self contained extractors?

Pretty general question. Please re-phrase and add more detail so your answer can be the same.

 

 

 

SGK

...not very well.

 

And, very bulky too.

 

Good Fortune to all;

Ed Valentine

I believe I answeed this question for you eariler regarding not using selfcontained units for residential.

Hi this is Brian,

Sorry if I mess up, but I am new to this forum. My wife and I were looking into the Vonshrader, but founf it a bit expensive, so what are the veiws on here?

Any info. on beginners would be much appreciated, as we are just looking into getting into this business.

Ignorance is bliss. No wonder so many HWE guys are so happy :)

Von Schrader makes 2 excellent machines. The LMX and the Espirit. I own each of these machines. Both do an exceptional job of cleaning. These are not 'rug' doctor machines, any more than a Porsche is equivalent to a VW bug.

Pro's: There is very little risk of damaging anything, the carpets and furniture come out looking great, the machines are easy to operate and from what I have been told by many other owners, last a lifetime. I have cleaned only residential accounts and all seem thrilled with the results.  In particular the Espirit is an amazing machine for upholstery. Carpets and upholstery are almost always dry within a few hours. The company staff is very customer oriented and provide excellent on going support. The user community of these machines is also fairly tight and willing to help one another from what I have seen.

Cons': The LMX is pretty heavy and bulky, especially when filled. It has wheels but it is very difficult to bring this machine up to the 2nd floor in a residence.  It is too bulky to be used on stairs and can only scrub within about 2 inches of a wall. So you need to manually scrub in the foam around baseboards (or use the Espirit for this).  You will also have difficulty getting the LMX into tight spots in smaller rooms (eg, between the bed and the wall). The other thing to remember is that these machines are room temp so if you are cleaning greasy restaurants you may need to add either a bucket heater or in line heater. With an in-line heater I am told it is possible to get the foam over 160 degrees (measured at the carpet fiber).  In all honesty, this is not a factor in residential. Though not marketed as 'encapsulation' detergents, the VS detergents are encapsulation based and dry very brittle.

I am very happy with the VS machines. I also own a non-heated spotter because it is quicker to set up than the Espirit if I only want to rinse out a solvent.

Please note that the VS machines do not move at the quoted speed of 1500 feet per hour  unless you are cleaning long straight runs of lightly soiled carpet ( or drop them out of a plane). You won't be winning any speed contests with the cimex and hwe guys.  So if high speed high volume is what you need, the VS would not be the machine of choice. It is a specialty low moisture system well suited to those seeking high end residential clients.  In a commerical setting it is well suited to large areas and long runs of halllway, banquet room, and is easy for the staff to learn and to obtain good results.

As an aside. I attended the VS school lin Racine last fall. This is a 3 day class and 2 of the gents in attendance already owned a Rotovac. They loved the Rotovac but after attending the class they were talking about picking up an LMX and an Esprit also. Point being that many times a combination of methods is best, depending on your skill, targeted application, and budget.

If you are seriously considering VS, I recommend you attend their class (the 2.5 day class in Racine). You really need to try out the equipment and find out if this is what you want or if you would prefer HWE or other Low Moisture System. Why spend thousands of dollars and not be happy? The company will let you attend the class for free without obligation, you just need to take care of your travel expenses.