Picked up CFR Pro400

[soluble85]

Hey everyone. I came across a CFR Pro 400 for a fairly low price. It has about 416 hours on it. It came with the wand, hose, upholstery tool.

I did a quick test and it seemed to work. However Im guessing the nozzle for the hand tool was plugged as nothing much sprayed out.

I will be testing the wand later today.

 

[Mikey P]

Any photos?

 

[soluble85]

I hooked up the CFR Pro 400 to test it on the living-room center carpet... The wand sprays beautifully and the whole machine and operation seemed to work fantastically! It was a lot faster to use than a Bissel Big Green was on the same carpet. I'm very impressed with this machine, and expect to keep it maintained and running well.

I called the manufacturer before the purchase, and requested prices on the suggested replacement parts... All are available except the vacuum motor brushes, which are suggested being replaced every 700 hours. Whole motors were available for about $190 though. If I find the specifications of the brushes, I'd only imagine that somewhere, the same or similar brushes would be available?

Worst case scenario, I modify the unit to accept one of the newer CFR vacuum motors... And then maybe add a water heater.

I took a few pictures. I'm very much considering repainting the aluminum side panels to give the machine a fresh look again, and reduce some of the anachronistic look if I were to use it professionally.

I removed the spray nozzle from the hand tool, which connected to a 1/4" quick connect, that the spray nozzle thread into. I'm assuming this is a standard spray nozzle? I must have put it down somewhere and haven't located it as of this posting. It seems like the newer CFR machines tout solution "atomizing" for faster recovery, which I'm not sure if that was a feature of this older model. The wand does seem to spray a pretty fine mist though. Also, these CFR's feature a solution "recovery" setup, that filters the solution and can be reused up to 7 times or so, which seems pretty unique. I'm so far very content with this purchase.

 

[dgardner]

Is this one of those machines that recirculate and reuse solution?

 

[soluble85]

Yes, it reuses the solution. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. More maintenance?

 

[dgardner]

I haven't used a recirculating machine myself, but I imagine since the filter can't possibly remove 100% of the recovered dirt you won't leave the carpet quite as clean as a fresh water rinse would.

And then there are times where you are extracting urine, feces, vomit, etc. I don't think reusing the recovered solution would be the greatest idea for such situations - IMO.

 

[soluble85]

Those are some good points. In the effort for the machine to conserve water and chemicals, it sort of limits itself more towards maintenance cleaning, rather than all-purpose cleaning. I'll find a use for the machine, and still don't regret acquiring it. I know it should certainly clean out my car better than my Bissell Big Green.

I can certainly begin to feel the effect of using better equipment, and what the appeal of a truck-mount setup would be. While using this equipment earlier, it was in no way comparable to the way I felt using a BigGreen.

I just took the panels off to inspect inside. It looks like it has a newer (replaced?) vacuum motor (Lamb Ametek) dated 2008. The pressure pump appears to be a re-branded Pumptec 205v. It looks the same, just anodized red. I'll make sure the pump is well kept. What sort of maintenance do the pumps need on the portables or truck-mounts that you use? Is every 500-750 hours a short time?

 

[Danny Strickland]

keeping extra filters on hand is key with those machines. I used to clean upholstery with one.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Probably still a good buy at $200.00 but I think you'll get far fewer complaints using it for commercial work that residential.

 

[soluble85]

keeping extra filters on hand is key with those machines. I used to clean upholstery with one.

Thanks for the advice Danny. I think I see what you mean. I tried to clean out the tank and filters afterwards, and it was a fairly slow process (first time cleaning out tank), and not getting some of the used water, or filter debris around the work area was a challenge.

This machine was setup with that disposable light cloth filter as seen in the picture which stained up a bit. Below, there is a very fine stainless steel mesh screen that is held down tightly over a grey donut type of rubber spacer a few inches tall, with the center filter support shaft running through the center. The shaft seems to have a water inlet hole near the bottom side.

There was quite a bit of fine mud-like debris on top of this donut from lack of previous cleaning which made it past the stainless mesh. I'm trying to access the Pump Protection filter, which in the schematics should be just inside or under that grey spacer ring. Do you know if this piece just lifts out, or is the pump protection filter accessed elsewhere? I tried pulling it with some decent force but it doesn't really budge. This design does not seem to be the same as shown in the schematics on the website. I'll try to take some pictures.

 

[Nate The Great]

I feel dirty just reading about it.... And don't listen to Danny.......

 

[soluble85]

I had a chance to use the machine a few more times. It's not that bad to clean out as I first thought. As long as a water hose is available to do a quick interior rinse of the tank, then there shouldn't be any issues. There are quite a few contours inside the main tank, so wiping that down without a hose-rinse makes it tedious... and fiddling with the non-original pre-filter setup (explained below) added extra time.

I decided not to take photos of the filter assembly since it is not the original design. Someone modified it to keep a different center stainless mesh filter in place (which had a broken off edge on one of the sealing surfaces, allowing semi-unfiltered water in. Which is probably a good reason why the hand tool nozzle is plugged. Around the stainless filter, they put a stainless wire cage, with a disposable cloth pre-filter seen in the above photos.
It took awhile for me to find a picture of the interior in the original setup. This is how the right filter, which can be quickly replaced and rinsed looks.

In either case, I'm growing more fond of the machine. I likely don't have to worry about any warranties at this point, so the modifications to the machine won't end here

I'm going to sandblast the outside aluminum and repaint the machine. Replace some of the stripped, mismatched panel screws with new stainless ones and make it looks fresh again. I did a quick visual inspection inside, and it seems like there should be enough room to mount a second 3-stage 5.7" vac motor, after I relocate one of the tank vacuum exhaust lines. Does anyone know how dual motors are normally connected? With both intakes joining with a Y-connector or something?

The regulator is due for a rebuild kit at 500 hours, but I may instead replace it with a 0-600 psi pumptec regulator for some performance enhancement. If that modification works well, later on I may try to figure out a on-demand water heater setup, which would likely have to be mounted at the back of the machine for space reasons.

 

[dgardner]

Suggest you use walnut hull media instead of sand unless you want a very matte finish.

Vacs are paired either in series (one feeding the other) or parallel (inlets wyed together) depending on personal preference. If parallel the motors should be the same model (matched performance).

Watch your amps - two vacs and a pump will probably require two cords. Any heater that will make any real difference will require its own cord as well.

A different reg won't do any better unless the pump is capable of the increased pressure - check your pump specs....

 

[Desk Jockey]

Suggest you use walnut hull media instead of sand unless you want a very matte finish.

Soda would be less aggressive and easily prepared it for primer.
Dan what did you shoot with walnut? I don't like that stuff, its pretty mean to the operator even.

 

[soluble85]

I picked up a bag of walnut hull blasting media yesterday. I haven't used it before, but just needed something to remove paint, and not really touch the aluminum so much.

 

[dgardner]

Soda would be less aggressive and easily prepared it for primer.
Dan what did you shoot with walnut? I don't like that stuff, its pretty mean to the operator even.

Just sheet metal panels. They make a bunch of grades, some as fine as flour. I didn't think of soda, haven't used it my self. I imagine it would be gentler even. The only downside is it (I believe) requires equipment specific to soda - correct?

 

[dgardner]

I picked up a bag of walnut hull blasting media yesterday. I haven't used it before, but just needed something to remove paint, and not really touch the aluminum so much.

Work your way up pressure-wise. At least the walnut media doesn't have the problem of silica inhalation that sand does!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Just sheet metal panels. They make a bunch of grades, some as fine as flour. I didn't think of soda, haven't used it my self. I imagine it would be gentler even. The only downside is it (I believe) requires equipment specific to soda - correct?

it comes in little beads but when impacted turns to powder.

We have Grand Northern unit, you can shoot a lot of different media with it. We generally shoot soda but have shot walnut on some concrete block removing paint.

 

[Imsamt]

Hello everyone,
I just purchased a cfr pro 400 with only a few hours on it. It looks brand new minus a few scuffs. It must have been put in a closet after the person realized it was broke. When I power on the unit, water sprays out of the pressure gauge glass. Is this an easy fix? How would I go about repairing it?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Old Coastie]

If you are handy, open the case and observe it with the parts exposed. If it is the guage, I’d just take it out and go to your local plumbing supply house to see if they have a close match. If not, contact the company and get one shipped.

While it is opened, closely inspect all hoses for stiffness and cracking and check all wires carefully for signs of chafing, overheating and abrasion on metal edges.

 

[Imsamt]

Thanks Old Coastie,
I did open it up and observed the water did come from the gauge. I didn’t realize a gauge can go bad. That’s why I went on this board to ask awesome people like yourself. I will purchase a new gauge and install it. Hopefully all will be well. Thanks again,
Sam

 

[Jimmy L]

Weird concept recirculating dirty water. They have been out for at least 25 years.

 

[Old Coastie]

You are welcome, Sam. But the awesome guys here are blue, or Mighty or Pemberton, or have melon heads or raise hogs. A couple are unorthodox, know their stuff or load their gear into taxis to go to work.

Me, I just used to be a ship’s pipefitter and happen to like fixing old equipment that cost a fraction of new.

 

[Cleanworks]

Weird concept recirculating dirty water. They have been out for at least 25 years.

Could never get my head around that. They say you can use the same water up to 7 times. If you were cleaning your own place, how comfortable are you when it's the 3rd or 4th time and you can see that the water is dirty. Makes "scampoo" look good by comparison