page_title: Pipeline video inspection
section_title: Using a camera tractor
hierarchical_section_title: Pipeline video inspection / Inspection process / Using a camera tractor
caption_attribution_description: English: Remotely controlled tractor device to carry a pipeline video inspection device. Image by User:Leonard G.
context_page_description: Pipeline video inspection is a form of telepresence used to visually inspect the interiors of pipelines, plumbing systems, and storm drains. A common application is for a plumber to determine the condition of small diameter sewer lines and household connection drain pipes.
  Older sewer lines of small diameter, typically 6-inch, are made by the union of a number of short 3 feet sections. The pipe segments may be made of cast iron, with 12 feet to 20 feet sections, but are more often made of vitrified clay pipe, a ceramic material, in 3 feet, 4 feet & 6 feet sections. Each iron or clay segment will have an enlargement on one end to receive the end of the adjacent segment. Roots from trees and vegetation may work into the joins between segments and can be forceful enough to break open a larger opening in terra cotta or corroded cast iron. Eventually a root ball will form that will impede the flow and this may cleaned out by a cutter mechanism or plumber's snake and subsequently inhibited by use of a chemical foam - a rooticide.
  With modern video equipment, the interior of the pipe may be inspected - this is a form of non-destructive testing.
context_section_description: A run to be inspected will either start from an access pipe leading at an angle down to the sewer and then run downstream to a manhole, or will run between manholes.
  The service truck is parked above the access point of the pipe.  The camera tractor, with a flexible cable attached to the rear, is then lowered into the pipeline.  The tractor is moved forward so that it is barely inside of the pipeline.  A "down-hole roller" is set up between the camera tractor and the cable reel in the service truck, preventing cable damage from rubbing the top of the pipeline.  The operator then retires to the inside of the truck and begins the inspection, remotely operating the camera tractor from the truck.  When the inspection is complete or the camera cable is fully extended, the camera tractor is put in reverse gear and the cable is wound up simultaneously.  When the camera tractor is near the original access point, the downhole roller is pulled up and the camera tractor is moved into the access point and pulled up to the service truck. A tractor may be used to inspect a complete blockage or collapse that would prevent using a fish and rope as described below.
caption: Tractor with motor and cradle for the inspection head
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