Etm features....

[v-tech1]

Before we start the "ROUGHING-OUT" and "HARD ASSEMBLY" of the LIGHTNING/ETM-LIGHTNING 8.4/ETM, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FEATURES THAT YOU WOULD WANT ON AN ETM?

Look very forward to your feedback!

Thank-YOU!

v-tech1.

[mickybullets]

wow, its been a while since i been here.....

one of the features i'd like to see would be drop down legs, just like the workmaster etm's had.
maybe don or ken remembers these machines?

with this arrangement, there is no need of worry about distance. unlock the leg pins from the frame, drag machine out the van, legs drop down, lock in place, wheel etm anywhere needed!

apo/auto-fill or direct connect pump a must!

[locko-fabara]

well many things would be nice.
direct feed, auto pump out, small fresh water tank just in case there is not chance for a direct feed, or maybe is a very small job, and it will not make same to hook the direct feed.
amp gauge, circuit locator, hour meter, hose to check the level of the fresh water tank or recovery tank, able to replace things easy, remote start, floater kill power switch.

[v-tech1]

ETM Features Reply....

well many things would be nice.
direct feed, auto pump out, small fresh water tank just in case there is not chance for a direct feed, or maybe is a very small job, and it will not make same to hook the direct feed.
amp gauge, circuit locator, hour meter, hose to check the level of the fresh water tank or recovery tank, able to replace things easy, remote start, floater kill power switch.

Hey Jaime,

Thanks you for the in-put!

I could not agree more about having a Fresh Water Tank and have worked up a solution for that problem.

We will certainly be having the Direct Feed, APO, Hour Meter and possibly an analog Amp Meter.

We will also be including a Water-Level Indicator Hose for the Recovery Tank and Fresh Tank!

Remote Start and Shut-off is a feature that we may consider down-the-line for the HTM Model/s.

The Auto-Kill Float is an option we had strongly considered...to the point that we actually had some Float Switches and Relays sent to us. The problem is...how many Float Switches and at what cost would it take to "Kill" (4) Vacuum Motors and (2) Pumps? Your suggestions on an economical way to implement this feature are more than welcome, please advise!

Now the Circuit Indicator/Light is a subject that you and I have discussed before, and I think I'm still convinced that this is a feature that needs to somehow work "AT THE PLUG", not in the Van or Trailer. With a Portable...it's a great feature, because the Portable is there in front of you.

We feel that we have done a very good job at making things "easy-to-replace" thus far, but will certainly be working to improve on that as we go!

Thank-YOU again Jaime!

[v-tech1]

Reply to ETM Up-Grade Suggestion...

wow, its been a while since i been here.....

one of the features i'd like to see would be drop down legs, just like the workmaster etm's had.
maybe don or ken remembers these machines?

with this arrangement, there is no need of worry about distance. unlock the leg pins from the frame, drag machine out the van, legs drop down, lock in place, wheel etm anywhere needed!

apo/auto-fill or direct connect pump a must!

Micky,

Thanks for the reply/suggestion/s!

I personally think that's a Pretty Neat idea myself!

Our Fabricator had actually suggested it to me and I "shot him down"...only because of time and cost.

I'm sure that it can/could be done affordably, it's just that we are not in the position to try such things at this time because of the time constraints put on us by the un-expected amount of orders.

As we continue to grow...this is a feature that we will certainly keep in mind!

Thank-YOU again Mickster!

[Will Reed]

Just to clarify the Lightning is the ETM only version of the Hurricane? Not the 2nd gen ETM you are working on?

[v-tech1]

Clarification....

Just to clarify the Lightning is the ETM only version of the Hurricane? Not the 2nd gen ETM you are working on?

Will,

Great question!

I wanted to give the ETMs more of their "own identity", if you will...to HOPEFULLY make it easier for people to differentiate the various equipment.

As you know, we have (2) HTM Models: The CAT-5 HURRICANE/HTM (5.7 HI-PERFORMANCE ELCETRO MOTORS.) or the TYPHOON/HTM (AMETEK 8.4 MOTORS.)

The ETMs were going to have the same designation, i.e. (1) ETM would have been a CAT-5 HURRICANE/ETM and the other a TYPHOON/ETM.

So, in an effort to put more separation and reduce confusion between the ETM and HTM line-up...I changed the names of the ETMs to LIGHTNING/ETM and the LIGHTNING 8.4/ETM.

To me, LIGHTNING is a great name to associate with most ELECTRIC apparatus.

Hope that clears things up.

Thank-YOU again Will!

v-tech1.

[Will Reed]

Will reiterate some of the things locko said and some of my own. I know that when dealing with a corded machine we are limited in terms of power and features and that we can't always get everything that we want.

1. Suction. If a customer is looking at an ETM they are going to want performance that they can't get with ANY of the portables out there. And/or they want near gas TM like performance. A gas TM cleaner will consider an ETM if he isn't giving up a lot of performance by going ETM.

2. Circuit locator. I imagine this unit will be 3 or 4 cord unit or one 220V cold. The user will need to know if any of the cords are on the same circuit.

3. A Tiered vacuum system in that you don't need to use all 3-4 cords for the system. For those times the user simply cannot or does not want to run more then 2 cords allow the unit to run off 2 cords and have the 3-4 cord add additional power/features to the system.

4. Heat. Always the achilles heel of any electric system. Adding a little giant seems effective but adds another 1.2K to the price tag. Finding a way for a user to get water that is at least hot enough to clean well without having to spend the money on a LG heater with the lightning would win a lot of friends. Right now a propane heater is near standard for electric based cleaners that don't use a direct feed.

5. Some of the common TM features. APO, chemical feed, defoamer feed, hour meter, flood pumper, etc.

I will think of more later, got to go.

[Jan Sullins]

Vacuum requirments for a true ETM.

I have seen several different ratings for the Lamb Ametek 8.4 2 stage. I haved had
either verbal or many emails with two individuals who are now using them in their
set. An Electronic Truckmount Ideally should be able to run everything on 2 residential
or commerical 120 volt electrical circuits. The good news about the 8.4 2 stages is they
only require a maximum of 13.75 amp. The other good news of course is their performance in both excellent lift and awesome CFMS. Rated at 146" H2O Lift and
142 CFMs each. We know of course that as centrifigul vacuum motors work hard harder
they use less amps. For carpet cleaning all we need is a 500 psi 1.8 gpm solution pump.
In reality we usually do not need that much pressure or flow when cleaning capets.
Likley it would require either a 1/3HP or 1/2HP 1725 RPM electric motor to drive it. Also
it should have an excellent pump out. I am no expert with these but have heard that
pumps that handle more trash or superior. As for heat many options are out their for that. What one person feels is adequate heat is often different than another. So in my opinion a 2HT little Giant 65000 btu propane heater will provide up to 210 degrees solution
tempatures. Naturally getting free heat from vacuum motors and their are other possiblities as well. If one is confronted with a situation where he will need more vacuum
that 2 8.4s one could also have on board a 3rd 8.4 vac motor which would require another 15 amp circuit. I have myself run a Jaguar 6.6 which as most of you know has
2 6.6 Lamb Ametek Vacuum motors. I also posses an inline power booster that has another 6.6 2 stage vac motor. At 200 feet you have all the vacuum you need . When you add the Power Booster then the wand is roaring with air flowing through the wands slot.
I am sure I can reach at least 275 feet with all 3 motors but do not need the Power Booster until I have reached at least 200 feet. The 8.4 2 stages are quite a bit more powerful.
The Electro MFG vacuum motors are truly great and we should continue to offer packages
that use them. For one thing they are wonderful to deal with . The other is in my testing no one else makes as good 5.7 vacuum motors as they do. Like with the Hybrid that is already on the market with its vacuum configuration we call "direct drive" is certainly hard to beat. But we all know it is a hybrid. I am sure we can create another true ETM using their vac motors . People like options and want different features.

For the ETMs in general . Those we are planning on running of customers electricity must
be able to that easily. Nothing more irritating than popping circuits. This is what is in my
mind constantly when thinking about a true 120 volt ETM. When one is confronted with
situatins where more than 200 feet of vac hose is need then a third cord is necessary.
We all know that in a great majority of the time we do not need more than 150 feet of hose.

respectfully
Jan Sullins
American Kleen Pro

[locko-fabara]

theses are my though:
when you need to do tile and grout, you dont need to have that much lift, so cfm is what is important here. Now just right there you can save one cord, how? using a high cfm motor and low lift motor, and there is one on the market with 300 cfm and around 70 in of lift, and the same cord the pump out, so right there you have under 20 amps
now the second cord could be another pump, like the otter, or whatever, that can provide 1000 psi or a little more.
now heat, well that is different, maybe from a diesel heater or maybe little giant. but in this case i would get a diesel heater. will be hotter, only use around 3 to 5 amps, an you can use it for power washing also.
So those are my ideas to do tile a grout with a etm.

[Donald]

The future of truckmounted carpet cleaning

You will find that standard series vacuum situation will not produce enough heat to use a vacuum heat exchanger. The vacuum heat exchanger only works because of the 2 series pair set up. The air that is heated by the first vacuum motor gets boosted by the second vacuum motor in order to get the air temp to the 160 to 180+ F degree range. I am sure you could place a heater on series vacuum motors and get some results but the problem lies with $$ VS performance then. Do I want to spend and extra $500 on a machine that has vacuum heaters on it and only get 10 degrees out of it? The best air to water heat transfer takes place with copper and aluminum heaters. This in turn means low pressure or "before the pump" heaters. This in turn means that the machine has to be designed with the idea that the water will be under 145 degrees (for the most part.) A stainless steel heater could be build but that drives the price up and the performance down since stainless steel does not transfer heat as well from the air to water. The other thing is if you want a machine that will run on two power cords, you might as well just take it in. The Goliath machine was designed only because we would get daily calls on people asking "I want a portable machine that I can leave in the truck." As you know a standard 6 stage portable leaves the carpet a little too wet to do that. The #1 reason a customer will never use you again is the carpet was wet the next day. The idea with 4 vacuum motors is to provide the best possible dry times and still not be too crazy with 6, 7, or 8 power cords. From 1981 through 2001 I myself have a truck mount to drew about 55 amps for the vacuum so I would run this on a dryer cord plug and then just through the 5th cord to the porch, garage or just inside the front door. If I had a job site that did not have a 220 volt plug I would just turn on the generator and clean that way. I could have opted for less vacuum and ran the machine with 2 vacuum motors instead of 4, but did not want to compromise dry time with gasoline purchase. You will find that a 55 amp draw vacuum system is super impressive and will rival a roots 45 or tuthill 4005 vacuum system.

We all look forward the the V-Tech next generation truckmount with four 8.4 vacs, and 1500 psi, vacuum heaters, 20+ Hp generator with exhaust heater system. It is on the drawing board now and will be the best Hybrid / electric truckmount on the market.

Links:
tuthill 4005

http://www.steam-brite.com/tuthill-competitor-blower-4005-p-5603.html

Goliath

http://www.steam-brite.com/shazaam-goliath-quad-42vacs-cleaining-with-14000-heater-auto-fill-flood-pumper-hose-wand-more-p-10273.html

V-Tech Products

http://www.steam-brite.com/velocity-technologies-m-401.html

[v-tech1]

Thanks!

Thank-YOU ALL for your thoughts and replies!

I'm suddenly not feeling so well...at all, so please forgive me for delaying a response, but I mean it when I say that really do APPRECIATE the participation here and HOPE that EVERYONE is now benefiting from it instead of just myself!

Albert.