If you clean carpets for a living, you rely on your equipment to get the job done! So having your carpet cleaner fail can be an outright calamity. The good news is that it is usually pretty easy to figure out what's amiss and to have it fixed. Here is a look at some of the most common issues with commercial carpet cleaning equipment and how each one can be repaired.
1. Clogged Ejection Sites
If the carpet cleaner seems to be turning on and sounds normal when it runs—but hardly any water solution is coming out—you might just be dealing with a blockage in one or several ejection sites. This can happen in areas with hard water if you do not filter the water before adding it to your cleaner. The minerals slowly come out of solution and clog the ejection sites or tubes. A carpet cleaner repair company can use tiny brushes and a mineral-dissolving solution to remove the blockage, allowing the water to flow freely once again.
2. Torn Belt
Is your carpet cleaner making an odd squealing or squeaking noise as it runs? Maybe this noise seems to come and then fade away every few seconds. Usually, such a noise is due to a torn belt in the unit's motor. If you continue to use the carpet cleaner with the belt as-is, it may overheat and suffer more damage. So take it in for repairs ASAP. Any repair company should be able to remove and replace the motor's belt with relative ease.
3. Worn Ball Bearings
Another possibility is that the ball bearings in the carpet cleaner have become worn. This happens pretty often, especially in machines that you use day in and day out. The primary issue you'll notice when this occurs is rubbing and grinding noises when the machine runs. The machine may also overheat and turn itself off as a protective mechanism after only running for a few minutes at a time.
Worn ball bearings can be replaced, but doing so can take a little time. The parts themselves are cheap, but your repair person will have to take apart the machine and the motor. It might be cheaper to just have the entire motor replaced.
If your carpet cleaning machine is not working well, don't get too worried. Most problems are fixable if you find a good carpet cleaner repair company that can come and identify the problem.
