Thread: CRB, OP, or use 175 for first encap process?

I am looking at competitively offering encapsulation. Many people use the CRB and OP machines, and some use the 175's. I currently own a 20 inch 175.

Should I stick with the 175, or invest in a CRB or OP? There is a poster here that seems to do great work with a 175 and encapsulation. But, there must also be a difference between a 700 dollar machines, and the 1400-3000 CRB and op machines. Is that difference performance, or usability, or speed?

Seems that a CRB is much more maneuverable. I foresee problems using a 175 or a OP, in a cubicle, in particular when you enter and have to get dirty carpet immediately adjacent and inward from the cubicle entrance.

(I also have a Rotovac 360i, but I believe that is too lightweight for encapping, or am I wrong?)

try it first with what you have and some pads to see if you like it. upgrade later when you make some money with it first. i have a crb machine mostly for prescrubbing my prespray before hwe. tried some encapping (not much yet) with it and it works but i think you will get the same or better results with your 175 and the right pads. save the $$$ for now.

Originally Posted by highmarkschooner

try it first with what you have and some pads to see if you like it. upgrade later when you make some money with it first. i have a crb machine mostly for prescrubbing my prespray before hwe. tried some encapping (not much yet) with it and it works but i think you will get the same or better results with your 175 and the right pads. save the $$$ for now.

Which CRB are you using Kevin?

Bob,

I've used all of the aforementioned machines, and I would recommend starting with your 20" 175 and a carpet brush. That's what I have with a shampoo tank, and it's very quick and effective.

It's as fast as everything except a Cimex machine, but a fraction of the cost.

Originally Posted by wesdawg67

Which CRB are you using Kevin?

procaps.

Originally Posted by highmarkschooner

procaps.

Is it too light for encapping in your opinion?

Originally Posted by wesdawg67

Is it too light for encapping in your opinion?

i don't think so but i have almost 0% experience with encapping (tried at my parents care home last week). i thought about rigging some weights on it when needed, it seems to have enough power (when i put my foot on it) for some extra weight.

For commercial encapping I use a 17" 175 with bonnets simular to the brown striped ones here:

http://www.tuwaymops.com/Products/carpetbonnets.html

It is not slow. I have my helper spray right ahead of me.

(I don't recommend using a tank.)

For very small areas or steps I use a oreck orbiter with a pad on it.

I have a Seebo CRB (ours is actually the windsor dri-matic) that many on here use for pre-scrub that I use to encap and it works great. Its about the size of a vacuum (12-14" brushes?), so the time it takes to vacuum is the time it takes to encap...plus a little for spraying your encap product. Have been using this 3x per week in a heavy traffic (w/ food and drink service) account of ours for 6 months now with awesome results.

The Seebo or Windsor can be picked up pretty cheap, ours was around $200 if I remember correctly.

The poster who suggested try encapping first with what you have gave some good advice. Get a feel for using the 175, then you have a baseline for comparing other machines.

In most cases my personal choice would be a CRB machine like the Brush Pro LM20. It simple digs deeper into the pile to pull up hair and grit and all kinds of junk, plus opens up those matted commercial piles. It makes a carpet look great.

But I would not spend $2 to $3K until I hade given the 175 a fair trial.

Originally Posted by kingjoelking

Is this for residential or comercial. For residential I would say You would be better off with OP or CRB. For Commercial I would say go Cimex. The major difference between a 175 and a crb an op or a cimex isnt going to be how well you can do the job but how fast you can do a good job. Because there are people that can use any of the above machines to do a great job. But I dont think anyone will argue that a 175 is going to take more time.

This would be for commercial carpet.

Another issue is that for a particular account in mind, has carpet tiles, and some of the tiles were not glued down right, and I would imagine the rest fo the tiles were not glued down right. A couple tiles have a ripple or lifted corner than can be temporarily pushed down with a foot. I am worried that using 175 might lift these tiles, or other ones I don't notice, whose corners are not glued and are just sitting in place.

Bob
I agree with the above. Your 175 (obtain an solution tank $70) instead of hiring help .
I also would be concerned with those loose squares. Make sure you cover your arse in your bid.

Why only charge .10-14 cents.

I have charged over .35 for encapping.

Don't limit youself.

There are many advantages of encapping over HWE that can warrant a higher price than HWE.

Make $900 in only 3500 sq ft.

I have encaped with a 175 and had great results!! I'm sure a cimex or a crb would work better, but if you already have one?

As a matter of fact, I just bought a new 175 and plan to encap with it for a long time!!

Beg borrow or rent a Cimex then you'll learn that a 175 can and never will do what a Cimex does. Counter rotating kicks ass.
I can sell a Cimex to a hotel and train their entire staff in less than an hour. 1 machine, 1 chemical a vacuum a bucket and thats the name of that tune.
If you dont buy the cimex, eventually your customer will.