Wannabe needs direction on portable extractors

Quinn

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Has anyone got advice on the Roto Vac, or the Steamin Demon? I have searched online for different portables. What is best PSI and water lift to use on residential or commercial.
 

Bob Foster

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Forget the Steamin Deamon.

Look at the Mytee website at a 1003. Also buy a Sebo duo brush for scrubbing. (available used cheap on eBay)

Good luck. Its hard work and you won't get rich quick but you can if you work hard and are smart about it.
 

FLYERMAN

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PSI? 400 to 500.

Lift? It is so subjective. Or in other words it depends on how long and what length hose you're going to run. Now if you get a portable capable of 500 psi it will most likely come with the right lift.

Roto Vac and Steamon Deamon? I wouldn't buy either one. Between the expense of purchase and the cost of repairs and or the limitations in those two tools I will never have one of either.
 

Quinn

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Thank you for the info. I realize that cleaners who use portables are called hacks, but I don't have the money to get a truck mount yet. Now is the psi the amount of pressure applied into the carpet? And the cfm is the amount extracted? If I am correct a portable has how much cfm, and a truck mount has how much cfm? I have heard of 150" lift, so would that be the cfm. And what is a truck mount lift in inches? Also heard the Mytee m5 is really good.
 
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"Lift" is the negative pressure of the vacuum, and its counterpart CFM (cubic feet per minute) is a measure of air SPEED. You need both in adequate amounts at the same time.

Sales literature or vac specs typically list each separately, when in fact those numbers don't mean ANYTHING when the other number is zero.

If a portable had 200cfm AND 150" of waterlift at the same time it would be.....

...a truckmount.
 

Quinn

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How do you find out the cfm and air lift at the same time, instead of them listing them seperately. Is any portable close to a truck mount? I also read about 1.45 gal of cfm per minute with a 12 gal tank. That sounds like you would have to fill the bucket about every 7 minutes? I must be missing something!
 

Quinn

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What are your opinions of The Sandia which has 170" lift 100 to 500 psi- 100 cfm Two 12 gal tanks
 

Bob Foster

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Off brand to most of the market.

Look for a good 1003 Mytee with no heat. Lots of used ones out there.

Without exaggeration with good used Mytee and a Sebo, wand upholstery tool and a vacuum and a few odds and ends you can be in business with this decent equipment for under $2500.
 

Dolly Llama

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doesn't much matter ..a porty is a porty
don't over think it, cause they all claim whoopty-doo numbers that don't add up to much as a practical matter.

the "porty shootout" at MF 5(?) illustrated that in spades .
the porty everyone likes to dog here recovered as much or more than the "board de jour" favorite.
(a whoopty-doo hi-performance Mytee)

the porty that had the highest numbers on paper, (they call it TruckForce or sump'um like that) came in last...go figger

scrape up a coupe grand and just buy one in that price range ..cause it won't matter much.
No need to spend much more either..cause the $4000 ones ain't no better than the $2000 ones

look for features like ;
clamshell design (for easy access "flip back" repairs)
a couple 2 stage vacs
dump valve at 5 gal bucket height
at least a 10 gal solution tank
Large rear wheels to dolly around and up steps when needed
a 200-350 psi pump

there's a dozen on the market like that


..L.T.A.
 

roro

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What Larry said and then look to add
1 an in-line heater
2. an auto-fill & in line pump-out
3. an in-line booster

roro
 

jcooper

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We got our porty years ago used for about 1200-1500$ Call local suppliers and ask about used machines.
 
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Don't take it personal. Established guys are rough on the newbies. The fact is, THEY were the newbies not long ago.

Use your installation experience to help build your business.
 

Quinn

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Lee Stockwell said:
Don't take it personal. Established guys are rough on the newbies. The fact is, THEY were the newbies not long ago.

Use your installation experience to help build your business.
Yea, I guess i just needed an ass for my first day of the new year. He's not being hard. He thinks he is a big shot. He's been sucking up to much urine out of carpet, unfortunately he forgot to use his equiptment to do this. Everybody else was very polite and gave me good advice. I just don't care for the hacks who use their lips for extraction. That is what a true hack is.
 

Ken Snow

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Good for you Quinn, don't take anybody's crap and you'll fit in great here. Welcome to the business!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
 

ruff

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Erskine Allin said:
doesn't much matter ..a porty is a porty
don't over think it, cause they all claim whoopty-doo numbers that don't add up to much as a practical matter.

the "porty shootout" at MF 5(?) illustrated that in spades .
the porty everyone likes to dog here recovered as much or more than the "board de jour" favorite.
(a whoopty-doo hi-performance Mytee)

the porty that had the highest numbers on paper, (they call it TruckForce or sump'um like that) came in last...go figger

scrape up a coupe grand and just buy one in that price range ..cause it won't matter much.
No need to spend much more either..cause the $4000 ones ain't no better than the $2000 ones

look for features like ;
clamshell design (for easy access "flip back" repairs)
a couple 2 stage vacs
dump valve at 5 gal bucket height
at least a 10 gal solution tank
Large rear wheels to dolly around and up steps when needed
a 200-350 psi pump

there's a dozen on the market like that


..L.T.A.

Larry is partially right.
I would get a machine with:
2x 3stage vacuums.
And a 2" vacuum hose opening. It makes a big difference.
And a 400-500 psi pump.
And larger solution and recovery tanks if most of your jobs have an elevator, will be a plus. Unless you are going to use automatic fill/dump, than tank size will not
matter.
From what I have seen so far, Mytee makes competitively priced well made machines.

And....what Ken said, you may already fit in with the rest of them................ :p
 

FredC

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Lee Stockwell said:
"Lift" is the negative pressure of the vacuum, and its counterpart CFM (cubic feet per minute) is a measure of air SPEED.



I deleted my first post on this....as I have a habit of doing because I really couldn't care less.....especially since he is looking for porties........and anytime I've mentioned velocity on this forum people acted like I made up some new f'n word or something


but the CFM is NOT a measure of speed. It is a measure of volumetric capacity.....if you even want to attribute a definition

The speed of the airflow will vary....... based on the volume of the system

as an example 200CFM will move faster though 2" than it will 2.5" hose ................

this is why you see a negative effect with larger (2.5") hoses/plumbing connected to smaller blowers....like a 36/33.......the velocity of the air moving throughout the system has decreased to the point that it is no longer sufficient to keep the recovered solution suspended in the air stream.......so they will experience Gonorrhea (drip) ATM ...




and thats all I have to say about that.........
 
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Ok, I agree with the way that hair was split. "Speed" versus "volume per time" of air.

Bane Clene coined a term: "air slot velocity" to get around the crappy CFM of their unit (<80cfm). Supposedly with the wand 95% blocked they advertised "21,000fpm" air slot velocity.

In either case if the air/water mix recovered thru the vac hose doesn't move fast enough some of the water gets left behind or pools in the hose. Especially notice that when pulling up hill, or dealing with a flood situation.

When I spoke of "speed" I wasn't implying any particular velocity, but how quickly a given volume of air moves thru the system. All other factors held equal, more cfm means stuff has to move faster.
 

Quinn

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Ken Snow said:
Good for you Quinn, don't take anybody's crap and you'll fit in great here. Welcome to the business!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Thankyou. I consider that a compliment coming from you. I see you have multiple trucks, and looks like you run a terrific business. I like your profile of your business and the amount of years you have been at it. Hope most pro's here are more like you.
 

Quinn

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So far my conclusion from advice received is I am leanin toward the Mytee, not sure which model but I want 400 to 500 psi at least 150 cfm, 2' hose fitting. I want model with heat, as I feel this is important for heavy traffic areas. Hopefully auto fill and dump. Am I on the right track? I would also appreciate any info on wands. Is the Evolution wand and good? I don't mind criticism as long at it is constructive. PS. I feel the Ninja is a little too pricy, but the mytee is close to any others. But I hear a lot of you cleaners favor the mytee. I hear the evolution wand extracts more water than standard wand. But I don't know what to believe about that. Anyone use it and like it?
 

Dolly Llama

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Doran, have you ever cleaned any carpets before??

One thing you should be aware of, the more "things" on a porty, the more electric they require .
Start adding all the bells a whistles, dual 3 stage vacs, higher pressure pumps, heaters and pump outs, and you'll become familiar with your customer's breaker box...cause you will trip breakers from time to time.

where the hell is Wilbur at anyway??
You might not know him, Doran, but Willy is a senior member here.
He's a seasoned pro that uses portys exclusively due to the market he services.

he knows portys and what the "best" features are from many years of "real world" practical experience. .
Most all of us are TM guys and would rather have sharp sticks poked in our eyes than have to use a porty.
That's NO KNOCK on porty users ....just reality

send Willy a PM and tell him, "meAt" said to get his mOnkey bUtt involved in this thread


..L.T.A.
 

ruff

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Heat is important, however unless you are willing to connect a box (Mytee has one) to the 220 outlet (Washer Dryer/maybe oven) you will trip circuits.
You can always add heaters, vac boosters etc; however it will also take extra time. And the more things you move the higher the chance that some damage will happen.

Are you planning on charging premium prices to justify the extra work? Will your market bear it?

If not, I would compromise on heat for higher PSI and better recovery (2x 3 stage, high efficiency motors.) You will still be able to do great work and less likely to trip or overload the circuits.

Most here do not think very highly of the Evolution. I used it only once for five minutes and did not like it (not long enough to form a valid opinion.)

As per Willy's involvement, to quote the man: "His bum still hurts, since he went to the Fred Boyle academy for young boys." :p :p

P.S. Where the hack is Harper?
 

Willy P

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Jeebus Larry- I gotta make hay while the sun is a shinin'. And it's the REAL steelhead season, when true fisherman work their art.
Geez Doran, where to start. Look for a 500 psi, 2 three stage vacs. the numbers will confuse you, but they all squirt and suck - look at customer service. Ed Valentine gets a rough ride around here, but when I lost everything in a fire, he gave me a smokin' deal on some replacement equipment and some of the best after care and service I've ever seen in my years in the business. I inherited a new Ninja Warrior and found exactly the opposite with Century 400/Prochem/K'archer,, both with machinery and chemicals. I've never bought from John at Mytee, but it seems he has great after service as well. I do like John's new machine with the General pump and bad ass vax, but that's not in the cards right now.
Don't bother with internal heat. It cooks the other components up quickly. Instead, look at the Kleenrite Heatrite and go for the 2 corder. An AW29 wand or equivalent clone works great, try downsizing the jets to a 3 flow for more impact and faster dry times, as well if you use an inline heater you'll get a good long blast of hot.
Pumptec pumps will last a year under heavy service. They need to be rebuilt every 500 hours, you can't use powder detergents and I'm not a big fan. However they do have low amp draw. Aluminum is not a good choce for a pump head, but it is what it is.
You'll always get 2 good circuits in the kitchen, one on the wall, usually a 20 amp and 15 on the stove. Washing machines are normally a separate circuit as well.
Get a system to scrub the carpets - it makes those traffic areas just that much better for the extra work. Buy a good quality vacuum - very important.
We've got a huge high rise area here and I focus on that, but I do lots of ground level as well. My customers, most of whom came by referral, don't give a fat rat's ass about my equipment, they just want a good clean.

Hope that helps, if there's anything I can answer or help with, PM me.
 

Willy P

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Ofer Kolton said:
)

As per Willy's involvement, to quote the man: "His bum still hurts, since he went to the Fred Boyle academy for young boys." :p :p

P.S. Where the hack is Harper?

I became a Protestant right after that.
 

ruff

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Willy P said:
[quote="Ofer Kolton":221ytjvl])

As per Willy's involvement, to quote the man: "His bum still hurts, since he went to the Fred Boyle academy for young boys." :p :p

P.S. Where the hack is Harper?

I became a Protestant right after that.[/quote:221ytjvl]

And understandably so, if I may add :p
 

Quinn

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OK. I guess I am making it more complicated than it has to be. Now I am not even sure if I neeed the all mighty Mytee either. Maybe something with a decent warranty would be cool, or just finding a used one. And maybe I am making too much of a big deal about having the heat. I'm so confused! Any other models anyone likes such as galaxie orwhatever?
 

Quinn

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OK. I guess I am making it more complicated than it has to be. Now I am not even sure if I neeed the all mighty Mytee either. Maybe something with a decent warranty would be cool, or just finding a used one. And maybe I am making too much of a big deal about having the heat. I'm so confused! Any other models anyone likes such as galaxie orwhatever?
 

BraveHeart

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Get the Mytee as they have revised there M5 and they call it something else i forget the new name. But tell them you want the new model M5 DS or called the m5 Derson Special. Its the most powerful porty available bar none.
 

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