Patent ID: 8905121

Claim:
A handheld lance for high pressure jetting of tubes of a heat exchanger core, the tubes each having a longitudinal axis and together defining a heat exchanger axis and a transverse plane orthogonal to the heat exchanger axis, the lance comprising: at least one fluid conduit defining an internal plenum chamber and having: at least one nozzle shaped to emit a jet of fluid for cleaning outer, shell side surfaces of the tubes of the heat exchanger core; and an outer diameter no greater than 6 mm and sufficient to fit between all the tubes of the heat exchanger core and defining a longitudinal conduit axis; a coupling for fluidically connecting the plenum chamber to a fluid supply line to supply fluid at a pressure of up to 40,000 PSI; and at least one elongate stabilizer bar mounted on the coupling and positioned to one side of the at least one conduit, the at least one elongate stabilizer bar: having an outer diameter no greater than 6 mm; having a longitudinal stabilizer axis lying in the same plane as the longitudinal conduit axis; and being sufficiently thin to fit between the tubes of the heat exchanger core and sufficiently rigid to prevent lateral displacement of the at least one conduit adjacent thereto; the at least one fluid conduit and the at least one elongate stabilizer bar being: sized to fit between each pair of the tubes of the heat exchanger core at various angles about the heat exchanger axis within the transverse plane, the tubes being spaced apart by no more than 10 mm; and shaped to fit in the hand of and be used solely by a human operator.