

With more than 47 years as a plumber—including three years US Navy service—the Bronx-based professional offers a full range of plumbing, drain cleaning, fire suppression and emergency services for the commercial, residential and institutional markets—to the New York City area.

When he talks drain cleaning tools, he can’t help but boast about how much they help him on the job. “There’s nothing like it. It’s fantastic for clearing scale from inside lines. It flies around pipe bends!”

That’s Sylvan Tieger on the unique and revolutionary ClogChopper® cutting tools from General Pipe Cleaners.

“A registered master plumber like me can find lots of work in a city of eight million,” Tieger smiles. “My mechanic sometimes wonders why I put so little mileage on my truck; most of the time, I just travel a couple miles to jobs!”

Much of that work is new construction. “That’s where ClogChopper really shines,” he says.

Raw Cutting Power

Tieger notes that lots of construction debris—like plaster and cement powder—is often carelessly deposited in drains lines.

“You quickly get a build-up of hardened material inside pipe walls,” he points out. “ClogChopper makes short work of problems like those.”

With six self-sharpening blades, ClogChopper digs into encrusted debris and root masses, easily grinding up stoppages, scale and crystallized urine—without risking pipe damage. It works in both directions, into and out of lines—all in one operation.

The spherical design also maneuvers around tight bends and traps, thoroughly and safely cleaning metal, plastic and clay pipes. Available in 1”, 1-1/2”, 2”, 2-1/2”, 3”, and 4” sizes, it’s also excellent for clearing stacks, downspouts and mains – as well as for pipe lining jobs.

“ClogChopper is an amazing tool,” Tieger says. “I love how it slices through roots – and is self sharpening!”

Right Equipment Mix Tackles Tasks

Tieger routinely teams ClogChopper cutters with his Speedrooter 92® power drain cleaner—also from General.

“The combination of ClogChopper and Speedrooter 92 especially lets me tackle long-run jobs—even longer than I expected,” he claims.

Superb for long, tough jobs, Speedrooter 92 blends rugged reliability with optimal control and ease-of-use. Great on tree roots, the field-proven machine features a braced frame at key stress points, a metal drum design for durability and longevity, and Flexicore® cable – the industry standard for toughness.

To assist on long, tough jobs, Variable Speed Power Cable Feed makes feeding and retrieving the cable easier. It drives 3/4” and 5/8” cables with no adapters needed when switching between cable sizes.

Speedrooter 92’s durable design also offers easy handling. One person can easily load it onto a truck. The machine’s frame slides smoothly from the loading wheel to the handle to the stair climbers and finally to the wheels. And the adjustable height, swept-back handle provides maximum maneuvering leverage.

“Pulling the handle down lets me get into small spaces,” Tieger says. “And the big wheels make it easy to maneuver on tight jobs.”

Heavy duty Flexicore cable combines superior strength and kinking resistance with just the right flexibility. It carries the best warranty in the business—one-year protection against breakage.

General’s new Speedrooter XL blends long distance clog-busting power with easier drum changes. A powerful 3/4 hp motor drives the cable up to 200 ft. down the line to clear tough clogs in lines 3” to 10” lines.

Change drums to add cable lengths or swap cable sizes with ease. Just loosen three knobs and remove the drum. Switch between 3/4” or 5/8” cables in the large drum design, or substitute the small drum with 100 feet of 1/2” cable for smaller lines.

Sylvan Tieger’s equipment array also includes General standards like the Mini-Rooter XP® and Super-Vee® cable drain cleaners.

Easy to transport and maintain, Mini-Rooter XP unclogs drains from rooftop to basement – including kitchen, bath and laundry lines. It carries 75 ft. of 3/8” or 1/2” Flexicore® cable – yet weighs about 60 lbs.

The hand-held Super-Vee® easily unclogs sink, shower, toilet, and laundry drain lines up to 3” in diameter. With a dependable motor, durable aluminum drum, and tough Flexicore cable, it withstands the most demanding small line jobs – and keeps working year after year.

“The reason I stuck with General for the last 47 years is the quality,” Sylvan Tieger concludes. “I can’t find anything better than General equipment on the market!”

SpeedrooterXL-ExtraDrumNow with easily interchangeable drums, the Speedrooter XL® from General Pipe Cleaners clears tough clogs in 3” to 10” lines – up to 200 feet.

The rugged, easy-to-maneuver Speedrooter XL sports a powerful 3/4 hp motor and 100 foot capacity drums for Flexicore® cable.

Change drums to add cable lengths or swap cable sizes with ease. Just loosen three knobs and remove the drum. Switch between 3/4” or 5/8” cables in the large drum design – General’s see through inner cage lets you quickly gauge how much cable remains – or substitute the small drum with 100 feet of 1/2” cable for smaller lines.

Variable speed cable feed offers raw driving and pulling power for long, tough jobs – feeding and retrieving 3/4”, 5/8”, and 1/2” cables. To adjust 3/4” or 5/8” cables, simply turn a knob on top of the feed – no screwdriver required.

One person can easily load Speedrooter XL onto a truck. The machine’s frame slides smoothly from the loading wheel to the handle to stair climbers and finally to the wheels. The adjustable height, swept back handle also provides maximum maneuvering leverage. And the durable design features a braced frame at key stress points, front and rear drum supports for longer bearing wear, and Flexicore® cable.

Flexicore® cable offers superior kink resistance and unequalled strength with the right amount of flexibility. It’s so tough that it carries a one year warranty against breakage.

For details, contact the Drain Brains® at General Pipe Cleaners at 800-245-6200 or 412-771-6300, or visit www.drainbrain.com/new.

This March, Webstone’s Pro-Connect line up will expand once again to include a new series of full-port forged brass PRESS ball valves with ¾” hose connections. These valves are lead-free compliant, feature an adjustable packing gland, reversible handle and will be available in sizes ½” & ¾”. Compatible with all popular press tools & GUARANTEED FOR LIFE.

Founded in 1954, Webstone is recognized as an industry leader for innovative design of residential & commercial valves used in plumbing, hydronic, radiant, solar & geothermal applications. These designs focus on time & space saving concepts that simplify future maintenance & upkeep of all piping systems. Some of Webstone’s trademarked & patented items include; Hydro-Core™, The Isolator®, Isolator EXP™, Pro-Connect™, & Pro-Pal® step saving valves. Learn more at www.webstonevalves.com/proconnect.

The Waldinger Corporation has used Viega systems with great success for many years, so when given the choice to use them for one of the most prominent construction projects for the city of Wichita, they were happy to oblige.

The Waldinger Corporation was subcontracted by the general contractors, Key Construction and Walbridge, the mechanical work at the new Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.

Formed in 1906, Waldinger has offices throughout the midwest including Wichita, KS. The Viega name and its products were nothing new to Waldinger. They knew that Viega’s press technology has the ability to save time and money by eliminating the need to solder every joint, and the Smart Connect^® feature offers a secure pipe connection every time by allowing installers to easily identify unpressed connections during pressure testing.

“I started using Viega ProPress when it first came to the United States,” Matt Hildreth, Construction Division Manager for The Waldinger Corporation said. “We were excited to learn we could use it on this project.”

Wichita’s new Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport is the city’s latest addition to aviation and the first and last impression visitors will see upon arrival to the city. In June, Wichita said goodbye to its 61-year-old airport terminal and opened doors to a new 275,000 square foot home.

Known as the Air Capital of the World, Wichita’s airport is aviation themed inside and out. The building makes you feel as if you are entering an aircraft, with those details carrying over indoors. A swooping roof line outside, decorative stainless steel walls, public art and aviation history pieces inside, the airport is one-of-a-kind. A terrazzo floor designed with inspiration from the contrails of aircraft flying will guide the two million passengers through the airport each year.

The airport is equipped with the latest technology, food services, parking garage, baggage claim and loading gates. The Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport was made of quality products, including Viega systems, designed to make traveling in and out of Wichita quick, efficient and easy. It features 23,000 square feet of radiant floors, 8 ½ miles of gas and hydronic lines and 267 plumbing fixtures.

The Waldinger Corporation installed Viega’s ProPress^® copper in ½” to 4″ in the domestic potable water applications. They also used ViegaPEX^™ Barrier and Viega FostaPEX^® tubing for a Snow Melting system and a Viega ProRadiant^™ heating system in the behind the scenes area of baggage claim, in parts of the tarmac, the main entry and the loading dock. While most of their work and Viega’s systems are hidden, Waldinger knows the important stuff is behind the walls.

“The guys all like going ‘look at this mechanical room.’ All the boilers are perfect, all the piping is perfect that’s how we do our work,” Hildreth said. “It’s what’s hidden in the walls. It’s what’s in that mechanical room and behind that wall that makes this work.”

Press innovations allow mechanical contractors like Waldinger to not only save time, but also money. A highly engineered system, it’s the time savings and quality that contractors are using to sell their customers.

“Our opinion is that we are going to do it at least 20% better,” Hildreth said. “It’s what we use as a standard of bidding. We’ve smoked that estimate on occasion.”

Its functionality and reliability are part of the driving force, but the value added is with the customer service clients receive from the sales representatives. Viega will drop what they’re doing, pick up the phone or turn their car around and head to the job site to consult on a project. On a project the size of the airport, that kind of commitment was invaluable for The Waldinger Corporation.

“Lucky here for us, with you guys being here and having a sales person that was so active with us, if you have somebody here taking care of you and really working to help you, you’re going to be more apt to use their product,” Hildreth said. “Customer support was fantastic. You’re one of the few manufacturers that do that.”