The College of Engineering at California State University, Long Beach has unveiled a newly designed and fabricated rodder machine–a large apparatus used to clean/clear sewer systems–that was built by faculty, staff and students in a partnership project with a local businessman.
Those involved with the development of the machine believe this updated and improved sewer rodder, which has several unique and important advanced features, is more efficient and easier to use than those currently being used by municipal sewer departments and contractors.
“The success of this project shows that the university can work closely with business and industry to help make improvements, break new ground and develop bigger and better mousetraps, as it were,” said Forousan Golshani, dean of the CSULB College of Engineering. “Many local and small businesses don’t see the university as this kind of resource, but with the completion of this project, we’ve certainly shown what is possible.”
Two years ago, CSULB Engineering Professor Parviz Yavari was contacted by businessman Neil McDowell, the 91-year-old owner and operator of The Max Factory in Stanton, who was interested in building a better rodder machine.
Having been in the business of selling rodder machines, rods and tools for cleaning sewer systems for more than 50 years, McDowell knows the ins and outs of the work and its equipment. He also believes he knows how to improve on what is currently in the marketplace.
Still, when he decided he wanted to build a better rodder machine, he didn’t exactly know who to go to for help. That’s where Professor Yavari and a group of students from the CSULB College of Engineering came into the picture.
“I wanted to make a machine, but I didn’t have the talent to do it. I’m not an engineer. I’m a lawyer who got hooked into selling sewer machines, and I love it,” McDowell said. “It never occurred to me that the university would be a source for making the kind of machine we had in our minds. But, a couple of friends of mine introduced me to Dr. Yavari and we made an agreement to build this machine.”
Combining the experience and industry knowledge of McDowell and the engineering skills and available resources of CSULB, the result of the collaboration is, they believe, an updated and improved rodder machine, which McDowell has dubbed “Mighty Max Model 007.”
“Working with Mr. McDowell, we knew what the short-comings of the current rodder machines were,” said Yavari, a mechanical engineering professor who also worked with retired aerospace mechanic and friend Joseph Wardell on the project. “So, we designed Mighty Max with those in mind and have built a machine that is an improvement over what is currently out there.”
Truck mounted rodding machines have a reel that holds a long, continuous wire, and the reel is mounted on a rotating carriage that provides lateral rotation. A mechanical drive pushes the wire in and out of the sewer line and has a significant amount of power for pushing and pulling. An assortment of tools can be attached to the end of the continuous wire for removal of stoppages, grease and roots in sewer lines. Operators must learn the various types of stoppages and the appropriate tools to use.
Weighing about 1,800 pounds and affixed to a truck, Mighty Max was about 18 months in the making. It has 2,000 feet of continuous wire on its larger, newly designed reel, which means a trained operator can bypass manholes (which are generally 300 feet apart) and save substantial set-up time and remove or break up any stoppage, except those due to a broken pipe. Already tested, the Mighty Max can clean or clear 1,000 feet of sewer pipe in less than 10 minutes and has the power to pull some 11,000 pounds.
“When we finished building the machine, we got permission from the City of Stanton to take it out and put it to the test,” Yavari noted, “and it performed beyond our expectations. Mr. McDowell is extremely satisfied with the results.”
The Mighty Max rodding machine includes several innovative or improved features, including larger continuous wire reel, heavy duty spring compression, electronic footage meters, and an advanced hydraulic system.
Because rodder machines exist in a couple of different forms, Yavari said he cannot patent the entire machine, but the innovative aspects of the design and fabrication can and will be patented, including the new electronic footage meter, fast-lock coupling system that attaches the tool to the rod and the “special design of a bolt and springs for load application.”
In addition to Yavari, eight CSULB students were involved with the project in design and fabrication. One of the students used his work as the basis of his final project submission en route to earning his master’s degree in aerospace engineering. Another was able to use the experience to find a job right away, according to Yavari.
“That was another successful aspect of the project for the university. The experience our students received was incredibly valuable, and the exposure to these types of projects can be very beneficial to our students, especially in the job market,” Yavari said. “Actually, one of the biggest challenges of this project had to do with the electrical system, and one of the students working on the project ended up solving the problem.”
Yavari credits the project’s success to “the hard work of a group of dedicated people despite a limited budget, very tight schedule and a limited amount of equipment to work with.”
With all of the documentation, drawings and specifications in hand, McDowell is heading into the production aspect of this venture, and he estimates that his company should have machines ready to deliver in about six months.
He said he has found five different manufacturers that can produce the various components that make up the Mighty Max rodder machine. “Dr. Yavari designed this machine in components–the frame, the carriage, the drive and so on,” McDowell said. “So, we can have each of those components manufactured outside, and we can bring them to our factory and assemble the final product and make sure the machines are working properly.”
The Mighty Max will sell for about $130,000 to $140,000 complete (rodder machine and truck), and McDowell said he has a target of selling 10 machines in the first year.
