One of the cool new releases that was featured at the ISSA show last week is our new X2 EncapMachine™.

Click this link to check it out... X2 EncapMachine



We're currently waiting for our red tanks to be delivered from the tank manufacturer. The tanks should be in within the next two weeks and then we will be ready to roll.

Whaddya think?




Rick Gelinas

ok, so the Cimex is best, say 100 points out of 100. My rotory is 40 or so, where does this rate on the "works good" scale?

Brian

VERY INTERESTING!

Rick, what type carpet is this for?

A Whittaker with a shower feed tank? Hmmmmmmm. Brilliant!

Dave Bigler
When It Comes to Cleaning - the BIGLER the BETTER!!!

Brian,
If the Cimex is 100 and your rotary is 40, I guess the X2 would probably be around 75-80. I think of it like comparing a Ford Explorer to a Hummer. Both are SUV's, and both have their market, but the differences are fairly significant. The Cimex is an absolutely serious machine for serious cleaning. Whereas the X2 will also get the job done, it's just a bit less in the power-house scrubbing department. Yet they both have their place. And there are enough folks who want the smaller cylindrical machines to justify producing this smaller machine.

Darwin,
The X2 can be used on any type of carpet, providing that you're using the correct brushes. Brush sets sell for $150 with free shipping. We offer the X2 with the white brushes, which are suitable for commercial carpet. We feel that this brush will work better than the black and white zebra brushes, which may be too stiff for some carpets. Here is the brush range... Gold, gold & white, white, white & black, black. Gold is softest and black is stiffest. You would use gold for extremely soft residential carpet, and you'd use black for tile and grout.

Dave,
The X2 is kind of like like the smaller cylindrical machine on steroids. The X2 weighs 27 pounds more (72 pounds), which gives it sufficient weight to scrub deeply. It has a shower-feed which performs better than spraying down the encap detergent. It has a built in caster base so it doesn't require the little tray to protect the brushes. It has steel gears rather than plastic gears. It has a built in vac-port. And it sells for a few hundred less.




Rick Gelinas

Looks nice Rick. Congrats! Does it move kinda by itself or glides on the wheels or what? Which direction do the brushes turn?

Does it come in circus colors to match my Dyson? j/k

Jay,

It glides pretty effortlessly. The casters under the machine roll on the ground as you push the machine. The handle will lock to support the weight of the handle and the tank. So it's not hard to run. The brushes spin in toward the center of the machine. They turn at 400 rpm.

It's gray & red, but circus colors aren't a bad idea either. LOL




Rick Gelinas

Does this mean that residential carpet can now be effectively encapsulated?

Sheryl,

It will be easier to run this machine in a home than the larger 19" Cimex. However there are quite a few cleaners who use the 19" machine in homes. The question is whether encapsulation fits your cleaning regiment for your residential accounts. I've never really recommended it as a solid cleaning approach for residential on a steady basis. That being said, I hear from cleaners who are encapping residential carpets regularly, and they report that it's working for them. If you choose encap for residential, this machine would make sense.




Rick Gelinas

Did you get my e-mail? Can you get the machine Gold Platted matching my wand? The machine would fit me perfect as far as being able to transport it. Plus it fits the size of jobs I normally do.

Waldo The Golden Wand

ahhh, so glad it's finally here!

for now the only question i have is : why not have the solution tanks made in the same shade of yellow as the Cimex? can it be effectively painted?

i know it's a funny question, but i really try and keep everything yellow. my van happened to be short-bus yellow, then the Mex, then my Dyson....now it is kinda a theme and i am sticking with it hehe

just dont call me yellow! --- Derek

BAH, nevermind....just checked the X2 out and man is it a beaut! red fits her

I'd like it in Green and Gold please Sir, to match my van and uniform, not to mention my caps.

But they tell me, red goes faster.

Looks like another winner for the residential market and those tight spots.

Cheers,

Shorty.

Looks very impressive Rick.
I may see one of these in my future. What do you expect regarding the maintanence of this machine? Can you explain a little more about the vacuum system setup?
Thanks
Jeff Cutshall

Yes Waldo I'll be happy to plate the X2 in gold. We could completely cover it in 18K gold and we'll call it the "million dollar model". How many would you like?

Jeff, on the back of the machine you'll find the vacuum port attachment. The center of the machine has a chamber that leads up to the port on the back. So the center of the machine between the two brushes can become active as a vacuum cleaner simply by attaching a vacuum to the port on the back. You could attach the X2 to a back pack vac, or you could attach it to a truckmount or some other auxiliary vacuum source. (I like the back pack vac approach)

You could use the X2 for pre-vacuuming. Then you'd clean the carpet with the vacuum off. And after the cleaning you could run back over the carpet and quickly post-vacuum to pick-up any gunk that gets pulled from down in the carpet during cleaning.

Another option would be to attach the X2 to any type of wet vacuum. You could run the X2 with the wet vacuum running during the cleaning process. This would produce a foam extraction cleaning system. The effect would be similar to a Von Schrader machine or even a Chemstractor, kicked up a notch. In this application you'd generate foam, scrub, and wet-vac, all at the same time.

So that covers most the aspects of the vacuum port and what we expect that it can be used for. I think it's a pretty cool addition to the scrubber. When you consider that a pile lifter vacuum sells for $2,000 - the X2 seems to offer more functionality, for less money.




Rick Gelinas

Hey, a Ford Explorer to go with your Hummer.

When you consider what the X2 can do, it seems like a pretty practical consideration for encap cleaning. It won't quite reach the production numbers of the Cimex. But there are a lot of cleaners who don't need or want a Hummer. The X2 will fit nicely into the profile for a good number of cleaning operations. This is not a little lightweight scrubber, it's a fairly beefy scrubber for cleaners that want a smaller machine without sacrificing scrubbing performance.




Rick Gelinas

Besides you can demo with the x2, keep the mills happy than get the contract and use your Cimex for the ultimate in cleaning.
Best of both worlds

Any chance of producing a 230V version?

David

Good news for the rest of the world! Yes, we can produce the X2 for various voltage requirements. The Baldor industrial motor that we're using is dual wound. Our manufacturer only has to change the voltage taps on the motor and we can select between 120, 220, 230, or 240.




Rick Gelinas

So this is a straight line machine? Never seen a Whittiker that its compared to. This would work alot better down hallways wouldn't it? Go to end of hall, than pull it backwards to other end? What kind of pattern does it leave in the carpet, people are just gettin used to my buffer swirls, lol.

Brian

Brian you could run it in a straight line from one end of the room to the other, similar to running a Cimex. Or you can run it like a vacuum cleaner making a "w" pattern in the carpet as you go.




Rick Gelinas

Very impressive machine, Rick. You put some good thinking into it. Congratulations.
A few questions - What happened to X1?
You say the machine doesn't need a brush tray to protect the brushes, that the caster base does this. Does that mean the wheels are out for wheeling on the ground and they retract for cleaning carpets?
Then, say you are using a back pac vac hooked up to the X2 - will there be enough suction to suck moisture out of the carpet? I say that because the vacuum port looks too big to do that sort of thing. It looks more like a vacuum port to such up what the brushes throw at it.
All in all, it looks like you've got a winner.

Good questions. Where's the X1? LOL
X2 stands for "times 2 brushes".
It's a dual brush machine.

You're correct, it has a large vac chamber. The chamber is positioned between the two brushes. It's fully enclosed with vac slots running along each edge of the chamber close to the brush at the floor. The vac slots are narrow enough to enable decent suction, providing there's an adequate vacuum attached.

There are 4 casters positioned on the back of the machine. When you lift the head of the machine, the handle locks the head in the upright position. The 4 casters are now on the floor and the brushes are out in front of the machine.




Rick Gelinas

i think i see another 9 month-no-payments-no-interest credit card in my future lol.

Rick -
If I understand you correctly the vacuum system is going to work a lot better than what I first imagined. From the picture it looks like the entire space between the two brushes is the vacuum area and now I understand that the vacuum is two slots next to the two brushes. That should work.
I like it.

So, what is the retail cost for this machine?