Extractor on a budget

Cool idea! To be more portable, what about a bucket heater, a spray bottle and a vacuum? Of course you need your chemicals towels and brushes as well. I'm looking into doing just this and see how this works. I think it will. After all what do you really get in an extractor? Hot water and a pump which generates more lift that a shopvac. I think with using a spray bottle you'll use less water which equals to less drying time.
 
The bucket heater is a great idea, but you have to be really careful with it. It will melt buckets.



GREAT idea, btw. I have been shopping around for an extractor, but this would be much better suited for me. And if anything ever goes wrong, you can easily replace a part.



Kaleb
 
UPDATE:



The bucket heater works excellent. I usually plug it in at the start of a job. By the time I'm ready to use it, it's steaming hot if not actually boiling. I usually run the solution hose back into the bucket for a minute before extracting to warm the hose up. I regret buying the cheapest 3/8" air hose available for the solution line as heat loss is a problem if you stop pumping for more than a couple of minutes. When that happens the water trapped in the line cools and I usually purge it till hot solution comes out again. I don't hear of anyone with a standard extractor complain of this, so I assume they come with solution lines that can hold heat in better.



I am looking at getting this solution hose, as it's rated for heat.





So to re-itemize the project (with options)



Pump - $60

Fittings - about $25-30 (including special fitting for upgraded hose

Nozzle - $40 (found one cheaper here)

Hose - around $5-10 at Home Depot, in plumbing section

Solution Hose - $45 (for typical 25' length, I need 50')

Bucket Heater $32 (Google bucket heater)



So with the new parts and prices, we're at $217 + shipping. Not bad.



I'm uploading a video of the system to Youtube now. Will post when done.
 
Thats excellent, interesting that your pressure hose blew, I had the same thing happen when I started heating the water in my old cold water extractor. The hose blew in two different places on two different occasions so I stopped heating the water because it was too hard to deal with trying to keep the temperature from getting too hot throughout an already busy enough day. I didn't know you could buy an in line heater, I will check that out.
 
Well, the hose that blew was a just a short length of plastic tubing. It really isn't meant for heat and shouldn't have been used, but it's was what I had. I haven't had any durability issues out of the main hose, just heat loss.
 
Hey Antonio,



Very innovative setup, love it. Can you please give some more details on how you did the electrical change from pumps 12V DC to the AC (wall plug) adapter? What did you use for this? Can you give some more info on that.



Seriously considering this project myself...



Thank you!
 
jonman,



I actually did it two different ways. The first that I did was using a dc to ac adapter. I bought this one from RadioShack. This one is cheaper and a little better I think. It worked fine until I seemed to have lost it. I then raided a drawer in the house full of discarded ac/dc power bricks (like the ones on printers and scanners) and found one that outputs 12VDC. I then snipped off the special plug end and wired it into the positive and negative of the pump.
 
IC3DT3 said:
jonman,



I actually did it two different ways. The first that I did was using a dc to ac adapter. I bought this one from RadioShack. This one is cheaper and a little better I think. It worked fine until I seemed to have lost it. I then raided a drawer in the house full of discarded ac/dc power bricks (like the ones on printers and scanners) and found one that outputs 12VDC. I then snipped off the special plug end and wired it into the positive and negative of the pump.
Click to expand...



Thanks for the quick reply.. What is the current (amps) of the pump? I can't seem to find it online or anywhere listed on the northern tool page.



-Jon
 
ninobrn99 said:
any updates to this setup?
Click to expand...



Just a couple of changes. My pump died so I'm using an air operated diaphragm pump I happened to have. I'll update with more pics and details as soon as I can.



Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
 
cool, I can't wait. i've been looking for an alternative to $700. :) Also, what did you end up using to replace the small hose that tore in the video?
 
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