Water pressure with the DriMaster hand tool.

[Donald]

Question: I took the clean storm out to my driveway today and connected the outside hose to the Direct Connect, connected the vacuum hose to the extractor and then also to the DriMaster Upholstery tool, and connected the psi hose to the extractor and Drimaster. Turned on the garden hose faucet, then powered on the Extractor Pump, then the Vac and let it run for about 5-7 minutes. The extractor was showing 200 psi so I tried to crank it up to 300 but the gauge did not move, and there was really no water even near the drimaster tool. I opened up the extractor while it was running to inspect for any leaks and to my surprise there was not a drop of water in the unit....very strange after Friday's initial experience where there was water in the electrical tank.
I'm still not sure why I don't seem to get any water at the drimaster head, and can only get it to 200 psi instead of the 300 psi it's rated for. I'm wondering if there is a problem with using the 50' vacuum hose and attaching it to the drimaster tool which has probably another 10' of vacuum hose attached to it, making the total about 60'.
when I turned off the extractor I noticed the water then started to bubble/flow out of the drimaster head...so, I turned off the main water source at the garden hose.
please pass along any thoughts you have for what I have described above...right now, the drimaster tool does not appear to be functional, but at least I'm not seeing the water in the electrical tank anymore...not sure why that would have occured and now is not.
thanks,
Barry

Answer: To begin with you can test the pump by pressure feeding it with building pressure, then see if it reaches 300 psi by turning the pump on and turning the water flow off at the tool and or hose. Please set the regulator to 300 psi or less. Then turn the water on at the tool and the pressure very well might drop based on the flow rate of the tool in use. For example if I have an open flow hose the pump would fall to 0 psi, while and tiny jet would be 300 psi, and even still a medium flow size jet might only be 200 psi.
Hopefully that makes sense. This is like you turning on your garden hose that is fed with 75 psi from the building. At an open flow hose the water spills out at zero psi (or close to it). Then as you place your thumb over the end of the garden hose you develop back pressure behind your thumb and in the hose and as the water escapes it shoots farther across the yard. The DriMaster tool is jet-less and the water flows through the water slot and not a jet so I do not suppose the machine would maintain 300 psi.
It is not uncommon for brand new hoses or even brass quick connects to have factory trash in them. When factories assemble hoses, they do not rinse them our or even blow them out. The just assemble them. This means that a small percentage of brand new hoses might not work but they can always be cleaned. This is a process of elimination. You can easily determine what is preventing the water flow by installing a blank male QD into the female or remove the female off the hose to see if water comes out. Please note the DriMaster tool also have a water filter on it that might need to be cleaned.
Please note that pressure is exerted equally in all directions. This means that if you clean at 10 ft @ 200 psi you would clean at 200 psi at 100 ft. Very little pressure drop is experienced with water hose length. Carpet cleaner only experience mostly vacuum and temperature loss with increased hose length.
The owners manual on servicing this tool http://www.steam-brite.com/hydramast...nd-p-5713.html

[TigerJ]

Clean Storm 6 gallon extractor and Drimaster Tool functionality issue

Question: I took the clean storm out to my driveway today and connected the outside hose to the Direct Connect, connected the vacuum hose to the extractor and then also to the DriMaster Upholstery tool, and connected the psi hose to the extractor and Drimaster. Turned on the garden hose faucet, then powered on the Extractor Pump, then the Vac and let it run for about 5-7 minutes. The extractor was showing 200 psi so I tried to crank it up to 300 but the gauge did not move, and there was really no water even near the drimaster tool. I opened up the extractor while it was running to inspect for any leaks and to my surprise there was not a drop of water in the unit....very strange after Friday's initial experience where there was water in the electrical tank.
I'm still not sure why I don't seem to get any water at the drimaster head, and can only get it to 200 psi instead of the 300 psi it's rated for. I'm wondering if there is a problem with using the 50' vacuum hose and attaching it to the drimaster tool which has probably another 10' of vacuum hose attached to it, making the total about 60'.
when I turned off the extractor I noticed the water then started to bubble/flow out of the drimaster head...so, I turned off the main water source at the garden hose.
please pass along any thoughts you have for what I have described above...right now, the drimaster tool does not appear to be functional, but at least I'm not seeing the water in the electrical tank anymore...not sure why that would have occured and now is not.
thanks,
Barry

Answer: To begin with you can test the pump by pressure feeding it with building pressure, then see if it reaches 300 psi by turning the pump on and turning the water flow off at the tool and or hose. Please set the regulator to 300 psi or less. Then turn the water on at the tool and the pressure very well might drop based on the flow rate of the tool in use. For example if I have an open flow hose the pump would fall to 0 psi, while and tiny jet would be 300 psi, and even still a medium flow size jet might only be 200 psi.
Hopefully that makes sense. This is like you turning on your garden hose that is fed with 75 psi from the building. At an open flow hose the water spills out at zero psi (or close to it). Then as you place your thumb over the end of the garden hose you develop back pressure behind your thumb and in the hose and as the water escapes it shoots farther across the yard. The DriMaster tool is jet-less and the water flows through the water slot and not a jet so I do not suppose the machine would maintain 300 psi.
It is not uncommon for brand new hoses or even brass quick connects to have factory trash in them. When factories assemble hoses, they do not rinse them our or even blow them out. The just assemble them. This means that a small percentage of brand new hoses might not work but they can always be cleaned. This is a process of elimination. You can easily determine what is preventing the water flow by installing a blank male QD into the female or remove the female off the hose to see if water comes out. Please note the DriMaster tool also have a water filter on it that might need to be cleaned.
Please note that pressure is exerted equally in all directions. This means that if you clean at 10 ft @ 200 psi you would clean at 200 psi at 100 ft. Very little pressure drop is experienced with water hose length. Carpet cleaner only experience mostly vacuum and temperature loss with increased hose length.
The owners manual on servicing this tool http://www.steam-brite.com/hydramast...nd-p-5713.html

I have to say this is a bit frustrating. After spending many hours on the phone and numerous emails, then spending $2800, and now I'm sitting here with a machine and upholstery tool that needs a process of elimination to determine why it does not function as described. I will attempt to begin the process of elimination and hope for the best.

regards, Barry (925-784-9832)

[Donald]

HydraMaster and US Products dealers are not required to repair items not sold through

When you make a decision to purchase discount on line over paying retail at a local supply supply store, you loose a lot of customer service. Normally a customer could return all the equipment to us and we would test it and fix it as needed and return it to the customer. On line customers though, have a parts warranty and become their own service center. We find on new equipment that is purchased locally and brought back to us usually about 95% of the time nothing is even wrong with it. Just customer operator error issues. You can call or email HydraMaster or a US Products to see if you have a repair dealer near you. Please note that when you purchase a Chevy car and any dealer you can take this Chevy car to any dealer in the country to have it fixed under warranty. With US Products my factory rep told me that US Products dealers are not obligated to warranty items that where not purchased through that dealer. I went "what?" As part of being a dealer we fix all makes all models of every brand machine whether or not it was purchased from us or not. We assumed this is how business was performed. I am sorry to tell you that the warranty is a factory warranty and you have to work under theses rules. The time I spent typing this email exceeds the length of time it would take to test and find the clog in the system so I do not think it should take you long to figure out what is going on.

[TigerJ]

When you make a decision to purchase discount on line over paying retail at a local supply supply store, you loose a lot of customer service. Normally a customer could return all the equipment to us and we would test it and fix it as needed and return it to the customer. On line customers though, have a parts warranty and become their own service center. We find on new equipment that is purchased locally and brought back to us usually about 95% of the time nothing is even wrong with it. Just customer operator error issues. You can call or email HydraMaster or a US Products to see if you have a repair dealer near you. Please note that when you purchase a Chevy car and any dealer you can take this Chevy car to any dealer in the country to have it fixed under warranty. With US Products my factory rep told me that US Products dealers are not obligated to warranty items that where not purchased through that dealer. I went "what?" As part of being a dealer we fix all makes all models of every brand machine whether or not it was purchased from us or not. We assumed this is how business was performed. I am sorry to tell you that the warranty is a factory warranty and you have to work under theses rules. The time I spent typing this email exceeds the length of time it would take to test and find the clog in the system so I do not think it should take you long to figure out what is going on.

Thanks for the explanation Donald, I understand. It's just a learning experience for me with regards to purchasing over the internet and not being located nearby for an easy return, repair, or operator adjustment directions. I did call Hydramaster and talked with their Tech Support (Louie) about the issue yesterday. He agreed with your suggestions on trying to make sure there was nothing preventing the water pressure flow. He said when the Hydramaster tool dial is set to dry/off no water should be passing through the tool, and there should not be a need to add the additional valve I received yesterday that you had sent to me. I will start the troubleshooting today and provide an update when completed.

Do you have any thoughts on why the first time I attempted to use the machine (direct connect to kitchen faucet) that water ended up in the electrical component area, and the second time I tested it, outside with the garden hose pressure through the Direct Connect, the unit did not leak one bit inside that same area ??? seems very odd...

Louie said I should be turning on the extractor pump before turning on the water? In your opinion, does it matter what order I use for the set-up/start of the extractor and upholstery tool ? Here are the steps I used;

1) placed extractor near kitchen sink and installed direct connect fitting in extract and attached to sink.
2) made sure extractor dump door was closed
3) connected and plugged in power cords
4) connected psi hose to extractor and upholstery tool
5) connected vacuum hose to extractor and upholstery tool.
6) turned on water source
7) checked to see if there were any leaks near extractor and upholstery tool.
8) turned on pump and vacuum, and then waited a little bit and turned on the heat.

do you think there would be any value in trying to prime the pump like the Steam Brite video Chris sent me shows ?


thanks, Barry

[Donald]

Drimaster with a pressure feed clean storm 6 gallon auto detail machine

If the machine is being pressure feed you do not have to prime the pump. The building pressure will prime the system. Pump priming only has to be performed on suction feed portables.
You order of set up is perfect. I do not see any changes that are needed.
I do not have an explanation on the first leak that you did nothing to fix, that now does not leak. We tested the machine here before it shipped at 100 psi building pressure and could not find any leaks. At this point just keep and eye on the plumbing to make sure you do not develop future leaks.
You want to turn on the building pressure before you turn on the water pressure pump then go and turn on the DriMaster hand tool.

http://www.steam-brite.com/hydramaster-dm2hiflo-drimaster-upholstery-tool-drymaster-hand-wand-p-5713.html