[steve k]

could anybody give me a bit of feedback on the CFR range of portables...they have good heat, great CFM and recycling ability...all seem too good to be true as surely everyone would be using one...??

I seem to have got my research down to the CFR, the Scorpion or the Mytee speedster.

Thanks

[CATMAN]

Steve,

I have a CFR, and over time I have given it to four different cleaners to use, non would recommend over our 450psi ninja.

I may have been unlucky, but I've found it unrealiable, I don't like the three pronged plugs, right near water, its got no CE marking which itself is illegal.

The heat and cleaning of the CFR wand are not great compared to whats available.

It needs to be kept spottless inside with the filters or it won't work

If you have it in someones house, and say its got too much detergent in it and froths, it just pumps the foam and water from every orific, it doesnt stop unlike the ninja.

I am sure people on here will disagree with me but this is my opiniumt if I was looking for a new machine, I'd give the CFR a wide berth, if I knew then what I know now.

Regards

CATMAN

[Mark Roberts]

^^ I agree.

Its a nice concept and does work but as soon as you do any real dirty carpet cleaning your better off with a normal extractor. The cleaning of filters I didnt mind but they only work up too a point so you end replacing the water just as much anyway. I kept the hand tools and use them with the scorpion, the cfr I would use if I just did upholstery.

[steve k]

thanks

[rice]

HI STEVE,I use a cfr but all my work is domestic so the carpets are not like those that the commercial guys are cleaning.Ifind the machine brilliant.I leave it outside the door,run 60ft off it
with another 25 in the van.mine is the ozone model,cold water and it does a fantastic job.I use the glide wand and you can clean with one hand it`s so smooth.Regarding the foaming all you need is a little defoamer in the hose before you start

I`ve had a ninja but theweight of draging the hoses plus emptying buckets soon had me looking for an allternative.With the cfr all I do is stick the hose under a tap every hour or so to freshen up the tank and away we go.I admit if I was cleaning real gungy carpets or if I was employing brain dead muscle men I would give them something else but for my own use and the domestic market
I would definitly recomend it.For office and shop work Iuse a buffer,charley pads from soloution uk
and one step at 15 to1 dillution.

I hope this helps and remember we`re all right in our own way but we`re just approaching it from
our own uniqe perspectives.So if you`re mainly after the relatively clean domestic market buy one.

you wont regret it and I`ve found amtech great to deal with.sorry if this sounds like an advert
but I`m genuinely very happy with the machine

regards RICE

[Derek]

I have two cfr Pro-station 400 machines and find they give me excellent results.  Yes you have to clean the tank and filters out religously but we should be doing that anyway.
I have used a good many different varieties of machines over the years and they all require servicing and minor repairs from time to time ...its part of the job.. its why I own two machines.
If one machine goes down I can disconnect and link in the second machine and get like for like performance.

I use a roller wand and recently I have been using the Wonder Wand...both excellent floor tools although the Wonder Wand, I admit, is easier to use

[craigp]

i heard of one going bang! and giving the operator a electric shock - a big one!

[Andy Foster]

I am new to the carpet cleaning industry and chose CFR because of the unlikelyhood of being able to overwet the carpets. (Wanted something a bit foolproof to suit me!)

I have the ProStation 400 and find that it is great.

I have had referral upon referral from my customers stating that they are over the moon with the results.

Cleaning the filters really isn't that much of a chore, takes a few minutesat the end of the day and ensures a clean start the next day.

I am glad to hear the Derek Bolton uses the same machines... makes me feel better.  Looking forwarde to meeting you Derek on the 20th march.

Hope this helps

Andy

[steve k]

thank you all

[Charlie Payne]

I purchased the CFR system recently, thats the Pro-500 Perfect Heat with Wonder Wand, i've been carpet cleaning for about 13yrs and have used a variety of cleaning methods. believe me i wished i'd have got one of these systems years ago, it would have save me alot of time and money, its that good, easy to move about and is good for my bad back!!!!!!!!!!!!   it i'll clean any carpet no matter how dirty.

[Ken Wainwright]

Steve

From your initial post, it would appear that you are thinking about the more conventional Twin Tank CFR rather than the recycling type of machine. Everyone I've spoken to with a twin tank raves about it. Those with a recycling system are nearly all favourable too. It would appear that more often than not, the main issues revolve around not cleaning the filters well enough on the recyclers.

I use some product from Amtech UK and some CFR tools and have found their products, service and support to be excellent.

The CFR machines are, IMO, worthy of serious consideration. See them at the NEC Cleaning Show.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Alan Brooker. Aqualink Carpet Care]

Howdy All,

To those that know me, I love to potter around with things and try to adapt/ change/ improve on them.

Take your regular Hydromaster filter, get some 20 micron hollander weave mesh made into a sock for the filter and slide it over the hydromaster filter then pop this into your Ninja waste tank.
Re-plumb your inlet and outlet solution hoses to the waste tank and hang them over the top of the filter and down into the water with a little acorn filter on the end of the inlet hose to stop any stray airborne matter from the vacuum inlet ... er ... ... That's it.
Total cost of parts iro  £120.     Dah dah

I've been using my ninja 400psi with this adaption for a couple of months now and can report that the results are MIND BLOWING.
As such I have now removed the V2 heating system and the second vac motor. So chuffed with results I'm building myself a new machine from scratch in April.

If you're not one for tinkering then I'd say the cfr machine is the best one out there. Because of the way that that whole cfr system works it doesn't need the heat or vacuum power of the 'super porty's' out there to be able to produce astonishing results.

All the best
Alan

[carpetguy]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!

I 'VE been supporting CFR'S for years and always believed it to be a fantastic system.........only problem being the " push to extract " which takes a while to get used to, however...........I found that most of the time, I was cleaning, very effectively, with 200 psi, but it was handy to have 400 available when necessary.

The best result I ever got on a carpet, was with the CFR on an 80 / 20 Axmimster, which was twenty years old, never been cleaned and it came up, absolutely, like new !

[Steve Carpenter]

As many of you will know I have been a fan of the CFR system for a very long time, even before my involvement with the current distributor. In fact my family business came very close to becoming the UK distributor for the system in 1993, but because of pressures of work, we missed out and another company took the system on.

In the hands of a properly trained technician the CFR system will deliver out standing results regardless of peoples issues with the recycling aspect of the system.

The CFR system adopts the same principle as Truckmounts, higher pressure and water flow removes more soiling, but unlike a truckmount the system doesn’t rely entirely on superheated cleaning solutions and or vacuum performance. The CFR’s continuous flow tooling enables the machine to clean very effectively and recover more soils/moisture than a conventional extractor even with only 1 vacuum.

It is however a system that suits some but not others, especially if you do a search for CFR and read through some of the heated debates we’ve had on the forums over the years. It has become for some a system that you either love or hate!

I have been in the industry since 1989 and have benefited from continuous high quality training and high quality equipment, using high performance portables and truckmounts since 1994. I rate the system highly, even though in the last couple of years high performance portables have become the norm for the professional cleaner. We are now spoilt for choice with the verity of high performance equipment now available.

It doesn’t suit every body and even my brother who knows the system well, still prefers a conventional twin tank HP machine, even if it means emptying the machine every 20 minutes.

Regards

Steve

[Damian]

What intrigues me is how can a machine with one vac motor clean more thoroughly AND leave carpets drier? Surely this is a perversion of science and technological advancement-or is it just marketing bumpf?

Damian.

[carpetguy]

Steve

Very fair comment, from you, "having changed horses" recently.

Damian

Steve touched on the technicalities of the system..............it's about " constant flow" of both air and water, with clever tooling..........it's not hype..........it really works.

[Damian]

Rob it cannot possibly pull more vacuum than a two or three times, three stage motored machine-period! No matter what hype is put forward the more motors sucking, the more suction. Thats it.

Damian.

[Steve Carpenter]

Hi Damian

The CFR tooling is designed to work with the surface that’s being cleaned and completes a hydraulic circuit when in contact with textiles or hard flooring. The water flow is under constant movement and never subjected to gravitational forces, that can hinder the drying times of conventional extractors.

I owned both 400 psi (1.4 US gpm) and 1000 psi (2.2 US gpm) CFR’s extractors and cleaned carpets, including rugs and Belgium Wiltons at these pressures without moisture penetrating the backing of carpets. I would often demonstrate this effectiveness on Belgium Wiltons and Wool Axminster carpets making up to 20 passes without shrinkage occurring.

Regards

Steve

PS. Rob, as you are aware business relationships can turn sour, I fell out with Amtech not their products.

[carpetguy]

Believe what you like......................I bought a 400 psi / single vac CFR around 12 years ago and it's capabitities are amazing.

You can dwell on heavily soiled areas, without soaking and get extraordinary results on a day to day basis.

As mentioned, it's not about vac'power, it's about engineering, air flow and constant water flow and it's been proven over a long, long time !!!!!!!!!!!

Much better explanation than mine, Steve

PS

Steve, you must have been frustrated with the failure of Franklin's to capitalise on the opportunity you gave them, or maybe the market just was'nt ready !

[Damian]

Steve,
Most wands complete a "hydraulic circuit" when connected with the textile to be cleaned. The fact of the matter is you cannot withdraw, extract, pull or whatever your term is used to "drag" more moisture from a textile than vacuum power! The more vacuum motors you have give more vacuum at the tool head-until a law of diminishing return. Its basic science. I cannot see how a one times three stage three vac motor will get textiles drier than three times three stage motor etc.

Damian.