What to watch out for buying a used extractor...Please comment, thank you :)

[pointillistic_practitioner]

I was just in contact with someone who is selling me their mytee lite ii for $300. The outside of the hose looks kind of dirty but I don't see any damage, he said it works well, and based on the way he presented himself and the product, he seems reputable. I will be driving 2.5 hrs to buy this unit (still cheaper than shipping), and will test out the machine. Is there anything I should look for/be cautious about when testing? Anything else to keep in mind? I was so close to buying a mytee tempo spotter on AGO but then I found this... and I just can't afford a mytee lite new :'( I may buy this crevice tool though, if it fits on the aqua mytee Mytee Stainless Steel Crevice Tool for Mytee Hot Water Carpet Extractors (http://www.autogeek.net/mytee-crevice-tool.html) Does anyone know if it'll fit? Also, does AGO sell defoamer? What is the best extractor solution to use, or would you recommend just using water and spraying the cleaner onto the carpet? what IS the main diff b/w the aqua mytee lite ii and the blue/black one anyway? different water lift/psi specs? I'd appreciate if anyone could respond b/c I plan on driving out to get the unit this sunday. thanks!

[SuperiorAutoLLC]

I was just in contact with someone who is selling me their mytee lite ii for $300. The outside of the hose looks kind of dirty but I don't see any damage, he said it works well, and based on the way he presented himself and the product, he seems reputable. I will be driving 2.5 hrs to buy this unit (still cheaper than shipping), and will test out the machine. Is there anything I should look for/be cautious about when testing? Anything else to keep in mind? I was so close to buying a mytee tempo spotter on AGO but then I found this... and I just can't afford a mytee lite new :'( I may buy this crevice tool though, if it fits on the aqua mytee Mytee Stainless Steel Crevice Tool for Mytee Hot Water Carpet Extractors (http://www.autogeek.net/mytee-crevice-tool.html) Does anyone know if it'll fit? Also, does AGO sell defoamer? What is the best extractor solution to use, or would you recommend just using water and spraying the cleaner onto the carpet? what IS the main diff b/w the aqua mytee lite ii and the blue/black one anyway? different water lift/psi specs? I'd appreciate if anyone could respond b/c I plan on driving out to get the unit this sunday. thanks!


Let the unit run for a while; make sure the pump or vac motor doesn't overheat
Strong, powerful suction
You probably won't need the crevice tool
Defoamer can be purchased from any Rug Doctor display or from any carpet cleaner rental kiosk in your local hardware store
Don't ever put solution in the fresh water tank. It should be nothing but water. Adding anything will never leave behind a chemical-free carpet, even if it's a deodorizer or something. Just plain water; spot-treat any stains and spray deodorizer afterward.
Offer him $200

[pointillistic_practitioner]

Let the unit run for a while; make sure the pump or vac motor doesn't overheat
Strong, powerful suction
You probably won't need the crevice tool
Defoamer can be purchased from any Rug Doctor display or from any carpet cleaner rental kiosk in your local hardware store
Don't ever put solution in the fresh water tank. It should be nothing but water. Adding anything will never leave behind a chemical-free carpet, even if it's a deodorizer or something. Just plain water; spot-treat any stains and spray deodorizer afterward.
Offer him $200


Thank you! I'll definitely let it run. How long do you think would give me a good idea of it's functionality? . okay, thanks. ill check local carpet cleaner stores. I will only use water...I've used the solution in my bissell but started to get away from that in favor of folex.... have you used megs apc or apc + spraying it onto the carpet? i have apc (the green stuff) and am not too fond of it...seems to foam too much. i will only use water from now on in the machine. Well it's the aqua mytee lite ii so it was probably around 850 or so new and he wanted 400 but dropped it down to 3 so idk if i can get it much lower :/

[SuperiorAutoLLC]

Thank you! I'll definitely let it run. How long do you think would give me a good idea of it's functionality? . okay, thanks. ill check local carpet cleaner stores. I will only use water...I've used the solution in my bissell but started to get away from that in favor of folex.... have you used megs apc or apc + spraying it onto the carpet? i have apc (the green stuff) and am not too fond of it...seems to foam too much. i will only use water from now on in the machine. Well it's the aqua mytee lite ii so it was probably around 850 or so new and he wanted 400 but dropped it down to 3 so idk if i can get it much lower :/

Folex does a good job. You don't want to use anything with too much foam as you'll just end up using more defoamer and costing yourself even more money in chemicals. I'd let it run for a good 10 minutes or so. Even better: go to a junkyard and get a soiled floor mat or buy some mats at Wal-Mart and soak them with ketchup and mud. Bring some chemicals of your choice and ask to use the machine to test on your floor mat.

You'll have a better idea of whether or not you want the machine if you're impressed with its performance.

[pointillistic_practitioner]

Folex does a good job. You don't want to use anything with too much foam as you'll just end up using more defoamer and costing yourself even more money in chemicals. I'd let it run for a good 10 minutes or so. Even better: go to a junkyard and get a soiled floor mat or buy some mats at Wal-Mart and soak them with ketchup and mud. Bring some chemicals of your choice and ask to use the machine to test on your floor mat.

You'll have a better idea of whether or not you want the machine if you're impressed with its performance.

Thanks, good idea! I may still have a trunk floor mat from my old ford explorer lying around... O.o haha.

[SuperiorAutoLLC]

Plus, cleaning a trunk mat should allow enough run time for you to judge the integrity of the machine.

[VP Mark]

On the mytee lite ii there is a small bolt in the back of the unit that holds the unit together. Take that bolt off and you can see the internals such as pump, heater, motor, electrical. Make sure all of the items are stock mytee (should have mytee stamps and serial numbers). Make sure the heater is heating up sufficiently. It should not scald you but it should feel REALLY hot after about 8 minutes or so.

As far as solution, if I have a really bad vehicle I will put 2 oz. of 3D extractor shampoo (super low foaming) in the water tank. Most of the time I just pre treat with APC+ or CG Fabric Clean, agitate, mist, and extract.

[pointillistic_practitioner]

On the mytee lite ii there is a small bolt in the back of the unit that holds the unit together. Take that bolt off and you can see the internals such as pump, heater, motor, electrical. Make sure all of the items are stock mytee (should have mytee stamps and serial numbers). Make sure the heater is heating up sufficiently. It should not scald you but it should feel REALLY hot after about 8 minutes or so.

As far as solution, if I have a really bad vehicle I will put 2 oz. of 3D extractor shampoo (super low foaming) in the water tank. Most of the time I just pre treat with APC+ or CG Fabric Clean, agitate, mist, and extract.

Thank you!:xyxthumbs:

[pointillistic_practitioner]

okay, update: just purchased the unit. I think it needs a new pump, or at least repairs done...and maybe a new heater (wasn't really able to test out the heating element in depth)... not sure. But I think I got a decent price for it, so hopefully the repairs won't be more than $250. If they are, I may just replace the pump for now, or maybe re-sell the unit. We'll see! Thanks for the advice though!

[pointillistic_practitioner]

okay, update: just purchased the unit. I think it needs a new pump, or at least repairs done...and maybe a new heater (wasn't really able to test out the heating element in depth)... not sure. But I think I got a decent price for it, so hopefully the repairs won't be more than $250. If they are, I may just replace the pump for now, or maybe re-sell the unit. We'll see! Thanks for the advice though!

Update on the update: I've been able to get the pump working by priming it w/ a male QD and vac, blowing out the wand nozzle, using mytee system maintainer etc...I thought that after doing all that the water stream coming out would be more potent...it works but is weaker than I expected. Guess I was expecting too much for an 100 psi pump haha. Oh well! I don't know if I'll be able to get the heater to work though... mytee suggested pressing a reset button... I see a white button-looking thing on the side of my heater where the wires plug in but it doesn't seem pressable...I tried pressing it, nothing happened. Also, should the heater on the mytee make noise or is it silent? Should the water sound like it's boiling? I hear a noise from the pump (which shuts off when I stop pressing the upholstery tool sometimes, and other times stays on for a bit). But I hear no noise from the heater. I don't see water going in or out of the hose that connects the heater to the clean water solution tank either. Any diagnoses anyone? Thanks.

[pointillistic_practitioner]

What do you guys think about using this instead of buying a new heater? MARSHALLTOWN The Premier Line 742G Bucket Water Heater - Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/MARSHALLTOWN-Premier-742G-Bucket-Heater/dp/B000BDB4UG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369596329&sr=8-1&keywords=bucket+heater).

The mytee part is this: Mytee [A901] 115V 1000W Internal In-Line Heater - Mytee Equipment Replacement Pumps & Motors - UnoClean.com - Jan/San Cleaning Supplies & Equipment (http://www.unoclean.com/Mytee-A901-115V-1000W-Internal-In-Line-Heater.aspx). ($175 from this site $191 from mytee). I may just take it in for an estimate to see if the whole heater doesn't need to be repaired (maybe it's just the heating rod which would be $50, which I would go for)....but the problem is then the estimate price of $50..at that point maybe I should just get the bucket heater anyway? Do you know how the bucket heaters work? Do I just plop the whole unit into the water, even the power cord? Or does it need to be secured in some way? B/c if I can just plop it in, maybe I could drill a hole in the space between my mytee's clean water and dirty water tanks (if the plastic is thick enough?) and then have the bucket heater actually operate continuously inside my clean water resevoir? Any questions/comments/concerns??

[pointillistic_practitioner]

anyone? bueller? lol.