Cleaning Your 7500 or 750

[Plumber Troy]

What do u guys use to keep your 750s or 7500s looking like new. Like the part I can never get to look nice is the plastic drum.


Troy

[PLUMBER RICK]

outside drum i use simple green. inside drum i use "snake oil":D

also clean and grease all bearings. 3 on auto feed and 1 on drum bearing.

oil and dry the cable too. drain the water in the drum every use. my cables tend to last almost 2 years:) sorry all clear;)

rick.

[All Clear Sewer]

Don't be sorry, you said you don't use Ridgid cables ;) and I`m sure you don't do as many sewers a day as I do, so no reason to be sorry :rolleyes: I`m thinking about following your lead and getting some other brand of cable ;) I just spent an hour trying to get my 100` cable to feed in and out that should have taken 1/2 the time...errr
Gonna call it a day and work over this POS again today, Something has to be wrong somewhere???? It`s getting worse every time I use it. I may build a new feeder tube and see if thats the problem ;)

[PLUMBER RICK]

i've had to cut the end of the feeder tube off to eliminate a wear spot. just like it wears at the front feeder, it also wears at the rear guide tube. look for a grove and eliminate that grove. either cut it a little short or weld it up.

also are your cables still flexible or are they too stiff from rust and crud?

i've had good luck with oil tempered non innercore cables. in the old days 6+ years ago, the ridgid innercore was the best. today it's a joke.

hopefully they are aware of this.

had a bad run of female couplers with bad set screws. they were not hardened properly and would score, not allowing them to turn to release. even with only a couple of uses. they eventually replaced them with a new run and that was all that was wrong.

you need to talk to a live person at ridgid. someone should be able to direct you to the proper engineer.

rick.

try that k-60. i wouldn't go more than 4'' with it. it's liable to flip.

also stay away from 2'' traps with the 7/8'' cable. read my post from last week about a 2'' roof drain and trap. ugh.

rick.

[All Clear Sewer]

Cables are NEW
Maybe I should cut this off ???
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/15497P1030751-med.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/15497P1030750-med.JPG

[All Clear Sewer]

Not only did I cut that off but I got rid of that stupid nut they use on the drum spindle
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data/500/15497P1030754.JPG

[PLUMBER RICK]

very clean all clear.

i see you got rid of the belt guard. so did i:eek: it was always rubbing and got in the way.

you also got rid of the t handle nuts for the power feed to bolt down. mine are also stripped, i use a crecent wrench to tighten them.

and you cut off the burr on the guide tube. i did that a long time ago.

very clean.:)

rick.

[All Clear Sewer]

I like to keep things clean as it looks better when you show up with nice clean looking equipment ;)

Yea that belt gard is a real pain when you want to take off the belt to hand feed cable in and it does rub all the time.

The T handles are a joke just like the spindle nut...lol... they were the first thing to go. I took em off the first time they slipped. Now I can use a 1 1/2" wrench to take the feeder tube off :D

All I need to do now is make some bushings to fix the front of the feeder :cool:

[All Clear Sewer]

well after a few jobs it`s still not feeding the cable right....errrrrrrrrr

It will feed 100` but will not feed 125` any longer :mad: This sucks as most of my jobs are just over 100`. There has to be something wrong somewhere as it use to feed 125` just fine errrrrrrrrrr:mad:

[PLUMBER RICK]

all clear, time to break out that snake oil. metal on metal will not wind very well. i guarantee you it will help. i also guarantee you that 125' is a pita to get in. the coupling is the real issue.

time to get the snake oil.

rick.

[Woussko]

Have any of you ever tried this stuff? I find it to be a good loosen-er-upper and rust preventer, but then I'm not a "Snake Man" so I can't say how it would work for them. Rather than paying the high web site prices and the S & H check around at good auto parts stores. Some have it in stock, but I have not seen it in any of the chain stores so far.

http://www.gibbsbrandlubricant.com/gibbs.html (dealer)
http://getgibbs.com/index.php (another dealer)

Gibbs Brand Co.
Lafayette, TN 37083
Phone: 615-666-6720, 800-442-2792 (toll free)
Fax: 615-666-6741

[All Clear Sewer]

Rick I`ll try it but I dont think it`s gonna work any better. At this point I`ll try anything. If you look at the picture I posted a few days a go you can see that the cable is all loose in the drum. It never use to load that way. In that picture theres only a 100` inner core in the drum as the 25` is laying next to it. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

[All Clear Sewer]

Well now it folded over in the drum.....errrrrrrrrrrrrr I think it`s time to try different cable??? What cable did you say you were using Rick?

[PLUMBER RICK]

;) ;) ;)




Well now it folded over in the drum.....errrrrrrrrrrrrr I think it`s time to try different cable??? What cable did you say you were using Rick?

it folded over due to trying to jam 125' of cable that's not oiled and has a connector on it that throws off the winding process.

allclear, even 1 piece of 125' of duracable will do the same. i cut it down to 115'. you really need to oil the cable to allow it to slip while rubbing on the other cable in the drum. metal on metal is not good.

try oiling and it will make things alot smoother. maybe it will be gentle on your auto feed bearings

rick.

[All Clear Sewer]

No Rick, you couldn't be more wrong. It only had 100` of (((dripping oil))) 3/4 inner core cable on it. This new cable is not ridged enough to withstand an every day work out. It`s good and stiff when first new but after about 30 sewers it becomes a wet noodle and is not stiff enough to feed flat in the drum. I cant take it any longer, I`v got to try something as everything is new and it wont feed like it did with the old cable. 3- 100` cables in 12 months is way to much for me to take.
Sorry Rigid, but something's a big miss with this new cable.


P.S. Rick
Why did or why could it take 125` with the old cable but not with the new cable?????????? :confused:

[PLUMBER RICK]

all cables wil lose their temper with use. when the cable is brand new, the directions are to let it run inside of a pipe under no load to relieve it's set.

i've had good luck with an oil tempered non innercore cable.

i still have some old ridgid innercore cable with the ggod stuff inside. i will bring a sample to the june trade show and give it to them, (josh) for comparison to the new junk:eek:

what does your cable look like when it is out of the drum laying flat on the ground down a long driveway or street? is it still flat and straight , or kinked and not straight anymore?

sorry about the misunderstanding. all of your other post were about using 125' of cable and not oiling your cables. i just put 2 and 2 together and gave my opinion based on these issues.

rick.

[All Clear Sewer]

it lay`s flat on the ground, Or did till it flipped back in the drum and bent the crap out of it. I had to cut 10` off. I know it`s gotta be the cable causing all the problems as I never had these problems till they changed cable. I`m not the only one having these problems so I know it`s not just something I`m doing.

[BHD]

I am sure you have checked out these suggestions, but things that have come to my mind. As I know you have way more experience than I ever thought of having.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just a question? have you measured the cable now in length, is it longer, or has it stretched any? or shorter?

The thought crossed my mind is, are you clamping the power feed down to tight and thus stretching the cable, making it limper by uncoiling and or stretching it.

If there shorter, I would think they have been over torqued and possibly
not properly grabbing the power feed, the possibility of another light shim in the power feed, on the bottom units to re center the bearings,
I would think that a cable wound tighter would make it stiffer not floppy.

Am sure of this is not the problem, but any kinks in the cable. I know if there kinked they don't lay well in the drum.

Since you have had the feed tube out. The feed tube bearing is OK and not binding. and inter drum, when side pressure is applied.

Are the bearings on the power feed, the same as the old ones that worked at one time,

If the cable is getting floppy then the cable has change in it physical properties. Why I don't know.

I am sure your correct that there appears to be a cable change in the manufacturing process and the inter core, as stated on another post.

~~~~~~~~~~~

If you put in a new cable (or if you have one of the "OLD" ones that did work well), will the power feed, feed it OK or properly, if it does the power feed is not a fault, or more than likely it is not the problem. and if a brand new cable feeds OK, the machine in theory is working properly,

It would have to be a change in the cable or cables, check out Ridgid's life time warranty, (I have heard it is not as good as it once was), if it is faulty manufacturing, and the cable is not physically wore out. Then there is more than likely a problem with the batch of cables you got or something major appears to have changed, bad batch wire or some thing change in tempering, or construction or manufacturing process, something appears to have changed for you. I think I would be calling the service rep. and if you all ready have do it again.

IF it feeds a new cable and not the old cable the machine is not wore out, and now will not properly feed a current used cable the cable is most likely at fault now,
IF The machine will feed new cables then the used cable is at fault, and I would suggest replacement, and try to get some replacement cables from Ridgid, if there not living up to there expected service life,

side question?
On the old cable how many "sewers" or uses did you average before needing replacement?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
How many do others get out of there cables/snakes?

[All Clear Sewer]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just a question? have you measured the cable now in length, is it longer, or has it stretched any? or shorter?
No because some 100` are only 99.6 and some are 100.9. You would have to measure it when it came out of the box to know what it measured new. I feel that is something Tech should do as I dont have time to do free R&D for Ridgid

The thought crossed my mind is, are you clamping the power feed down to tight and thus stretching the cable, making it limper by uncoiling and or stretching it. You shouldnt be able to do that as it`s spring loaded but if it would feed you wouldnt have too in the first place ;)

If there shorter, I would think they have been over torqued and possibly
not properly grabbing the power feed, the possibility of another light shim in the power feed, on the bottom units to re center the bearings,
I would think that a cable wound tighter would make it stiffer not floppy.
tighter would make it kink or have a curve to it

Am sure of this is not the problem, but any kinks in the cable. I know if there kinked they don't lay well in the drum. These are pretty new cables with-out kinks

Since you have had the feed tube out. The feed tube bearing is OK and not binding. and inter drum, when side pressure is applied. It`s all good there

Are the bearings on the power feed, the same as the old ones that worked at one time, same part numbers and also new

If the cable is getting floppy then the cable has change in it physical properties. Why I don't know. it`s not tempered or heat treated correctly or not as good of wire as they once used

I am sure your correct that there appears to be a cable change in the manufacturing process and the inter core, as stated on another post.

~~~~~~~~~~~

If you put in a new cable (or if you have one of the "OLD" ones that did work well), will the power feed, feed it OK or properly, if it does the power feed is not a fault, or more than likely it is not the problem. and if a brand new cable feeds OK, the machine in theory is working properly,

It would have to be a change in the cable or cables, check out Ridgid's life time warranty, (I have heard it is not as good as it once was), if it is faulty manufacturing, and the cable is not physically wore out. Then there is more than likely a problem with the batch of cables you got or something major appears to have changed, bad batch wire or some thing change in tempering, or construction or manufacturing process, something appears to have changed for you. I think I would be calling the service rep. and if you all ready have do it again.

IF it feeds a new cable and not the old cable the machine is not wore out, and now will not properly feed a current used cable the cable is most likely at fault now,
IF The machine will feed new cables then the used cable is at fault, and I would suggest replacement, and try to get some replacement cables from Ridgid, if there not living up to there expected service life,

side question?
On the old cable how many "sewers" or uses did you average before needing replacement?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
How many do others get out of there cables/snakes?[/QUOTE]

The old cables would last a year if you didnt kink em up but these new cables are only good for about "3 months top"!

Ridgid already gave me a new 25` cable but it`s made just like the one I sent in so here we go, we are good for 3 months again....lol.. I cant send in my cables all the time as they dont make me money in the mail. I would send them my K-7500 complete cables and all but the shipping would cost me an arm and a leg and I`d have to go buy another one to work while they figure out what their problems are. Now if they want to send me one I`d take it and send them mine ;) hint hint ;) I`m kinda stuck in a bad spot as I put all my trust in ridgid and now they are letting me down big time. I`m looking at some other brands to see what they offer before I buy another K-7500. This thing use to kick butt but now it`s kicking mine as I spend more time working on it then I do working it.

Maybe the Tech will see this and send me a new feeder, feeder tube and cables to try? It would cost less to ship parts then the complete K-7500 and I could replace one thing at a time and see if anything fixes the problems???? I`m willing to try anything!!!!!
I`v been thinking about getting a new K-7500 and sticking this one on E Bay. Kinda doing the every year trade off thing.

[freddy]

With all the trouble your having, just buy a k-1500 machine and k-60 and say good buy to all your headaches of this machine. I have owned my for over 8 years and only have 15 feet sections of cable to replace or a head replacement once in a while. Maybe every two years or more. If you take care of them longer. the k-1500 will out preform your machine. and the k-60 is a workhorse it self. freddy