Last winter I kept my Cimex inside the heated garage when the outdoor temperatures dropped below freezing. I'm wondering whether this is necessary or if it would be ok inside the cargo trailer overnight?

I would not gamble leaving it outside, least bit of chem left in the system could freeze and cause some damage. If I had the option to put it inside I would do so.

When I had my mex, I kept mine in a grage all winter in NJ. What I did was put a plastic cable tie on the chem handle tied up to the other handle, this would allow any chemcial to flow out. Never had any problem. And since the mex is not under any preasure like a carpet extractor all you need to do is let it warm up to room temp and any ice the does form will melt.

Windshield wash fluid will not freeze

I run it through any peice of equipment that will be left in cold weather

i have left solution in my Cimex sol tank all winter long for the past 7 years in my un-garaged van. yep it completely freezes. never a problem of any kind.

waiting for the RTU encap to thaw out on a job stinks though, so here is what i do:

i pull the clear tube off the black nipple at the base of the machine, then i press the solution trigger on the handle and let the remaining encap solution to empty into a bucket / jug with a lid. then when it is as empty as i get it, there is still some solution in the tubing. so with the trigger still pressed, i blow air thru the tube, to get just about all of the solution out of that tubing, so i dont have to wait 5-20 minutes for it to thaw. then i reattach the tubing & done until the next job.

it gets to around 0 Fahrenheit on some nights here in the winter...never had a problem with it affecting my machine.


tx --- Derek.

Derek nailed it.

There's nothing in the Cimex that can be damaged by freezing (except for maybe your tongue if you stick it to the frozen metal like they did in Dumb and Dumber)...


There are no SEALED tubes inside the machine, so there's no need to worry that expansion could do damage. But as Derek said there's the time factor of waiting for it to thaw out again. So just follow the good advice that Derek mentioned above and drain as much solution as you can before storing the machine.

Stay warm!






Rick Gelinas

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