Is anyone using the Sapphire Scientific Pro1200 Direct Drive?

[bensurdi]

I'm interested to hear what the feedback is on those! Mikey, you've probably seen one in action, what did you think suction wise?

 

[Mikey P]

Its a kick ass pto Ben with that 56 blower.
I would strongly consider it of it could be put into a box van.

 

[Steve Lawrence]

Aluminum tanks still?

 

[bensurdi]

Here is some cool pics of it in a box truck. Looks pretty sweet.

View attachment 2328View attachment 2329

 

[Mikey P]

looks great as long as you don't need to work on the right side of the machine, ever.

 

[PM]

I bought a used machine (prochem) and am thinking of upgrading to either 1200 or 570. Any feedback on either machine would be appreciated.

 

[Art Kelley]

My Pro 1200 turns 10 with almost 10K hours on it this month; it replaced my '87 Pro1200 that had 15K hours only because the GM body went to crap and Maaco (who had already repainted it twice) said there was nothing more they could do. Hoses will burst after a few thousand hours and need replacing, but everything else including belts just keep loafing along seemingly indefinitely. Sapphire only improved what White Magic designed with little and big tweaks, but kept the basic structure the same. A box truck would be the perfect application for it because the heat from the two HXs make it very hot in the van; I use a crude blue tarp to section off the passenger compartment so the air conditioner can do it's job. Running it at 1500 rpms and 15" lift, the vacuum just purrs and never strains. 500 cfms is great for heavy duty single wanding, and, I suppose, dual rotarys but not dual wanding.

 

[bensurdi]

Art didn't the older system have a more powerful blower than the Pro1200 does? Or is it the same?

 

[KevinL]

It appears as no users of the ss version of the pro 1200 are on mb. It would be nice if someone from ss would invite a few of their users to post here. And if someone from ss sees this post I would like you to know that the new filter bag you are using sucks. I bought one several months ago from jondon and the holes are to big so a lot of gunk passes through to the waste tank. Is it possible to go back to the original material that White Magic used??

 

[Art Kelley]

Art didn't the older system have a more powerful blower than the Pro1200 does? Or is it the same?

The blowers are the same as my 03. Modernistic in Troy Mich, where I bought mine runs a large fleet of them. Their techs love them and beat the crap out of them. Call Tom in the equipment store 800 6091000 with your questions. They are a Sapphire distributor.

 

[Dave Rampage]

Ben,

In 1999 and 2000 I had a Butler with the 5.8 option which is not a number 5 blower and a White Magic pro 1200 with a 56 blower. We did extensive testing with extracting water and the Butler was clearly the winner. It wasn't even close. We thought the White Magic would do better than the Butler but were let down to find out it wasn't as good as the Butler.

If you think a pro 1200 is going to be anything close to the AT, you will be disappointed. If you just want a nice machine in a box truck so you can market that you have all big trucks then you will be ok. It will be a reliable machine if it's like the White Magic unit but probably not powerful. Don't let the 56 blower fool you.

Dave

 

[bensurdi]

Honestly I know I am weird.... but the only reason I haven't bought a butler is because I hate the way they look LOL. They look so lame that even if they were powerful they sure don't make them designed to impress anyone. (my opinion only). The AT is designed to really be impressive looking. The Pro1200 looks very clean and professional as well.

 

[Mikey P]

Dave I find that extremity hard to believe. .a 47 out sucking a 56...come on...

 

[Dave Rampage]

Mike,

I was shocked too. We bought the white magic because of the bigger blower and wished we just bought another butler instead. I don't have the video tapes anymore but we video taped all our tests. It's when I had my restoration company. We used the same wand on both tests and the butler was the clear winner. I never used my vacuum hose reels live on either truck. You can believe what you want but if you do a side by side test on the exact same carpet you will find the butler recovers more. I don't know how fast they spin the blowers or piping I just know what my results found.

 

[bob vawter]

Mikey..this is what you really need...
it'll stand the Pepsi challenge...any old day.....

 

[Mikey P]

Had to have been choked down plumbing causing the lack of performance. .
I would think SS would fix that

 

[Dan]

Pro 1200 by White Magic had a horrible choke down. I dont know if SS ever fixed that or not.

 

[Out of Character - 0]

White Magic used to spin the blower slow and used crappy plumbing. To beat a butler you need a new sheave, better plumbing, and a better relief valve helps.

 

[Mikey P]

They sure did some goofy shit.

I'm betting SS fixed it up good.

 

[FredC]

looks great as long as you don't need to work on the right side of the machine, ever.

might be a bit aggravating at times but there isn't really much there to "work" on ....a non-issue imo

 

[Art Kelley]

Pro 1200 by White Magic had a horrible choke down. I dont know if SS ever fixed that or not.

They put a severe restriction on the blower outlet hidden by a large vacuum tube that covers it, I guess to increase the heat the blower produces for the blower HX. The vacuum is thunderous and powerful and I can't see a Butler outperforming it, but if Rampage said it did, side by side, then it did. I also had an '86 Steam Genie PTO like Bob pictured in this thread (thanks Bob), that backed up my '87 WM for ten years, and the Pro 1200 was much more powerful and reliable than the Steam Genie PTO. There was no comparison.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We did extensive testing with extracting water and the Butler

was clearly the winner.

I love our Butlers but water extraction is not it's forte. Deep water chokes it off hose shakes starving for air. Prochem's do much better than at deep water.

They can clean though, I cleaned my home over the weekend and with the high heat Butler smoke was just pouring off the Powerglide. It kicks butt! Lisa those Green Glides brought that old unit back to life! I spent 5-hours cleaning everything, carpet, tile, upholstery, it was a killer afternoon but it sure looks great.

 

[idreadnought]

At max rpm the 56 blower produces 502 cfm, the 47 produces 452 cfm. That is not a huge difference. if the 56 blower was spinning at just 10% less speed then they would be even.

 

[Mikey P]

Ben where did you get those pictures?

Who's truck is that?

 

[Desk Jockey]

It's badass, I'd just have a sliding door to the cab so you can have access to the right side of the unit.

 

[BLewis]

Richard you mean a door just like this one right!
View attachment 2337

Comes in very handy

 

[Desk Jockey]

Yep, that nicer than the slider on our Spartan box but if push came to shove, I'd just unbolt and pull it since it's a slide in. Our Butler in a box has a slide door too but it's rarely ever used.

 

[Sapphire Savant]

It would be nice if . . . someone from ss sees this post I would like you to know that the new filter bag you are using sucks.

Sapphire does not use a filter "bag". Ours is Stainless Steel, and has the same hole size as used by most other manufacturers. We also offer a prefilter box for enhanced performance. It's also a great customer "assurance" marketing tool for repeat business, because they can see the dirt being removed from their floors through a clear window in the prefilter.

 

[Sapphire Savant]

Pro 1200 by White Magic had a horrible choke down. I dont know if SS ever fixed that or not.

Yes, it was pretty bad. That's was greatly reduced when Sapphire improved the White Magic version. It's a characteristic and necessity of the design but, as other have attested to on this thread, it doesn't inhibit the monster capability of that blower on the current version.

 

[knoxclean]

What is the cost of the new 1200's