Sapphire 370ss heat issue

Joined
Oct 7, 2006
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18,834
Location
Benton KY USA
Name
Lee Stockwell
Conventional diverters involve a flap placed in the HOTTEST point of the exhaust stream, before any heat is drawn off. History has shown that to be problematic.

The Sapphire design puts the "valve", if you can call it that, at the END of the exchanger flow, and changed the design to spread that flow over a larger area, isolated from critical moving parts.
 

Sapphirerick

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2015
Messages
60
Location
Arizona
Name
Rick Aranda
Why did you guys choose the bimba over the manual diverter that’s on the prochem apex and Everest?
Great question Matt. The Bimba has proved to be very reliable and now quite predictable. On our Prochem Apex and Everest they are manually set which bodes well for simplicity but there were giant temperature swings resulting in unpredictable temperature settings. For those that want nothing but heat it's nice but we felt there was a demand for a more steady temperature control. The combination of the Bimba cylinder combined with our unique diverter/heat exchange design has combined to make a more controllable and predictable temperature control while at the same time not wasting fresh water to cool the cleaning solution.
 

BIG WOOD

MLPW
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
13,158
Location
Georgia
Name
Matt w.
Great question Matt. The Bimba has proved to be very reliable and now quite predictable. On our Prochem Apex and Everest they are manually set which bodes well for simplicity but there were giant temperature swings resulting in unpredictable temperature settings. For those that want nothing but heat it's nice but we felt there was a demand for a more steady temperature control. The combination of the Bimba cylinder combined with our unique diverter/heat exchange design has combined to make a more controllable and predictable temperature control while at the same time not wasting fresh water to cool the cleaning solution.
That sounds very well engineered, but there's one aspect that I feel Sapphire has overlooked. There are several homes that have very fine fabrics, linoleum, LVP that are sensitive to water that is over 140F. And I clean several wool rugs on site. That's the main reason I bought my HM Titan, and my Everest 650hp. Both have the option to completely turn off the heat to get cold tap water.
-The titan has two steps: Turn the manual bypass knob from hot to warm, then keep the electric switch off of heat mode.
-The Everest is a little more complex, but I found out how to do it.
1. Pull up the lever that gives you high pressure water, which bypasses the water off of the heat exchangers
2. Push the manual diverter on warm
3. Get an adapter that reduces the 3/8 fitting down to 1/4 to fit our solution hoses
4. reduce the water pressure down to desired pressure on the high pressure knob.

Why am I rambling about this? It's a feature that none of your 3 big slide in units have. You can turn the heat off, but the average "low" heat is 185f if the water isn't moving fast enough. I hope your team does more consideration on adding this feature to your future machines. Just start asking your current customer base if they feel that option is needed. Cold water is needed just as much as hot water.

Let me add that your machines from the Rage up to the Everest has the best suction compared to any other machine out there. I've worked several times recently with an older 370, and it made a boxxerXL and an older prochem Legend look amateur with how fast it recovered water. That I am truly impressed
 
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