Zipper Wand Floater/Loaner

I am a sucker for feedback tools, adding that temp gauge is a good addition to the Zipper Joe. It not only provides feedback, but it relocates the solution line location to a better position. It still looks like it might be stressing the line a little for long-term reliability, but at least the cleaner isn't dodging a hot hose. I still think a small pressure gauge is something that would be valuable on tools in the future....gives you a heads up when the pump is getting weak, kinked hose, and lets you know where you really are at when you are 300 feet from the machine. Mabye that is just me?

This is a good tool for the right person, but unless you drive one you would not know if you are that right person. If it could be marketed around the $1000 mark, it would be a far stronger seller that would rival the best wands. Just don't know how one would build it to meet that price without sacrificing the quality greatly, but that isn't my area of experience.

I suspect that there will be many sold in Vegas, some of which will be on the used market as a result. There might be a bargain out there in your areas.

lol been busy guys... anyway here is some info

15"
Like everyone else once it arrived I was impressed with its (current) build quality. I think its the perfect weight for cleaning. Not too light.

Residential:
I dont really care for wands so using it in residential setting was easy to get the hang of. I found it much easier on the body over all compared to a wand.  Dry times are much faster as well.  No problems for me cleaning in tight areas and even getting into closets.  Super small packed rooms had the same problem as regular wands regardless of width.
It was the first thing I brought into the house and I would say 50% of my clients commented on it.  
The tool sure can lay flat allowing you to really get under furniture and beds! huge plus.  
It just plain out cleans the wand.

Commercial:
here is where it gets interesting.
I used it on quarterly places where I normally cimex or OP
Easily cut that time in half with better results.  (and I love vlm)
Did a shoe store that has tons and tons of isles and cross isles.  I would never think of using a rotary extractor in that situation but with the zipp being able to clean going down the isle, reach the end and walk to the tool back to the start of the next isle was GREAT.
The shoe store would take 3.5 hours with cimex, with zip 1.2 hours.....

I did have 2 stores that had terrible chatter(thankfully just in certain areas) which I could not fix. Either changing the tool height or cleaning from a different direction.
For No agitation it sure can clean amazing. Does it out clean rotary... I would have to say an honest no.
If you pre-scrub then probably but in my case where I already have a rotary extractor why would I do a 2 steps process and waste time?
Which is easier on the body? When you watch my videos take notice of who is moving around more.  On the versus video I (running rx) basically do a little bit of movement and let the machine heal and toe it. Where as my dad running the zip is doing allot more moving around.  

I would like to see a much longer sight tube window personally.

I truly loved the tool, price point is definitely in a nicer area now.  I want one, just not sure where this tools falls with all the other gear I  want....

Thanks Dustin. Good review.
Outcleans a wand and undercleans the rotary. That's been said a few times now so we're beginning to see a consensus. Cool.
Erik says that too, if it's not too bad just use a wand. Then I guess you could bring in a crb, like some videos show, to get the scrub of a rotary. Since lotsa guys have or will have the crb, this could become 'the'  wand for a lot of guys.
Guess we should have thought to send an extra hole glide to see if might have made it possible to use it on those 2 stores it chattered.
Lemme know if you ever buy it at the $1995 price. That'll be the proof right there.
Maybe turn your Dad into a cleaner? Get Mom to video you two working side-by-side and you could be the 'niche' cleaners in your area.

Roland's gotta be wrapping up about now. The perfect match for a Zipper I hope.
Been cleaning forever.
Not easily influenced by others' opinion.
Wants to be a distributor.
Back pain from a long career of wanding and two rear-end auto accidents that didn't help.
Would be great if this tool helps.
Can't wait to hear from Roland.

That review appears right on the money to me. Long aisles like that or in church / hotel would be very efficient for the Zipper...it was the ideal jobs for the Steamin Demon.

I am starting to wonder more about that chatter? The only way that I was able to correct it was by adjusting the rear wheels to the point where the rear glide was rendered almost useless. Of course, then you are defeating the benefit of the second glide for drying. I just don't see why a second holed glide would make any difference.

Not that it would easy, but I wonder if the rear glide rode on a spring to allow it to self-adjust to the floor, would it be the way to go? Just like the rx-20 can self-adjust to floor conditions, it would allow the zipper to also self-adjust...that would sure solve the chatter.

If I didn't already have a rotary extractor It would be at the top

another thing.
You should have a decent sized tm and large sized recovery tanks or apo.

where this thing shines is high flow imo. Sure has more impact then my wand and both have near the same flow

IF you have neither a good pre-scrub would be mandatory.

Heck you could even just get John G's machine to use to pre scrub and then also have a top-notch vlm machine

CleanTech wrote:lol been busy guys... anyway here is some info

15"
Like everyone else once it arrived I was impressed with its (current) build quality. I think its the perfect weight for cleaning. Not too light.

Residential:
I dont really care for wands so using it in residential setting was easy to get the hang of. I found it much easier on the body over all compared to a wand.  Dry times are much faster as well.  No problems for me cleaning in tight areas and even getting into closets.  Super small packed rooms had the same problem as regular wands regardless of width.
It was the first thing I brought into the house and I would say 50% of my clients commented on it.  
The tool sure can lay flat allowing you to really get under furniture and beds! huge plus.  
It just plain out cleans the wand.

Commercial:
here is where it gets interesting.
I used it on quarterly places where I normally cimex or OP
Easily cut that time in half with better results.  (and I love vlm)
Did a shoe store that has tons and tons of isles and cross isles.  I would never think of using a rotary extractor in that situation but with the zipp being able to clean going down the isle, reach the end and walk to the tool back to the start of the next isle was GREAT.
The shoe store would take 3.5 hours with cimex, with zip 1.2 hours.....

I did have 2 stores that had terrible chatter(thankfully just in certain areas) which I could not fix. Either changing the tool height or cleaning from a different direction.
For No agitation it sure can clean amazing. Does it out clean rotary... I would have to say an honest no.
If you pre-scrub then probably but in my case where I already have a rotary extractor why would I do a 2 steps process and waste time?
Which is easier on the body? When you watch my videos take notice of who is moving around more.  On the versus video I (running rx) basically do a little bit of movement and let the machine heal and toe it. Where as my dad running the zip is doing allot more moving around.  

I would like to see a much longer sight tube window personally.

I truly loved the tool, price point is definitely in a nicer area now.  I want one, just not sure where this tools falls with all the other gear I  want....

Thank you for the review Dustin, that's a HUGE time savings, very impressive.
Robert, did you feel that time savings when you did the 20,000 sq ft carpets ?

Two videos are up in the video section ... just fyi

Time savings? Not very much actually.

Part of that result was due to loss time trying to rid the chatter and being obsessed with dry times by searching for wet pockets where the floors have dips. In some areas, it was faster than the wand and I would say faster than the rx-20 in all areas.

CleanTech wrote:Two videos are up in the video section ... just fyi

I added the videos to your review here too Dustin

Erick, here are a few questions that have been posted for ya to field. Please take the time to read and give us some feed back on where your going with this.


I'm wondering if the newest version is the one for sale now ?

how do we know they're the real deal and not some family or friends ? Sorry Erik, I'm just stating the truth here, I'm interested in finding out more about your product but it seems like it doesn't get any easier

I am starting to wonder more about that chatter? The only way that I was able to correct it was by adjusting the rear wheels to the point where the rear glide was rendered almost useless. Of course, then you are defeating the benefit of the second glide for drying. I just don't see why a second holed glide would make any difference.

More questions for ya Erick.


I saw in MB some people bought it at higher price than the listed price now by a couple hundred dollars, even though Joe already mentioned that it was built with quality parts, Erik mentioned lower production cost or something like that motivated the price drop, what kind of production costs lowered ?
I'm sure some potential customers want to make sure that lower production cost does not equal to lower quality parts.

I'm also still waiting for Erik to respond and so far it doesn't look good because if it takes this long to answer questions on the board, I wonder how long will it take to get support on the field.

I talked to Eric at the show and I don't think he's not coming back on the forum even though there's guys with questions here???

I asked why the price drop he said because he couldn't compete with the rotary extractors on the market.

Mo wrote:I talked to Eric at the show and I don't think he's not coming back on the forum even though there's guys with questions here???

I asked why the price drop he said because he couldn't compete with the rotary extractors on the market.

So for the record, Erick is not going to engage in the day to day development of his product and interaction with potential clients? Unless it's on the playing field of his choice?

More questions


A couple of questions I have about how this went down that should be answered. Which was the cause of the harsh commentary from the developer of the floater research program.

First, Bill, I follow your postings and have a great deal of respect for you and the knowledgable information you share. It is obvious that you are a veteran in the trade, and us young bucks can draw some valuable knowledge.

1. Was Joe consulted about revealing the gathered feed back/research from the users of the zipper before the program ended? If so why was that decision made with out his approval?

2. Isn't it only correct to allow the director of the floater program to decide when the time is to make all feed back public?

3. Is there information that is being held back as to why Joe was not involved in the diversion, if that be the case?

4. Is this an effort to get the gathered information out early as to help Eric move the Zipper at a quicker pace?

5. Is it fair to ANY promoter of a program on this board to have their rules and guidelines usurped with out consulting them first by ANY member on this board?

6. Is it ok if I have more Q?

I tried to get him back here.

Wonder why he won't come here and support his product? The questions I posted where from several members on the forum.

Mo wrote:I talked to Eric at the show and I don't think he's not coming back on the forum even though there's guys with questions here???

I asked why the price drop he said because he couldn't compete with the rotary extractors on the market.

From what I understand, Eric built this wand for himself from the start. Like the rest of us would have, it was over-built for that purpose. It would have been built to fit Eric's size and cleaning style and to fit his business model. Attempting to market that result to a population of cleaners that all have different needs will result in the problems that we have come to see (price, chatter handle length for examples).

All of the above is understandable to me, and I think price and chatter fix is going to be the secret to success for this tool, but to ignore the questions from potential customers is something that I don't understand. If a few tweaks here and there can make this wand a huge success, why miss that chance? Wasn't that the point of having a floater program in the first place? To work out the issues from field usage?

Eric, if was you, I would be reading every comment made regarding your wand regardless of what board it was posted on. Anyone that can build a tool like that, is no fool, so I suspect that you are reading these posts and choosing to be silent which I cannot understand. If you can't get along with Joe, that is between you and him, this is not his board, but those guys asking questions ARE your customers.

I hope you change your mind and come back to field the questions. You have a quality tool, you just need to find that old passion that motivated you to build it in the first place and finish the job at making it the best wand on the market.

How about it?

Erick, here are a few questions that have been posted for ya to field. Please take the time to read and give us some feed back on where your going with this.


I'm wondering if the newest version is the one for sale now ?
Yes

how do we know they're the real deal and not some family or friends ? Sorry Erik, I'm just stating the truth here, I'm interested in finding out more about your product but it seems like it doesn't get any easier

I’m not sure what you are asking here. It sounds like you are implying that my friends and/or family members are making Zippers? If so, I can ensure you that you are getting an original Zipper.

I am starting to wonder more about that chatter? The only way that I was able to correct it was by adjusting the rear wheels to the point where the rear glide was rendered almost useless. Of course, then you are defeating the benefit of the second glide for drying. I just don't see why a second holed glide would make any difference.

If you adjust your rear glide too high, you will render both vacuum ports virtually useless. The only carpets the Zipper will chatter on are cheap olefin cgd. The hole glide will not chatter in this situation because the very short fibers of the carpet will not grab the hole in the glide as it would the sharper edge on the slot glide.  If you go to www.zipperwand.com & view the Zipper Operation & Maintenance video- it will explain how to properly adjust the height and change the glides.

I saw in MB some people bought it at higher price than the listed price now by a couple hundred dollars, even though Joe already mentioned that it was built with quality parts, Erik mentioned lower production cost or something like that motivated the price drop, what kind of production costs lowered ?I'm sure some potential customers want to make sure that lower production cost does not equal to lower quality parts.

I will NEVER sacrifice the quality of my product/parts for a lower production cost. I’m just looking into a few ways to cut my production cost, not the quality. The Zipper is made with top quality parts and will continue to be made this way.

I'm also still waiting for Erik to respond and so far it doesn't look good because if it takes this long to answer questions on the board, I wonder how long will it take to get support on the field.

I also run a carpet cleaning business and only go on the boards in my free time, which isn’t much. You can call me anytime at the office (734) 675-8440 or feel free to email me (erik@zipperwand.com).  I have my cell phone on me at all times and check my email very frequently. We have great customer support and are always happy to answer anyone’s questions or concerns.

The unit you are using is part of Joe’s Floater program. (which I am no longer supporting)  He purchased the two floaters at my cost and has already sold one of the floaters. Joe didn’t want me involved with his program. If he didn’t publicly attack my personal character, as he does to so many, I would still support him and the program. But, with him being a prominent member of this board, I will not be involved in any way. But, please feel free to call me with any question about the Zipper.

MO- It was nice meeting you at the Trade Show. I’m sorry you had to get involved in any of this. You are correct, I did tell you that it’s hard to compete with the price of a rotary extractor, due to the high cost of machining many parts of the unit.  You also told me that Joe Bristor plans to take the Zipper to China to have it manufactured and that is the truth and shows Joe’s true character.

I really appreciate everyone’s feedback, both negative and positive. If you have any more questions,  call or visit our website.

Still a few more Q Erick. Please don't pick and choose. These questions are for the cleaning public not for phone calls and emails. It's to help all who may search for these answers. Going off your reasoning being a busy carpet cleaner you would understand why your potential clients have asked Q on a forum rather that phone calls. Come one man, just invest in your products. Who cares about the side show.

I never told he was taking it to China?? This is getting crazy

"You also told me that Joe Bristor plans to take the Zipper to China to have it manufactured and that is the truth and shows Joe’s true character."

This is not true. I have no such plans. Never told Mo I had any plans to do so. No idea where this came from. I just left Mo a message to respond to this as I can't imagine he would support your claim Erik. I have learned some things about this Floater and one is definitely to NOT use two vacuum chambers. Good luck to you Erik. The Zipper is all yours.

Mo wrote:I never told he was taking it to China?? This is getting crazy

Hey Mike W, you see what I'm talking about, more damage control. My hope is you choose to take a more consistent presents here. Your a respectable guy, with some good input. You do need to understand that at this early stage of the forum, there are those that wish for us the implode. Some of these post I doubt are from the so call author.

I understand and I would like to see this forum succeed. Nobody asked me to give a positive zipper review. It was completely honest and how I feel. I love it for commercial carpets. I'm not a rotary guy. I've owned the rx 20 mytee spin master and the hoss 700 and sold them all. I'll continue to offer my options and help where I can. But when I do take a break from the boards from time to time it's nothing personal.

"You also told me that Joe Bristor plans to take the Zipper to China to have it manufactured and that is the truth and shows Joe’s true character."

Could you prove this with a solid concrete proof ? If not I call this a crap shoot, why ? Because you have a patent on the wand, Joe may be a jerk and not afraid expressing his opinion of any supplier / manufacturer, but I believe he's not stupid to copy the zipper's design and have china manufacture them.
Eric, you have every right to defend yourself and your product, but when you make false accusations in the process, that does not and will not help your case, I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt all these times until I see this, this shows your true character and that stops my interests in your product, you just lost one potential customer sir.

dp1 wrote:"You also told me that Joe Bristor plans to take the Zipper to China to have it manufactured and that is the truth and shows Joe’s true character."

Could you prove this with a solid concrete proof ? If not I call this a crap shoot, why ? Because you have a patent on the wand, Joe may be a jerk and not afraid expressing his opinion of any supplier / manufacturer, but I believe he's not stupid to copy the zipper's design and have china manufacture them.
Eric, you have every right to defend yourself and your product, but when you make false accusations in the process, that does not and will not help your case, I've been giving you the benefit of the doubt all these times until I see this, this shows your true character and that stops my interests in your product, you just lost one potential customer sir.

+1,000!!!

This has really become a mess, and honestly I've lost all interest in purchasing a Zipper.

I'm amazed Erik finally showed up but only selectively answered a few questions. Pretty douchey I'd say....and then this bit about China!?