I currently have a 3/4 hp CCS Conqueror. There has been some discussions as to newer machines having a slower speed with a larger orbit.

My experience with my Conqueror is that it is aggressive, over aggressive at times and tricky to handle smoothly and throw carpet "tufts" at times even when using the gliders.

Which machines have the slower wider orbits and is this a solution for over aggressiveness IE carpet damage.

Any thoughts on this would be appretiated.

Thanks,
Dan

I know that CCS claims to have a larger orbit, but I don't know about any claiming a slower orbit.

I have never had a Conqueror, but I did have a Commercial Breeze. While the larger orbit is represented as cleaning 40% faster (a claim I can't verify), it also results in greater vibration. I found the only pads that ran at all smoothly were thin cottons. Tuway Thinones created to much vibration for me and yet those need to be used on some carpets to clean without damage. A 17 inch platform helps avoid damage as well.

I bought a Vento from Rick a few weeks ago. It is very smooth and I have run cottons, glad pads, thick tan cottons, microfiber and Thinones under it. I can't say one way or the other if it cleans as fast, but I can say it cleans well and plenty fast enough. Plus its a lot less money.

I also believe in having a rotary available as well as it is much safer than an OP machine.

I'll bite why is a rotary safer than OP

A rotary has one center of orbit. That center is the area that can have an untwisting affect on a cut pile carpet. Since the rotary is always moving it is only on a single tuft for a fraction of a second. The rest of the pad is laying the fibers over and wiping them. To clean all sides of the fiber you have to move the machine over 1/2 its width and 1/2 its length. This is the beauty of the Cimex having 3 heads and a counter rotating base.

Oscillating machines are said to have up to 1800 RPMs. That is a lot of centers of orbit that can possibly untwist a carpet. An OP machine tends to stand the tuft up as it is wiping all sides with all the little orbits. This is why it cleans better, but it also has the potential for damage.

Most carpets are twisted in a clockwise direction. A rotary actually turns counter clockwise, yet it is no problems for the reasons above. On the other hand, OP machines have to run clockwise or they will be much more inclined to untwist tufts. There are some reverse twist carpets out there though that have to be watched for. I think they refer to the twist direction as S twist or Z twist.