Just got my new tm

[Don Gray]

Hey all, I am new to the board, thanks to Lisa and greenie for giving me the heads up, and i just got my new truck mount installed yesterday and I had just a few questions.

At what pressure should I clean like a berber, commercial nylon, etc.

What are the main things I can do to keep the machine running strong.

Do you all use the the ratios on the chem bottle for your soap gph.

Thanks,
Don

 

[Guest]

use your Don Gray name.. respectfully.. and you'll get alot more credible answers back. they'll make you soon anyhow..


congrats on finding the forum.. and also on the new TM..

High 5 and best of luck to ya.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Did you get your your new TM from the Jeff and the gang at Steamway Express?

They're not far from you.
Just a few miles west in Zoarville

Good peeps, they are

What TM did you buy?

have any carpet cleaning experience before you decided to get rich in this biz?


..L.T.A.

 

[Farenheit251]

Use as little emulsifier Through your machine as possible so as not to leave a residue in the carpet. I'd start at one third the recommended amount. My opinion is it is better to use prespray stronger cause you can rinse it out. Ideally you work towards finding a prespray good enough that you can rinse with no detergent,although I'll always have some on the truck for situations where getting a filthy carpet clean outweighs the residue. Brian E

 

[JohnnyV]

Welcome to the board. I clean Berbers at slightly less pressures than Cut pile but it hasn't been a problem really since getting my new 2" wand. Somewhere in the 250 range. Heat and agitation on berber are my main weapons. Do yourself a favor and never refer to your "Cleaning Agents" as "Chemicals" or "Soap" ever again. What were you cleaning with before a TM? It says in your profile you've been in biz 2 years?

JohnnyV

 

[Dolly Llama]

"At what pressure should I clean like a berber, commercial nylon, etc."

We adjust ours to fit the situation.
If you don't want to adjust, it depends on what wand you have.
Two jets wands, we liked 350psi for general cleaning.
6 jet wands with angled jets, we bump up a bit to 450

Standard PSI for most TM hacks is in the 400 to 500psi range.
and some knuckleheads blast away at 550 to 600+

"What are the main things I can do to keep the machine running strong."

Keep up with maintenance, oil changes, grease the blower bearings, air filters, spark plugs, etc

"Do you all use the the ratios on the chem bottle for your soap gph."

Nope, we do much the same as Brian E.
Better IMHO to use a quality pre-spray and only minimal detergent through the TM.
1/3 to 1/2 manufacturer's recommendations is plenty for your "soap" tank.
We use emulsifier to condition the water and give it some fragrance is all.
It also keeps scale down to a minimum.
Prochem's HeatWave is the best we've used for that.
No other emulsifier we've used comes close to Heat Waves in keeping our TM scale free.

if you ever get up to Portage county, give me a call.
330-730-6485
I'm about an hour north of you


..L.T.A.

 

[Greenie]

Not contradicting anyone above as it's all solid advice, but I like to talk reality with newer guys, you emulsifier stock jug is pretty dilute as it is, then we meter that mix at very dilute ratios 128:1 in many situations, there is very little chemistry in your cleaning water at this point.

If you use 10 gals in a large room ie: 200sq. ft., and extract 9 gallons with your TM, you are actually leaving very little chemistry per square foot.
Use a low residue product and you will have no issues. Using good technique, a strong unit, high lift and some modern technology to get a room thoroughly dry, and you won't have the issues of yesteryear.

Get into a few classes, and ride with a conscientious cleaner, and build professional relationships, and you will go far in this biz.

 

[Guest]

good post brother Greenman.