Anything you sorry you bought?

**wandwizard** · 05-11-2009, 03:49 AM

Originally Posted by aspenedelen

My Genesis 59. Like Rob said it was one of the very first ones off the lot and in four years and 3200 hours on it I have switched out all belts at least 10 times. All high psi water and solutions lines have been replaced after the first year because they could not handle the psi pressure the machine would put out. My exhaust diverter went out and my water pump has gone out at least twice. The actual mounting of the Cat Pump and Roots blower were put on the machine at a incorrect angle during installation. I have had a horrible experience with this machine. I can not run it past 2200 rpm ( it goes to 3200 rpm) without feelings of utter dismay that the machine will fail. The cpu of the system has gone out at least twice too which has cost me some serious money. Maybe they have worked out the kinks in it now with the newer model but I'll buy a Promchem 650 next. At least reliability has been stated with that machine.

After reading this post it really gave me some serious appreciation for my Boxxer 421. I've had a few minor problems in the last 6 years with it, but most I've been able to fix myself with a little phone help from Eddy at Jon Don St. Louis. I just replaced the thermal relief valve last week which is the third time in 6 years. I've also replaced a high pressure solenoid on the waste tank a couple times. I put a new vacuum filter in the recovery tank. I had to replace a rear engine seal and the front blower seal once at Jon Don. I replaced the pump once, but that was do to negligence on my part and I'm sure I can still have the old one repaired for a spare if I like. I may have spent as much as a couple hundred per year average in repairs. I would have to say that's pretty darn good. It still performs now as good it did when I bought it.

**ECOPRO** · 05-11-2009, 08:44 PM

The ROTOVAC Power wand. Works great until it plugs and leaves a irreversable mess. Im glad I purchased it preowned off craigslist. One job and back for sale it went.

**TracyWalker** · 05-12-2009, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

Just had anothert one pop again. Stay AWAY from this junk. I tried to get a refund ( I spent somewhere between 2k and 3k I am guessing, don't hold me to it please) from Joe Bristor because every one popped after I replaced every truck with them. He said it was my fault, but hey how can you use a hose wrong.

He talked me in to it and it was a HUGE mistake. It is bad enough that he gives you instructions to silicone it every day which is a pain, but the worse thing about the hose is it gets kinked easily and catch's on everything because of it's rough surface. Here is a video showing what happened on EVERY hose.

YouTube - video for tornado hose manufacturer.avi

Maybe the Pine Needles poked holes in it.

**Rob Allen** · 05-13-2009, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by TracyWalker

Maybe the Pine Needles poked holes in it.

**cbcsi** · 05-22-2009, 12:08 AM

I will never again buy a first run of new model. I paid for a new Truck Mount that was the last of the first run and had no end to problems with it. Never again. It has taken me years to get all of the bugs worked out and the thing has been not running as much if not more than it has been running. When it works it is wonderful.

**Classicboss** · 05-29-2009, 11:05 PM

A Recoil HP back in the late 90's or 2000. Nothing but burnt up vac motors and water pumps the first two months I purchased it brand new, wasn't even close to what I thought it would be. I replaced it with a masterblend Truck Force and the truckforce was a serious work horse. I still have the Recoil shell sitting in my shop.

**Rick Imby** · 07-02-2009, 03:31 PM

Marriage license.....

That says it all.

**Motivated** · 07-02-2009, 05:05 PM

An electric sprayer. I have to get the air out of it everytime I use it. and if it gets low and sucks any air at all, I have to purge it again. Waste of money in my opinion.

**Rob Allen** · 07-02-2009, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Motivated

An electric sprayer. I have to get the air out of it everytime I use it. and if it gets low and sucks any air at all, I have to purge it again. Waste of money in my opinion.

Which model??

**Bob Savage** · 07-21-2009, 09:30 PM

I use the Parker high pressure hose, and it has yet to fail by bursting along the length of the hose, after 2-3 years of daily use.

I do replace the ends when they develop a suspicious look.

We also use a 220,000 LP heater in both vans, which can reach 280º.

We usually clean carpet under 240º@450 PSI.

We usually clean upholstery at 180º with jet-bypass tool.

Tile/Grout is cleaned at 260º@850-950 PSI, after pre-scrubing in the cleaner.

The longer you've been in business, the more chance you have a corner in the shop with those "not-so-perfect" purchases.

I have a few.

**mrpurified** · 07-21-2009, 10:33 PM

Man I'm so madd I brought that upholstery tool the box head kind with the internal jet I used it once what a waste $89.99
Oh yea when I first cleaning I use zep from homedepot don't laugh I was green
Posted via Mobile Device

**Rob Allen** · 07-21-2009, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by mrpurified

Man I'm so madd I brought that upholstery tool the box head kind with the internal jet I used it once what a waste $89.99
Oh yea when I first cleaning I use zep from homedepot don't laugh I was green
Posted via Mobile Device

Will can we get a make, model and picture??

**mrpurified** · 07-24-2009, 07:50 PM

This is the upholstery tool i brouht that I dont like only use it once

**DannyD** · 08-06-2009, 01:03 PM

I spent about $7,000 on OP equipment & supplies. If I had to do it over again I would have bought a Savage Truckmount for only a few thousand more.

Eventually I would have liked to have OP in the toolbox, so it's not a total waste. There are times when it does a bang up job. I just don't think it's a stand alone method in a lot of cases.

I've also had rotten luck w/ sprayers. My HOS sprayer's battery died after maybe 5 uses. Then my pump ups for whatever reason they keep clogging up. I clean em & they still clog up. Doesn't matter which encap juices either it seems. Both Vac Away & Ricks clog on me. I'm guessing they're crystalizing in my hose/tip. I clean the tips frequently & they work for a bit. But eventually they all give out.

You didn't ask this but on the flip side my MEGA FAV purchase has been my vapor steam machine. YEEEEE HAAAA!!!!! I love that baby. It cleans basically everything. I can't tell ya how many jobs it's saved when OP (or even Porty & OP now that I'm doing 2 methods) didn't get something I felt it should have. Plus it's gotten out red stains w/ no iron needed. Paint, tar, gum, geez, just almost everyhing. I've also cleaned tubs, mattresses, furniture, tile, & prolly 1001 other things.

The only challenge w/ the vapor machine is it's too small to do a whole house. It's more of a spot machine. It def. made me a believer in high heat & that gets back to why I wish I had bought a Savage instead of OP.

**Andy MC** · 08-07-2009, 04:53 PM

Hi Danny,
I have a mytee batery sprayer that has been very reliable. Saves a butt load of time over a pump sprayer, the tip has never clogged (I use encap most of the time). Also I know a guy who has the penguine battery sprayer that has been very good to him.

**orbit-kleen** · 08-07-2009, 06:38 PM

[QUOTE=DannyD;55248]I spent about $7,000 on OP equipment & supplies. If I had to do it over again I would have bought a Savage Truckmount for only a few thousand more.

At least you didnt spend $3200 a Recoil that you were not happy with like Dan Langeendoerfer did . You will still need your OP equipment after you get your Savage TM. So it is not a waste of money IMO.

You could buy a Rotovac CFX w/wand for 1600 bucks to get you by until you have enough for that Savage TM .

The Savage TM seems to be getting popular lately , does anyone on this Board use one or have tried one out ?

Sorry if i;m getting off topic.

**DannyD** · 08-08-2009, 05:08 AM

Hey Frank,

I agree I would have eventually wanted OP. On berbers it does a pretty nice job. Soil filtration lines, & a few other things too. In those areas its nice. Overall though, I think the Savage does a better job, faster, less wear on the body if ya have a glided wand.

I haven't seen the Savage on berbers so I can't really comment. I do have a porty. The OP does better on berber & filtration lines & the porty better on pretty much everything else. Not sure if the Savage would be better on berber than my OP, but I've got to believe it would be a lot better than my porty.

Anyway, yes I have tried one out. This is a basically a copy/paste from another section on here. Here it is:

Hey Andy,

You helped me w/ the OP aspect of things awhile back. If you ever go to a TM, Bob's is a great machine. I didn't buy one cuz of things that had nothing to do w/ Bob. Mainly not enough business, but also cuz if I get a TM my insurance on my van goes up $$$$$$$$$ & also because I have nowhere to put it in winter. Plus the financing of it would have doubled the price.

So my reason for not getting one has nothing to do w/ the machine. I've seen that puppy in action & it kicks some major tail. IMO it was better than a Butler (which is also a very nice machine, ya can't go wrong w/ either).

In the sake of full disclosure here, ya do need the booster to make Bob's machine better than a Butler. Therefore you would need 2 chords. That's not a knock by any means, just letting ya know that ya prolly would wanna run the booster, though it's not like you HAVE too. So he's accurate when he says you can run it all on one chord if you wanna. I'm just saying I found the booster took it from a real good machine to a kickin azz machine.

So in a nutshell, Bob's machine (w/ Booster) is 2 chords & dries almost as fast as OP. It does a much better job than OP. It's a lot faster if ya have a glided wand too. No pads to clean after the job. Not much maintenence on the thing. It's just a great machine. It's also about half the price of a Butler. Again, this is not a knock on Butler, as I think they're excellent machines. I just think Bob's is better.

You won't need nearly as much spotters & pre spray & things of that nature. I can't tell ya how many times I'm spending 10-15 minutes on a spot & would be thinkin to myself if I had a Savage I could have had this spot out in a few seconds. I saw the Savage take on some wax, maybe a foot long & 3 inches wide. Something like that. Thick too. Maybe 7 strokes w/ the wand, which took all of 10 seconds maybe, & that wax was gone. If I'm not misaken he didn't even pre-spray the spot. He can correct me if I'm wrong here. This was about 6 months ago that I saw it.

Very Impressive Machine.

**orbit-kleen** · 08-08-2009, 02:40 PM

Danny

My OP does a GREAT job , what kind of pads are you using ?
pre vac really good and run a durapad over the areas first then come back w/ a wet cotton pad . I use releasit and it works awesome . You;ll get much better results if you prescrub first .
Alot of guys are using CRB machines to do that with also . Which OP machine are you using ? I have a CCS Conqueror . Hauling a portable around and taking it up stairs makes it not worth it to me unless it comes standard w/ auto fill auto dump like the Steamin Demon or CFX. there quick and easy to set up .the dry times w/ a portable are not that good unless you do alot of dry strokes and use a air mover or air path fan . I use one even with my OP .

**Rob Allen** · 08-09-2009, 07:43 AM

Frank do you have a website or a video of your process??

**Dr Cleaning** · 08-09-2009, 11:06 AM

Roller Vac for flood work love my water claw and my RX-20 loved it at first have not used it in 2 years now love my PMF custome wand.
Neil
www.southjerseycarpetcleaning.com