Buying new equipment. Talk me into it.

[Brad_Smith]

I have 17" 175, brute, 20" gls like machine, and a cimex.

For commercial encap the cimex is best and it runs like a lexus.

The gls is great for prescrubin residential.

The 175 is good at everthing, just not great.

I am trying to like my brute.

Brad

 

[Steve Lawrence]

Mikey,
I know completely well what HWE can and can't do. Cimex encap has earned a place in our arsenal because it produces results that cannot be argued with. We do 90% HWE because we are mostly residential, but there are many commercial jobs where we find the Cimex encap produces a better looking result that lasts longer than our (incorrect?, LOL) HWE process.

Steve

 

[Fon Johnson]

I think Steve has a point. I know for a fact that a church I maintain does stay cleaner longer with encap cleaning. I use releasit, which does have a sort of protector built in if I understand correctly? I have used lots of different hwe chems, and can make it look great that way, but the encap seems to hold out longer between cleanings. I thin this is because of the way encap works, that built in protector, and the fact that most of the "dirty" areas are drink spills. On top of that, lets face it, encap is quick and easy. They love the results, and it is not like babies are crawling around on the carpet. I'm about making money. Of course, if you make your customers happy, that falls in line, so that is my first goal. Making money just follows naturally. :shock:

Brad makes another good point. I DO plan on having chimps run it, NOT me. I still love the business, but I have found I have a LOT more fun working in and on the business while having someone else make money for me. The "chimpiblity" of any machine will have to be a factor. It looks like I need a cimex and a gls. I am a little surprised that more people are not telling me to run out and buy a brute though.. :?

 

[hogjowl]

This is not the CCS board, Fon.

Take that either way you want to.

 

[Blue Monarch]

I've seen a lot of bad press on the Brute lately. Enough to remove it from consideration. Maybe a cheap azz rotary is the way to go for me.

 

[captaincarpet]

My AT has a 220 gallon fresh water tank, if that is not enough talk to them, they may have other options for you.
If you really intend to dual wand the AT is superb! I only went with the 110 gal. recovery tank, but they have the option of 2 of those, and they also have an APO if you like.
Talk to them and try any machine before you buy... not all companies claims stand up in real world conditions.
I don't use my cimex much, but it is an excellent machine other than being so darn heavy (24" commercial cimex=160 pounds) but when I do use it it is great !
Good luck on your new purchases and I hope you enjoy the "toys".

 

[DavidVB]

Jeremy, have you used a Cimex on very many jobs? I only did a few jobs with the Brute, so maybe I didn't adjust to it, but I find the Cimex gravity feed gives me much better control of how much and where I want the solution. You can release solution going backward and even sideways if you lift it of its wheels. The Brute only sprays forward and the machine I had rattled like crazy when I pulled it backward, especially if you put any weight at all on the handle. I guess it's what we get used to.

 

[Guest]

David, I wish I could like the gravity feed on my Cimex. I was thinking of changing it over to a spray system like the Brute has. Now if one didn't HAVE to vac up those damn Ricky pads after using it, I would be happy.



Better quality, yes. Better Job....my customers say no. And that's using the same juices.




Chad

 

[hogjowl]

Ahh ... vacuuming up the Ricky pads, huh? Now that's something I'd never heard before. I suppose that could become a pita.

You don't have to post vacuum after using a GLS.

 

[Fon Johnson]

Whoa.. I never heard of having to vacuum up the pads. Do the beige pads of Rick's for the cimex shed? We never have a problem with the 3m beige pads on the rotary, so I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Marty, I thought you owned one of John's machines??

If anyone has something they are not comfortable with stating here about a particular machine, please feel free to pm me with the info.

I have good ideas about what I want, but productivity rules. In my area, I won't get the top dollar that others can get, so I have to do it good, and do it fast.

 

[Guest]

Geeze...that is why they tell us to post vac. And you boys and girls thought it was for the Pixie Dust.


Doesn't matter what version of pads from Ricky it is. But then I have morals. I'm not going to leave 3, 6, or 12 of his pads ground around someones office or hallways.

Chad

 

[JoeP]

Stick with what's working for you just put it in a box for more room

 

[captaincarpet]

My cimex has the spray up front and it is better than shower feed. IMHO

Here is a picture of the cimex doing commercial hallway with a lot of asphalt track off and heavy soil load in apartment hallway.( you can see jets up front)

 

[Goldenboy]

Is that sHamPoo on the bottom of the picture?


Golden Boy

 

[Derek]

very cool Tom!

Rick does sell pads that don't shed. well actually they are called "bonnets".

we don't use pads that "shed" with my 'Mex...we only use bonnets (not ThinOnes) which pick up a good amount of soil, relatively speaking.

with all the crud pulling & spitting a GLS does, surely you have to post vac :?: picking masses of hair wads up by hand won't get it all will it :?: :?:

thanx --- Derek.

 

[Fred Homan]

What powers the jet up front? Gravity flow? Does it fan out a little? Like the width of the whole set up?

 

[floorguy]

i have tried a machine with them jets out front and don't like it..over sprays to much, while the pad feed keeps things under control...


FON, listen to me CIMEX say it with me CIMEX....versatile as can be, don't know about the gls but the cimex, can 1. clean carpet. 2. strip and wax floors(yes its sloppy but hey that's what a towel and removable holders are for) 3.HONE stone and concrete dude...great machine hands down best bang for the buck..

as far as vans go...i have rode in the box trucks, rented them, went with other guys....WOBBLY, while having the big dog will help on a FEW jobs, driving the beasty around ALL the time may get to be ewww...more so for the monkeys more chance to whack something...

 

[captaincarpet]

The machine has a pump on it, so when you pull the handle instead of shower feed, it sprays. I had to change spray set-up to get the spray pattern where I wanted it, but it works great now. That is me operating the cimex, and that is Andrechelle on the steps watching me. ((Andrechelle from Andrechelle.com web site design, and summerfest woman of the year in 2004). Cleaning with releasit from rick.

 

[steve frasier]

If you get a fresh water tank, do you feel comfortable charging more for your services since you won't be hooking up to their hose bib anymore, I realize it can be deducted but water has to be paid for some how, water softener is also nice if you don't have one already

How will you get a cimex and other heavy equipment out of a vortex/AT machine or will you just use the other work van

If you really want to dual wand and do it well, you need a bigger blower

I have a 5.6 blower and have pulled dual wands fine but it really needs to have more power, both for more heat and more vacuum

if you are training some one to use a cimex, using Rick's juice, it is a little easier if they can see a foam product to gauge how much they are using

I have an OP machine, kind of wish I had bought a brute but with the comments I have read I am glad I did get it. OP machine will kill your back worse then anything else out there, even with glides under it, I would stick to the rotary and micro fiber bonnets/cotton pads

I think I would want a pile lifter instead of a GLS, especially if I had a cimex with brushes but I have never tried a GLS before

I personally like(the cleaning) my op machine over the cimex, it can really make matted pile stand up again but I don't think it is the greatest thing for carpet, you take that cotton pad out from underneath the machine and it is quite warm from friction but it does remove quite a bit of dirt

I own a cimex, thermal wave, conqueror OP machine

 

[captaincarpet]

Aero Tech has ramps available for just such an occasion. Can't wait to get mine!

The foam was from the releasit, this was one of the first jobs I did with it, and it is quite possible I over applied the chemical. It was worse than the pictures show. We did 9 -3 story apartment buildings and steps on this job.
As we became more familiar with the machine and chemical we used a lot less chemical to get the same results.

 

[Mikey P]

Steve

No offense but...

Until you've ran 012 flow with 19 inches of lift off a VAT, you DONT know what HWE is (all) about...

 

[steve frasier]

Are you talking to the other Steve, LOL

I wish I could run the flow you have, I know when I use my stair tool, it has more flow in a smaller area, I can see the difference in the way the carpet looks

so I would easily agree with you on the more flow/cleaner carpet /better flush argument

flush is better then blast

 

[Duane Oxley]

Fon, here's a teaser for you...

Imagine a HX system, that delivers heat similar to an Unleashed Predator (or a Hammer from years ago)..

Picture this... It's 24 inches wide, 63 inches long (smaller footprint than your present system), and that includes the console and recovery tank, which is 80 gallons.

It has safety features that prevent it from ever over- heating (it defaults to the "cold water" position until you flick the Heat switch, or if there's a circuit break somewhere...). It does NOT dump water to regulate temperature. It functions just like your current L.P. system... Turn the "Temperature" dial to the desired setting. Simply turn the clutch "OFF" and you're ready for flood work. It has no complicated chemical injection system.

It's super Q-U-I-E-T (external silencer mounted under the truck, in addition to some proprietary "tweaks" done to the blower output that reduce noise and gain heat). It handles 2,000 PSI, as a working pressure... not a high limit.

Regardless which truck you get, it will still leave you with lots of space left... and the beauty will be, that it's super- simple... No complicated plumbing "feedback loops"... no "neural net wiring"... As simple as any system I've made, except perhaps one with a Little Giant... :wink:

 

[hogjowl]

Sounds good to ME , Duane. It DOES HAVE a chemical injection system on it ... right?

When is this new one going to be available?

 

[Duane Oxley]

It should be ready by May, Mardy...

It has chemical injection just like all the ones I've made to date... (Just like yours, too...)

 

[Goldenboy]

How big of blower? How much cash? Heat numbers? Large waste tank?

Golden Boy

 

[Fon Johnson]

OK, I need to go see Duane this week anyway. He BETTER let me peek under the tarp! BTW, an old hammer would do 230 at the wand. By chance will this exchanger do that?

What about the possibilities of running a gas slide-in in a diesel truck?

Back to the shedding pads.. I have never had that problem with the rotary, but we mostly use the green striped scrub bonnets anyway. So if we use pads on the cimex, we will always have to vacuum afterwards? Can you get the same bonnets we use to fit the cimex?

This is looking to be a nice year, and I'm getting kinda jazzed about some new stuff.

 

[hogjowl]

Fon:
The only machine I have of "John's" is a Clark built machine that John calls the Initiator or Instigator or something like that. It's the gray entry level jiggler that I seldom use. Washing a changing out pads and dealing with fiber distortion is not my idea of cleaning.

The GLS actually picks UP the crud and deposits it between the brushes. Once it kicks out the first hair ball, the brighter cleaner will stop and run a finger into the slot and pull out the rest of it. It only takes a second to pull on a glove, scrape out the trash, throw it away and continue on. We routinely clean with no crud to vacuum up later.

All this talk about the Cimex's wonderful cleaning times is somewhat diminished when you learn you have to go back a post vacuum. I bet that cuts your actual cleaning times in half.

True though, you can't strip and wax a tile floor with a GLS.

But, it makes a great ceramic tile prescrubber.

 

[Steve Lawrence]

Mikey,
I'm guessing that an RX-20 with a 2.5 Butler and hi heat will match or beat any wand cleaning from a V or AT.

 

[captaincarpet]

The post vacuuming is performed after we are gone by their maintenance staff which has no impact on our cleaning times.

Yes the RX-20 and a 2.5 Butler may match the cleaning performance of my wand, however it will not match the wand in speed, or match the dry times of the V/AT.
Both a ford and a Ferrari will drive you to the store, but I'd rather have the performance of the Ferrari.
The Butler in a box truck may help some with the WOW factor, however in a van it's just like EVERY OTHER CLEANER and gives me nothing unique to help set me apart from the other 250+ cleaners in my area.
Quality only counts after the job is completed, WOW helps land the job. IMHO