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Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

Has anyone added a spray system - either shower feed or electric pump spray or pump up spray system - to their Challenger?

How well does it work?

Does the shower feed system spread the solution properly? Does it work well with the cotton pads or is it better with synthetic such as Tuway Thin Ones or FibrePlus Pads?

Neil

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

Lee Watson at Challenger Pad Systems may have a name or 2 of people who have done this.
contact@challengerop.com

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

Neil, I've pondered this a lot myself. I think there are some machines better just as they are, Challenger being one of those. Dwell time is generally better than not, don't you think, even with the encap cleaners? I really see no advantage to a spray setup or showerfeed on this machine. I also think dwell time may leave carpet a little better lubricated for op cleaning. Just my thinking.

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

i agree that dwell is important Steve.

but for Encap, it is not needed.

if this forum allowed images, i'd post some from Jeff Brown on how to make your OP into a showerfeed system.

the one negative thing about it is, YOU have to hold the extra weight up from the solution tank...it won't rest it's weight on the machine/wheels. i have a Cimex and that DOES hold the weight of the solution tank. the Challenger and most all other OP machines are not made that way.

water weighs what, 7-8 lb's per gallon? throw a 3 or 5 gall solution tank on there and you'll be adding 30-40 lb's of dead weight that you now have to hold up for several hours a day.

somthing to think about. thanx --- Derek

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

A little dwell time is a good thing. Even Rick Gellinas has occasionally recommended prespraying his encap juice to loosen heavy soil. He is typically speaking of commercial carpet cleaning. For residential cut pile, I'm more comfortable with spray, then clean. For commercial, a spray setup might be ideal. Holding up the weight is not that big a deal. Challenger just works better as a spray and clean machine, I think.

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

Sorry, me again. For what it's worth, you can make a nice spray setup for any machine, not just the Challenger. What I've done is remove the entire spray system from a 100psi wand and fasten it to the Challenger. So you have a quick connect, then the valve and lever (mounted on the right side opposite the Challenger lever), at the handle. You can use the valve hanger bracket to mount this to the Challenger. Tie the solution hose down the handle and to the front of Challenger. Obtain the parts from your hardware store to Y the line to 2 locations and use 2 spray jets, your choice, out the front. Then just use an external pump,60PSI, and 25' or whatever of solution hose to spray with. I have the Carbonated Solutions sprayer which is ideal for this. So see, I have thought this through. I still don't see an advantage for the Challenger however.

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

What Steve said above! Man, that guy's one sharp dude huh? I have 2 Rowenta steam irons mounted on front of my Challenger. Not sure if I wired them in series or parallel but that burst of steam is killer! Of course I prespray first (reference above).

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

Killer idea there, Teve.

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

I found the details of Jeff Brown's shower feed set in a prior post by Derek. Here's the links to photos

http://img159.exs.cx/img159/6127/showerfeedring001.jpg

http://img38.exs.cx/img38/609/Picture1675.jpg

http://img159.exs.cx/img159/7581/Picture24.jpg

I have now set up a shower feed on my Challenger following Jeff's design. It works well. It saves a heap of time. And it works fantastic with encap.

If you are worried about not having dwell time consider this.

Use shower feed on Challenger with synthetic pad (e.g Tuway Thin One to spread the solution over say 200 sq. ft. Only do one pass. By the time you've finished that area then go over it again with either the synthetic or cotton pad. By the time you do the second pass the solution will have had dwell time. In fact it will have had quality dwell time because it will be spread out on to the carpet fibres, and not just sitting on top as with spraying.
Regards,
Neil

Re: Spray systems - anyone added one to their Challenger?

How well does the Challenger handle with the extra weight of several pounds of liquid? Water weighs 8
lbs per gallon. Sounds like when you refer to encapping, you're actually pad-capping: using an absorbtive (cotton) pad to remove most of the cleaning solution/soil mixture. Have you tried straight encapping, i.e., using a non absorbtive scrubbing pad? I would think ths would be quicker.