Powerful Steamer for Interior and Exterior

[silvermesa]

I have been reading for quite awhile and it seems the VX-5000 is the favorite for most due to performance and price under a $1000.00. However, it appears most use this product mainly for interior details and not for anywhere on the exterior or under the hood.

In short, I prefer to buy once and would like to purchase the appropriate powered unit the first time.

My questions are as follows:

1) who has used a more powerful steamer? Please give it's name and how the extra heat and pressure performed? Or,is the VX-5000 up to the task?

2) Any experience with the Dupray Hill Injection, Therma Kleenjet 1500C or Vapor Chief or others?

3) Would you purchase a unit pre owned or strictly new?

4) Do you run your unit with a generator ? If so what size?

Thank You all!

 

[Gurge]

let me start by saying I own a VX5000, but I have not used the other units you've mentioned to compare

any of those units you mentioned are pretty heavy duty (including the vx). it's all about how you choose to use it. Just because you've only seen the vx used on interiors, doesn't mean that its not as versatile as the other machines as far as what its capable of. I've used my vx under the hood, around the gas cap, wheels, emblems, door jams.

the real question between those units is what do you really need or prefer. the differences are PSI, tank size, continous fill, heat up time, whether it has an extractor (i think the dupray does?) and of course, price

Personally - i'm very happy with my vx and i would buy it again in a heartbeat. aside from auto detailing, i've found so many uses around the house. you will probably find the same with any of those steam cleaners.

although the vx is not continous fill, I've found that with most jobs i'm finished with long before i run out of water in the tank. And some guys have tweaked the stock pressure settings with the vx but I've never found I needed more power than how its set currently. takes about 15mins warmup before a full tank is ready to steam

with a large purchase like that, I'd always buy new. to avoid potential headaches and ensure you have no issues with a denied warranty claim (since you're not the original owner)

and I don't run a generator currently. I rely on customers power. I'm looking into getting some mobile electricity in the spring. Contacted the manufacturer of the vx recently and i was told it requires 14amps (which is a lot). I'm not sure if that is peak or continous though.

hope this helped a bit.