Just a question for you all, esp. those who may have had their Challenger for quite some time now. As I've mentioned before, my Challenger seems to be vibrating more and more as time goes by. I talked to the nice Challenger folks and we troubleshooted a bit.

Some of the velcro around the edges of the pad driver has started to ball up, one idea is that that could be throwing the balance off just a bit. I removed as much of the built up lint as I could and that may have helped just a touch.

Have any of you ever done maintenance on your machine in regards to vibration?

Yes I have had the pad kind of ball up under the driver because of the velcro curling up around the edges. I just too a razor knife and trimmed the curred part off. Totally corrected the problem.
They may have to figure a way to keep the velcro from curring. So far it hasn't been a big problem, but if enough of it curls up, the whole velco pad will have to be replaced. Jim England

II've found that the thinner the pad, the greater likelihood that it will try to curl up under the machine when in use. This likelihood increases as the pads wears through use, and becomes thinner. Much as I love the Challenger, I'm not crazy about their pads, which I find to be on the too-thin side. Which is why my preference is for the sewn-together
2-ply pads made by Argo (www.argoco.com) The velcro on the pad drivers on both my Challengers is pretty loaded up with fiber residue, but my pads hardly ever curl on me.
My 3/4 machine tends to vibrate a little; my 1/2 hp not at all. Maybe it's the additional power and/or
weight.

Used the Argo pads for the first time today. They actually made my Challenger vibrate more, but I still like them mainly because you can use both sides. When they get dirty enough to change the other side is still lily white. Also did an experiment using fiber pads first, then wet cotton pads when using RealeasIt Punch. Couldn't tell any difference in effect so went back to just using wet pads. It was a tough carpet. Not a gross amount of dirt picked up as they apparently vacuumed regularly but there were stains everywhere (2 kids and a messy husband). Most came out with a few extra passes but some required extra chems. Job went well and pleased customer but took lots of time.

Thanks for the tip Jim. I trimmed around the edge of the driver and that helped a bit. I still get a rattling at times with the thicker pads. This morning I did a berber which was somewhat hard to control and loud. This afternoon I did a VERY trashed cut pile. I just got 5 argo pads with NO filler so I tried those. They make more noise and vibration than the standard thin pads that come with the Challenger, but not too bad. I liked using them on the trashed out carpet b/c they hold so much more dirt.

I used Orbit Natural, double strength, with tea tree oil on the trashed out carpet today, worked like a charm. Didn't have to use any stain removers at all, and worked well on the odor.

But even with the edges trimmed of the driver, it appears the only way I can get really smooth work is with really thin pads... I wonder if something is just a wee bit off center on my unit.

When using the ORBIT NATURAL for odors,the longer the dwell time the better.

How long do you figure? 5 mins? 10 mins? More?

After reading Grant’s comments yesterday I called him on the phone and discussed his situation. It seems most likely that this vibration is due to concealed shipping damage. I told Grant that I will correct it by swapping out his base assembly or whatever is required.

Our shipments are insured and UPS pays most of our claims. We have had a few bent motor shafts and other damage but most machines arrive with no problems. Each machine is test run prior to shipping using our new 20” 850 GSM pads. We buy these pads in large quantities to get the density and strength that can only be achieved through automatic looms. Customers have told us they last for up to 100 washings and that they can effectively be used on both sides. We have recently received our second shipment of these new pads and have discounted any remaining stock of the old ones.

We are always looking for improvements and appreciate any comments you may have. Thanks,

Lee Watson
challengerop@gmail.com
877-446-5887 Toll Free
903-297-0891 Local