Vactor Manufacturing, the industry leader in vacuum excavators, industrial vacuum loaders and sewer and catch basin cleaners, has introduced a wireless emergency shut-off wrist strap as an added safety feature for all new Vactor HXX vacuum excavators manufactured after January 2017, including the full- and mid-sized HXX HydroExcavator, HXX Prodigy and HXX Paradigm trucks.
Worn on the operator’s wrist, the emergency-stop device communicates directly with the wireless remote control on the Vactor HXX truck via Bluetooth technology. A locking ring on the wrist strap connects the emergency-stop device to the digging lance. The wrist strap also features a magnetic connection tethered to the ring. When the digging lance is dropped, the magnetic connection is broken.
“With hydro excavation, it’s key to have a method to disable the water flow through the digging lance should the lance become uncontrolled,” says Mike McClure, Product Manager of Parts and Accessories for Vactor Manufacturing. “Vactor supplies a standard on/off trigger with all vacuum excavators. However, the trigger can sometimes cause fatigue and can put the operator into difficult positions.”
The new industry-exclusive Vactor emergency-stop wrist strap provides an extra level of safety for both the vacuum excavator operator and the work area, triggering an emergency-stop condition that brings the truck to a safe condition when the magnetic connection on the wrist strap is broken.
