Questions: Steam Cleaners

[mbarber84]

Hello All,

Some friends of mine recently bit the bullet and picked up one the military steam/pressure cleaners from GL. The unit is manufactured by the American Kleaner Corp. , it seems to be all in-tact, appears completely un-used, with 1 hr of operation on the hour meter. All hoses, wands, tips and other accessories included in the auction.

We had several questions concerning these machines:

1. What did the military use these for, and why would there only be 1 hr of operation on the unit (it looks un-used with some of the accessories in original factory packaging)

- my assumption was that these units were used to wash equipment sprayed with the CARC paint, as it is of a rough textured nature and very difficult to truly clean.

2. Does anyone here have any experience with these machines either A) Purchased from GL or B) through civilian channels?

We are going to have a certified electrician and a certified plumber (both friends of ours) check the machine over to make sure it is 100% ready to go.

Any other input would be great! (Cant find much on the search function btw)

 

[stumps]

1Hr is probably the result of factory testing.

The usual failure mode for these steam cleaners is water is left in the unit and it freezes while in storage. The next time you try it, a puddle forms as quickly as you can fill the tank.

The cleaners are used to remove the cruft from the engine and transmission before servicing.

The whole point behind CARC is chemical agents won't penetrate the coating allowing it to be cleaned with detergent and water. Mustard oil, and things like that soak right into conventional solvent based paints, and never go away.

-Chuck

 

[Isaac-1]

I can't add much here, I bought a small commercial steam cleaner a few years ago, and strongly considered a unit made by American Kleaner, they make top of the line high quality units, I ended up opting for a slightly lower quality, but much cheaper unit made by one of their main competitors.

Ike

 

[NMC_EXP]

An advantage of steam cleaners is that it can get the metal being cleaned hot enough to quickly evaporate any water left on on the surface and in nooks/crannies. Thin flash rust might still occur on bare metal but nothing severe.

Need to avoid overheating stuff like rubber and plastic however.

Regards

Jim

 

[Chief_919]

One of the major uses for the steam cleaners is preparing the equipment for shipment. Any vehicle going by air must be clean, clean, clean- the uSAF is pretty anal about oil leaking in the plance. Anything going into or out of the USA must be super clean as well, Customs is a real stickler for dirt and mud that can carry parasites and disease.

 

[BKubu]

Also, be careful on undercoating. Most trucks with undercoating that I've seen have a sticker that says something like DO NOT STEAM CLEAN.

 

[mbarber84]

Thanks for the input all!

I think we will try to tackle this thing on a free-weekend. I have to admit, the operators manual makes this thing sound like a hand grenade with no pin. LOL

"If you dont do this....you could die. However, if you dont do this, this, that, and this,...well...you could still die. IF you operate this thing EXACTLY as described in this manual....you could still die" LOL