Removing Drive Plate from an Orbot

[Jamie]

This may be a silly question but here goes.

How do you remove the drive plate off an Orbot? I am toying with the idea of retro-fitting a solution tank.

I may even look into adding some solution guides on the top of the drive plate to help guide the solution into any holes I drill through so that the solution does not flick out the sides.

Has anyone else looked into retro-fitting a tank?

But with that being said I first need to get the drive plate off. Anyone know how?

My OP is not an Orbot but it was made in the USA and it looks to me to have the same driver plate set up as the Orbot. Here's a pic. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers Gents

Jamie

[lee@deepclean.us.com]

Remove the velcro and you will see four screws in the center. Remove the four screws and the plate should come off.

[MikeB]

   
All I did is drill a 3/8 hole in the deck and install a mytee wave tank kit
No need to drill holes in the drive plate or pad driver. Shower feed works great.

[lee@deepclean.us.com]

Very nice job Mike!

[Jamie]

Thanks Lee, appreciate it. Didn't want to go pulling it apart before consulting the "Brains Trust" on the board.

Great set-up Mike. Cheers for the pic. What sort of OP is that? Have you used an OP with spray system prior to setting up your tank? If so, what's your thoughts on both systems. I haven't tried a spray system but I like the idea of the tank more. The tank certainly made a huge difference to my rotary and the results I'm getting out of it so I assume the same would be true of the OP.

Cheers

Jamie

[MikeB]

Jamie the machine is a challenger that I modified into a wheels down-floating head machine. I like using the tank with shower feed on commercial carpets and fiber plus pads. It works very well and speeds up clean time by about double as opposed to a standard OP machine.
On residential I pre spray and use micro beast and cotton poly pads.

---

With regard to the spray system question, I have not used one but I do like the shower feed very much. I think it allows a more even distribution of solution since it is dispersed through the fiber pad as you go. A spray system would be needed if you were using cotton or micro pads though because with those pads the solution doesn't disperse well and flings around a lot.
Thanks for the compliments on the machine!
Mike
Mike

[Jamie]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I agree with you about Shower Feed being more direct into the face fibre and a more even distribution. What I have struggled with in regards to a sprayer is that the solution is atomized and is much more likely to sit on the tops of the fibre instead of making its way down a little further into the pile which is what it does with a solution tank.

I have also found when I pre spray a carpet it uses a lot more solution than what I use with the solution tank. Therefore My thoughts are that an OP machine with solution tank would be a much more effective tool.

Cheers

Jamie

[encapman]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I agree with you about Shower Feed being more direct into the face fibre and a more even distribution. What I have struggled with in regards to a sprayer is that the solution is atomized and is much more likely to sit on the tops of the fibre instead of making its way down a little further into the pile which is what it does with a solution tank.

Add me to the list. I also feel that atomizing the detergent is less effective than shower-feeding.

[Jamie]

So I finally took off my pad driver. Can anyone tell me if the pad driver set up in my pics are the exact same as an Orbot. One of the reasons is that I am interested in using the brush driver for T&G and need to know if it will fit.

I am still very interested in putting a solution tank on this machine. I really think it could kick butt. Any suggestions on ways to do this would be greatly appreciated. There are obviously no solution holes in the drive plate.

@ MikeB how does the internals of this set up compare to yours and how you set up the Solution feed.

Cheers Gents

This pic is once the Velcro plate is removed.



This pic is my pad driver plate



This pic is the insides once the pad driver plate has been removed

[MikeB]

Jamie, it looks like your drive plate bolts directly to the counter weight assembly. Mine slips over a center hub that is bolted / screwed to the counter weight
It doesn't matter though. You should be able to drill a hole in the deck of the machine and run a hose from your solution tank into it. You can just drill the hole slightly smaller than the outside diameter of the hose and push it in tight
You could drill holes in the drive plate too for better solution passage thru the plate but it didn't and it works fine.
Mine does fling shampoo around a bit though, so drilling some holes in the drive plate while its off might be the way to go. That might help keep solution from flinging out.
I used the Wave tank from Excellent Supply but its designed for a floor buffer type handle so you might want to find one that bolts up to your style handle.

[lee@deepclean.us.com]

I believe it looks the same as my Orbot!

Lee

[encaprodney]

Yes I also think it looks like the same setup as the Hos Orbot drive plate and counterweight assembly.

[Jamie]

Thanks heaps Mike for sharing your ideas and experience, much appreciated, some good info to help me. I think I will definitely drill holes for the solution to drain through. I will definitely post once I get it done. As you mention Mike I think my biggest challenge will be fitting the solution tank to suit the machine

Thanks also to Lee & Rod for confirming it is an Orbot driver, really appreciate it.

Cheers gents

Jamie

[MikeB]

You're welcome Jamie. I'd like to see what you come up with!
By the way, if you bolt a shelf onto your handles it looks like you could set a tank on there and strap it to the handle set with some type of heavy velcro straps or ratchet straps. Not a big deal really. Just position it so the trigger comes up to a comfortable place near the handle.