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Pro's and cons to using steel coiled heaters pressure washing heaters for cleaning carpets:
Advantages are: better heat, faster heat, less money used to produce the same heat than propane. Safer than propane. Melts gum off carpet without chemicals. Proven long lasting technology from the pressure washing industry. Can operate bio-diesel that can be made from recycled cooking oil. Use less chemicals to clean carpets and requires less prescrubbing to get carpets clean. Faster more aggressive cleaning. You will have the ability to provide a wider range of cleaning services.
Disadvantages: Cost more than operating heat exchanger models. If you stick to burning cheaper diesel - it stinks like tarring a roof while the use of kerosene is quite odorless. Can produce a small amount a rust in the water from the steel coil and fittings at the start up.
In the early 90's I used to do a lot or court case resolution work as an expert witness for floor covering cases (IICRC certified as carpet installer, master cleaner, master restoration tech, and senior claim inspector and many other certifications). One of the things I used to have happen is a customer would purchase some polypropylene fiber and wander why this fiber would mat, crush, attract dirt and oil and was so hard to clean as well as wick all the dirt back up from the backing after cleaning. This would cause a law suit to be filed because many times their might be ten's of thousands of yards of carpeting involved in the law suit. Many times my findings would be if you purchase a fiber, then it is going to perform with those fiber specifications. In other words, the consumer does not have the right to complain about how a material performs if they chose that fiber to be installed on their floor and it is performing within those normal parameters for that fiber.
In conclusion if a person purchases a truckmount with a steel coil that contains iron, it is going to perform within its normal operational specifications. This means it is going to make rust on the inside of the coils. If he did not want rust, he would need to consider an different machine, install a filter (about $20 to $150), or pre-flush the coil and the start of every job. This is not a factory defect, rather a customer not understanding his equipment. The rust is not a big deal. I used a steel coiled pressure washer for carpet cleaning for over 10 years and it never bothered me even a little bit. If you use a formulated Flush or rise aid product the rust gets dissolved in the water an it is usually not noticeable. If you use alkaline products in the water the mineral and rust issue will become more noticeable.
All truckmounts have hoses crimped with steel ends. These ends are from the hydraulic industry and originally used for oil fluid transfer and pressure. The oil would prevent rust from developing because it would displace water or had no water in the fluid. Brass is too soft and cannot hold the hose ends from flying off. Stainless steel cost more than twice as much so most people will not pay for this service. This makes it impossible to have a 100% rust or deposit free system. Again you will find if you use a formulated rinse or flush agent these deposits are minimized and if you use alkaline cleaners they will get much worse.
So if all truckmounts have to deal with these deposits, how much more would it cost to make a truly rust /deposit free machine? All stainless steel machine, hoses, heater, ... easily double. Very few people have that much extra money laying around so something that is truly a non issue. The use of steel does not affect the performance of the cleaning functionality of the equipment.
Please note that just because a pressure washer has a stainless steel outer jacket, does not mean that the coils that heat the water are stainless steel too.
Links:
Synergistic Cleaning system
High pressure filter
Dragon Truckmounted carpet cleaning machine
Dragon Heater
Hydrotech Steamer
NorthStar 157309
Rinse Aids for carpet cleaning
Advantages are: better heat, faster heat, less money used to produce the same heat than propane. Safer than propane. Melts gum off carpet without chemicals. Proven long lasting technology from the pressure washing industry. Can operate bio-diesel that can be made from recycled cooking oil. Use less chemicals to clean carpets and requires less prescrubbing to get carpets clean. Faster more aggressive cleaning. You will have the ability to provide a wider range of cleaning services.
Disadvantages: Cost more than operating heat exchanger models. If you stick to burning cheaper diesel - it stinks like tarring a roof while the use of kerosene is quite odorless. Can produce a small amount a rust in the water from the steel coil and fittings at the start up.
In the early 90's I used to do a lot or court case resolution work as an expert witness for floor covering cases (IICRC certified as carpet installer, master cleaner, master restoration tech, and senior claim inspector and many other certifications). One of the things I used to have happen is a customer would purchase some polypropylene fiber and wander why this fiber would mat, crush, attract dirt and oil and was so hard to clean as well as wick all the dirt back up from the backing after cleaning. This would cause a law suit to be filed because many times their might be ten's of thousands of yards of carpeting involved in the law suit. Many times my findings would be if you purchase a fiber, then it is going to perform with those fiber specifications. In other words, the consumer does not have the right to complain about how a material performs if they chose that fiber to be installed on their floor and it is performing within those normal parameters for that fiber.
In conclusion if a person purchases a truckmount with a steel coil that contains iron, it is going to perform within its normal operational specifications. This means it is going to make rust on the inside of the coils. If he did not want rust, he would need to consider an different machine, install a filter (about $20 to $150), or pre-flush the coil and the start of every job. This is not a factory defect, rather a customer not understanding his equipment. The rust is not a big deal. I used a steel coiled pressure washer for carpet cleaning for over 10 years and it never bothered me even a little bit. If you use a formulated Flush or rise aid product the rust gets dissolved in the water an it is usually not noticeable. If you use alkaline products in the water the mineral and rust issue will become more noticeable.
All truckmounts have hoses crimped with steel ends. These ends are from the hydraulic industry and originally used for oil fluid transfer and pressure. The oil would prevent rust from developing because it would displace water or had no water in the fluid. Brass is too soft and cannot hold the hose ends from flying off. Stainless steel cost more than twice as much so most people will not pay for this service. This makes it impossible to have a 100% rust or deposit free system. Again you will find if you use a formulated rinse or flush agent these deposits are minimized and if you use alkaline cleaners they will get much worse.
So if all truckmounts have to deal with these deposits, how much more would it cost to make a truly rust /deposit free machine? All stainless steel machine, hoses, heater, ... easily double. Very few people have that much extra money laying around so something that is truly a non issue. The use of steel does not affect the performance of the cleaning functionality of the equipment.
Please note that just because a pressure washer has a stainless steel outer jacket, does not mean that the coils that heat the water are stainless steel too.
Links:
Synergistic Cleaning system
High pressure filter
Dragon Truckmounted carpet cleaning machine
Dragon Heater
Hydrotech Steamer
NorthStar 157309
Rinse Aids for carpet cleaning