Carpet Cleaning Issues - Carpet construction, upholstery cleaning, stain removal, equipment, events, etc.
Recoil 3 HPPosted by pre-vac_Nick (HolmansUKLTD), 1 April 2004
Well does this machine live up to all the hype
Ive been waiting for a posting since 6am thismorning 
I hope it is as good as it sounds.Posted by strakercleaning (strakercleaning), 1 April 2004
Sorry to say but......did not appear more powerful than my Diamondback. Different with Booster attached but i personally expected a marked difference in the machines power alone 
Maybe the demo carpet was not appropriate or the vented wand suitable. Nice idea, nice bit of kit but not nice enough for me (personally)Posted by MB (Mark Betts), 1 April 2004
Same here, although at the end of the day we did attatch the booster and there was a marked improvement in vac power.
But to be honest with all the bits and bobs you need to plug in etc etc it seems an awful lot of "fanning around"
And after you have purchased the booster box, extra hoses etc and the steam mate price wise you are well on your way to a reasonable secondhand bane or petrol t/m.
Not a bad bit of kit performance wise but last year I almost imported one my self from the states before A & M were distributors.
I am glad I didnt.
Mark
PS Oh and I know its just cosmetic but its an ugly beast!!!!Posted by Ken_Wainwright (Ken Wainwright), 1 April 2004
Sorry Chris, but I disagree with you. The Recoil 3 on it's own, I felt, performed admirably. But when I stopped to consider it was working at the end of 75ft of hose it was superb. I felt the conventional wand, as opposed to the vented one, performed better. I also felt that, at 75 ft, the performance was comparable with a conventional machine at 25ft.
Later, when the booster was attached, the hose length went up to 125ft. I'm not aware of any conventional portable machine on the market that could have compared to this perfromance. In all, I think it was outstanding.
I do have a criticism though. The Recoil 3 is the noisiest machine I've come across. The majority of high end portables in the UK are now noise reduced. I feel that this is an area where efforts should be made for the Recoil. A lot of people noted the lack of a heater. A valid criticism. But easily corrected by the addition of an in-line heater. Trouble is, it's yet another cable to have lying around.
Safe and happy cleaning
KenPosted by strakercleaning (strakercleaning), 1 April 2004
Ken,
I run my Diamondback with 75 feet of hoses most of the time and it has the same sort of suction as i witnessed yesterday. Yes, the spray will not match the R3 nor will it match the R3 once boosted......but i am saying that i went along to be impressed 
but 
I need to upgrade my portable in 6 months or so and i will watch and listen with interest to see if the users of the R3 are going to make me EAT my words 
Chris 'still waiting to be impressed' StrakerPosted by Dynafoam (Dynafoam), 1 April 2004
Chris & Mark,
The Recoil 3HP will not produce as much suction as a Diamondback.
This is because all three vacs are in parallel - this is a high-airflow machine, a diferent species and to get the best results needs to be used in a diferent manner.
I am posting a diary on Cleaningpros which may be of interest.
Ken, it is ugly isn't it? Also looks 'old fashioned compared to the Prochem range.
As to the noise, yes - much noisier than my four-vac unit. This is due in part to the high airflow and to a large part due to the pump, which actually gets louder as the flow-valve is opened !
John.Posted by mark_roberts (mark_roberts), 1 April 2004
When a lot of you guys left we tryed the recoil with 50 ft and then 100ft with the booster. I think this configeration worked a lot better that the first set-up 75ft/125ft.
After using my Ninja today I would have to say that the recoil was very much more powerful vac and pump power.
I did notice that the red carpet was quite dry within a few hours before it was 'bonneted'.
It was very noisy but I didn't think it was ugly.
Personally I think its a great portable but not a truckmount.
thanks
MarkPosted by pre-vac_Nick (HolmansUKLTD), 1 April 2004
Chris,
Is there any chance of seeing a demo of your diamondback? your just up the road from me im in Raynes Park.
Thanks
NickPosted by clive (clive), 1 April 2004
Mark Roberts,
Now you see what good value my Bane Clene is.
One electric cord, bags of vaccum, even at 200ft.,quiet and the most reliable machine on the market!
Clive.
P.s. Hot water all day as well.Posted by strakercleaning (strakercleaning), 1 April 2004
Nick.
No problem about seeing machine in action. Shame but i was working in Copse Hill today. I have a job Monday just off Combe Hill so give me a shout over the weekend and we could arrange for you to stop by. I do driving every year for Wimbledon Tennis and it is at the boss lady's house so should not be a problem 
Posted by pre-vac_Nick (HolmansUKLTD), 1 April 2004
ok chris working of grand drive then chelsea so i will give you a call in the afternoon if your still there, i think i have your number from your website.
Thanks
NickPosted by Fintan_Coll (Fintan_Coll), 1 April 2004
Will the booster box work with any other make of portable.Posted by lenpg (Len Gribble), 1 April 2004
Clive
Hot water all-day, how many cuppers do you have in a day? This is not a pop at your system
LenPosted by Dynafoam (Dynafoam), 1 April 2004
Fintan,
Yes, the booster should work with any portable but if used with a twin-vac machine where the vacs are mounted in series, the booster motor would probably have a short life-span, due to the vacuum at its' outlet causing it to 'over-rev'. At £500, an expensive experiment.
John.Posted by Dynafoam (Dynafoam), 1 April 2004
Mark,
A very sensible appraisal.
I think the reason Nigel set up the machine as he did was to show what it could do at the extremes and in that configuration, I concurr with Ken's assesment.
At Watford, I found assesment dificult because I have not used a twin vac machine on carpet for some time but I set one up today for comparison and at 50 & 75ft it was out-performed by the Recoil for overall cleaning efficiency, though obviously not on maximum vacuum lift.
John.Posted by Nigel_W (Nigel_W), 2 April 2004
John, you are right I did set the machine at 75 foot for that reason. Mark hits the nail right on the head - The carpet was rinsed with water over and over again at 350 psi and as he says it was dry a few hours later. This concurs with my experience in the field. It may feel different to a twin vac in series ( airflow rather than suction) but I can assure you all if you put 75 foot on a Diamond back and a 2 gallon pump the carpets would be wet all day.
NigelPosted by strakercleaning (strakercleaning), 2 April 2004
Nigel,
Sorry to contradict your assurance about Diamonback but i have just spent 3 hours cleaning 1 wool carpet (100% white loop) and 3 wool rugs. When i left, the carpet was dry (2nd floor = 50 ft hose) and the first rug was also dry ( hand tooled @ 75ft on 3rd fl). I used Solutions and Sebo Duo prior to rinse and told client that ground floor rugs would be dry within 2 hours. One happy client with twin babies who can use her house again the same morning 
So you can imagine my surprise to see this thread on my return ............i recall the A & M carpet took 3+ hours to dry 
I personally dislike my machine, as it spends as much time in repair as a TVR, but when it is working ....... it ROCKS. I just suppose that i was swept away in the R3 hype and expected something unrealistic in comparison.
A pleasure to meet all new faces at A & M and nice to see the forum creating a debate Posted by Nigel_W (Nigel_W), 2 April 2004
Sorry Chris,
I didn't know that your Diamond back had a 350 psi (2GPH) pump.
NigelPosted by strakercleaning (strakercleaning), 2 April 2004
Nigel........You said AND a 2 gallon pump not WITH a 2 gallon pump.
My machine does not use that amount of water but the drying time is still better than R3, as the vacuum seems to be AS effective but with less wetting.
I think i will wait and see what feedback the R3 gets before i commit Posted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 2 April 2004
When this machine was first mentioned someone brought up the topic of the number of power leads the machine had. I think it was Nigel that confirmed it has 2 as standard and I assume that you would need 1 extra for the booster and 1 extra for a heater.
I've done some digging around and have spoken to a couple of specialist electrical testing companies and, athough I'm still waiting for it to be confirmed in writing, I too have been told you are not able to supply portable electrical equipment with more than 1 power cord.
I've also found out that Prochem and others have had to discontinue machines over the past few years because of this problem and that's why the've had to change to 'optional' clip-on heaters which are then deemed to be 2 seperate appliances.
Can anyone else shed any light on this?
Regards
Mike
Posted by jmj (jmj), 2 April 2004
Mike i think you'll find the cfr range have 2 power cords on their machine's one for pump and one for vacuum.
joePosted by lenpg (Len Gribble), 2 April 2004
Mike
Can you find out the date this legislation came in (if it is legislation)?
Lets go down the hypothetical route say I bought a two lead machine in march 2000 legislation came in to force October 1999 in 2003 the machine burst in to flames and caused considerable damage who would be left holding the baby? By the way the machine goes back to the suppler or manufacture for servicing yearly.
LenPosted by nick.solution (nick.solution), 2 April 2004
Hi Guys
It depends which model CFR you get some have 2 leads some are single
Best regards NickPosted by pre-vac_Nick (HolmansUKLTD), 2 April 2004
well i seem to have got a straight awnser about the recoil 3 but ill hold out on buying one untill more of us have one,
Thanks for all the info guys (and girls!!)
Nick
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