[richie]

This evening i was helping a fellow CC who has purchased a Scorpion (he also runs a TM). 

Upon seeing the machine it is quite ugly and looks cheap however, as the saying goes "never judge a book by its cover".  It actually performs very well when you take into considoration that its powered by electricity.  It has plenty of vac & the water flow/PSI is also good.  The machine is quite loud overall.  I was shocked at how loud the water pump is and how it vibrates through the whole machine.  I do like the way that you can look at the machine and see how much water is in the fresh/waste tanks.  Since the Scorpion first hit the UK i have read so many comments regarding its POWER.  Many have said that it gives TM vac performance.  Let me set the record straight (my opinion).....Yes the Scorpion does have good vac power but it is not as good as a entry level TM vac (HM Spitfire 3.2).   We were running 50 feet of 2 inch vac hose.  You could however hear the vac pulling through the wand better than ive known other portys.  As we all know,  the Scorpion has no heater which is a shame as i think it would greatly benefit from one.  The guy i was with today also bought the Mighty One Spotting machine that can also be used as a vac booster.  We didnt use it today although he said he did use it on his PC Cub XL the other day and it made  a fair bit of improvement to the vac power.

Richie.

[Mike Osbourne]

Could of spent the extra money on decent truckmount

[Buster Ingram]

I read this somewhere can't think where  :


What I have never understood about people prepared to part with that much money for what is basically a plastic bucket with some motors attached is why they think it comes even close to Truck Mount performance, Truck Mount looks and Truck Mount prestige. It's a portable machine for gods sake.

[will_turton]

 TAXI FOR RICHIE

[richie]

He bought the Scorpion as he does alot of work that he cant/wont use the TM on. 

Hi Daddy Dave,

mmmmmm i wonder where you read that post  :  LOL

Richie.

[Buster Ingram]

I know Rich at my age I tend to read any old rubbish.

I have only ever seen 2 Scorpions in my life and both were not worth  the money

Sorry you guy's who own one but unless you have used a proper T/M you can't compare, as said earlier they are and always will be a PORTABLE MACHINE the clue is in the 'P' and bloody expensive at that!

[richie]

i agree Dave,  the cost of the Scorpion is too high and will never compare to a TM unless the TM is a tired worn out one.

Richie.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Hello Dave I hope you are well. After going through different portis and TM's the 1st really cleaning machine I had was built by D Ingram, it introduced me to cleaner drier carpet cleaning, the end results being far better and alot more recommendations.

I'm on my 5th TM (well if you can count the 2 banes) I personally know that you need all of the cleaning pie if you are striving for perfection.

Shaun

[Jim_77]

If you read the sales blurb, the Scorpion isn't marketed as a contender to truckmounts at all!  It's sold on the strength that it has a shed-load more airflow than any other portable.

I'd presume that the reason its pump is so noisy is because it's a 500psi monster (the latest model, anyway, which I presume is the one in question).  That's quite a lot different from a lot of other portable machines.

If you think about it for a minute, there's probably some very good reasons why the machine in general is so noisy.  Firstly it has one more vacuum motor than most portables.  They're configured in parallel aren't they?  I think it has separate exhaust ports so as not to restrict the airflow on the way out of the machine, to get every last cfm out of it as possible.

Yes it's ugly, no s**t!  But who cares?  a Kohler petrol engine isn't exactly a work of art

Customers don't inspect your machine, they look at the item you've been cleaning.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Jim I'd beg to differ that customers don't inspect the machine, I saw a niche in my marketing to make sure I show it to them and they love it (well may not love) but they do ask for the big machine and do tell their friends.

Shaun

[Buster Ingram]

Jim, Size does matter!
You ask any women 

Anyway back to the job in hand!

When the Scorpion hit the street running it was sold as an alternative to the petrol T/M it even had on board tanks ( Speak to uncle Ken Wainright) he bought the bloody cumbersum things and when he fitted them in his van there was no room left for any thing else.

No I'm sticking with its a lot of hard earnt money for a portable with an extra vac motor!

[Jim_77]

I totally get where you're coming from Shaun.  The difference is that you've got a showpiece and you show it to them as part of your routine.  They don't "inspect" it.

I've never once before been asked by a potential customer to show them what machinery I carry around in the van!  I'm sure others would say the same?

What I meant was that if you have already won a client and turn up to clean for them, they're not going to look at a Scorpion and say "EWWW! Get that horrible thing away from me, take your machine and do one"

Are they?

We're talking about slightly different things I think

[Jim_77]

Dave you may well be right, however I don't know how the Scorpion was originally marketed.  I'm working with current information.

P.S. I believe Uncle Ken now has the tanks on a rack

[Shaun_Ashmore]

That's a bit harsh!

Shaun

[richie]

Hi Jim,

If your post was in reply to my original one then let me clear up a few things;

1,  I never stated that the Scorpion is marketed as a contender to truckmounts.  I stated that many Scorpion owners say its as good as a TM.

2,  I know of other portys that have similar water pumps to TMS yet they are knowhere as near that loud.

3,  Yes the Scorpion does have 3 vac outlet ports and so.  I wasnt knocking it for the noise...simply said it was loud.

4,  I did say it looked ugly & cheap in original post but also stated  "never judge a book by its cover"

5,  Over the years i have had 100's of customers wanting to look at the machine im using.  I have found that they like to see a clean NICE well presented machine, other equipment & van.

All in all i think that in my original post i actually praised the Scorpion.

Richie.

[Jim_77]

Don't tell Nick

[Buster Ingram]

Yes on a rack in his Garage more like collecting dust!

Sorry Jim its just that I think this machine has had a lot of hype and a pair of Ashby's  twin vac machines with 2" pipe would do the same job at half the price!

[Jim_77]

I wasn't picking you to bits Richie, just discussing the subject matter

I think that a lot of customers will make comments on machinery when they see it.  I've lost count of the number who've said something like "Wow that looks a serious piece of kit" when they see my Ninja.

I don't think that a Ninja looks like a serious piece of kit at all, I think it looks like a piece of plastic on wheels with a wire sticking out the back.

If someone rolled up to a carpet cleaning job with a George I'd laugh at them.

If I pulled up at a big commercial job and saw a HM Titan chugging away I'd probably have to go and change my boxer shorts.

It's all relative.

[Jim_77]

Funny you should say that Dave, I've been using 2 ninjas hooked up in parallel on a school job this week.

It's a pain in the bloody chuff but you do get pretty good vac performance for 2 plastic buckets

[richie]

Actually Dave....thinking about it i do remember it being marketed as a porty that will perform as a entry level TM.  

Richie.