# General brand jetter



## canuck92 (Apr 1, 2016)

Had a very frustrating, non productive day, place i work for has had this jetter for 16 years...iv used it twice in the 4 years iv been there.
Today all it did was trip breakers in this apartment building. Turned on vibrated for 2 seconds then breaker pops.
Went to hardware store got a 220 stove plug adaptor to 110v pulled the stove out went from there...machine didnt even turn on. 
Its been repaired/modified an f*cked with more times then i can count over the years. 
Office deemed it defective ...borrowd one from another company not even sure the brand. Got it loaded set up at the job an the stupid plug end is a t-slot ? Back to hardware store t slot recepticle,box, chop a power cord wire it on, plug it in works for 1 min this time then pop another breaker goes. ( atleast i cleaned out the trap arm of the kitch sink) but holy crap what a waste of time an money i felt like banging my head of the wall all day. 
Im not conviced our machine is broken ...pretty sure its just an old building with crap for amps.
Any one have this issue with a jetter drawing too much power ?


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Open up the unloader so the pressure starts lower. Or just go buy a pressure washer for 350 and it's the same thing.


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## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

Like gear junkie said you need to start it on low to no pressure then gradually increase the pressure. My mytana is a 15 amp unit and in older houses it will sometimes trip the breaker if I restart it on max pressure. Sometimes I have to run it on half of the max because any higher will constantly trip the breaker. On newer houses it's not been an issue.

I've also used the newer general brand machine a handful of times and it does the same thing. 

The first "electric jetter" I had was an AR pressure washer that only drew 11 amps so it wasn't a problem. That sucker is still kicking around the house, mostly for washing my van.


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## canuck92 (Apr 1, 2016)

Pressure guage is broken i was told to "not touch it" its set to where it needs to be.


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## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

canuck92 said:


> Pressure guage is broken i was told to "not touch it" its set to where it needs to be.


There is a cheap workaround. You can get inline pressure gauges for $20 to $30. They just go on with quick connect adapters like most pressure washers and jetters use. You can then adjust the unloader all the way down then stop at whatever the current psi is set to if they don't want it above or below that.


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## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

Something like this. https://m.northerntool.com/shop/too...ju0GEUOS4DjjpSEPCsSqYPLzzAkws-AxoCGOIQAvD_BwE


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

canuck92 said:


> Had a very frustrating, non productive day, place i work for has had this jetter for 16 years...iv used it twice in the 4 years iv been there.
> Today all it did was trip breakers in this apartment building. Turned on vibrated for 2 seconds then breaker pops.





What kind of jetter? They make several electric ones.


I have the jm-1000 mini-jetter. The motor seems like crapola but it does work. I used it on two jobs today. The first one we got had a garbage switch from brand new and the motor died real quick. We sent it back, they sent a new one. A month later they sent the other one back fixed!!!! Must have been bad communication. I think the supply house gave us a new one on warranty and the other got sent to general with our name on it so they fixed it under warranty. Might not have been a mistake though, we do $5+million gross product with the supply house each year so they try to keep us happy.




The biggest two issues are over heating, use only cold water, and over pressure, the nozzle holes clog. The second one must have been newer because it had a nice case for the nozzles and came with a torch tip orifice cleaner set for poking out the lime/grit from the nozzle holes.




I am waiting for one to die so I can cannibalize it and put a good motor on the pump in a bigger zytel toolbox.


















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## canuck92 (Apr 1, 2016)

skoronesa said:


> canuck92 said:
> 
> 
> > Had a very frustrating, non productive day, place i work for has had this jetter for 16 years...iv used it twice in the 4 years iv been there.
> ...


I hook my hose up to a k.s or bibb and only run cold, run water through it first feed the line in 20" or so then flip the switch, also i poke the holes free in the attatchment befour use.
worked fine the first time i used it. Second time took the power out first floor hallway to a building then all the stuff mentioned today. 
Was given a breif 2 min explanation on the unit a while back. 
As for the model im not sure like i said its 16 years old most of the markings are scratched off. I know its general brand though.
Too much pressure makes sense though also resistance with a greasy pipe.
We tested it out the other day at the shop on a new peice of pipe in the lot probably didnt replicate an accurate on the job senerio


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## canuck92 (Apr 1, 2016)

From the pics on the website it looks like the JM 1450


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

canuck92 said:


> From the pics on the website it looks like the JM 1450





It says it uses 13 amps. That's not much headroom, not really surprised it tripped the breaker. On a 15 amp circuit they could have had a worn breaker or some old light bulbs running. Even on a 20 amp circuit if the fridge was on it I bet that would do it.


Or more likely as the other guys said, High start up current and that motor may be a bit worn out in the windings.




Don't you have an amp meter? Every one of us carries a multi meter with an inductive clamp.














.


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## Venomthirst (Jun 20, 2018)

13 amp is working amps but a motor when its initially starting up will draw close to twice that momentarily..

Double check the orfices on nozzle are clean to can cause pressure spike overloading motor..

I have used a crap shooter type jetter but usually to thaw out water services not on drains

Sometimes even a weak capacitor it to still work but draw alot of amps on startup


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Power it with a Caterpillar engine, my jetter has plenty of power. :devil3:


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## canuck92 (Apr 1, 2016)

We just got the flex shaft tool from ridgid. Havent tried it out yet


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## The Dane (Feb 19, 2015)

canuck92 said:


> We just got the flex shaft tool from ridgid. Havent tried it out yet


When you do try it out, let us hear your opinion on it.

Sent from my BLN-L24 using Tapatalk


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## canuck92 (Apr 1, 2016)

The Dane said:


> canuck92 said:
> 
> 
> > We just got the flex shaft tool from ridgid. Havent tried it out yet
> ...


Used it to break up some stones in an 1-1/2 k.s drain, it got us of a bad situation. Probably would of ended up breaking the floor if we didnt have the flex shaft. Im eager to see how it will work for a building trap.
Just had to be carefull to not break the machine.
Another guy used it this week and blew a hole through a cast 90 lol.
Like all things it will take some getting used to


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## Venomthirst (Jun 20, 2018)

So the k9 flex shaft is doing its trick.. nice always better to have more than less.. just dont be jamming it in to hard lol..

Korea guy has linked it every time he takes it.off truck


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