This Steamin Demon has had me intrigued for several years now.

The fact that it pumps large amounts of water into a carpet is a concern for me, seeing as I do promote low moisture cleaning.

And especially as we are in the midst of one of Australia's worst droughts on record, water is now at a premium.

Watering of lawns and plants in Brisbane is limited to application by bucket, for a couple of hours, every second day.

Car washing is limited to spot cleaning only.

But I digress.

Back to the Demon.....

This machine uses a lot of water to thoroughly flush the carpet.

I like that priciple.

I can appreciate the fact that the vacuums are very close to the carpet, which creates excellent vacuum also air flow, but how wet is the carpet upon completion ??

What are average dry times for different fibres ??

Is wicking a problem with the Demon ??

Are the hoses to & from the Demon a real P.I.T.A. ??

In real life cleaning, what are the time on job times like compared to truck mount or Cimex ?? Surely someone has cleaned the same place several times with each machine to get a comparison.

I have read that the older style performs better than the new one ??

I guess what I really want to know, (from those that have used the machine for a couple of years at least, not just the naysayers), what really are the good and any bad points for the Demon ??

I also realise that some may see this as a slur on the Demon, but I feel that IF any bad points are raised, that will give the manufacturers/suppliers good, reliable feed-back for improvement.

Looking forward to some straight forward, intelligent replies.

Cheers,

Shorty.

I've seen the light, and changed my ways.

Shorty,

I feel that if the carpet needs a royal flush. Well, let me just say that i don't own a SD. But concidering the features you mentioned, that puts the demon in the top quality rank when it comes to flushing. If i'm not mistaking i beleive i read that it retrieves 96% of the water pumped into the fibers. Add a little PUNCH (Release-it) to it and you're really winning.

So as i was saying, if the carpet NEEDS flushing then give it a top quality flush. Whether it takes a little longer or the hoses are a pain it shouldn't matter. If the carpet NEEDS a royal scrub then give it the top quality scrub with CIMEX.

Its not what we do its the motive behind it. I may purchase a SD even though it takes 45 minutes longer than and the hose is a pain, my customer gets the best results.

Or, I may get portable cause its less headache for me than SD, i'm done 1 hour faster, with results just enough to keep client quiet.

Old Saying : Be true to your customer, your customer will true to you.

Our loyal customers should be Served What They Deserve TOP QUALITY! irregardless if it takes a little longer or pain...Thats the motive! what better motive can one have?

I wish i could own a SD at this point it seems like fun. And of course we all know : TIMES FLY'S WHEN YOUR HAVING FUN!


Thanks
Your Servant Alex

Shorty,

I've owned and operated a 19" mex and SD xl-15 for nearly 2 years now (has it really been THAT long? feels just like yesterday).

First and foremost, I have a greenglide on my SD and absolutely would not use it without.

I attached a 90 degree elbow to the exhaust so I wouldn't be hit with all the hot air coming out of the machine. Don't know if mine was just missing it, but it was incredibly uncomfortable cleaning with all of that humid air blowing at you. I also attached quick connects to all of the hose ends to allow ease of use, those hoses weigh a ton!!

One other thing with the machine was that the defoamer bottle holder wasn't machined right, and the bottle kept on falling off! Has anyone ever spilled defoamer on their driveway? IT LEAVES A HUGE STAIN!!! I just went ahead and took the thing off and used the machine for the next year without problems. Well a year passes, I'm finishing a job of a large house and I'm in the basement. I smell an all too familiar smell and suddenly the SD is making strange noises, then I see sparks flying out hitting the red plastic piece, lookin like fireworks. I turn off the machine and a little ball bearing falls out.

The vac is toast, luckily nothing caught on fire. I end up encapping the rest of the basement and everything is fine. I call SD and since it was some 1 year and 1 month since I bought the machine, I didn't have a warranty anymore. I paid for the new vac motor and next day shipping so I could have it for next week (booked). The vac motor was easy to replace. 2 weeks go by, everythings fine, I'm at another large house, and the pumpout just stops working. Well isn't that just great I say to myself..... I end up having to reschedule the job (client was very understanding). SD tells me to open up the bottom of the pumpout and theres a widget thingie (cant remember the name) on their that pushes out the water out, I replaced it and still no water. Sooooo, a new pumpout and next day air later I had a practically brand new machine in front of me for around 500 bucks.

It was a sucky experience, but I wonder how much just one visit to the mechanic with your TM costs?

I encap most all berber I come across, but on cut pile, with just pre-spray and machine agitation (mex or rotary) I would say MY dry time would be 5 hours or so. This is with at least 2 dry passes. I go up the lane to extract spent pre-spray, on the back pass I will rinse/extract, then I will go up and back down for the added extraction, then on to the next 15 inches. I will usually run the machine over the area one more time after I'm finished to make sure I didn't miss any small lines of wetness (watch out for this!).

I like to use the rotary for bonnet cleaning afterwards, and for the added drying effect, I usually use the mex for agitation only when im not post-bonneting. I also use solvent protector to speed up the drying process, add a fan, and you can have 1-3 hour drying times. Usually with this process I can have at least 1 or 2 rooms dry by the time I leave a house.

I can't say that I've ever had a wicking problem with just regular dirty carpets.

Do yourself a favor and buy the 20 inch model for production purposes, this has really been the only thing I've about my SD.

Shorty, I have the XL20 and love it. Hoses are no more problem than truckmount hoses. You can walk forward or backwards with the XLs, much better than the older style. I do not have a glide on mine as it is very easy to push or pull.Drying times on CGD is about two hours, cut pile nylon is about 3 to 4 hours, with air movers about two hours. Wickback has not been a problem for me as I go a little slower till the sight glass is flushing clear in heavy soiled or traffic lanes. I cannot tell you how much water it uses, but I have not had any hot water heater run out of hot water yet doing 3000 to 4000 sq. ft. Speed; I can go a little faster with the Cimex, but we are talking about two different types of cleaning. I can average 1500 to 2000 sq. ft. with the 20" XL and it is SOA Gold approved, not to mention the worlds largest mill, Shaw has approved it's use in writing. That has helped me continue my contract on a large airpot job, and several of the flooring stores that recommend us,like the fact we use it as they sell mostly Shaw products. I have several portable extractors but like the auto fill, auto dump features of the Demon and I like the 20" swath it cuts.

Thank you Gentlemen, your input is much appreciated.

I feel it is important to get the views of someone that has been using the machine the field, so to speak.

This sorts the chaff from the crop

Not saying I don't trust salespeople, well, not all of them anyways

You're okay Rick, and Gary, and the Team CleanPower & a few others also.

Thanks,

Shorty.

I've seen the light, and changed my ways.

One word of caution.

I have never seen a negative machine post by Ray, except for TM posts.

There is no machine, other than a TM, that he doesn't like, or hasn't shilled for.

I demo'd a Demon. First thing I noticed was it is a POS without a glide.

If you buy one, get a glide.

Shorty I have a SD older model that I bought 5 yrs ago but do not use it very much. It is the best machine for removing soap residue from an improperly cleaned carpet. It does use a lot of water and I usually run out of hot water on commercial jobs. How it's dry times will be on wool, I do not know.
If the carpet is really soiled, the filters will plug up real fast and you'll spend more time unplugging the filter than cleaning. It's great
for demos so that you can show your customer just how much soil/foam is in their carpet.

In all the years of reading and posting on the different BBs, I don't believe I have ever saw a POSITIVE post by Marty, about equipment, our industry or the in it.

well they're both exagerating but somewhat right. Ray is an upbeat and positive poster.

you'll find you get alotta encouragement & help from Ray.

admiral is good for a laugh.

thanx --- Derek.

Been Running Demons when they still were making the nice silver stainless model ( still have one) we have the Demon II the Classic and XL Models.

They are a flushing machine, easy to work on easy to use.
The defoamer issue is fixed If anyone has a older XL Model Id ask for the newer holder it works way better. I had the same problem at first.

Putting Quick connects on all the hoses will cut down on the water flow to the Demon.
What I have done is put 100 feet of straight hoses on a reel that has made life easy for me.

At this point I have not tried a glide on the Demon I personally do not see the need for one.

Thanks David, Good to hear someone w/actual experience using the Demon, unlike someone who has an opinion after a demo, but never really owned one. I like the 100' hose idea. I see no need for a glide unless you are a wus. Real men don't need no stinkin' glide. Of course that is IMHO.

after talking with ppl before and then after they'd used their SD with a glide, if i were to get one, i'd def get it with a glide.

i was close to making the decision to buy one but after talking with a couple ppl they mentioned that they only prefer to use the S.D. when they have a helper.

since i am solo on resi, and for the most part i'm solo on commercial (my partner does all the pre-vac'ing on comm which takes alot of time), do you fellas that have used an SD extensively recommend it for a one man show? or is it really only practical for someone with a helper (to manage hoses, etc...)?

thanx --- Derek.

I was for the most part a one man show and still am many nights of the week.

If you ran a TM by your self the Demon is in my view easier to operate. Is there a leaning curve? Yes nothing that a 10 minute conversation or video would not cure.

Since and and A$$ backwards and have run portables before my TM and Demon I did not have a hard time. Easy was to work it the Demon.
Start cloeset to your water source and work away from it. I have my hoses coiled so that when I work away it uncoils from the top and does not pull or get snagged. If I use the hoses on the reel I made sure the reel is loose for it unrolls easy with our bunching up.

In a residential setting I usually only need the 50 feet of hose that I leave attached to the Demon. In order to not waste time or energy I in most cases bring the Demon in hook it up prespray a larger area, and go get my other equipment like hoses and scrubber.

Scrub the area out with my CBM and extract. If I have a helper all he does is hook up a long 3/8 hose like the one the Demon uses with a garden hose fitting for faucet and a quick connect on the other. He then presprays and scrubs ahead of me with I just extract. At no time does this person do hose managment. There is no need to. You work away from your hoses and away from your water source.

Id be happy to show anyone in my area New England how I do it. I got to RI NY State NH and VT areas at frequently and I am all over MA an CT all most of the month.

David

I just couldn't see using the SD (Im a one man show) day in day out without a glide on it. I must be some sort of a nancy boy lol!

I had never thought about reduced water flow with the Q/Cs but it doesn't seem to be too big of a problem. I'd much prefer to have that as opposed to trying to carry it up stairs with the hoses wrapped around it, in and out of the van, yuck.

I think the SD is perfect for me, it's certainly better and faster than my mytee portable (deligated to tile and grout now). The next step for me is a TM as I like to have all the goodies for my toolbox.

A Mesh bag for the First 50 works great if you do not want it attached to the machine with the bungy cord thing.
The Demon II or Classic is ok with the hoses coiled around it but the XL's I use the Mesh bag.

If I may ask did you put quick connect on the dump hoses? how do you handle them?

I just screw the dump hose together with the garden hose type fitting. I guess the only q/c is on the solution line. I cap off the end of the 50 footer so I don't spill any dirty water as I leave the job site.


I just coil the hoses, throw em over my shoulder and bungy them in my van. Easy in, easy out. Hose reels are intriguing, but I use the extra 50 ft only once every month or so.

A Glide raises the S.D. off the floor and requires side deflectors to keep the spray under the machine, also it raises the spray jets up but I guess you could lengthen them. The glides cost $200 ( a lot for a small piece of plastic IMO) I run my S.D. in residential by myself, and use my helper for vacuuming, hooking up hoses, mixing chems, when I have a helper and lately that has not been too often. Unless the job is over 3000 sq. ft. I prefer to work alone. When I was running three truckmounts, we only used one man per truck, on larger jobs we used two trucks or three depending on the size. The S.D. is easy enough to run as a one man show. I finished a vacant residential 1300 sq. ft. of nasty olefin berber for one of my investors this afternoon. Pre-vac and Pre-scrub with the 19" Cimex and Punch (sometimes I pre-scrub with the Whittaker 15' or 20" CRB)
in the tank, followed by S.D. flushing with hot water only.Finished. Came out great. 50' of hose takes care of most residential. Having run truckmounts for years, I find the S.D. every bit as easy to clean with. I reverse the handle and push it mostly in vacant spaces. Managing the hoses are no harder than truckmount hoses, you just learn to push them aside with your feet if you are pulling the machine backwards, if you are pushing the S.D. the hoses just follow you, easiest way IMHO. Start at the entrance to the room and work into it. I don't do every job the same way, but that is how I did it today.

Sounds like you move the hoses, much the same as working with a Rex ??

I start at the door and move into the room, work the perimeter first, then the body, hoses are never a problem like this for me.

Now, I wonder if the Demon comes in 220/240 volt.

Maybe Tony will sell me his cheap and I can afford to get it converted down under ?? LOL

Thanks for all the intelligent replies.

(And the occassional laugh).

Cheers,

Shorty.

I've seen the light, and changed my ways.

Shorty, can't you use a 240Volt to 120Volt converter?

I have often thought about using a converter again.

I had one many years ago for a vertical blind cleaning machine.

Man, I don't know what to blame the converter on:

My big shoulders and arms ( compared to my height ).

My knuckles dragging on the floor.

Or my bad back from carrying that heavy hotdang thing.

I figured it would be just as easy to replace vacs; pump and wiring than have that extra weight to lug around.

Also seeing the prices of some of them to handle a specific load nearly gives my hip pocket nerve a heart attack.

Maybe they have changed over the years.

Thanks,

Shorty.

I've seen the light, and changed my ways.

Ray:

You HAVE to work alone. Nobody in their right mind could work with you.

And THAT is the only thing we have in common.

Heres a pic of my cleaning setup 2 years ago. Everything WAS so clean......

ya know Dan ya have to use the 'Mex to make money...no way that thing gets used being that clean!

nice collection of toys there. that was 2 years ago with the glided S.D.?

thanx --- Derek.

Derek,

I don't know if I should show you pics of the equipment now. They sure don't look as purty as they used to! Not quite 2 years but darn close.

Made plenty of money with my stuff, and had to pay plenty back to Uncle Sam.