I cleaned 4000 SF of high grade commercial nylon at a church today (picture below). I had to resort to my rotary because the Cimex just bogged down every time I tried to use it.

I made sure there was plenty of lubrication... I even sprayed the brushes generously as well as the carpet, but it would bog down and stop turning as soon as I tried to move forward. I started with the machine off the carpet too.

Next, I switched over to pads... same problem. The machine just would not move unless I pushed back on the handles slightly to take some of the machines weight off. I tried on two different circuits, but to no avail.

My rotary with an Adjust-A-Glide brush came through like a champ so I was able to do the job in 3.5 hours for $640 and the rotary never bogged at all. I have had the rotary bog slightly before on a very weak circuit, but these circuits were strong... The Cimex just didn't like that carpet for some reason!

I never had this problem before... has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas?

Steve

I've had the Brushes bind up, and bog down the Cimex, but never had a problem with the Hog Hair Pads.

Steve,

If the motor bogs down it has always been one of three things (or a combination of the three) that contributed to the condition.

1. Insufficient current caused by a loaded or weak circuit, or from using an extension cord that was too long or under-rated.
2. Attempting to run the machine on dry carpet (brushes not lubricated).
3. Starting the machine with head on the carpet. Lift the head up slightly before starting the machine.

BUT from what you described it sounds like it was not one of those three factors in your case, so I don't know what would have caused the condition you described. I would have liked to try to figure out what was causing this to happen.

Here is a standing offer to all of you Cimex users... If you are on a job and you have a question or a problem - call me. Maybe we can work through it together. My office number gets forwarded to my cell phone when I'm out. So I am available most of the time (I never sleep). And if you do happen to call when I'm not available you'll get my voice mail, in which case I'll call you back. I hope to be more than just the guy who sold you the machine. So if any of you ever need asistance give me a call and I'll try to help you out.

Rick

Rick Gelinas

This is something I just though of from some of my Cimex experience-How was your handle positioned? Was the handle in a low position? Perhaps lower than normal? If so you may have caused a momentary lifting action of the wheels- transfering the weight to the heads and increasing the turning force requirement of the heads. On difficult to clean carpets that may have been enough to cause a bog. What I have generally found is that if I am having a hard time getting started, I need to run the Cimex with the heads off the carpet and run the solution for a bit to get it real lubed up. Then lower it down very slightly at a time. It may bog slightly but if I continue going down the machine will then pick up RPMS and come out of the bog itself. I generally only have a problem if it is the first time or job of the day with the Cimex and the brushes or pads are dry to begin with.



HTH

T

Actually, I tried it with different handle positions... All to no avail.

Trust me I am not stupid... this puppy didn't want to run on you started pushing it. I would lift it and get it going again and it would still run after I lowered it to the carpet... when I tried to push it, it would BOG down and stop turning. Just something about that carpet. No problem with my rotary though and it did a great job. Tis always good to have a backup plan! LOL

Perhaps if I were willing to use a lot, lot more solution I could have got it work well enough to complete the job, but IMO the rotary was a much better option than excessive cleaning solution.

Off subject somewhat..but what is the adjust a glide..and where do you get one...i have a rotary might as well be set up incase the need arises....or sounds like it might work well as a 2nd machine on a big job....

Joel,

The Adjustaglide is a shampoo brush manufactured by Souteastern/Flopac. It is similar to any other shampoo brush with one difference. It has a plastic center piece that reduces the brush weight on the carpet. A standard shampoo brush scrubs with a little more authority.

JonDon carries them...
http://www.jondonsales.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_prod.html?p_prodid=3319&p_catid=&sid=8wNKwo0X07qJDSu-00102211650.db



Rick Gelinas

Rick or Steve,
How does that adj-a-glide compare with a dirt napper for a back up?

Steve, which brushes were you using - the stiff or soft? If soft, I have no idea, but if stiff, we've had it happen on a very dense gluedown olefin. We tried the pads and they didn't bog much, but they did bog some. Then we tried the soft brushes and it worked fine.

Scott

Bogging is not good, is it possible that the units just need a slight motor upgrade! Seems like it would be the easy answer.

Plus nobody here is running the high speed kit conversion? Or is there some one?

I'd like to see that run.

Joel,

The Adjust-A-Glide & rotary make an excellent backup system or, like you said, as a second machine on a big job.

The Adjust-A-Glide comes in two size bristles, .018 and .025. I have both and use the .025 on commercial carpet because it is more agressive. The .018 can be used on many residential berbers and even some cut pile.

I buy mine from power flite because they do offer both size bristles. Although they are the same EXACT brush and is even made by Flo-Pac, Power Flite calls them Powr-Riser brushes.

At www.powr-flite.com the part number for the .018 bristled brush for a 17 inch machine is SF415 and the .025 part number is SF515.


Scott,

I was trying to use the stiff brushes at first then switched to the pads that Rick sells. They worked better, but still bogged within three feet of pushing the machine unless I put down a lot more solution than I care to use. I didn't have the white brushes with me... but IMO they are too wimpy for commercial carpet anyway.