Working The Blockage; Handling A Stuck Tool; Freeing A Stuck Tool; Retrieving The Cable - RIDGID K-400 Manual De Instrucciones

K-400 Drain Cleaning Machine
drain (grease, etc.) or the actual blockage.
Feed the cable slowly and carefully. Do not let
cable build up outside the drain. This can
cause the cable to twist, kink or break.
Pay attention to the amount of cable that has
been fed into the drain. Feeding cable into a
larger drain, septic tank or similar transition
may cause the cable to kink or knot and pre-
vent removal from the drain. Minimize the
amount of cable fed into the transition to pre-
vent problems. Each wrap of the cable in the
drum is approximately 3.5' (1.1 m).

Working the Blockage

If the end of the cable stops turning, it is no
longer cleaning the drain. If the end of the
cable becomes lodged in the blockage and
power is maintained to the drain cleaner, the
cable will start to wind up (this may feel like the
cable is starting to twist or squirm). Having a
hand on the cable allows you to feel this wind
up and control the cable.
If the cable end stops turning or if the cable
starts to wind up, immediately pull the cable
back from the obstruction.
• Manual Operation – Pull back on the cable
to free the cable end from the blockage.
• AUTOFEED cable feed operation – Move
the handle to the retrieve position (Figure
14) to free the cable end from the blockage.
Do not keep the cable rotating if the cable is
stuck in a blockage. If the cable end stops
turning and the drum keeps rotating, the cable
can twist, kink or break.
Once the cable end is free of the blockage and
turning again, you can slowly feed the cable
end back into the blockage. Do not try to force
the cable end through the blockage. Let the
spinning end "dwell" in the blockage to com-
pletely break it up. Manual operation may give
the best control in these instances. Work the
tool in this manner until you have moved com-
pletely past the blockage (or blockages) and
the drain is flowing.
While working the blockage, the tool and cable
may become clogged with debris and cut-
tings from the blockage. This can prevent fur-
ther progress. The cable and tool need to be
retrieved from the drain and the debris re-
moved. See section on"Retrieving the Cable" .

Handling a Stuck Tool

If the tool stops turning and the cable cannot
be pulled back from the blockage, release
14
the foot switch while firmly holding the cable.
If using cable feed, release the handle to
come back to the neutral (straight up) position.
Do not remove hands from cable or cable
may kink, twist and break. The motor will stop
and the cable and drum may turn backwards
until the energy stored in the cable is relieved.
Do not remove hands from cable until the
tension is released. Place FOR/OFF/REV
switch in OFF position.
The torque limiter helps to prevent cable dam-
age from cable flip over in the drum by stop-
ping drum and cable rotation when the torque
exceeds the setting. The motor will continue to
rotate as long as the foot switch is pressed, but
the drum and cable will stop rotating when the
torque limiter setting is exceeded. The torque
limiter cannot prevent all cable damage in the
drum, and cannot prevent cable flip over out-
side the drum. If the drum stops turning, the
cable and tool also are not turning.

Freeing a Stuck Tool

If the tool is stuck in the blockage, with the
FOR/OFF/ REV switch in the OFF position
and the foot switch released, try pulling the
cable loose from the blockage. If the tool will
not come free from the blockage, place the
FOR/OFF/REV switch in the REV position.
Grasp the cable with both gloved hands, press
the foot switch for several seconds and pull on
the cable until it is free of the blockage. Do not
operate the machine in the REV position any
longer than required to free the cutting tool
from the blockage or cable damage can occur.
Place the FOR/OFF/REV switch in the FOR
position and continue cleaning the drain.

Retrieving the Cable

1. Once the drain is open, if possible start a
flow of water down the drain to flush the
debris out of the line and help clean the
cable as it is retrieved. This can be done
by running a hose down the drain open-
ing, turning on a faucet in the system or
other methods. Pay attention to the water
level, as the drain could plug again.
2. The FOR/OFF/REV switch should be in
the FOR position – do not retrieve the
cable with the switch in the REV position,
this can damage the cable. As with feed-
ing the cable into the drain, cables can be
caught while being retrieved.
• Manual Operation – With both gloved
hands equally spaced on the exposed
cable for control, pull 6"-12" (0.15 - 0.3m)
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