About Wachs Utility Products
Wachs Utility Products is a unit of E.H. Wachs, one of the oldest and largest machine tool makers, founded by Edward H. Wachs in Chicago back in 1883. Today, Wachs is a Division of ITW, an industrial manufacturer with operations in 58 countries and 45,000 employees worldwide. Wachs Utility Products benefits from their strong leadership, financial strength and global engineering, sales and product resources.

Municipalities and the water organizations we serve benefit as well, knowing that the investments in valve maintenance equipment made today will be supported and enhanced in the years to come. Wachs has a culture of continual product improvements; upgrades to our VITALS® software for example allow greater compatibility or functionality from our equipment.

Hardware and Software
When water managers look to partner with a manufacturer for recommended or mandatory valve maintenance activities, they must consider not only the quality of the equipment but the quality of the software that interfaces with it. Most software companies do not offer equipment, and most equipment companies offer little or rudimentary software solutions. Wachs Utility Products is the industry leader in valve maintenance hardware and software.

Wachs equipment is individually hand assembled and tested at our headquarters outside Chicago, allowing us to offer a wide range of options to fit your exact requirements. Our dedicated sales staff, partnering with established dealers in select locales, are available to support our equipment from specification, in-servicing and training, to maintenance, spares and upgrades.

Tools For Professionals
Wachs Utility Products are designed to maintain your valuable water system assets. In this catalog we present the Wachs tools preferred by municipal and water authority professionals to locate, access, operate and record system assets.

A vital task in maintaining water infrastructure is turning, operating or exercising valves – different ways of describing the process of cycling a valve to prevent sticking or freezing caused by debris or tuberculation. Wachs valve exercisers and maintenance systems are offered in a wide range of products including handheld, trailer, skid, and truck mounted, as well as our pipe cutting machines and valve accessories.

Product Index
Here are our major product groups, and the pages in the catalog where they can be found:

• Wachs Automation and VITALS® Software
• Handheld Valve Exercisers
• Truck Mounted Valve Exercisers
• Valve Maintenance Trailers
• Valve Maintenance Skid Systems
• Valve Maintenance Truck
• Pipe Saws and Cutters, Diamond Wire Saws
• Valve Maintenance Accessories

Complete Valve Maintenance Provider
Some water municipality suppliers do a good job with software. Some manufacturers do a good job with hardware and equipment. Wachs Utility Products does a great job with both, offering our VITALS® software on many of our systems. Our bestselling trailer, skid, and truck-mount valve maintenance systems use a powerful handheld controller equipped with our industry unique VITALS.

Wachs Utility Products has long been an innovator in the field of computerized data collection and recording, and with our newest VITALS software and handheld controllers we’re taking that to the next level. Wachs ruggedized, Windows 10 based VITALS tablet brings the power of your desktop with you to the jobsite.

Locate and Record
VITALS is an acronym for Valve Information Tracking And Logging System. It allows the user to operate our equipment remotely, while giving you “vital” asset information in the palm of your hand. Valve location, type, size, number of turns, direction and more can be recorded in real time and transferred to your desktop. Monitor the valve exercising procedure in detail remotely from the safety and comfort of your truck, keeping your crew out of traffic and the elements where accidents can occur.

This information allows the operator to visualize exactly what’s happening at the valve. Adjustable torque control signals when preset limits are reached, and trigger auto reverse or auto shut down to prevent valve damage. When Wachs Automation and VITALS are combined, they become a powerful diagnostic and maintenance tool.

VITALS allows an operator to exercise a valve while recording critical valve information including precise GPS location of the valve’s position, that can be synchronized between the handheld controller and your desktop. Custom valve ID information is recorded such as the number of turns, maximum torque and valve location.

The Industry Standard
Wachs Pow-R-Drive 2 (or P-2) is the industry standard in handheld valve exercisers. It’s lighter, faster and more powerful than any other machine of its kind, bringing up to 800 ft-lb of torque to the task. The P-2’s compact size and light weight facilitate the job of fast shut downs or turning large, stuck or hard-to-reach valves. It’s the ideal tool for municipalities or organizations dealing with critical valves of any sort, including water material handling and fire prevention systems.

Most importantly, it helps eliminate the arm and back injuries associated with attempting to manually turn valves. The P-2 includes a 1 inch (25.4 mm) square drive adapter that interfaces with 1 inch square telescoping and non-telescoping valve keys that accommodate the standard 2 inch AWWA nut.

Wachs Pow-R-Drive 2 models are available in electric, hydraulic or pneumatic drive, delivering between 500 to 800 ft-lb of torque depending on drive type. The P-2 is offered in your choice of high torque (HT) or high speed (HS) models, with select electric drive models available with VITALS® torque control. An optional universal handwheel adapter allows it to operate non-rising stem handwheels.

Power where you need it.
Wachs ERV-750 Extended Reach Valve exerciser is where torque meets flexibility, and the first choice of water system operators everywhere. The ERV-750 is named for the 750 ft-lbs (1015 Nm) of torque it delivers, torque it can deliver even when fully extended. It gives the power you expect with the reach you need, with a rotating and extendable arm that reaches out to a full 13 feet (3.96m).

The ERV-750 pivots to reach to curbside valve boxes or hydrants. It uses a dual hydraulic disc brake system with push button release that’s designed to hold the full torque force of the machine while operating. Built to last, the ERV-750 arm is constructed with a strong 3 inch square steel box section to resist twisting forces.

Available as a standalone option, it’s the ideal valve exerciser for water organizations of all sizes. The ERV-750 is offered in Low Stack models for mounting to trailers, skids, and flatbed trucks, plus a High Stack version for vehicle bumper mounting. It includes a mechanical lock to secure the exerciser during travel. The ERV-750 is standard equipment on our Compact LX, Standard LX and Grand LX Trailers and Standard LX and Service Body Skid systems.

Easily Transportable
Wachs Trav-L-Vac-300 is ideal for working with smaller vehicles, positioning in tight quarters, or for use in high traffic areas. The Trav-L- Vac 300 allows utility companies and public works departments to perform small to midsize vacuum tasks without the massive investment of a large highway vac truck.

The Trav-L-Vac 300 is a safe, non-destructive and cost-effective machine for precise utility excavation that requires less backfill and restoration. It helps prevent underground damage, while offering a more accurate way to excavate soil and locate underground utilities.

Choice of Trailer or Skid
Ideal for valve box cleaning and excavation, the Trav-L-Vac 300 handles solid and liquid debris safely and quickly. It is available as either a compact trailer for towing to job sites with your choice of ball coupler or Pintle hook, or as a skid mount model ready to bolt down for operation from small flatbed trucks. Lightweight, the trailer can be easily pulled by light duty pickup trucks.

Featuring a powerful 20 horsepower gasoline engine, it comes complete with a 90 gallon spoils tank with manual discharge, a heavy duty positive displacement blower that can generate 345 CFM at 14 inHg, and triple filtration. In short, it’s all the vac unit you’ll need for ordinary day-to-day tasks. Combined with a Wachs Pow-R-Drive 2 handheld exerciser, the Trav-L-Vac 300 is a good starting point for smaller organizations and municipalities looking to self-perform their valve maintenance activities.

Bestselling Skid System
Wachs Utility Products Standard LX Skid ranks among our bestselling products, excelling at all the functions typically associated with a municipality or water district’s valve maintenance program.

Wachs Standard LX skid includes our class leading ERV-750 extended reach valve exerciser with a reach of 13 feet (3.96 meters) and offering a powerful 750 ft-lb. of torque. This is the industry “standard” designed to transport all the valve maintenance and vacuum tools needed in the field. Built to withstand the rigors of years of service, it’s the perfect solution for those looking for a rugged, long lasting self-contained system.

Wachs Standard LX skid includes our industry exclusive VITALS® software that uses “No Assumptions” logic in its programming. This specially designed software, developed over the last three decades, has one goal in mind – to eliminate misdirection and over-torquing of valves during operation to prevent damaging or breaking them. VITALS® allows you to set torque limits and record infrastructure details including location, valve-operating direction, and torque applied.

Wachs Standard LX Skid comes complete with a wireless handheld controller with datalogger. Standard equipment includes a powerful 500 CFM-11 inHg vacuum, a 250 gallon spoils tank utilizing Wachs exclusive hydraulic slide, tilt & rear discharge, with a power latching rear door. Also standard is a pressure washer system with an 80 gallon water tank, and a HPU (Hydraulic Power Unit) with a HTMA Class II circuit.

Standard LX Skid includes all the tools required for sophisticated valve maintenance programs. The TM-7 HD Plus exerciser for very large or hard-to-turn valves is optional.

Custom Service Body and Skid System
Wachs Utility Products has partnered with Knapheide to create the most efficient and complete valve maintenance truck, delivering unparalleled power and versatility and equipped with maximum storage for an efficient workflow. There are two main components, a Wachs custom designed service body built by Knapheide finished in Oxford White, and Wachs Service Body Valve Maintenance Skid, designed and built for this unique application.

To begin, order your cab chassis fleet vehicle with a minimum rating of 19,500 GVRW, a cab to axle length of 84 inches, plus rear camera and upfitting switches, drop shipped to Knapheide. When specifying your vehicle, a 220 amp alternator is the minimum for the custom service body’s included power invertor; a high capacity or dual alternator arrangement is best.

Body to Truck Upfitting
Upon delivery of your vehicle, Knapheide will install our custom valve maintenance truck service body onto your cab and chassis, then install Wachs Service Body Skid to the service body, complete with all mechanical, fuel and electrical connections.

Wachs Service Body Skid, combined with our customized service body professionally upfitted by Knapheide, creates the industry’s most advanced valve maintenance truck. Just specify and order your truck cab and chassis, have it delivered to Knapheide, and we do the rest. If you’re looking for the most powerful, best equipped, most versatile rolling valve maintenance truck on the planet, look no further.

Lowest Cost Per Cut
Wachs Utility Products pipe saws and cutters are the safest and most dependable in the industry, designed to cold cut steel, ductile, cast iron and most common pipe materials. Products include our famous Trav-L-Cutter, which like all Wachs cutting solutions is mounted to the workpiece. Secured to the pipe by a special tensioning/drive chain, the Trav-L-Cutter drives itself around the pipe as it cuts, keeping the operator at a safe distance.

Another industry standard is Wachs Guillotine reciprocating saw, sometimes called simply the “Wachs Saw”. Our family of portable Guillotine pipe saws include models designed to cut pipe ranging from 2 inch – 32 inch diameters, cutting through even the heaviest wall thicknesses or hardest material. In use virtually everywhere, they’re strong yet lightweight, simple to mount, simple to operate and simply bulletproof.

Our newest innovation, the DWG (Diamond Wire Guillotine) saws, are available in two models, the DWG 208 and DWG 416. Designed to cut all types of pipe, including mixed media, Wachs DW Guillotines secure safely to the workpiece. Unlike traditional gas powered handheld chop and chain saws, they eliminate the very real danger of power saw “kickback” injuries, a huge safety benefit. Another benefit is the large number of cuts each cutting wire delivers, making for one of the lowest costs per cut in the industry. So don’t choose between fast, cheap or safe for your next cutting machine – choose Wachs DW Guillotine and get all three.

Single Source Supplier
Wachs offers a full range of accessories designed to enhance your teams productivity in the field, making us your single source for many of the tools needed to maintain your valuable water infrastructure.

Wachs unique Valve Nut Rx system is a prime example of a product often required by crews in the field. It’s designed to save time and money by replacing rounded or missing operating valve nuts with new, long-lasting stainless steel replacement nuts, rather than replacing the valve itself. It includes an extractor tool arm to reach down inside the vault to remove the old operating nut, and an installation tool arm to install the new nut on the valve. Stainless steel replacement nuts are available singly or in kits once the initial supply is expended.

Other products include our Valve Box Buddy, an electromagnetic device for lifting steel and iron box covers while standing, designed to help prevent back injuries. Wachs offers two models of hydraulically powered submersible pumps, with the largest able to pump sludge and solids
up to 3 inches. To power these and other hydraulic tools including our hydraulic breaker and replacement points, chisels and cutters, we offer two hydraulic power units.

Wachs telescoping and compact valve keys are available in various lengths and styles to reach down to valve operating nuts. Plus we stock a full range of OEM replacement parts and consumables when needed.