WHY DOES WHITE MAGIC HAVE A BAD RAP?

Jimmy L

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Jimmy L
Whats your opinion on why they seem to have a bad reputation?
 

joey895

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Joey J.
I don't know I bought mine before finding the bulletin boards and I'm very happy with it. I'm at 350 hours with zero down time so far. Maybe I just got lucky. :D
 

RichardnTn

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Oct 18, 2006
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Charles Reed over in North Carolina sells a lot of them, mostly PTO's, and does exceptionally well with them. One thing about it though, if there is a service problem, he gets it taken care immediately.... Friend of mine bought a PTO in 87 and it's still running... some work on pump and pto, but expected issues with high hours....Richard R
 

Jim1

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Jan 1, 2007
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The Bad Rep comes from the slide in unit, The PTO has been great from everything I've heard about,

I believe it was a overheating Issue with the Slide In, The problem may be fixed now or not I don't know, Bad news seems to travel faster then good..

Jim
 
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I have heard their pto's work well. Copied Butler. That's where it stops. I have a Triton LS and it had too many overheating issues to mention, They, including their engineer we're not able to fix it. Even a ride to the factory could not fix it. I feel it was a lemon and should have been replaced. In retrospect I noticed many of the problems I brought up they have resolved. However I was a in the field gineau pig and ended up paying 20 k in repairs and 20 k for the unit. So I payed double for it. Mr. Richardson (the owner) gave me 300 dollars in cash while I was at the factory and has never contacted me back to see how I have been. No phone call, no e-mail, no nothing. After taking it to John at HHX's.com the problems have been resolved. In my opinion they have the WORST service in the tm industry. Every time I called up for help no one knew what was wrong or how to help because they said my unit was too new.

Rob Allen.
 

Jim Williams

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I bought my WM Commander from Charles Reed 3 years ago. He is a great guy to deal with. I have 1400 hours on my machine now and I have to say it has been very reliable except for an overheating problem if you sit the wand down too long while the diverter is not open. As soon as you start flowing water again the temp. has crept up to 320 and the sensor now picks it up when the water starts flowing and shuts the machine off.

I have intended to get a bypass wand or rig up a bypass to fix the problem. It is a design flaw. I have learned to live with it though. You just have to move a little furniture and clean a little carpet and be sure to not stop your water flow too long.

I have contacted WM about this and they don't have a clue, and their customer service is not up to par. Good luck if you ever try to get them to return a phone call or finding the right person to talk to in the company.
 

Jeff Madsen

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I have a White Magic 1600 (old style slide in). My unit has 1000 hours on it and it's been very reliable for me. It's a simple machine with good heat and good suck. She's definitely an ugly betty but to me she's beautiful.
 
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I have a commander HO and have been happy with it. I have also had the overheating problem, but it really hasn't been an issue. I just don't lay the wand down for long periods of time.
I have always used my local dist. for any problems and have never had to talk with Whitemagic.
 

joey895

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I was having the same problem with overheating when I put the wand down for too long. In the last few months I figured out that if I take the vacuum hose off of the wand when I lay it down it does not overheat. It has not shut down on me in several months now. I'm not sure why. I suppose there is less of a load on the machine therefor generating less heat?
 
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I have 2 W/M direct drives. They are very reliable the most that usually goes wrong is a loose hose connection. Most parts could be picked up from anywhere. The chemical system has a lot of pulsation, I heard a accumulator would help. Weight balance is a little weird with the tank set up they run.
 

Greenie

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Their PTOs are their savings grace, not perfect, but overall reliable, they just leave some performance on the table, the 1200 unit should suck a whole lot more for having a 56 blower, it's probably that choked down 2.5" plumbing.

On their slide ins, I am 99% sure you can fix most overheat issues with an oversized mix/float tank and some plumbing rerouting.

I am looking at straightening out a Triton as we speak, it's a fine line between rerouting and breaking out the cutting torch.

Like most truck mounts today, they use good components, so if you tackle the problem with an open mind you can fix it.
 

FastEddie

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"Like most truck mounts today, they use good components, so if you tackle the problem with an open mind you can fix it"

Right on Greenie!!
 
G

Guest

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Greeenie , Idea works on some machines but not all. Some machines produce to much heat quickly than other machines. I tried the 5 gallon mix tank on my machine got to hot to quick. I did try adding a thermal relief valve to the mix tank. That worked well for a short time. Down side onmachine we we dumping more water into the waste tank becuse it would hit 160 degrees in about 2 minutes at the mix tank. So far the best remidies are in my opion are wand by pass helps and a manual exhaust diverter cracked just a hair.

freeflow

Inventor of the free flow vacuum system.
 

Jimmy L

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Jimmy L
I remember the old don't set the wand down too long with the prochem bruin I had.

After all these years stuff hasn't advanced too much or this problem would have been fixed.

I would not let anyone but either a qualified engineer or a factory rep touch my machine.These things develop too much heat quickly and to have some sort of meltdown could prove fatal.
 

Matt King

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Dec 10, 2006
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I'd say they got knocked around quite a bit with their last run of slide ins. I've never seen one up close so I can't comment on them or even give an opinion one way or another. It seems most issues have been heat related from what I've read. On their pto, they have a solid unit. Ya gotta give credit here. They do use a good 1 1/8" shaft and they also offer the 175 ft.lb. clutch. That's essentially the heart of any clutch driven pto. The power unit itself is a little different than I would do it but that's their call....
 
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I've heard multiple times that the pro 1200 should have more cfms. I'm wondering if anyone has done a side by side with another pto. I'm looking at getting another truck and I'm considering a cleanco 56. With our current 1200 it doesn't have dual wand cfms imho, would a cleanco or butler be much different? Thanks
 

Greenie

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Nick, you hooked the mix tank bypass up wrong, it's impossible to get 5 gal that hot that quick with a constantly cycling system. and the thermal relief is not an option but part of the system, when it pops it dumps 30 oz. or so of hot and lets the box fills with 30 oz. or so of incoming cold, resetting the clock, then all it takes is a good pull of the trigger on the wand and you further reset the clock.

If you only ever set the wand down for a few mins. It would NEVER bypass to the tank.

I could let mine run for 15 mins. wide open without it cycling even, and it takes several "cycles" to build up enough heat to be a waste tank dumping issue, it's just not a problem.

If you do flood work, I would add a manual exhaust diverter, it's bullet proof.

The point is, don't post about something not working when I know for a fact it does. I suspect right away, you were also bypasing too much water to the box, did you use a needle valve to "dial" it in, or did you just use some crude fixture like a ball valve to control it, it only takes a small amount to keep everything cycling.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Greenie ,It may work on your machine ,with a your heat exchanger,my exchanger produces to much heat. I did try the needle valve and it still got to hot in the hx. I can post about it not working cause it does not work on my machine. IT did work on my hm.


freeflow

Inventor of the free flow system
 

Rex Tyus

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j2 asked
I've heard multiple times that the pro 1200 should have more cfms. I'm wondering if anyone has done a side by side with another pto. I'm looking at getting another truck and I'm considering a cleanco 56. With our current 1200 it doesn't have dual wand cfms imho, would a cleanco or butler be much different? Thanks


Yes, MUCH different.
 

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