I have a Little Green Bissell I have borrowed from a friend. It does good work, however its easy to get it to leak and it is a complete pain in the ass to clean. I usually skip the whole application-side of this machine and just spray water/treat stain/scrub strain separately and use it to vacuum it up when done.
As it really doesn't make steam (although lots of people refer to these as steam cleaners), it simply sprays water/cleaning solution, can I separate that from the vacuum cleaner and construct my own cheaper/easier to clean machine?
Plan:
- Bucket head shop vac
- 5 gallon bucket
- Vaccuum attachment - this is the part I am having trouble finding. I'd like a similar tool to what the bissel has - a wide tool, with a vary narrow opening that is conducive to getting water out of carpet. Clear if possible. Anyone know where to find one of these?
Nothing much to add but curious to see what you come up with.
I had access to a professional carpet extractor and that was out of this world. Piping hot water and actual strong suction on the vac part of it.
Seems like the little green machine is decent but a lot of forums for detailing seem to do more what you are doing with a scrubbing and a wet/dry vac.
They sell really thin water-suction nozzles for shop vacs. They usually come with a new shop vac, but they are usually 12" or more wide. You could modify one by cutting it narrower and using the plastic you cut off to fabricate new ends with some epoxy.
CL also often has broken "steam cleaners" on there for free. Salvage one and liberate the nozzle. Then liberate the motors and use them for projects.
Any landfills near you? Ours used to be pretty open but now you need a permit.
Have you used the bucket-topper vacs before? The only two I've used were really wimpy. Might bear some investigation.
In reply to ProDarwin :
I think this might be what you're looking for:
https://amzn.to/2TAQ3MJ
That said I haven't had much success with those bucket head vacs either. You need good suction in order for those hot water extractors to work well.
I use one of these. It was expensive but it has a motorized head and has better suction than most of my vacuum cleaners.
That is what I am looking for! Its funny that its the most expensive part and its about 20 cents worth of plastic.
RE: power
That is disappointing to hear. I know vacuum power is difficult to rate accurately, but I figured 1.75hp shop vac would have far more power than the little green bissel.
shop vacs focus on flow, not as much on head pressure. Water extraction on an upholstery/carpet cleaner focuses more on pressure than flow. Rating vacuum is much like rating pressure washers or electrical circuits, just in reverse. There is CFM of flow and vacuum pressure. Most of it is a combination of power and the design of the "fan" sucking the air.
The impeller blades "stall" just like an airplane wing and lose their grip on the air. Ever play around and cover a squirrel cage fan? It will generate a very small amount of pressure as you close it up, but it will easily lose its grip and speed up. Contrast that with something like a roots centrifugal blower. Its grip on the air is more positive and will generate more pressure before it loses too much flow. Covering a squirrel cage fan (like an HVAC blower) will end up providing nearly zero pressure once you stop the flow. A roots blower might still provide 20 psi after you stop the flow.
I find that my Bissel carpet cleaner doesn't flow much, but it will suck the lipstick off a hooker. Don't ask me how I know, but that was a really fun night.
Like anything, it will depend on how often you need one. In my case I use them so infrequently I'd rather just rent them when necessary.
Curtis73 said:
I find that my Bissel carpet cleaner doesn't flow much, but it will suck the lipstick off a hooker. Don't ask me how I know, but that was a really fun night.
Will it suck the chrome off a trailer hitch at 65 mph?
stuart in mn said:
Like anything, it will depend on how often you need one. In my case I use them so infrequently I'd rather just rent them when necessary.
I don't need one that often, but in most cases when I do need one its for immediate stain removal. Waiting to rent one would be pointless because by then the stain would fully set.
Related information: I have a 4 year old and a dog.
We have an older version of this: Bissell proheat
It has to be at least 15 years old by now. I have replaced a few parts but for the most part it has been awesome.
