A sewer camera that is stuck in a pipe is still attached to its rod and is pulled, rotated and coaxed out; that case is covered in retrieving a stuck camera. A sewer camera that is lost is a different problem: the rod has broken or the head has unscrewed, the operator has pulled back a bare end, and a head worth several hundred dollars is somewhere in a pipe it will eventually block. This guide covers finding it, getting it out, and what to do if it cannot be recovered.
Quick answer: stop and note the counter reading at the moment the rod went slack, which is roughly where the head is. If the head has a sonde and its own power or the rod end is still connected, locate it from the surface immediately, before it moves. Then try, in order: pushing a retrieval tool on a second camera rod or a drain cable to hook or grab the head and bring it back; flushing or jetting from upstream to carry it to a cleanout, a manhole or the main; and only if it is lodged where it will block the line and cannot be moved, excavation at the located point. Tell the customer what happened and what is in their line, and tell the utility if it has gone to the main.
How heads are lost
A rod that has kinked repeatedly breaks at the kink under a hard pull. A head whose collar was not tightened unscrews as the rod rotates in a bend. A connector corroded by water fails. A head caught on roots is torn off by a pull that should have been a rotation. Each is preventable, and each leaves a head in the pipe. Push cable kinks and seating the head cover the first two causes.
The first minute
Note the counter. Do not pull the broken rod end out of the pipe yet; if the head is still attached by a strand of jacket or the connector is intermittently live, the picture or the sonde may still work. Stop any water running into the line from the house so the head is not washed further. If the head has a sonde and is still powered through a partially connected rod, locate it now.
Locating a lost head
A sonde that is still transmitting is found with the receiver like any other locate, and its position marked and its depth estimated. Most sondes are powered from the rod, so a clean break means no sonde; some heads have a battery-powered sonde that keeps transmitting. If the sonde is dead, the head’s position is estimated from the counter reading along the pipe’s known route, which is why the route should have been located earlier in the job. Marking a dig and depth limits cover the locate; a locator that will not find the sonde covers the dead case.
Retrieval tools
A second camera rod, or a drain cable, fitted with a retrieval head, a hook, a grabber, a spiral or a magnet for heads with steel in them, is pushed to the head’s position while watching the picture if a camera is available, and the head is snagged and pulled back. Retrieval heads are sold for drain cables and some camera makers sell them for their rods. A head with a spring behind it snags more easily than a bare head. Patience and many small attempts beat force. Where the lost head came off a reel with a spare head, that reel is the second camera.
Flushing and jetting
A head lying loose in a sloped pipe can be carried downstream by water to a cleanout, a manhole or the main. Running the house’s fixtures hard may move it a little; a jetter working from upstream moves it decisively. A head flushed to a downstream cleanout or a manhole is picked up there; one flushed to the main is gone and the utility should be told. Jetting a head toward a known offset or belly risks lodging it; camera the route first if possible.
Excavation
If the head is lodged where it will block the lateral and cannot be hooked or flushed, it is dug out at the located point. This is a plumber’s job with a permit, and it is the reason a sonde locate before the loss is so valuable: an excavation at a marked point is a morning, an excavation on a guess is a trench. Calling 811 before digging applies.
Leaving it
A head that has gone to the main, or that is lodged in a disused line, is sometimes left. A head left in an active lateral is a blockage waiting to happen and the customer must be told in writing; the cost of its eventual removal is a discussion to have now, not after the backup.
Telling the customer and the utility
The customer is told at once, plainly: what happened, where the head is, what will be done and who pays. Most contractors carry insurance that covers this. If the head has passed into the public main, the utility is told, because a camera head in a main can jam a pump or a screen. Liability and insurance covers the contractor’s position.
Preventing the loss
Seat the head firmly by hand before every job and check the collar after any hard retrieval. Inspect the rod for kinks and the connector for corrosion. Rotate and ease a snagged head rather than pulling. Replace a rod that has been kinked more than once near the head. Locate the pipe route early in the job so a lost head has a position. The pre-use test and rod inspection cover the checks.
Common questions
How do I find a sewer camera head that broke off in the pipe?
If its sonde is still transmitting, with the receiver. If not, from the counter reading along the pipe’s located route.
Can a lost camera head be retrieved without digging?
Often, with a retrieval tool on a second rod or drain cable, or by flushing or jetting it to a cleanout or manhole.
What if the camera head went into the sewer main?
Tell the utility. A head in a main can damage pumps and screens, and it is no longer in your customer’s line.
Related guides
See sewer line locators, self-leveling not working, and cross-bore inspection protocols.