Home
>
Small Business
>
Maintaining Your Carpet Extractor in Your Auto Detail Shop

Maintaining Your Carpet Extractor in Your Auto Detail Shop

Auto Detailing: Maintaining A Commercial Carpet Extractor

You should drain your carpet extractor at the end of each use or at least by the end of the day. Do not dump the excess dirty water or soap into a storm drain. Dump it into a toilet, sink or on a lawn. It is not allowed in the storm drain that is for storm water only and not the kind of scum, which is found in the discharge tank of a carpet extractor. If you leave the fluid in the tank more than a couple of days, it will be very difficult to clean. Two weeks and it's a major chore. You should rinse out the chemical tank and attachment parts as well, including the hoses.

Your carpet extractor most likely has a three-year warranty on parts; this is typical in the industry. Do not expect your warranty to be guaranteed abusive use such as cleaning out a dog house, fire and water damaged carpet or insides of lateens is generally a void able event. Don't laugh. Our vendor has told us stories of such. He guaranteed that he would void all warranties in the event an idiot was operating the machine in a fashion beyond its realm of ability. Super industrial machines are available for this type of work and companies that use them have a major investment in their units. Companies such as: Serve Pro, Service Master, Miligan 'Milicare", Chem-Dry, Duraclean, Stanely Steamer. These are huge companies with over 15,000 outlets combined worldwide.

Stick to what you are good at. Cars, trucks, motor homes, boats, planes, etc. If you attempt to clean household furniture, carpets or drapes you'll be sorry. Such work to do it right requires training, as you have to know all about: Different types of fabric, Different types of dyes, Different types of stains, Different types of carpets, Different types of chemicals, Etc. Most of the Franchise companies, which do that type of work have specialty niches and go through three weeks of intense classroom study to learn it all. They must learn a week's worth of: Selling, Advertising, Bidding, Competition and Equipment Knowledge.

I am not saying don't clean your upholstery at home. Go ahead. But don't be surprised if it takes you hours and doesn't clean the pomegranate juice up. And don't be surprised when you run out of chemicals and rip a piece of furniture and bust a part of your machine.

Maintenance And Up Keep;

The cleaning power of an extractor is generally based upon three important elements: Pump Pressure, Suction or Waterlift, Heat or No Heat. Most manufacturers have different theories as to what is the most effective combination. As you gain savvy in the Auto Detailing Industry you will better understand what is needed to get the job done and what the advantages and disadvantages are to each type of carpet extractor machine.

The pressure at which an extractor shoots the water/cleaning solution mix into the carpets or seats is a function of your pump. Pumps vary from 15 PSI to 200 PSI. We feel comfortable at 60 to 100 PSI. Higher pressures tend to deflect or bounce water off the item you are cleaning. This will usually cause you to splatter carpet cleaner on things you don't want splattered. If your carpet extractor is spraying chemicals too hard or too soft, check: The orifice at the nozzle for proper sizing; Voltage to the pump. Make sure it's operating at the proper speed; Leaks in the inlet hose and fittings; Leaks in the outlet pressure hose wand or guns; Chemical injection for air leaks; Chemical tank for fluid. Make sure it's not all foam, you could be sucking air.

You should keep unit clean internally and inspect it periodically, especially if you see water dripping from the unit during operation.

Water lift is the rating on suction. This is important because you want to suck all the water and chemicals from the carpet. We recommend and supply a unit with 100 to 120 inches of life. In other words, it will suck water from the ground 100 to 120 inches straight up. It's important to always maintain great suction power. To make sure you have appropriate suction, put your hand over the hose. If it feels off a little you should check for: Blockage in hose, Holes in hose, Air leaks in fittings, Cracks in vacuum head, Voltage of motor, Speed of motor, Etc.

Many extractors have heating elements. It takes fifteen minutes for extractors to heat the water. If your carpet extractor unit doesn't, then simply take your hot water pressure washer and turn on the heat. Turn it up all the way and put hot water into the carpet extractor tank at 190?F. Simply quick release the spray tip and fill up the tank on the extractor. If you have problems heating the water, see the section on steam cleaner burner in this section of the Operations Manual. Take care of your carpet extractor because the costs of the newer models now on the market are not cheap. If you own a detail shop, car wash or have a mobile unit, for Pete's sake; Lock it up at all times. They seem to be a favorite item for the Crystal Meth loser crowd to walk off with.

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.worldthinktank.net/wttbbs

non-toxic cleaning company Lake Forest ...

In The News:

VOLTA-AUTODOXER malware uses AI to analyze stolen data and rank victims by potential value, helping criminals target the most profitable accounts.

Daimler Truck's Oregon demos show how a Freightliner Cascadia's automatic emergency braking responds when dummy cars suddenly cross a moving truck's path.

Facebook ads promising to recover stolen funds are targeting scam victims again, and Meta confirmed removing flagged accounts after investigation.

Tesla Cybertruck production is winding down at Gigafactory Texas to make room for Cybercab robotaxi manufacturing, but key questions remain for owners.

Identity theft can hide in phone accounts, medical records and utility bills long before it shows on a credit report. Eight places to check now.

JR East's towering ZIZAI ZX-3 chainsaw robot tackles dangerous branch-cutting along Japan's Koumi Line while a trained operator controls it remotely.

A massive DHS data leak exposed records of over 41,000 employees, revealing links to undercover ICE operations, Palantir tools and AI platforms.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

UCLA's PhoneBot turns old Android phones into the brain of a two-legged humanoid robot that walks, follows people and stands up after falling.

A fake Amazon invoice charging $988.18 for an iPad lists the same customer support phone number three times to steer panicked victims into calling.

A handful of food delivery robots from Uber Eats and other platforms have gotten kicked and knocked over in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Data broker opt-out forms may not protect your family. People search sites can still expose your info through a spouse's or parent's profile.

Apple's first touchscreen MacBook Pro starts at $2,899 with a PROLED XDR OLED display, but the non-touch M6 model costs $900 less at $1,999.

Black Friday deals are already drawing scammers who use fake delivery notices and gift card payment requests to steal your personal financial information.

Apple's iPhone Duo reportedly outlasted the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 by over three hours in battery tests, but its weight and repair costs raise concerns.

Florida Polytechnic University's Jetson ONE eVTOL police vehicle named Astro still awaits FAA authorization before officers can fly operational patrols.

OpenAI's new locked chats feature lets you protect ChatGPT conversations with a PIN, Face ID or Touch ID, but there are key privacy limitations.

A phishing email disguised as an Evite fooled a man even after he emailed his friend to verify it, revealing how compromised Gmail accounts aid scams.

Microsoft's AI diagnostic system identified 83% of complex medical cases in a study, more than doubling the 36% accuracy of generalist doctors.

Account takeover threats go beyond stolen passwords as criminals exploit session cookies, SIM swaps and MFA fatigue to bypass your login security.

SpaceX is reportedly pursuing access to 80,000 cell sites to turn Starlink into a major wireless carrier rivaling Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.

Tech advocacy groups warn that foreign nationals at AI companies like OpenAI and Google pose a national security threat amid a lack of federal oversight.

Singapore researchers built the world's first touchscreen woven into clothing, surviving 50 machine washes while displaying images and responding to touch.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

A startup founder woke to $449 in unexpected OpenAI and Anthropic charges after stolen API keys were exploited during the "Black October" cyber wave.

Maintaining Your Carpet Extractor in Your Auto Detail Shop

Small Business