[cleanchoice]

Hi, could anyone tell me their experiences with inline heaters for portables and which ones they would recomend and why they would recomend them?

Thanks

Justin

[Doug Holloway]

Justin,

Ashbys are probably the market leaders in this equipment , they will be at Carpex or go to www.ashbys.co.uk

Cheers

Doug

[Liahona]

I use a propane heater, a bit of a pain to use but it will actually boil the water so you can really have high heat, not that you would need it any where near that hot, but if you are cleaning stone and tile the heat is there when you need it. Doesnt need plugging in either so not a power problem, bloody hell (can i say that) I already need 3 leads to plug in when I need my portable wouldnt want a fourth. Best, Dave.

[Chris R]

I use a propane heater, a bit of a pain to use but it will actually boil the water so you can really have high heat,

Hi,

got any more info on your propane water heater please?

I didnt think that they were available in the UK?

Thanks
Chris

[Liahona]

Chris, I brought mine over with me from California...... You can make one up yourself, they arent that complicated to do..... but again they are big and bulky but to those who see it, the customer, it is a great talking point........ Why are they not here in England? Is it a legal problem I need to know about? Best, Dave.

[Chris R]

I am not certain, but,,, I am pretty sure that it is illegal here?

Propane burns cleaner than diesel, and I think it would be used in the UK, but,,,,,,,,,,, I dont think that you can?

Anyone got any info?

Chris

[carpetclean]

i have two inline heqters one is a mastercelan its quite good and the other is ashbys which is amazing mastercleans £300 ashbys £600

[Liahona]

Are the 3 and 600 pound heaters electric and if so  thats quite a difference so how do the machines compare to each other. I ask cos 600 for a heater sounds very high, I can get a car for that....Also if its electric how does it cope with high volume of solution. Best, Dave?

[Alan Brooker. Aqualink Carpet Care]

It's rated at 500psi. It's a simple yet VERY effective design employing a 3KW 'Firerod' (heating element) as opposed to the 1.7KW or 2.5KW that everyone else seems to use. Basically it has a large amount of copper solution pipe winding round and round up and down the length of the element. All of Ashby's kit is 'built to last'.
Go Figure

Alan

[carpetclean]

the £600 heater is something i bought second hand and is 3 yrs old. the amount of heat is amazing and can cope with keeping up with the rdm its the only heater i have had that can do this. if you want steam you can have steam. i had to get my solution hose covered as they got so hot , i also got the brass fittings covered in plastic for the same reason. they are expensive and like anything in this game its all over priced. but if you want a heater  to give you constant heat thats the one. out of interest i bought the perfect heat and to be honest its not the perfect heat as like any other machine it still has highs and lows regardless what the advertising says.

[Alan Brooker. Aqualink Carpet Care]

Why dont you get your elbows in your machine then and 'mess around' with its internals

I spent most of friday afternoon measuring the difference in water recovery using the two inline vac motors on the Ninja and then just one (the lesser powered primary vac), combined with CFR's air induction tools. Averaging at around 94% recovery there was NOT ONE DROP OF DIFFERENCE OF WATER RECOVERY WHEN SPRAYING AT 500 PSI WETHER USING ONE VAC OR TWO!!!
So,... the secondary vac is coming out (shelved as a spare), specialist components for an ozone system are on order, as is an inline water softener, 30 foot of copper pipe is going to be wrapped round the vac stages inline prior to the v2 (like the 'perfect heat' but with a heater that's 1.3 Kw more powerful) and having pulled apart Ashbys silencer and punching myself for having paid £80 for something SOOOOOOO simple I'm going to try and squeeze a 'proper' muffler inside there aswell. :

Rather than keep buying and selling machines because they dont EXACTLY match up to your perfect vision - Adapt the one you,ve got. All the manufacturers have their 'great idea' product. So why not fish all of those clever tricks out of the pond and build something a bit special for yourself.

Regards
Alan

[Liahona]

Alan, good comment although dont know how we got to talking about vac motors on an inline heater post...........As you know I built or at least had built my portable and of course he says with a smile my truck mount doesnt need tweaking, best, Dave.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys,

We all have ours strengths and weaknesses , if I took a machine apart and rebuilt it , it would probably not work

Only for those of an engineering background I would suggest.

Cheers

Doug

[Graeme@Access]

Hi,

Not to put a dampner on any budding modders out there, but if anyone gets injured then i figure questions would be asked.  Does any of your work invalidate your insurance if say.. a member of the public was to get electrocuted or something equally nasty?

Maybe i worry too much?

Graeme
Access Cleaning Solutions

[carpetclean]

this should never happen if procedures are followed and you use the correct equipment and protection

[fibresafe]

I agree with Graham here, if you make any changes to a machine it first invalidates the manufacturers warranty, and second may well invalidate the CE marking.

I'd get someone qualified to do it. The chances of an accident happening may be small, but if something did happen it could leave you wide open to being sued if you've modified the machine yourself.

[Alan Brooker. Aqualink Carpet Care]

Your concern is duly noted and it is wise to err on the side of caution, however, I am relatively confident in this area, will ensure that all newly fitted electrical components are cross bonded and a final PAT will confirm electrical safety. In this game pretty much all of the components are CE approved as evidenced by a CE label.
If you do not feel confident in this area then dont mess around with your machinery however the flip side of the coin ........ Ever had a mate who tweaked his car chassis, suspension, gearbox, engine, electronics etc  An MOT will prove the road worthiness of the vehicle and it will stand out as something that will blow away more expensive mass produced vehicles

All the best
Alan

[stains-away]

Ive just used my v2 steammate for the first time and im impressed with it, i was using it on some badly trashed samples with heavy water based gloss staining and old diesel oil spills present, the extra heat shifted a lot of muck that wouldnt come out during previous cleans at 60 degrees and the half done today at 60 still looked dirty, think i might have to wrap the hoses now though due to the temperature they get too.
I found out about how hot the couplings get when packing away when i managed to get a finger stuck around the valve on the wand

[carpetclean]

hi andy i had this problem and ashbys wrapped all my hoses and put on plastic covers on the brass fitting, its amazing how hot it gets isnt it. word of warning do not ust too a high temperature because as it creates hot spots in the heater which will burn it out and lead to expensive repair

[stains-away]

Thanks for the advice carpetclean,i'll turn it down a bit in future then,i had it turned right up, seemed to do the job much easier than at lower temps, ive got plastic covers on the connections so i'll look into getting the pipes wrapped (something i was already thinking of to protect customers skirtings better than the small velcro corner pads ive got at the mo)just wish id tried higher temps from the start,ive had a few jobs where i think it wouldve made life a lot earier,
                                                                                                                     Andy