A firm with one sewer camera knows where it is. A firm with three or four reels across several vans, a drawer of spare heads, two locators and a shelf of skids and cards loses track within a year: a head that was swapped onto another reel, a locator left at a job, a reel whose counter has read wrong for months because nobody wrote it down. The kit is expensive, the downtime when it fails is more so, and a simple register and log prevent most of it. This guide sets out what a small firm should track and how.
Quick answer: give every reel, monitor, head and locator an asset number and a label; keep a register with each item’s serial, model, purchase date, price, warranty end and current location or assigned van; keep a per-reel log of faults, repairs, counter checks and head swaps; run a checkout and return sheet for kit that moves between crews; keep a stock count of consumables such as cards, O-rings and skids with a reorder point; set a replacement year for each reel from its purchase date and condition; and do a physical count against the register every quarter.
Why it matters
Warranty claims need serials and dates. Repair decisions need the item’s age and history. Insurance claims for lost or stolen kit need a register. Compatibility, which head fits which reel, needs model numbers. And a crew that sets off with the wrong locator or a flat spare battery loses a morning. Warranty claims and repair vs replacement both start from the register.
The register
A spreadsheet is enough. One row per item: asset number, type, maker, model, serial, purchase date, supplier, price, warranty end date, current location or van, condition, notes. Reels, monitors and heads are separate rows because they are separated in practice; locators are rows; cases, chargers and expensive accessories are rows. Photograph each item with its label and store the photograph with the row. Monitor compatibility and locator compatibility explain why model numbers must be exact.
Labels
An engraved or laminated label with the firm’s name and the asset number on every reel, monitor, head and locator. Heads are labelled on the collar. A labelled item comes back from a job site and is identified in a van; an unlabelled one is anybody’s. Labels also deter the casual walk-off.
The per-reel log
A page or a tab per reel: date, operator, job, and any event. Counter checked against tape and the error. Head swapped, which head, why. Fault seen, what, when. Repair sent, returned, cost. Battery runtime noted. Over a year this log is what tells the owner a reel is nearing retirement, and it is what a maker asks for in a warranty dispute. Counter checks and battery runtime are the two entries that matter most.
Checkout and return
Where kit moves between crews, a sheet or an app: who took which asset numbers, when, and when they came back. A locator signed out to a van is a locator that can be found. The return entry includes a condition note and a line for faults, which feeds the log. Spares on the truck are checked at the same time.
Consumables
Cards, O-rings and grease, skids and guides, cleanout caps, batteries, disinfectant, gloves. A shelf count with a reorder point for each, checked monthly. A firm that runs out of skids runs heads bare; a firm that runs out of O-rings floods heads. Cards and O-rings are the two that run out first.
Replacement planning
Each reel gets a planned replacement year from its purchase date, its class and its log: a budget reel worked daily is three to four years, a professional reel longer. Review the date yearly against the log and move it earlier if faults are accumulating. The budget for the replacement is then known a year ahead rather than discovered at a failure. Depreciation and replacement planning and total cost of ownership cover the arithmetic.
The quarterly count
Every item on the register is physically found, its label and serial checked, its condition noted, every quarter. Items not found are chased that week while the trail is warm. Heads in the spares drawer are powered up on a reel to confirm they still work. A count takes an hour for a small firm and finds the locator that has been in the wrong van since spring.
When something is missing
Check the checkout sheet, the last job sites, and the vans. Ask the crews without blame. If it is gone, note the date and circumstances in the register, report theft to the police if that is what it was, and claim on insurance with the register row and the photograph. Replace from the spares or the budget. Insurance covers what policies usually require.
Small heads and specialist kit
A firm that owns a 17 mm reel for small lines, a manhole system or a specialist head should register them with the jobs they are for, so crews take the right tool. 17 mm reels, small-diameter cameras and manhole systems cover the categories, and a small-head reel reviewed here is an example.
Common questions
How should a small plumbing firm track its sewer cameras?
A spreadsheet register with asset numbers, serials, dates and locations, a per-reel log of faults and checks, a checkout sheet for shared kit, and a quarterly physical count.
What should I record about each sewer camera?
Serial, model, purchase date and price, warranty end, current location, and every fault, repair, counter check and head swap.
How often should sewer camera kit be counted?
Quarterly, with labels and serials checked and spare heads powered up to confirm they work.
Related guides
See cameras for 1.5 in pipe, a 17 mm small-head reel reviewed here, and van setup.