Add-on heaters

I was stuck cleaning for a commercial client which had decided to stop heating the very area that I was tasked to clean. Normally, it runs around 50 degrees in that loading area, but now it is pretty much the same as the outside temperature....this night it was around 6!

My butler just couldn't provide the heat I was looking for on this job. I was fighting to hold onto 160 degrees with the wand running wide open and when I laid the tool down, the jets quickly started to freeze and the solution temp would drop down to around 100 in a very short time. Getting the temps back up took some time spraying into the vac hose and it sucked.

During better weather, I can get good heat, but not under the above conditions. I would really like to be able to get a faster heat recovery and higher temps on jobs during the winter. So, I am considering the addition of an extra heater to supplement the hx even though the winter is only going to last another couple of months.

I've used a Northstar diesel heater before and that was awesome for heat, but I would need a trailer to pull that thing around. So, I guess my option is the hotomatics, but which one? For those more plugged into these things, which one would get me the temp rise in the winter that I am looking for and would they be much use for the summer months for increasing temps above an already decent 190 atw.?

Check on the inline electric heaters when I worked at ILS the elect. Heaters advert.said they could maintain heat for a TM so we tested one and was surprised that it did hold around 190° at 300-400 psi. So that might work and you could put it up in the summer.

Thanks, that would be great...I didn't think they would work with a tm's flow rate. If so, that would be an easy fix.

little giant #2 the electric inline will not keep up with truck mounts flow

electric inlines are pretty weak, but if you want one i have a mytee hotbox that I havent used in 4years I can sell you

Ive always thought the steam shark is an awsome tool, its a diesel fired steam pressure washer 360,000 btu

but you dont need the pressure and its kinda big

I would do either the small LG,    or you can put a fishtank heater in your water tank just to boost a little   like a 300watt

just to get the temp up to 70-80 before it hits your hx

I did that with a little inverter in my van during winter time, just plug it in in the morning a few hrs before u go to work

Fishtank heater....cleaners are a resourceful bunch aren't we?

Thanks for the advice, I will check these ideas out and pray for early spring.

In my previous tm, Aquatech ( in bed with cleanCo) I could only maintain 180-190 so added a, if memory serves me correct a #3 little giant. Easily maintain 250+ running a rx20 all day.
I had 2 8 pound tanks installed and seemed like it would last forever.

Did you mount it in the van or set it up outside? Did you keep the hx or replace it?

I really like the simplicity of a hx and since installing a new one, I can get 210 at the machine in decent weather, but winter temps run around 170 atw and sometimes lower like the other night.

I am tempted to add a small 5x8 cargo trailer and install a giant heater in there along with another set hose reels to make larger commercial jobs easier to set-up and to carry all the stuff that gets used in a given day. Might still have room or the rx and orbot if packed right.

dont you run a box truck? I remember a video where you had plenty of room?

OneBlueSummer wrote:

This should be all you need ..
I also added a 1000watt bucket heater from a local farm place for around 50$
As for the northstar.. and your previous concerns with having to use acids to clean tile.. you wont need acid ever, and hardly ever need to pre scrub. I will add that if you ever freeze that thing you might as well order another core and get ready to shell out another 500$   

Does that heated garden hose really make that much of an impact on water temps? I think I actually have one in the garage that I bought years ago, but never ended up needing. I guess I should try getting the stored water temp up a little before adding another heater. That last job was only 5 minutes from the shop, so the interior of the van never really got very warm (48 degrees actually) before job set-up....I guess that would prevent a good rise out of the hx.