Plumbing and HVAC professionals get into tight spots.  Crowded access zones.  Snug crawl spaces.  And awkward overhead runs.

Problem is, prepping copper pipe in crowded, cluttered conditions impairs efficiency, strains muscles, and eats up time.  That can impact profits — and sometimes even health.

But a new ratchet-action tool from General Pipe Cleaners is speeding pipe prep work with greater effectiveness and less physical effort in tight spots.

J. P. Callan should know.

Callan serves Portland, OR with the finest in HVAC and plumbing services.  “I often work in a ‘rat’s nest’ of piping, sometimes prepping as many as two hundred joints a day for soldering,” Callan says. “And I take great pains to ensure that each joint is properly prepared.”

Consistent, Professional Results

Trouble is, those pains can prove real.

“During a boiler project, I ruptured a spinal disk in my neck exerting myself in a tight crawl space with an old hand reamer and partially paralyzed my right hand,” Callan recalls. “I couldn’t even pick up my car keys!”

That’s when he sought a better way to prep copper piping — and discovered the innovative, compact CopperKey^® at his local plumbing wholesaler.

“If I found CopperKey sooner, I might not have hurt myself!” he chuckles. “Just three or four cranks — 100% coverage in, like, 10 seconds — and pipe is ready for solder.  No muscle strain!”

CopperKey’s patented ratchet-action design requires only a few inches of clearance to prepare copper tubing and couplings — inside or out.  CopperKey^® is also up to three times faster than clumsy, old fashioned prep tools like abrasive cloth and wire brushes — and four times more durable.

“It consistently applies uniform brushing pressure around pipe, giving you a much better quality surface for soldering,” Callan notes. “So the joint is more dependable — and you don’t waste time re-doing work.”

CopperKey’s tough tungsten carbide bristles shine tubing in seconds.  The patented abrasive technology and offset staple array ensure complete cleaning – without tool re-positioning and surface “striping” concerns.  The unique “memory base” also snaps staples back into position after each use – so you have optimum cleaning pressure time and time again.

“Abrasive screen and sand paper quickly load up with oxides and grit, making them harder to use,” Callan reports. “But CopperKey is self-cleaning.”

Less Physical Strain with Greater Safety

It’s safer, too.  CopperKey’s innovative design keeps hands clear of cleaning brushes — eliminating the cuts, scrapes and flux burns common to other prep tools.  And the ergonomic ratchet handle reduces wrist and muscle strain.

“You have to squeeze hard to make conventional abrasive screen bite into pipe,” Callan observes. “So after prepping copper all day, you really feel fatigue and pain in your hands and forearm muscles.”

That’s one reason why Callan calls CopperKey a “sensibly engineered solution” and a “winner”.  Here’s another: it helps him “work at top speed.”

“It does a great, thorough job of preparing pipe — and making a lot more quality joints per hour,” he says. “I wish a lot of things worked as well as that little tool!”

See the CopperKey in action, or for more information, contact the Drain Brains^® at General at 800-245-6200 or by email [email protected].