I picked up a used 360, and used it for the first time yesterday, did 1700 sq ft with the Teflon glide disc, no bristles, just jets and plastic vacuum glides. Today I got on a really old really dirty carpet, and I was not impressed, so I decided to use the brush attachment. It was amazing! Fluffing the carpet, separating the matted fibers, it was doing a terrific job. Then, after maybe 100-200 sq feet, it started bogging down, getting really hard to use, like it was stuck to the carpet at times. The carpet was a cut pile, synthetic, maybe 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. I'm using a Recoil XPS Extractor with 50' of hose, and a little giant heater. I was really impressed with the job it was doing, until it started that, then I had to go back to the brush without bristles, and finish the job. On another note, the carpet expanded, and had obvious looseness to it, and may need stretched now.
The carpet should lay flat once its dry. If it doesn't it could be delaminated. If thats the case restretching will not help. Not familiar with the 360 at all. If it has a capacitor I would test that.
It's not delaminated, just wavy with a lot of high spots, maybe 3" higher than the surrounding flat carpet. Looks pretty crappy.
Give it time to dry it will go back to normal... Sometimes loose installed carpet does this too.. By the morning you should see it go back down..
I hope you are right Frank, it's really old carpet, been shampooed way too many times, really in need of replacement, but you know landlords.... Frank, I saw your thread about the carbon brushes on Rotovacs. Does that apply to the 360 too?
check your felt seal and give it a spray of silicone lube. some times it can dislodge and cause binding
I changed out the brush on the job so I could finish the job, but I don't remember seeing anything unusual with the seal when I took it off, but then again, I was not even thinking to look for something with the seal. You spray the surface of the seal where it slides against the machine itself to lubricate it? Is that the idea? The brush has locator pins to hold the seal in place.
Yes it does.. Sorry I was going to reply about the bogging too... I would replace the felt seal and as stated spray with silicone... Old felt seal's if get wet could swell ..Carbon brushes are in your 360 too..They should be replaced too.. But this will not cause the bogging.. If you are using a truck mounted and the unit is bogging down, Rotovac recommend using our vacuum relief attachment P/N RV-449. If that does not improve the performance, they recommend reducing the vacuum lift to 9” hg (mercury). Give call to Adam at Rotovac ,,tell him I told you to call..He will set you up with felt seals and carbon bushes.. Here is a copy of your 360 owner;s manual you could copy and or print.. this will help you... http://www.carpet-cleaning-equipment.net/pdf/360-owners-manual.pdf This will show you how to replace the seals and carbon brushes... Let me know if you need any help after...
Thanks Frank, will call Adam, I looked at the manual before I posted this thread. How can you tell when the seal is bad?
You will loose vacuum for one, also remove the head you see it ...looks worn down or cracked dried out looking... swell up..
I would say it is the motor brushes too. It was the first thing in my mind. Often when an electric motor bogs down is because the commutator isnt in contact with the brushes. Its almost like a misfire on an engine. hit and miss. when it start the miss part it will arc internally. thus causeing heat. Or it could just be a peice of crap you got. and the gear box or drive assembly is worn out.
Thanks everyone for your posts. I went out to the truck this morning, to inspect the seals. I have several brushes, and I noticed the seal from the brush that was binding was twice as thick as the seal from the other carpet brush (the one without bristles). Probably 1/4-5/16" thick versus 1/8". Guessing, cause I'm too lazy to go back out and measure for this post. lol So how liberally and how often do you spray with Silicone? Any special specs? Would WD-40 work? And where is the best place to buy parts for these things?
