My unbiased review of the Rotovac 360i.

[adamh]

My unbiased review of the Rotovac 360i.

Unlike Mike, I don’t get paid $1896 for each RV sold from this board so you can trust my opinion.

I have had every Rotary machine. Slow speed RX, high speed RX, (new head and old head) the original Rotovac and the RDM.

The RX is great, but heavy and big. I think it over wets the carpet. It does clean well.

The RDM is built cheap and only cleans the tops of the fibers.

The original Rotovac could be a great machine if the guys at RV would stop thinking portable and start thinking TM. It needs a bigger motor and the vac is sooooo choked down its silly. I think the original RV could really be something if they would think out of the box.

RV360i
First off it is a complete POS on commercial carpet. I hate it! The brush head doesn’t help and it actually drags the wimpy motor down to a stop. (yes even if its pretreated really well.! ) It is a NO GO for commercial. IMHO And Yes I tried all different speeds. If there is any uneven areas to the floor the RV will jump all over the place.

I think a little more powerful motor would be smart.

On residential carpet it is a dream. This thing will clean like crazy. I haven’t dragged out the 175 since I bought the RV. If you are a fast cleaner you will not like the RV 360i, but if you like very thorough cleaning then the RV is great. It cleans well and dries the carpet fast. You do need to move it in a figure 8 pattern so it doesn't have streaks. The RX and RDM can do the same thing. They all should be moved in a figure 8 pattern. IMO

It will dig more crud and sand out of the carpet than anything I have ever used. My parents live on a farm. My father never in his life has wiped his shoes and he tracks in pounds of sand from outside. The living room has always been a job to clean. It doesn’t matter how much I pre vac, scrub with a 175, then clean and clean and clean, sand particles will fly out of the entrance area when I groom the carpet. After cleaning with the RV I could groom and groom and could not get sand anywhere. My filter was completely full of sand.

Nothing digs deeper than the RV. It is well worth the money for residential. John Olsen is great to work with and will give you a great deal. ( he has them on sale right now for $1000) JK Give him a call!! He He

So to recap The RV 360i is GREAT on residential, SUCKS for commercial. Its not fast but cleans and dries the carpet very well. After doing a nasty job with the RV you are not worn out. That is my favorite part.

 

[Mikey P]

Yep.



but dont give up on all commercial Adam.

We had it work great many times when there is some weight to the pile and the sub floor is FLAT

 

[Guest]

The RDM is built cheap and only cleans the tops of the fibers.

I agree, the RDM isn't build Ford tough, but I disagree that it only cleans the tops. It cleans better than a wand, and flushes and sucks crap out of the carpet like crazy. My RDM is starting to show wear after 2 years, and I will probably buy the 360i, with the Mikey improvements.

 

[Nate The Great]

I've reviewed and played with the new 360i at Jondon in Seattle during SFS. It has nicer improvements over the earlier model which I have.

Scott Noble did an excellent job improving his OG Rotovac twin head. He put a 2" tube, with widened vac slots, better Y instead of the stupid T at the bottom and widened the port coming off the vac head to the tube. He said he talked with Rotovac about the modded and it fell on deaf ears. He also said because of the improvements he made, he doesn't need to do dry passes which in itself is motivation to mod the 2 I got.

 

[Mikey P]

he doesn't need to do dry passes

so he runs.1 flow?


no dry passes....I call BS!

 

[steve frasier]

Mikey, if it wasn't for your workers, would you use it if you were by yourself

I will give it a look at Connections but want something for commercial. Especially something that contains the steam vapor. Was RXing the carp out of some nasty commercial and couldn't see the other side of a 900 sq. ft. room

Can't image that chemical filled steam is the greatest thing for me

 

[Mikey P]

Mikey, if it wasn't for your workers, would you use it if you were by yourself

You bet, great way to help stand out form the mundane wanding crowd.


When was the last time you stole a job from a guy who uses a RE?

 

[Mike Draper]

the only commercial carpet that i use my 360i on is the carpet squares. it does an awesome job, about 30% slower than the wand, so i ask for a higher price, still though, nothing will beat it. if i find some commercial carpet with pad under it, i may use the 360, but it depends on the fiber and the way the nap lays.