Erik, I remember that one well... that's the one I sold... the new one seems to look more like a toy than the first one... the brushes were definitely easier to release from the machine on the first generation.
What does the machine do differently when you switch from dry pickup to wet pickup?
I have also thought about removing the squeegee nozzle when I want to really scrub just so the suction doesn't remove the water too fast!
I gave my new baby a workout tonight! Since I have a very small apartment, I wanted to really put this thing through its paces, so I brought it to work. After we closed at 11, I got it out of the car and went to town. I work in a huge timeshare office in a hotel and the hotel janitors are supposed to come clean, but all they do is change the garbage as soon as we throw one piece of paper in it... they spot sweep, but that's about it. We have a tan colored tile that is textured, semi gloss... grey grout. I used it as a dry vac first... but I accidentally had it on "wet pickup" for about the first 15 minutes.... once I realized that and changed the setting to "dry pickup" it was easier to push and worked much better. It really did a good job at sucking up all the dust balls and staples and hole punch pieces and rubber bands... I had to empty the dirt cup 5 times... it didn't get full, but the round screen under the filter kept getting clogged with dust and I kept losing suction. Then the machine just turned off right while I was in the middle of vacuuming. I got so mad! I messed with the buttons and still nothing. I thought maybe it overheated or something. Then I unplugged it from the orange 50 foot extension cord and plugged it right in the wall and it started working. I've never had an extension cord die on me before, but this one did! I threw that sucker in the trash. I've had the cord for 4 years and have only used it a handful of times. We had enough plugs that I was still able to get the job done after a lot of re-plugging. The machine didn't blow the dirt out of the way before it got to it. This was the closest I've ever come to feeling like I was really vacuuming on a bare floor... usually, you use a canister on a bare floor, and I know a canister would have worked better, but I'm used to uprights, so this gave me that upright feeling and it was nice. I went a little too fast several times and the silly float thing stopped the suction... I figured out how to quickly get the machine back in working order.... I just released the "dirty" tank with the machine still running, and then replaced it and remembered go go slow for the next few minutes (until I forgot again!).... I guess I could have just turned the machine off and waited for the float to fall back down, but I didn't. That really seems like a design flaw. I just used hot water when I cleaned the floor, no solution. It really got the dirt up, and left the floor dry with no streaks. There were several black spots and there was even some gum on the floor and it did a pretty good job... some of the black spots (I have no clue what they were) didn't come up, but most did. I must have emptied and refilled about 10 times.... it took me 2 hours to do the whole office. That's the cleanest that floor has been since the place was remodeled 3 years ago and the tiles were put down! In some places, I had to kind of scrub with the machine and in some places, I had to just leave it still for several seconds and let the brushes work on the mess. The water was black every time I dumped it... it did not touch the grout, but in the machine's defense, I didn't use the grout brushes or solution. The handle is quite heavy and after using the machine for such a long time, my hand and wrist both became fatigued. Still it was fun and really did a good job. I wonder if anyone at work will notice tomorrow!
) I think I will have your address if you still live in the same place by now... I haven't forgotten LOL
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