[Paul Evans]

With the weight they are up to 60kg. is there any such thing as a high spec portie.
ok you can take them off the van,
So what is the best portie of light weight, To take up stairs regulary

Paul

[stuart_clark]

A Scorpion or Jaguar the lightest by far

[john martin]

 And the least likely to go up a stairs by far  ...

 Shape  , wheel size and weight distribution are more important .

[Richard Cole]

I've got a Airflex Storm and regularly clean 1st and 2nd floor flats with it.  Although it weighs somewhere north of 50kg it has good size wheels and good handles to pull up stairs.  I'm of average build.

[jim mca]

The best portable by far is the airflex mini or the alltec express with twin vacs taking a storm or any other 50kg plus machine upstairs by yourself is asking for trouble

[david@zap-clean]

My Airflex Mini went up a 5 story block of flats last week - no problem.

[Raymondo]

Does a portable have to be in one piece.

 It could be like a Lego set for instance we know it has a waste tank with vacuum motors that one piece then a pump with a water tank maybe a heater each having a separate jump to do.

Could not a portable be made of individual pieces then can be separated then re-joined so making it easier to move.

If someone does it I thought of it first.

[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

Raymondo - All the Craftex machines can be split into 2 pieces even the twin vac machine.

Their is one on Ebay now - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Craftex-Grace-5020-Carpet-Cleaning-Machine-Full-Set-Up-Start-Work-Straight-Away-/121290868458?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c3d7fc6ea

Very good machines these.

[john martin]

Does a portable have to be in one piece.

 It could be like a Lego set for instance we know it has a waste tank with vacuum motors that one piece then a pump with a water tank maybe a heater each having a separate jump to do.

Could not a portable be made of individual pieces then can be separated then re-joined so making it easier to move.

If someone does it I thought of it first.

Sorry both craftex and mytee beat you too it     

http://www.steam-brite.com/equipment/Mytee-WB200-Water-Box-220psi-auto-fill-chemical-metering_c_.jpg

I think i'd perfer the small backup machine option though , less trips up and down .

[Raymondo]

I would have thought someone would have done it by now.

Reminds me of the time I rebuilt an engine out of a Bedford Rascal 970cc I could lift the block head and gearbox each on there own  but bolt it all together it took 4 of us to lift it.

[stuart_clark]

I have 2 Scorpions and have no problem taking them up a flight or severall flights of stairs

john have you even got a Scorpion ?

[john martin]

I have 2 Scorpions and have no problem taking them up a flight or severall flights of stairs

john have you even got a Scorpion ?

Did have years ago   , Of course you can manhandle any machine up , just saying an upright design with large wheels leans its weight back and is easier to manage than a long bodied machine .

an example of this at 1.07 on this video .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSPHcFVxS9Q

[Andy Messias]

The best portable by far is the airflex mini or the alltec express with twin vacs taking a storm or any other 50kg plus machine upstairs by yourself is asking for trouble

Agreed...Airflex mini is definatly a great little machine at only 30 kgs really easy to carry around.

[Brook Campbell]

I have a Powr-Flite  PFX1350 and cleaned a 3rd floor flat yesterday (six flight of stairs) and although a bit of a lump was fine taking it up and back down. Mind you before I cleaned carpets I had 18 bouncy castles and anything is easier than lugging them around.
I used to have an Alltec aqua 50 which was a piece of cake to take up stairs.

[Hilton]

If it has wheels its portable even its a ton weight.

[Ed Valentine]

I found this to be a great question because I can see both sides of the picture, as well as the answers.


"Are portables really portable" : They can be!

It is true that "Portables" have gotten heavier as the years have passed and this, for the most part, was a requirement/request by the Professional Cleaner themselves. They requested; More & more of everything. Pressure, vacuum, etc, etc........... Therefore, it became as we all have witnessed; a double-edged swore.

We realized this a long time ago and developed "portables" which could be operated at great distances from the base unit ; even from a truck. Fast forward to today, now one can acquire a more middle of the road performance package such as: 300+ psi; much larger industrial vacuum motors in a package weighing approx. 45 lbs. which has the capability of cleaning easily at 50 feet from base unit.

Great question and topic.

BTW, haven't seen Stuart Clarkes name for a while and it was a real pleasure. What a neat Gentleman.

Best to all above;
Ed Valentine

[stuart_clark]

Had to drag my Scorpion up two flights today, could of left it at the bottom of the stair well but would of
Needed to emptyand fill from a distance  and I like to be able see the machine where possible
I could still take it up with one hand and one hand on the hand rail
I did wonder how much more dificult it would of been had it been an airflex or an Altec!  I used to own an Extracta Exell a few years ago and that was such a heavy Beast for such a very basic machine  I had three Ninjas over ten years, the last one withthe booster vac, it was lighter than the Extracta but know where as powerfull as the Scorpion

[Carpet Dawg]

I did wonder how much more dificult it would of been had it been an airflex

I take my Airflex Storm regularly up 2, 3 and 4th floors all day long with no problems. The Scorpion is extra light for a reason, i.e. lacking vital components   

Just pulling your leg Stuart.

[stuart_clark]

Well matey the Scorp produces 325 cfm dont think the storm is that powerfull is it ? It has an 800 psi pump which I think is the same as the storm and thats it, I know the Storm has a pump out facility and I could of had that facility but decided against it and the Scorp has a pump in the same as the Storm
I am not saying for one min I couldnt pull a storm up a staircase , but why would I want to ? With the lightness of the scorpion dont think I will look any further for a different porty

Stuart

[Radek Jablonski]

Well matey the Scorp produces 325 cfm dont think the storm is that powerfull is it ? It has an 800 psi pump which I think is the same as the storm and thats it, I know the Storm has a pump out facility and I could of had that facility but decided against it and the Scorp has a pump in the same as the Storm
I am not saying for one min I couldnt pull a storm up a staircase , but why would I want to ? With the lightness of the scorpion dont think I will look any further for a different porty

Stuart

scorpion has 500psi, is worst to pull up on the stairs due to the construction (I have both machines so can compare), storm has no pump out, it has a kind of gravity valve which work great for me.