Mikey P
Administrator
I'm pretty sure my first wand was a Prochem Single Jet. It worked fine alongside the Uncle Sam portables at Millers Carpet Care for close to two years.
When I moved to Coit I was given a Prochem Quad wand as my own. It moved from truck to truck with me close to 10 times. I was given a HydraHoe as a back up but it was virtually worthless being as tall as I am. Whoever designed the HH must have been 4ft 2” tall.
In 1999 I was alerted that I was going to get the Prochem Hydraulic truckmount to test and that it was coming with their new Titanium wand. I asked management if the “TI” wand was going to be the same length as the Quad wand and if so was there any way to add six inches to it. My back was killing me in those days. Turns out it wasn’t the wand but the six days a week, 6 to 7 jobs a day being the real issue. I was put on the phone with Mike Roden who was doing the welding at PC back then and he agreed to fit in an extra section just below the assist handle. He did a beautiful job. It’s almost impossible to see the welds.
That very wand is still with me today as it was sort of a going away present when I set out on my own.(nobody there wanted it as TI wands without a glide are pure torture to use) and I did Coit a big favor cleaning up a mess from a careless hack so I was granted my “Gold retirement Watch”..
I used that Ti wand with my Butler in the pre Glide era but was frustrated with how it would streak as well as the effort it took to pull it. I tried to find relief in a original twin head Rotovac but it was very slow and really soaked most carpets, mostly due to not having a clear tube and me or any other user really having any idea of when to stop dry stroking.
It was around 2003ish when a goofey, chronic liar by the name of Ken Harris first showed up on the ICS board talking about a magic glider he invented. Turns out it was really just that black acetyl glide that you can still buy from Magic Wand that he had cut some channels in to create some airflow and reduce lock down. I was communicating with him about making a glider for my beloved Ti wand. He didn’t have access to one but spent lots of time picking my brain on how it could work. Had me make some measurements and maybe even a photo or two was sent..
Time went by and Ken showed up online talking about a new wand from CMP (California Metal Products) that had all the same feature of the ti wand but made in steel. He had fitted a round glide to it that had two rows of very small holes going across. By this time Ken was selling a few of these glide to 802 owners as well. Turns out I was the first person to actually buy a whole wand/glide combo from the legendary Ken Harris. Very fortunately for me, it showed up at my house two days before I broke my leg playing hockey. My wife got a crash course in carpet cleaning and there was no way in hell she would have ever been able to use the glideless Titanium wand.
Ken eventually came up with a poor fitting glide for the Prochem wands and by now his true colors were showing up everywhere with false promises and shady cash transactions. One of his half assed distributors in Hawaii and I got to know each other on the boards and a long lost real chat room. He appeared to know more about wands and design than Ken ever did but didn’t have the funds or connections to branch out on his own. I was basically begging him to create a better glide for the Titanium. Nothing become of my begging until this guy met a cute blonde carpet cleaning gal at a Summerfest he flew over for. I can’t recall all the details but before I knew it Jeff Greenie Lydon was moving to California to live with Lisa Smith and get serious about making Glides for more than just me.
Now we can flash forward 10 or more years and in that time I’ve had the opportunity to have all sort of wands sent to me for my opinion. Plastic wands, Carbon Fiber, Swiveling, Retractable, Free Flowing, 12”, 14”, 18” heads, Metal glided, 5 types of plastic glides, even a pulsating wand.. you name it…
Almost every one of them was deemed a failure within a few square yards of testing. Some were so bad I considered them an insult…lol..
None were even close to as good, including that old CMP, as my beloved custom Titanium. Today I have three Ti’s and keep that CMP around as a back up as it’s always been second best IMO.
Last week I received yet another new wand to test. My buddy Curt at PMF (who has been very receptive to ideas I’ve had to improve some of their hard surface tools) wanted me to test a new two inch wand and while I was less than excited I told him sure, send it over. He also wanted me to auction one off on MB to help get the wand some attention he feels it deserves.
Other than a two piece flat Teflon glide, it looked to me like any other PMF wand. To be honest if it had a 1.5” tube I would have told him no thanks as I already have two regular 802 wands in my barn for portable use. I hate using them as they feel like cheap little boy toys.
Now if you look at my comparison photos we can all agree that this new wand does not look like anything special. A measly 6 flow output when anybody who is anybody on the Boards wouldn't consider using anything less than 12 flow. No attic space on the head to increase airflow, no ergonomic handle, no exotic materials, no pulsating jets..
So I was shocked to get through my obligatory 9 square feet of testing and find myself wanting to use it some more. 1200 square feet and a staircase later I was in in love. While it feels to be the same weight if not more than the TI, it actually handles much lighter. With it being close to a foot shorter and 2 inches narrower in the head, it’s a joy to use in tight bed rooms and around furniture. The balance is just right and amazingly enough my and my tech’s stroke is just the same length as with the longer TI wands.
We always clean as much of a staircase as we can with our wands then follow up with an upholstery tool. Many and most cases we can completely clean with a TI assuming that we don’t have to back into a wall at the bottom step It’s torture on shoulders, necks and wrists but with time you learn to grunt through it and reap the benefits of full flow and lots of suction. Using this new wand made today’s 3 stairs cases ridiculously easier. Just awesome!
Before I even used it I went on the hunt in my tool box for larger flow jets. Just no way could a measly 6 flow flush like I was use to with my TIs and Rotary Extractors. No luck finding 04 or 05 jets and boy was I wrong. It cleaned great as is. 6 flow and a 12 inch head…lol
I can’t wait to hear Lippold laugh at me. You all can see and feel it for yourselves in Vegas this year if you don’t buy this ridiculous tale of science defying fiction. Capitoni will LOVE this wand, that I know.
Sure it will take one more wet and dry stroke than the 14” Ti every 10 feet or so, yes a few more pieces of furniture may have to be moved due to it’s higher head, the glide will need to be replaced more often compared to a Green Glide (it’s thinner on the bottom) nor will the flat glide let operators of different heights all find a comfort zone (although my tech had no issues and he's a foot shorter than me) and if you crush the metal solution line or bend the Y at the head you’ll either have to find a welder or send it back to PMF to get it fixed as it’s all one piece.
Will this wand still be in use in 15 years like my custom Titanium? Doubtful. My kid ran over one of our TIs last week with the Vortex. It survived. This wand would have been destroyed in many ways.
Other than that, for $420 you have one hell of a wand that defies all logic.
No drippy manifolds, no over spray, no streaking, no check valves or extenders needed. Nice and simple, cleans and drys with the best of them.
It just shouldn't clean so well or feel this right.
Go figure.
Two piece screw on glide
Compared to my custom Titanium
Compared to a AW29
Videos to come..
When I moved to Coit I was given a Prochem Quad wand as my own. It moved from truck to truck with me close to 10 times. I was given a HydraHoe as a back up but it was virtually worthless being as tall as I am. Whoever designed the HH must have been 4ft 2” tall.
In 1999 I was alerted that I was going to get the Prochem Hydraulic truckmount to test and that it was coming with their new Titanium wand. I asked management if the “TI” wand was going to be the same length as the Quad wand and if so was there any way to add six inches to it. My back was killing me in those days. Turns out it wasn’t the wand but the six days a week, 6 to 7 jobs a day being the real issue. I was put on the phone with Mike Roden who was doing the welding at PC back then and he agreed to fit in an extra section just below the assist handle. He did a beautiful job. It’s almost impossible to see the welds.
That very wand is still with me today as it was sort of a going away present when I set out on my own.(nobody there wanted it as TI wands without a glide are pure torture to use) and I did Coit a big favor cleaning up a mess from a careless hack so I was granted my “Gold retirement Watch”..
I used that Ti wand with my Butler in the pre Glide era but was frustrated with how it would streak as well as the effort it took to pull it. I tried to find relief in a original twin head Rotovac but it was very slow and really soaked most carpets, mostly due to not having a clear tube and me or any other user really having any idea of when to stop dry stroking.
It was around 2003ish when a goofey, chronic liar by the name of Ken Harris first showed up on the ICS board talking about a magic glider he invented. Turns out it was really just that black acetyl glide that you can still buy from Magic Wand that he had cut some channels in to create some airflow and reduce lock down. I was communicating with him about making a glider for my beloved Ti wand. He didn’t have access to one but spent lots of time picking my brain on how it could work. Had me make some measurements and maybe even a photo or two was sent..
Time went by and Ken showed up online talking about a new wand from CMP (California Metal Products) that had all the same feature of the ti wand but made in steel. He had fitted a round glide to it that had two rows of very small holes going across. By this time Ken was selling a few of these glide to 802 owners as well. Turns out I was the first person to actually buy a whole wand/glide combo from the legendary Ken Harris. Very fortunately for me, it showed up at my house two days before I broke my leg playing hockey. My wife got a crash course in carpet cleaning and there was no way in hell she would have ever been able to use the glideless Titanium wand.
Ken eventually came up with a poor fitting glide for the Prochem wands and by now his true colors were showing up everywhere with false promises and shady cash transactions. One of his half assed distributors in Hawaii and I got to know each other on the boards and a long lost real chat room. He appeared to know more about wands and design than Ken ever did but didn’t have the funds or connections to branch out on his own. I was basically begging him to create a better glide for the Titanium. Nothing become of my begging until this guy met a cute blonde carpet cleaning gal at a Summerfest he flew over for. I can’t recall all the details but before I knew it Jeff Greenie Lydon was moving to California to live with Lisa Smith and get serious about making Glides for more than just me.
Now we can flash forward 10 or more years and in that time I’ve had the opportunity to have all sort of wands sent to me for my opinion. Plastic wands, Carbon Fiber, Swiveling, Retractable, Free Flowing, 12”, 14”, 18” heads, Metal glided, 5 types of plastic glides, even a pulsating wand.. you name it…
Almost every one of them was deemed a failure within a few square yards of testing. Some were so bad I considered them an insult…lol..
None were even close to as good, including that old CMP, as my beloved custom Titanium. Today I have three Ti’s and keep that CMP around as a back up as it’s always been second best IMO.
Last week I received yet another new wand to test. My buddy Curt at PMF (who has been very receptive to ideas I’ve had to improve some of their hard surface tools) wanted me to test a new two inch wand and while I was less than excited I told him sure, send it over. He also wanted me to auction one off on MB to help get the wand some attention he feels it deserves.
Other than a two piece flat Teflon glide, it looked to me like any other PMF wand. To be honest if it had a 1.5” tube I would have told him no thanks as I already have two regular 802 wands in my barn for portable use. I hate using them as they feel like cheap little boy toys.
Now if you look at my comparison photos we can all agree that this new wand does not look like anything special. A measly 6 flow output when anybody who is anybody on the Boards wouldn't consider using anything less than 12 flow. No attic space on the head to increase airflow, no ergonomic handle, no exotic materials, no pulsating jets..
So I was shocked to get through my obligatory 9 square feet of testing and find myself wanting to use it some more. 1200 square feet and a staircase later I was in in love. While it feels to be the same weight if not more than the TI, it actually handles much lighter. With it being close to a foot shorter and 2 inches narrower in the head, it’s a joy to use in tight bed rooms and around furniture. The balance is just right and amazingly enough my and my tech’s stroke is just the same length as with the longer TI wands.
We always clean as much of a staircase as we can with our wands then follow up with an upholstery tool. Many and most cases we can completely clean with a TI assuming that we don’t have to back into a wall at the bottom step It’s torture on shoulders, necks and wrists but with time you learn to grunt through it and reap the benefits of full flow and lots of suction. Using this new wand made today’s 3 stairs cases ridiculously easier. Just awesome!
Before I even used it I went on the hunt in my tool box for larger flow jets. Just no way could a measly 6 flow flush like I was use to with my TIs and Rotary Extractors. No luck finding 04 or 05 jets and boy was I wrong. It cleaned great as is. 6 flow and a 12 inch head…lol
I can’t wait to hear Lippold laugh at me. You all can see and feel it for yourselves in Vegas this year if you don’t buy this ridiculous tale of science defying fiction. Capitoni will LOVE this wand, that I know.
Sure it will take one more wet and dry stroke than the 14” Ti every 10 feet or so, yes a few more pieces of furniture may have to be moved due to it’s higher head, the glide will need to be replaced more often compared to a Green Glide (it’s thinner on the bottom) nor will the flat glide let operators of different heights all find a comfort zone (although my tech had no issues and he's a foot shorter than me) and if you crush the metal solution line or bend the Y at the head you’ll either have to find a welder or send it back to PMF to get it fixed as it’s all one piece.
Will this wand still be in use in 15 years like my custom Titanium? Doubtful. My kid ran over one of our TIs last week with the Vortex. It survived. This wand would have been destroyed in many ways.
Other than that, for $420 you have one hell of a wand that defies all logic.
No drippy manifolds, no over spray, no streaking, no check valves or extenders needed. Nice and simple, cleans and drys with the best of them.
It just shouldn't clean so well or feel this right.
Go figure.
Two piece screw on glide
Compared to my custom Titanium
Compared to a AW29
Videos to come..
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