Good Evening Marty. Would really appreciate some input on the Chief II regarding performance and customer service. We primarily do commercial carpet and hard surface cleaning. Very minimal residential. Could we run two hoses without losing heat or pressure? Is it complicated to maintain? I am pretty mechanically inclined for a female but not a mechanic.
I have been running a Chief II since Mikey was at Coit and love the machine. The thing I like about
TCS is that they have been making essentially the same machines for decades and have the kinks worked out of them. There's no experimenting with new designs by using cleaners. You get a working unit with no complicated sensors, check valves or oxygen pulsation dampeners to screw up and cause you problems. My first unit was a
Prochem and I had constant problems with check valves in the pump and electronic sensors going out. It was ridiculous! You get none of those annoyances with
TCS machines. Their customer service has always been top notch for me.
If commercial carpet is your game, my 0nly concern with
TCS or any slide in unit would be the lack of security. Just remember that your van will be wide open ... at night ...
The diesel version will allow you to clean with higher pressure. 1200 psi is the sweet spot, in my opinion, and you can get that (and a little more, I think) with the Chief II D. The gas version limits me to 850 psi, and that is not enough for tile and grout.
No, you can NOT realistically run dual wands with the Chief II. Not at anywhere near the hose runs you will need for commercial. Occasionally, I will run a 100 ft carpet cleaning line with another 100 ft. upholstery line, but I never try to dual wand carpet. If you come from a portable environment, you would be happy with the suck of a dual wand Chief II, but once you get used to cleaning with 600 psi and the suction of the 47 blower, you will quickly become dissatisfied with the performance the 47 blower on the Chief will offer while dualing. It IS and awesome single wand unit though, and the heat is great.
The maintenance on it is simple. Change the oil and filter ever 50 hours. The manual says 100, but trust me, do it at 50. The only things you need to keep in stock are spare belts and a fuel pump. That's all that will give you problems, and by "problems" I mean you may have the belts go every couple of years and the fuel pump once in 5 years. You just keep them around so you don't get blind sided by them when it happens. Other than that, you just need spare solution hose couplers and shut off valves. Change the Goodyear solution hose out every year or year and a half, even if it looks ok. You can take a
TCS machine into any distributor and get it serviced. Even the
Sapphire guys can figure it out.
Do I recommend the
TCS unit for you? Actually, no. If you are determined to get a slide in unit, then yes. The
TCS will be as good as any and better than most. But, you don't want a slide in unit. And don't let some idiot try to talk you into an "electric truckmount".
What you need is an
Aerotech. It offers everything you need. However, it's expensive and probably out of your comfort range price wise. Next thing I would be looking at is a
Butler (despite its space limitations). The
Hydramaster CDS would be a good unit for you, IF you have a local dist. to offer service. In fact, if you have close local people, I'd recommend it over the
Butler. Stay away from
Sapphire. It's too new, unproven and despite what the local talking shills will say, they're still working the bugs out of their 1200. You don't want to be their test subject.
What are the negatives with a
TCS unit?
The heat. It's a killer inside the van. The engine, blower and heater put out a ton of heat. It kills engines. That is why I recommend 50 hour oil and filter changes. I learned the hard way that 100 hours is not enough. Buying a new engine every 2000 hours gets old really fast. You also have very little storage room if you run a standard van. You'll need an extended van or a Sprinter, if you go diesel, to have any room.
