Ready to add one to my arsnal next week, Questions; Do you have one? Is it 15" or 20" How much hose did you get with it 50', 100' or 150'? Did you get one of Greenies Glides? One pricey piece of plastic @ $199.00 for it. Thanks

Ray,

Beth told me she was speaking with you on Friday.
I'll give you a call Monday morning.





Rick Gelinas
encapman

Yeah what does come with that??? I have been highly debating getting one...more so now that i have a freakin flame thrower of a heater...that likes and needs that much flow....180,000 setting 1 and 360,000 setting 2

I would love to hear some feedback from Steamin Demon owners. I need to check if there is somewhere around here that has one for a demo. I have been seriously considering one but have some concerns. My main concerns are water recovery, foaming and supplying it with hot water. Residential hot water heaters and a lot of my small commercial account hot water heaters couldn't keep up with the high flow. With all this flow is hot water important?

In my mind a Steamin Demon would compliment my encap. system very well. I have a real good portable right now but it has had heavy use for 5 years. I have replaced all of the vacuum motors and the pump many times (normal, I have used it hard) and the wiring has been giving me trouble the last year If I am going to keep it I need to just rewire everything. It takes up a lot of room in the van with the machine, wand, buckets and 3 sets of hoses. The bucket brigade gets old also.

It seems to me the Steamin Demon would do a much better job of flushing the carpet out, be faster than my portable, take up less room in the van and lower maintenance. Am I correct? Did I just talk myself into one?

Your experience comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Richard Brooks
Hit The Spot
Exceeding Client Expectations

P.S. Rick, did you receive my invitation via email?

i demoed one and my local people are idiots(we just wont get started there)

mostly its the flushing action not so much the heat, though if you have it or can make it THEN DO IT

foaming shouldnt be to bad depending on the chemical of course...

iliked it and can see wher eto use it....though i need a little more work to justify the $3000 or so for it...but it is on my list of stuff to get, this year...

We have the 15 and the 20 inch modles also have the Classic.

Most all of our clients who proffsionals cleaners purchase the Classic or the 20 inch.

I always carry 150 feet of hose with me and a extra 50 of industrial garden hose just in case.

No glides for any of our Demons we use the machine GLIDES easy enough now.
Little giant #4 really heats the water nicely.

Hot water is not as important with the Demon because of the flow but hot water does make the job easier. Foaming can be an issue because of the high flow but that is where the defoamer button comes in.

We run Demons for the past 8 years and been either a rep or a distributer for over 6. In that time we have learned quite a bit on how to clean with the Demons here are 5 Tips that will help your cleaning with a Demon.

1. Test a few spots on the carpet to see if you need to introduce any more chemicals into the carpeting. Remember the last chemical to be applied is the frist to come out. Many times in a new account I do not need to apply any more chemicals to the carpet, but only need to apply hot water and scrub with is already there.

2.Use a aggitation machine to scrub in the prespray.
You will in the end have better production and dry times by doing this.


3. Work closest to your water source and move away from it.

4. If you want great production rates long swipes not short ones.
once shown I have had people doing 60 foot swipes then in stead of going back to the spot you started the swip you just flip the hose to the other side of the handle and clean going back to the initial spot you started at.

No wasted time walking while not cleaning.

5. Do not hold the hoses this will make for a long day it takes a little geting used to, however it will make you life easier and job go quicker.


6 clean the wast tank out every night after you are done, and chech the nuts and bolts for the first few weeks if you purchase a model you have to partly assemble.

I have a Steamin Demon with green glide(holes not slotted). I am still a bit undecided on the glide, It seems to work to me, but I may be wrong. I have the XL 15. I have enjoyed it for commercial and residential work. I would recommend in residential one have a helper to help manage hoses, check on faucet, etc. I have had some issues with running out of hot water in both commercial and residential. I tend to feel the volume of the flushing water is the key. Prespray and agitation of course figure in to the success. I only went with 100 feet of hose and it has pretty much worked for me, not to say I didn't have to look for hookups. However, in buildings that are from 30 - 100 years old I think that to be expected.
I do think foaming to be an issue to consider, while the Demon has a defoamer additive system set up which helps. However the first time in some commercial accounts can be "very surprising." Did one place where there "in house" carpet maintenance program was bonnetting 3 to 4 times per month. Didn't have an extractor, no wet vac, just a 17" scrubber with bonnets and pads for the floors. Real simple type of operation. Anyway the foam was a bit overwhelming at first. Eventually switched to a crystal defoamer sprinkled on to carpet ahead of machine. Was prespraying and agitating a mild acidic prespray to help "neutralize" the combination seemed to work.
Nice tool, I tend to think of my washing machine in relation to this. I often times will run clothes thru an extra rinse cycle, why not the same for the fabric on the floor.

David H.,

which model of the 3 do you prefer & recommend for resi?

for commercial?

for those of us who don't have a helper, is a helper mandatory for the S.D.?

David, you said, "once shown I have had people doing 60 foot swipes then in stead of going back to the spot you started the swip you just flip the hose to the other side of the handle and clean going back to the initial spot you started at."

do you mean, the 1st long swipe is wet and you are pushing the SD forward, and on the walk back you swing the handle forward and now push the SD back over that previous wet pass, now with a dry pass?

wouldn't it be just as easy to walk backwards? or is the SD not easy / practical to pull backwards?

thanx --- Derek.

BTW, from my forum Search'es, unless you provide your own heat source (little giant, etc...) you will run out of hot water on commercial jobs.

Hi Derek

Sorry for not being clear.

I walk backwards when I reach the end of my swipe rather then walking foward to to start another swipe I just make a U turn and keep going backwards.

BTW I am not nor would I try to sell on Ricks Board. We also buy products from Ricks Company as well (GREAT PEOPLE TO WORK WITH) I hate when others do it on the other boards, my point is we have been around a long time using Demons and have been through a bunch of trail and error both in my cleaning biz and setting up our in house clients with the machines.

I prefer the Classic in a residential setting for a few reasons. This is easer to handle in tight areas, looks more space age to the clients they also get to see more of the crude going into the Demon the steel mess filter does not clog as fast as the cloth ones The handle on the classic makes it easier to lift and bring up stairs if you need to.


For commercial I like the 20 inch if I am doing larger open areas. I can chew up a lot of carpet at a good rate. I also like the Cloth bags for this type of work. Yes they will fill up and need to be changed, but all the goo staying in the filter and they are easy to change out. On a large job you would have to stick your hands in the waste tank to clean out the mesh ones any how, so I woud rather stop change the filter bag and not get all messy and get on my way quicker. I remember what it is like using a Classic in large gross jobs and I like the filter bag changing better.

Only draw back to the XL models is if you are in a place with low water pressure you may have to ajust your spray jets sometimes even over lap passes a bit more then one would like to. (rare for me)

why would you have to adjust the jets on the XL model with low pressure and why wouldn't you have to with the classic?

Your Servant

Some good feedback. I too am seriously looking in to purchasing one of the Steamin Demon models in the next month. Like to give Rick my business again! He just has such a likable personality and certainly like to support his venture. In any event, I really want to see one in action to get a good feel for it operationally. Wonder if anyone is in the DFW area that has one?? Or even in Texas or OK that wouldn't mind me taking a peek at yours?? I'll even buy lunch. How can anyone resist that offer? Lol. I'm going to sell my Steam Way truckmount and go with an OP machine, the steamin demon and move forward. I have the Cimex that I need to start marketing to comm accts. Again, if anyone is close by I'd truly appreciate you contacting me. My email is ken@heavensentfloorcare.com or even call me @ 214-732-5808. Thank's in advance!


Ken

Thanks for your answers David. I am trying to decide on the 15" or 20" We are about 55% commercial and 45% residential. I found your answer about the Greenie glides very interesting. We also clean a lot of rugs.

Ken, I sold my last truckmount over 3 years ago and never regreted it. My interest in the Steamin Demon is I am about to land a very large flooring distibutor that mainly sells Shaw products and they like truckmounts to clean the carpet they sell. Now that Shaw has endorsed the SD they find that to be acceptable. Current equipment is 3 CRBs (2 15" and a 20") 2 Cimexes 19" and 15" and a 17" Betco 2sp a Ninja w/WaterClaw, Challenger OP. I rarely use the OP, Ninja or Betco bonnet machines. I don't like washing pads. If it were not for the Cimex and CRB machines, I would just go ahead and retire. But with the results of these two money makers I find this business exciting and rewarding. The part about what I own needs explaining: We never really "own" anything during our brief stay on earth. God just "loans" the earth to us while were here. It was God's property before I got here, and God will loan it to someone else after I'm gone. I just get to enjoy it for a while.

Ray:
It has been my experience that putting a glide on wands will raise the height of the jets to the point that there is overspray on the carpet past the edges of the wand. I once asked Greenie if this occured when putting a glide on a Demon, and he said it would. He said something about putting a flange on the sides to stop this.

If you can't stop the overspray, it would be a severe blow to your production times.

i think i read somewhere that Greenie sends this flange(s) out with his SD glide when you order one...or you might have to ask for it. not sure if it is an extra cost or not, maybe he figures it into the Glide price...you'd have to ask him.

i've heard more good than bad about the Glides for the SD's.

David, thanx for the answers.

someone posted that what they do instead of buying new filters for the XL's, is to use panty hose...since i never seen one, not sure how that works exactly.

are panty hose a cheap, practical alternative to the filters, do you think?

thanx --- Derek.

Marty, thanks for bringing that up, it's something I did not consider. I'll check with Greenie on that.

I'll offer a little different point of view. I sold 2 Powermatics out of frustration 2 or 3 years ago and tried OP. Saw to much fiber distortion. We added a Tsunami (Steaminn Demon clone) for extraction. Being used to TMs, we found the Tsunami a pain in houses. You have to scrub to get anything clean, backing up in tight spaces was awkward to us, the water pressure of the house was unreliable, and the exhausting of wet humid air right at your feet was like working in a sauna and made for a lot of humidity in the home.

We had used TMs for 10 years and just couldn't get used to the change. So for residential we're back to TMs.

The Reason you do not have to ajust the Classic, the Classic has one jet the others have two.


The Clone to the Demon II is an Old design that is over 8 years old. Many improvments to the Classic and the XL models.

You can do the panty hose deal but I sugest doing it when it is out of warrantee, that just may void it. There are a few other things you can do to the filtration system also I had to do a few thing on the fly once or twice


David

David VB,

The Steamin Demon is most ideal for commercial carpet, your experience on residential carpet doesn't surprise me. And although there are a few guys who use the SD for residential, I wouldn't typically recommend it for homes.

On the other hand, with a pre-scrub on commercial, the Steamin Demon works very well!

For instance, I've seen the Steamin Demon working well in large buildings in Brooklyn and upstate New York, in facilities where operating a truckomunt would not be feasible. In these large facilities where a truckomunt is not practical, a combination of the Cimex and the Steamin Demon is getting the job done. In fact, there are a lot of commercial applications where the Steamin Demon can fit the bill very nicely; like when you need high flow but can't use a truckmount. I agree with what you've observed, residential can be a bit challenging using the SD.






Rick Gelinas
encapman

Hi Rick,

Thank you for the information. Given your obesrvations with the Steamin Demon being generally better suited for commercial what machine(s) would be better suited in a residential setting?


Ken

I'd recommend a good portable extractor, simply because it's a little easier to navigate so you'll have more flexibility. I am pleased to announce that we are now distributors of Kleenrite and Windsor (2 of the very BEST extractor lines in the industry). This is a cool development for Excellent Supply





Rick Gelinas
encapman

Very good thread, lots of great information. David VB made a great point that I should have thought of but didn’t. HUMIDITY.

When I first started out in this business with my portable extractor I would bring it in and go to work. It didn’t take long to realize that this caused excess humidity, too much noise and I was exhausting “dirty” air out of the machine. From then on I set the machine outside and just ran the hoses in.


Richard Brooks
Hit The Spot
Exceeding Client Expectations

We have been using the STEAMIN DEMON and CIMEX for about 5 years. If you have been to CONNECTIONS on Clearwater Beach and looked south along the beach you've seen about 20 miles of high rises. That's our market. (Money stacked 9-15 stories high!) A lot of those buildings have no access to truck mounts so the DEMON CIMEX combo is perfect for us. We use just the CIMEX on a lot of them too. Still have my twenty year old CDS to use in some cases. Well I'm off to visit Zee and the SFS crew. Seeyyaa!

Years ago I suggested that in order for your system to be considered VLM it could not raise the humidity more than 10% in a 12x12 room while you were cleaning it. So much for my suggestion, and to this day I have not seen a "white" paper on this. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Seems like I have read something to that effect, not sure but at any rate Ray, sounds reasonable to me.

Richard Brooks
Hit The Spot
Exceeding Client Expectations

makes sense.

alotta ppl forget that VLM is actually using VERY LOW Moisture to clean with. it is NOT defined as LEAVING very low moisture behind, but using low amounts of moisture to clean with.

from the ppl i have spoken with the Tsunami is old school and the newer SD's (Classic and XL's) are updated / superior.

i know a fella who uses his SD on all resi and has since gotten rid of his TM. not for everyone, but it is the ticket for some.

thanx --- Derek.

LMCCA has published a white paper on VLM cleaning but it does not address rH increases.

I told Lonnie in Macon a few years ago to leave them wimen in leather boots alone and concentrate on writing a full report on VLM including RH, but being as he is such a nice young man, I'll let him slide this time. I hardly see him post anymore, sure do miss him.

Derek,

One of our friends in town has a Steamin Demon that I borrowed and used before I bought the Tsunami from Paul Lucas. I felt that what few differences there are, the advantage went to the Tsunami over the Steamin Demon Classic. The new Steamin Demons are obviously different.

When I was trying to get away from TMs, I had people telling me how great the Steamin Demons were for residential. (Rick and Paul didn't.) The first job we did, the water pressure in the house was really low and since we had no pump, there was nothing we could do about it. The rinsing was poor. I have days at my house where I have good water pressure and days when I have weak pressure.

The second and third jobs we did is where we realized the exhausting of the dirty damp air in the house was a concern. My conclusion was that I should have listened more to Rick and Paul.

I agree that commercial is a whole different deal, and you usually will have good pressure in a commercial building. But, I have auto fill and dump portables with chemical metering for when I'm needing to extract and can't or don't want to use the TM. Thankfully, the need for extraction has been reduced in recent years.

good info Dave, thanx for the feedback. i will have to consider that aspect of it.

thanx --- Derek.