Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: the red carpet on October 25, 2005, 09:06:06 pm
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hi all,
just wondered if i want to run my portable as a truckmount do i need anything other than water tanks and hose reels?
once fitting water tanks how do i connect them to portable?
have i got enough room iv got a ford courier?
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ROFLMAO
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that dont mean a thing to me glynn ??? ???
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I assume you are joking? as a learner in this career i would have thought a decent truckmount machine would cost at least 10,000 grand? (please correct me if im wrong) You could buy loads of hoses and leave your portable in your van and tell the customer its a truckmount! ps. I use a portable
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I think Glynn was saying he finds your idea a tad amusing. I have a Ford Courier and, to put it nicely, your idea is not very practical, sorry.
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obviously i know its not gonna compare to a proper truckmount the idea i was thinking of was the portable left on the van, with hose reels and water tanks.
the point of this is just to save time and the agroo of unloading the van.
i have seen people using a rascall van with a truckmount before.
would 400 litre tanks not fit in my van?
i am not thinking of using a generater just a extension lead.
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I had thought of that myself (hence my reply) but i dont think the pumps or vaccuums would be up to the job? I use 7 metres of hose usually and sometimes double or triple but i notice the difference when i double up (i use a ninja) Although ashbys state differently.
Ollie
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Daniel, you want a power booster to give you 3rd vac and small tanks Solution supply both, probably need pump upgrade too
1 litre of water = 1 kilo
Conrad
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conrad, are you saying you can boost a portable to be as powerful as a t/m?
Thanks
ollie
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im using 75 foot of hoses at the minute with no problems so surely if i leave the port in the van and use 75 foot hoses il see no difference in performance.
75 foot would reach at least 50% of my jobs if not more.
and if i couldnt reach i could just take the portable of the van.
iv seen 400 litre tanks on ebay, im sure i could fit two of these in my van plus the portable with lots of room to spare.
based on this is there anything else i need to be aware of?
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You would need a pump connected to your van battery to pump the water from your tank to the portable.
cheers mark
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2 x 400 litre tanks in a Ford Courier, not a chance!
I have 1 400 litre tank in a transit and that is a little hairy going round bends.
Its not the size of the van its the weight carrying capacity that is the problem. 2 tanks would give you nearly a tonne of water.
I think you would be restricted to 200 litres. That would be adequate if you are only running a portable. Tank that size less than 100 quid.
Why not bite the bullet and get a truckmount. Ask someone to spend a day with them using a truckmount or look at Marks diary on cleantalk. The difference is unbelievable.
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thank you John that makes a lot of sense.
as for buying a truckmount thats out of the question at the minute.
would it be worth me using these smaller tanks or is it more grief than its worth?
if your saying i could have a 200 litre supply tank i use a extracta excell and i belive the supply on that is about 50 litres so this option would mean i could clean 4-5 times as much carpet without stopping and refilling, is that right?
what about heating the water?
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It maybe worthwhile giving it a go and you may be able to carry out some of your jobs using this setup. Just use it as a porty when more practical. I think for the heat aspect you would need to invest in an inline heater.
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An Extracta XL is a very capable machine, three or even four hose lengths should be possible, however I cannot see much logic in leaving it on the van as it is no big deal to take it off and wheel it the short distance to the customers door. The only set up which might work from a courier van is the Scorpion with the additional tanks, although it would be cramped enough but might just about fit.
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the logic to me fintan is no taking the xcell of the van no taking the hoses of the van no taking the buckets of the van no taking all the chemicalls etc of the van, and no loading all the previously mentioned back on to the van,
plus no lugging bucket after bucket of water from werever i get it from to werever i place my machine and no lugging endless buckets of dirty water to the nearest drain.
this in itself would have to save me a couple of hours on a busy day and i could either have a early day without the back ache or fit in a extra job earning myself a extra £50-£100 pound.
if this could work without to much investment it seems like a good idea to me.
bearing in mind i work 5 days a week if i save 2 hours a day thats 10hours a week and from what i read on this site we aim to earn around £30 a hour thats £300 pound a week.
so if this could work i would have either a extra 10 hours on my hands or a extra £300 pound in my pocket
are these in line heaters and pumps previously mentioned dear/large?
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Ollie,
no chance of boosting a two vac portable to t/m power, was just looking at the best way to boost exel as i know there is no possible way to fit another vac motor in it,so it would have to be external i.e. booster.
if i had to go back to a porty or had contract wich required one, it would be a scorpion with out a doubt.
Conrad
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conrad,
do you use your truckmount with a normal wand or do you use a powerbrush like the scrubba i got of you.
i use that scrubba on every job as i find the results brilliant compared to the wand.
i wouldnt use the extracta without the scrubba as i dont feel the results are good enough.
does the truck mount provide so much power that you dont need the power brush and the wand is enough?
ps. i know why you sold up and got a truckmount now, its hard work aint it!
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hi, i hav been using my portables as truckmounts for over 5 years u must hav a baffled water tank,i hav a 250 lt which fills my ninja about 12 times ,i hav auto fill on it ,and fill using a 12volt pump contected to my batt on van,i run over 100ft of hoses with no probs and my machine leads are 50ft , u need a least 250 psi pump,i myself use 400 psi pumps and ideally a auto waste on machine as i hav but its not a prob cause when u machine is full u vacs cut out ,
i paid £300 for my tank and pump from firm in ireland
gary
p.s get a flat tank not upright one
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also i dont use hose reels ,as my pipes are 1.5" they are light and easy to manage i just put them on top water tank ,i must say i couldnt go back to lumping a machine out van this has made my life so much easier i can clean as quick as my mate who has a tuckmount but my running costs are alot less, and my van is great for getting close to jobs as i use a dihatsu extol
p.s i fill up at home with warm water all i hav to do when i get to a job is plug in and get hose, wand out
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You could still have the porty truckmounted without a water tank, long as you have got an auto feed and dump on your machine ,and where it is possible just plug into the water supply and away you go ,carrying water on a van is a very hazardous thing to do and unless your water tank is set up to the last detail to avoid errors you could end with big problems,in my first days of carrying water i had a flood in the van where a connector had popped off,ended up with crushed equipment,weigt transfer and safty are a priority,and stopping the water splashing through the lids is not as easy as it sounds ,sorry to seem a bit negative but these are the hazards with do it yourself setups.
cheers mark
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thats y i use baffled water tanks and floor ones not upright also think the times the hose would come off in a custmers house and with so many differnet taps etc and just another pain getting hose out etc
the way i c it is make every thing as easy as possible for yourself
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this pump that runs of the battery do you need to leave the engine running?
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no long as your batts ok its only a 12volt supply and demand once its filled up it just kicks in for a moment when water gos down, down a big pub other day had the machines going for over 5 hours no problems, it took me coulpe mins to setup didnt go back out to the van whole time i was there
gary
p.s i would show u some pics but it just says uploader full
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Personally speaking, I built a very strong Professional Carpet cleaning business using some very unique High-Performance "Portable"/TM systems, each truck having 150'-200' of hoses to accomidate cleaning distances/situations.
Absolutely had no problems and built this into an 11 truck operation that became very profitable and got myself to the next level. It was very rewarding.
I would highly recommend speaking with Nick Vousden-White and John Bolton at Solutions for several progressive and innovative "ideas". They handle many quality and top-notch products.
Good Fortune;
Ed Valentine
"Designers of the "Super-Charged" System"
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Having used different portables, owning a 400psi Ninja and seen and used the Savage electric truckmount (Ive also got his booster) my opinion is this:
You could use a 'portable' as a truckmount BUT would be limited to 75ft or 100ft with a three vacuum machine but even then is nowhere near a petrol truckmount but you could use boosters but are a hassle as its more plugs and something else to carry/transport.
Youll need a good pump. 100psi is not adequate for over 50ft.
Heat - only real options are a diesel burner or to use an electric heat exchanger in the house not in the van as youll lose too much heat.
By this stage you have 3-4 plugs which is 2 to many IMO. Again the hassle factor comes into play.
Considering the amount of money youd spend on all the bits and bobs you could have a good 2nd hand truckmount which has more flexibilty for other services. Or if you really want an electric machine then look at the Savage. Two cords will get you great heat and 1000psi pressure and enough vacuum for around 150ft.
But also consider this. Where do you want to be in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years etc. Money wasted now could affect future growth. Ive wasted a good few grand trying to bridge the portable-truckmount gap and IMO it cant be done unless you give up something ie. heat, vac, pressure.
Think long and hard before you part with the money. Dont listen to the salesmen as they only have one intention.
Mark
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ive used three stage vacs outer my van for over 5 years never had a complaint about my work yet , mark did u hav the v2 heater in your machine ? its brill over 100ft and still putting out steam !!! i hav tried out a couple of truck mounts and did not like them for me the draw backs were 1 they used lot water 2 running costs were high 3 2" hoses i found arkward 4 u had to hav huge van 5 i found i could clean just as quick with the setup i use 6 thought the end results were no better agaisnt my set up this is just my opion mind gary
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Dani i only use a wand with tm, i very rarely used scrubba with exel,are you using a pre-spray and working it in ? i.e. on traffic lanes ect, there is better detergents out there than the ones i sent you as i have discovered, hydra dri/double clean as examples, saying that customers coming back from last year when i used my portable and detergents in question,truckmount power is an all different ball game.
Conrad
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Conrad what t/m are you using ?Have you still got the exel?
Steve
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Steve, hydramaster crossfire,exel gone now.
Conrad
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Hi
My porty takes four buckets off water, so its no probs filling at customers. Dont waste your time with tanks. porty uses loads less water so it lasts ages.
Respect
Ian Harper
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yes say u do 3 jobs in a day av say 3 carpets each job fill up say twice each job thats 8 buckets x 3, 24 buckets u hav to fill in cust house ,carry back to your machine etc , all i do is flick a switch god i am tried !! u really sure u wouldnt mind a fresh water tank ian ?
p.s and u not like to be home 1 hour or more early ?
regards a not so tired as ian gary