[Mike Halliday]

how much discharge hose do you use?  do you have difficulty on people drives finding somewhere to dump? does your discharge hose jump around like a headless chicken?

I've just converted my machine to run the soiled water through the blower & silencer everything is running sweet but the discharge hose is a bit hard to control.

mike

[stevegunn]

It is supplied with 50ft which I cut down to use in sections depending how much I need normally can get away with 25ft.Discharge hose does not tend to jump about much

Normally just lay it in the flower bed.

[nevil]

how much discharge hose do you use?  do you have difficulty on people drives finding somewhere to dump? does your discharge hose jump around like a headless chicken?

I've just converted my machine to run the soiled water through the blower & silencer everything is running sweet but the discharge hose is a bit hard to control.

mike

How did you do that Mike? The conversion.

[Mike Halliday]

Nevil just fitted a t junction on the blower to fit a vac relief then ran a hose to a filter straight to the wand. on the discharge side fitted a top & bottom entry silencer so the water fires straight through.

I've also fitted a solution line direct into the t junction so after each job I can fire hot, clean water through the blower, then a squirt of WD40.

just having a play around, thought if it worked I would give me more room in the van without a waste tank.

[garyj]

I can see the benefit of having your waste being dumped straight into a main drain but didn't think the picture of SG's waste going onto someones flowerbed looked very good. Even if you claim it's steam coming out the end it's still going to precipitate at some point. Wouldn't want steam directed at my flower boarders in the summer either, doesn't it leave behind a bit of sludge?

[*paul_moss]

Not just sludge but all the muck and chemicals to boot.

[John Kelly]

Mike, either stick a weight on the end of it or cut it down to 10'. There is less waste coming out than someone washing their car.

[garyj]

There is less waste coming out than someone washing their car.

I would hope so 

There are still rules and regulations regarding the dumping of water, and that includes soapy water down storm drains.
I was just surprised when I saw the pics of the waste being dumped on someones flowerbed. I see the waste that comes out of my Ninja and that isn't half as powerful as The Prowler just wouldn't want it on my garden.

[stevegunn]

How many people actually dump their waste water from their porty down customers toilet or foul drain not many.There was a thread on here sometime ago about dumping waste water and the majority dumped in the flower bed or on the lawn.

[psg]

Guys,
Dont forget a lot of the houses over 20 years of age are combined storm & sewer as opposed to relatively modern that are seperate. If its a septic tank what do you do ?

[Ian Rochester]

Being the newest of Prowler users (NOV 07) I was conscious of this when I first started using the machine.

However I have had no negative comments, I have cut the waste hose down to about 15ft and what I now generally do is either run it to a drain or simply put the waste hose under the vehicle, by the kerb and the waste just runs down the side of the road to the nearest drain. 

There is a metal filter in the machine which holds all the debris from the carpets, when you have finished each job you simply remove it, clean out all the fluff and sand, and refit it.  I then just put what I have removed into a plastic bag for the customer to see if they want.

[from edge2edge]

Ian as a new prowler user what in your opinion are the main advantages or disadvantages over say a 500 psi portable.Cheers Alan Turner(Swindon).I have the perfect heat model with wonderwand currently and am considering upgrading in the spring.

[carpet guy]

Absolutely no detergents to be dumped in a septic tank, or you will have incurred the cost of emptying the tank, has anyone ever encountered one.? 

[Geoff Jewkes]

I heard there was someone on here with a Prowler in a Citroen Despatch, who is it??? Could do with aome info,    Geoff

[Ian Rochester]

The main advantage over a portable is the speed of doing the job, you have instant heat and a constant supply of water (400ltrs).

I did a hotel on Friday which i had done in the spring of last year with the portable.  Then it took two of us 5 hours of hard work to get it all done, had to hump the machine up two flights of stairs and refill/empty regularly.

On friday we did exactly the same job in less than half the time, ran 150ft hose from the van and I could have probably done it by myself in not much more time, as it was I did very little other than help with the hoses and prespray and the other lad did most of the work.

I also find that the vacuum even at 150ft is far superior to the excel which had 2 x 3 phase super vacs, so the carpets are noticably drier.

I can't compare it to your machine or any other TM, but at £5995 it is probably the best investment I have made for a good while and I'm more than happy with it and can now fit in a lot more work in a day.

Disadvantages are:

at this time of the year you have hoses outside lying on wet ground getting dirty
The 2" vac hoses are heavy, bulky and awkward to wind up/unwind
the van is a lot heavier with the machine (178kg) and 400kg of water.
you have to pay for your fuel to run the machine
there is little excuse to stop and have a cup of coffee and a chat, I find that now it's a case of, in, prespray, set up, do the job, tidy up, gone.

[stevegunn]

I heard there was someone on here with a Prowler in a Citroen Despatch, who is it??? Could do with aome info,    Geoff

Originally Nick Holman had it in a dispatch but now in trafic or the like.

[Geoff Jewkes]

Thanks Steve, John Kelly said it went in ( only just )  . Just wanted to know how practical it was ( or not ! ). Spotted a cheap dispatch. Been toying with a prowler for a bit now, everyone seems to be getting on very well with them, Geoff

[Mike Halliday]

did a job this morning with it in the adapted version, I'm changing it back to use the waste tank. the van was nearly obscured by the 'steam' it was a danger to traffic. I had the neighbours coming out thinking something was wrong.

I say 'steam' it wasn't steam as the expelled water was only warm, (Like when you breath out on a cold morning and you can see your breath).

I had 20ft of waste pipe and it needed tying down as it whip-lashed all over the place.

it was a interesting experiment but it didn't work out.

Mike

[Doug Holloway]

Mike

Wish I was there , you definitely have mad scientist potential.

Keep on experimenting , it makes good reading.

Cheers

Doug

[Ken Wainwright]

With regards to the Dispatch/Expert/Scudo vans.

I run a Scorpion and Dispatch. I reckoned that I could install the waste and recovery tanks and run as a mini-truckmount. And it works well.

BUT there really isn't enough space. I had to remove my Dry Fusion bucket, but by the time I'd got my tanks, Scorpion, hose ramp, Dry Fusion, BS46, Envirodri, sprayers, wand (only the one) plus all the other bits and pieces and chemicals on board, all I could do was throw my hoses (125' of 2") on top of everything. To work, I'd have to remove all the hoses, take out what I wanted, put surplus hoses back in the van, then if it was raining......

I know Dave Ingram had a Woodbridge T/M in a Scudo, along with a hose reel, and whilst it worked for him, I would imagine it was a bit cramped and limited his extra equipment options.

IMO, with any van mounted system, a hose reel or a lot of space is essential for ease of working.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[John Kelly]

What size blower is it Mike? Could be the size and speed which is causing the flapping about. The Prowler small 24 blower has modified gearing and runs at 8000 revs a minute.

As regards using a Dispatch, can be done but you are really restricted for space once all the hoses, chems etc are in. No room for a porty.
I also liken vans to garden sheds, never big enough.

Mike are you still having this get together? I was hoping to get one of the new Prowlers over to bring down.

[mark_roberts]

Ken

Sounds a right mess.  The best thing about a TM is the water tank under the machine and the waste tank behind the machine so its nice and compact and a hose reel is essential.

Could you not get a frame made to set the machine on top of the tanks or even the reel to save floor space.

How do you manage with the electric cords.  I always fancied a look at this setup but few have the complete package.

Mark

[Ken Wainwright]

Hi Mark

Yes, there is a frame available to mount the tanks one above the other.  I did consider it, and it would release a bit more floor space, but ideally I want my Dry Fusion bucket onboard as well as a hose reel. Any compromise would still make for a difficult life. So I've taken the tanks out and working as a portable 'till I buy a new, larger, van.

Safe and happy loading
Ken

[davep]

How much petrol does the Prowler use roughly?

[John Kelly]

6 litre tanks lasts about 4 hours.

[mark shannon]

How would that compare with petrol usage on an entry level truckmount?

[carpet guy]

Gary ( cleaning co ) used a little Diahatsu van, same size as the little Suzuki I use and not only had two high powered portable inside, but a 250 litre water tank, hoses wands, etc, and you will see there is still a fair bit of space at the back.


page 102 Jan 2006

those little vans, have a great deal going for them and capable of more than you'd expect.

[garyj]

How many people actually dump their waste water from their porty down customers toilet or foul drain not many.There was a thread on here sometime ago about dumping waste water and the majority dumped in the flower bed or on the lawn.

Found that hard to believe so searched it and came up with nothing. Do a majority of carpet cleaners dump the sludge in there customers gardens. Someone please tell me the answer is no.

Causing pollution from trade affluent is against the law, the fine is £20,000 or 3 months in prison.

It's a pretty serious issue.

I'm not being argumentative but am very surprised that this isn't being discussed. If you were to reply to the Environment Agency "it's ok, my mates do it as well" the whole industry would be looked at. If there are any carpet cleaners dumping affluent waste into there customers gardens I'd check the legalities if I was you.

The problem with the Prowler is not only are you dumping into a garden, but advertising the fact with hoses running off into flower beds, under cars and down the street and with steam just in case nobody notices.

At a time when so many are pressing forward with 'going green' this dumping method is just plain wrong.

Why is this fundemental issue being ignored?

[robert stubbs]

This is cleaning co's van

[carpet guy]

The reason for dumping soil laden water on grassed or garden areas is to allow it to filter through the ground before reaching the drains.

It's a local authority requirement in some areas, but don't ask which ones.

[carpet guy]

The Prowler, incidentally, doesn't dump a volume of water, it exhausts water vapour into the atmosphere, the solids are captured in a filter.

Well done Robert 'fraid I don't know how to do that.

[Ian Rochester]

So where do TM users with waste tanks dump their water at the end of the day?

[stevegunn]

How many people actually dump their waste water from their porty down customers toilet or foul drain not many.There was a thread on here sometime ago about dumping waste water and the majority dumped in the flower bed or on the lawn.

Found that hard to believe so searched it and came up with nothing. Do a majority of carpet cleaners dump the sludge in there customers gardens. Someone please tell me the answer is no.

Causing pollution from trade affluent is against the law, the fine is £20,000 or 3 months in prison.

It's a pretty serious issue.

I'm not being argumentative but am very surprised that this isn't being discussed. If you were to reply to the Environment Agency "it's ok, my mates do it as well" the whole industry would be looked at. If there are any carpet cleaners dumping affluent waste into there customers gardens I'd check the legalities if I was you.

The problem with the Prowler is not only are you dumping into a garden, but advertising the fact with hoses running off into flower beds, under cars and down the street and with steam just in case nobody notices.

At a time when so many are pressing forward with 'going green' this dumping method is just plain wrong.

Why is this fundemental issue being ignored?

Dumping waste water has been covered on all the forums over the years so maybe it was not this one.There was a thread sometime ago about dead grass which covered dumping in the grass.

Did find this by Dave Lee from this forum

"I doubt by the time any dirty water from a carpet cleaning machine, dumped on grassland away from the places I mentioned, reaches the water course, would be any danger to anything as it would be thoroughly broken down and filtered by the earths minerals, as it does with all deposit matter. This is is why the environment officer gave his advice, and his attitude was that he considers the quantities we deal with to be insignificant."

Each enviromental officer I spoke to gave different advice.When cleaning wheelie bins we were followed all day by enviromental health who said as long as no rubbish is left on the road no problem,now I think the waste water from washing out someones dirty bin on the road is more of a risk.Washing your car in the street is ok as long as its not for business now how much waste water goes down the storm drains on a Sunday morning up and down the country.We need to be sensible about this if a sewer drain is accesible I use it if not flower bed does.
 

[carpetworx]

Hi Ian
Prowler sounds like a good investment,is the heat continuose when you're wanding for say half an hour
non stop,? I mean at the nozzle end.
Do you really need a water tank?,i thought it just conected to the tap.

[carpet guy]

What's the panic about Gary and what exactly are you trying to say ? The subject has been debated on here on more than one occasion and the post from Steve gives an accurate account of the outcome.

[garyj]

No panic from me whatsoever and not trying to say anything. Never seen it debated on here, and as you've replied to Steve's answer 8 mins after he left it, I hadn't been given time to accept what he has stated. Even he has said he gets a different answer from EH each time.

I only brought it up because of an issue I had a few years ago with car cleaning and it seemed totally at odds from what I was told then by Environmental Health.

[John Kelly]

It is perfectly legal to discharge a small amount of waste water to ground as long as you are not within 50 metres of a water course. The Prowler is supplied with a 50' waste hose which enables you to reach most foul drains on the property. If you want to you can also collect the small amount of waste water in a suitable container and dispose of later.

[Fred Gullan]

Been using a  Prowler in the Edinburgh area for six months or so and never had a problem or a negative comment about the discharge, which is mostly steam. I have only used the 50 ft discharge hose to a foul drain once in  the beginning , now just a short length at the kerb next to the van works fine

[Mike Halliday]

john it's a 58 (or 59 can't remember exactly)  turning at 1750prm. it does push out alot of air.

I'm planning a carpet cleaners day out for probably the end of March, cleaning an 8 room motel at the end of the road, I'll post details in the next week or so.

Mike

[Shaun_Ashmore]

19th to 27th I'm away so please don't do it then as I want to come!

Shaun

[*paul_moss]

Do it on th e 21 st, balls to Ashmore .
I ve got a couple of blowers here for you, that is unless some body offers me more money before Fri.

[Mike Halliday]

Shaun we could'nt fit the rotory in the car, we;ll have to sort out another way to get it to you

[Shaun_Ashmore]

No worries Mike, just keep it in good condition for me

Paul are those blowers female?

Shaun

[*paul_moss]

No, I was told you didnt like them type so they left you the male ones.

[carpetworx]

Being the newest of Prowler users (NOV 07) I was conscious of this when I first started using the machine.

However I have had no negative comments, I have cut the waste hose down to about 15ft and what I now generally do is either run it to a drain or simply put the waste hose under the vehicle, by the kerb and the waste just runs down the side of the road to the nearest drain. 

There is a metal filter in the machine which holds all the debris from the carpets, when you have finished each job you simply remove it, clean out all the fluff and sand, and refit it.  I then just put what I have removed into a plastic bag for the customer to see if they want.

       



Still waiting for a reply!