Never in my entire career have I seen that.
Is it a left coast thing?
ChemTex
Steam Action
It's a HX thing
It was a simple way to control heat without the need for a heat sensor that would activate a solenoid to automatically dump excess hot water into the recovery tank. The above manual system requires an attentive operator. The solenoid system better for the less than attentive, but creates potential failure points.
How many sons, sons in law and absent-minded technicians do you recall who didn't know how to operate the system and overheated the truck mount?
Ive put over 10k hrs on all my truck mounts compbined that do have those "Complicated sensors" (about 2 of them only), and it takes less than 5 min to clean the orifice, which is rarely needed if you have a decent inline water supply filter. It is putting the user who isn't properly educated about these machines in danger when the proper sensors are not in place, because when the only sensor that they do put on those machines go bad , due to rust buildup or overheating too many times which melts the solenoid in the heater, you start getting a high risk of hoses blowing if it overheats too much which can hurt both the user and or customerThat little orifice, was and still is a back up SIMPLE way to keep things in check heat wise.
I still have them on my wands… both carpet and stair tools. Dang this post reminded me it’s been over 20 years and these valves on my wand are still doing its job problem free. Amazing. Thanks PMF and the dude that recommended it…can’t remember who it was. Got rid of them electronic solenoids. At the time, more problems with these things. Tried them all. Some worked better but still pos(piece of snot). Maybe today there’s a simpler device or way..I don’t know.
They never failed, never broke down, never worn down. Simple. No electronics involved. Still use em in those moments client becomes chatty…crack it open for a moment and close it. Dont need to anymore but still do just to keep things in check.. Added John’s Heat Exchange Diverter box, dialed it in perfectly, never an issue with over heat. Perfect balance. No electronics to worry about, no failure…nada.
Works for me. Simple. KIS….S.
What isn’t so simple is hired help. Not all of course.
They will screw up a vacuum cleaner in a ny minute….whatever that means.
I need it,!!! All done? can I pick it up tomorrow, ready to go?A few things I've learned about truck mounts of all types in the 50 years we've had a service department:
1. The care and maintenance given by the owner is the key to reliability and longevity. Those that follow all the maintenance intervals listed in their manuals, whether by doing it themselves or having it done for them, rarely experience downtime, at least in the first five or so years of ownership.
2. Dirt, debris, and scale are big enemies of everything in the water and heating systems. My customers who add extra filtration in the water supply (both to fresh water tanks and direct feed) have far less downtime. Those who use soft water even less.
3. "Its the rust, not the revolutions". Machines that are used only during busy times, or in the case of restorers, only on floods, have more problems than those used daily, or at least a few times a week.
There are units that are surely simpler in design and very easy to take care of that have less problems than more complex ones. But all in all, these three things are what cause units to show up here for service, or for me to get repeated calls and texts from the same individuals.
This is the appearance of most units that show up here for "emergency downtime service":
View attachment 128795
A few things I've learned about truck mounts of all types in the 50 years we've had a service department:
1. The care and maintenance given by the owner is the key to reliability and longevity. Those that follow all the maintenance intervals listed in their manuals, whether by doing it themselves or having it done for them, rarely experience downtime, at least in the first five or so years of ownership.
2. Dirt, debris, and scale are big enemies of everything in the water and heating systems. My customers who add extra filtration in the water supply (both to fresh water tanks and direct feed) have far less downtime. Those who use soft water even less.
3. "Its the rust, not the revolutions". Machines that are used only during busy times, or in the case of restorers, only on floods, have more problems than those used daily, or at least a few times a week.
There are units that are surely simpler in design and very easy to take care of that have less problems than more complex ones. But all in all, these three things are what cause units to show up here for service, or for me to get repeated calls and texts from the same individuals.
This is the appearance of most units that show up here for "emergency downtime service":
View attachment 128795