Greetings all
Through Shorty's help and encouragement I have recently purchased a cimex and started encapping.Over the last 3 weeks approx 70% of our work has been using the cimex with outstanding results.On a couple of occasions i have noticed the motor gets hot.On one occasion we had been using it continuosly for a couple of hours,the area was poorly ventilated and it gave of a slight odor. I removed the plastic cover to make sure the cooling fan was working ,which it was.The metal cover of the motor was hot to touch.Is this normal??
This has only happened twice,both times with no ill effect to the machine.Have I got a problem or is this normal?I don't ahave a good track record with new machineery some thing always goes wrong.
Any help would be much appreciated
Regards Flatso

Are you in Australia like Shorty?
I'm not as familiar with the 220 volt machines.

As a rule, if a motor gets hot, there isn't sufficient voltage getting to the motor. This can be caused by using an under rated extension cord. It can also occur if the electrical circuit in the building is rated at too low of an amperage. I've never heard of a Cimex motor getting real hot. However, insufficient current will cause any electrical motor to overheat. So make sure you have plenty of good current getting to the machine and you should be OK.




Rick Gelinas
encapman

Might be you are not running enough solution through the machine. This will cause drag on the motor and will run hotter. The cleaning solution acts like a lubricant so the machine moves easier. Just a reminder although I am sure you already knew that. What Rick said about the power supply and using enough solution are probably the 2 biggest reasons a machine will over heat.

Bob

Thanks for your replies.Yes I'm in Aussie like Shorty.However he's in Cairns and I'm in Sydney(about 2500km apart)Having said that I've just had a coffee with him at Dee Why beach before he left for the airport.Getting back to the temp of the machine I don't think it's a lack of current as the power lead remains cool and we make sure there is plenty of juice on the carpet.I was just wondering if it was a characteristic of the machine as there dosen't seem to be a lot of vent holes in the cowling.
Anyway it's saturday morning here in Sydney and we've got about 500sq metres to encap today so we'll see how we go.
Regards Flatso

Hi Flatso

About your Cimex getting hot, mine will also get fairly warm under normal use. Then when I really load up the weight (300+lbs) it will get extremely hot. But I think I’m using a different model than you also, 48DF. As a safety feature my motor has a built in thermal over load switch that will some times trip.
Here is an idea for you that I know will work, well that is if you’re not running hot water through your solution tank. I haven’t yet done it myself because I haven’t had the time to put it together but I know it will work in principle and I know of a small independent machine manufacturer that has done some testing with it and its worked great.
Take a soft copper 1/4” line and wrap it around your motor. Then take and run your polyvinyl line from your solution tank to this coiled copper line and then run another polyvinyl line from copper down to the deck. What you’ll end up doing is a few things; 1) the copper will act as a heat sink pulling heat away from the motor, 2) as the water runs through the line it will become heated, at least to some extent. By you pulling heat from the motor you will add a great deal of life to in two ways. One heat over time will take its toll and that’s to be expected. But another is also true. Let’s say your motor is rated at 1.5 hp, that rating is near start up when the motor is cool. As with every motor as the motor heats up, you actually start to lose horse power. The power kinda curves off to a certain extent. By keeping it cool or at least cooler the power curve will be substantially flatter, in turn giving you a stronger, longer running motor.
Just a few ides that might help you out if you’re inclined.

David Gelinas
Marbleguy a.k.a. Mr. Wizard

Hi David
Thanks for that idea.Thats how the water in my truck mounted machine is heated.I'm sure my cimex is fitted with a thermal overload which so far has not activated.Yesterday we encaped approx 500sq metres(5300 sq ft)the machine worked perfectly just got a bit warm.As it's a new machine I was just trying to work out if this is normal.Three weeks ago I had never encaped a carpet now after buying the cimex we are encapping approx 60%.I have been getting results on synthetic carpets which I had never acheived before and I have been cleaning carpets for 27 yrs. What a great system!!!. And yes I'm using releasit.
Cheers Flatso

I know how you feel; it really is an unbelievable system. We sometimes do completely trashed carpets and its amazing the results we’re getting. In spite of a few thousand feet a week of commercial carpet most of our focus is on hard surface floor care. The thing that blows me away is that the same machine that I use for carpet cleaning I can also use to strip or scrub VCT, scrub ceramic tile and grout, grind, hone and polish marble, granite, terrazzo and concrete. And the Cimex is fool proof to run as well, I love it.

Congrats with your new tool, it seems the love affair has already started. Isn’t it funny after 27 years that you can find something new and exciting about this industry?

David Gelinas
Marbleguy