I have an op machine (ccs oscillator with 1/2 hp motor)and I would like to encap. commercial. How well of a job can I do? Also was thinking of using the ccs encap. brush. What do you think?
Michael

I've been experimenting with OP and encap also. I have
2 Challengers: a 1/2 hp, and a 3/4 hp. The least
success I've had has been with the FiberPLus pads.
The machine wants to go its own way fairly strongly with
these pads. And there doesn't seem to be a way to put
a glider under a FiberPlus pad.
Encap seems to work best when I use a white nylon pad,
the type with the green scrubbing strips. There is
much less "grab" than when using the FibrePlus pads,
and the machine is very easy to control, even when used
without a glider.
In order to increase my sq. ft. per hour productivity,
I've substituted a slightly modified 16" green bristle
pad driver from an Oreck LowBoy for the Challenger's
standard 13" velcro driver. To further increase speed,
I'll probably want to buy an electric higher output
sprayer to use while encapping instead of the usual
pump-up 2-gallon sprayer.

Mark Dullea

thanks for the reply!

Michael, I have used Releasit and my op to encap and have had very good results.
My machine has a tank and shower feed system which I think helps produce better results than spraying.
I like using the scrub pads, I haven't tried a brush yet but I plan on doing that.
I think the FiberPlus pads will give you the best results on commerical though.
I have used a glider under the scrub pads and it did help control the machine, your glider has to have good velcro to stay under the pad, my glider is completly covered with velcro on one side which helps keep it under the machine.

Mark, I'll have to give your idea of the green striped nylon bonnets a try, sounds like a good idea.

Jeff
How do you hook up a tank/shower feed arrangement on
a machine (OP) whose handle does not lock in place?

Mark Dullea

Mark, the tank on the handle hasn't been a problem,
the brush covers for the Orbitec has an opening for the shower feed tube and the pad driver is a polycarbonate so a cleaning solution doesn't hurt it.
I never really thought about the extra weight on the handle from the tank being a problem, maybe I'm just use to it now.

whats your opinion on this?

My opinion? Buy a Cimex

For a little over $2,000 a Cimex is a practical approach. And when you consider what the Cimex can do for the small outlay of money - it just makes sense.

Here's another way to look at it. I could go to the supermarket and rent a little toy portable HWE machine. I could then go home and clean my living room with it. And you know what? I could get the carpet clean, because I know the tricks of the trade and how to clean carpet. On the other hand, you could stop by and clean my carpet with a Vortex machine. This too would get my carpet clean. Both methods are HWE. And both could get the job done. But we all know which one we'd prefer to work with if we were wanting a machine to make a living with. And so it goes with encapsulation. AGITATION is the muscle in this cleaning pie. So why compromise this and try to find a lesser work around, especially when a stronger tool is reasonably attainable?

So my opinion is this... Rotary and OP cleaning works fine as a stopgap till a person is ready to acquire a Cimex.

There, you have my opinion. I once heard someting about opinions... "A man's opinion along with a dollar will get you a cup of coffee at 7-11." Translation: opinions carry little real value. And if you brought my opinion into 7-11, they might just charge you two bucks for that cup of coffee. LOL




Rick Gelinas

thanks for that unbias opinion

LOL

You're welcome.

Hey I only comment on what I know works.

And here's another reason for my reply...

I'll occasionally hear comments from a cleaner who says "I tried encapsulation and I wasn't all that impressed". Well a couple of questions comes to mind...

1. What machine did you use? 2. Which detergent did you use? 3. How was the cleaning performed?

Like anything, there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. It can work phenomenally well, or it can under-perform - a lot depends on the 3 elements listed above.

It's disappointing to see cleaners frustrated with a challenging encap experience because they approached it the wrong way.

I also get a little peeved when I hear someone tries out an inferior encap product and assumes that encapsulation is not so hot. Instead of having a good experience they'll now walk away from encapsulation without seeing what it truly can do. And that's unfortunate.

The bottom line: Encapsulation is only as good as what goes into it.




Rick Gelinas

I gotta agree with Rick. The right machine, the right chemical the right technique is going to give best results.

Anything else is a compromise, sure, sometimes the compromise is OK, but not as good as the best setup.

Gary