Jump to content

Cheapo steamcleaner


Maarten88

Recommended Posts

Someone on a Dutch forum gave me this idea, to modify a wallpaper stripper (cheap) to take some sort of tube to resemble a proper steamcleaner (expensive) . I'd replace the steam pad with a piece of copper tube with a flattened end, with some sort of cover to avoid burning my hands. What do you think of this, and fpr what sort of wallpaper stripper should I be looking in terms of capacity, and power (watts) .

Kind regards

Maarten

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've used a couple of cheap ones (2kW?) (on walls, not cars...!), but I dunno if they pump out enough steam for what you're thinking - they're pretty slow on walls. Maybe if you could get 2 or 3 (or some old kettles) and rig it up to an air compressor or something? Or one of those industrial-type irons which have a separate steam generation unit that is piped directly to the hand-held iron? they sure pump out a lot of steam. I think this may take quite a few amps to make effective.

Al.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Someone on a Dutch forum gave me this idea, to modify a wallpaper stripper (cheap) to take some sort of tube to resemble a proper steamcleaner (expensive) . I'd replace the steam pad with a piece of copper tube with a flattened end, with some sort of cover to avoid burning my hands. What do you think of this, and fpr what sort of wallpaper stripper should I be looking in terms of capacity, and power (watts) .

Kind regards

Maarten

How about a big coil of copper tube, say 10mm diameter - you are probably going to need a fair bit so start saving now. Connect one end to the high pressure end of your jet wash pump and the other to your lance.

You will have to wrap the coil round a big insulating former - something like your house for example.

You will need to find a big isolating transformer. You often see suitable ones painted grey left by the side of the road.

Connect either end of the tube to the transformer secondary (or the lowest voltage windings) If you dont have a volt meter - touch the wires and use the pair which hurts the least.

You might need to replace your house fuse with an M20 bolt (which I believe fits - can't imagine how I know :)) and appoligise to your neighbours in advance for the spate of local power cuts.

Si

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You will have to wrap the coil round a big insulating former - something like your house for example.

Si

Si,

Is this not likely to create rather a strong inductive coil?. If so, you need to be really careful with anything magnetic in the house. If you wrap the coil in the clockwise direction, all of the components in the house containing iron will fly through the roof, wrap the coil in the other direction and you won't be able to pick them up.... :lol:

Just my humble opinion.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are selling some small hand portable steam cleaners out here in Singapore, OK I know that's not a lot of help, but I could find out the brand. They are reasonable at less than 20 squid with attachements and are quite popular for cleaning Air Conditioner fan coils and wok burners, no idea how long they last. Going over at the weekend, I'll have a look.

Alternatively Screwfix have one with all the attachements inc wallpaper stripping for 50 squid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...
They are selling some small hand portable steam cleaners out here in Singapore, OK I know that's not a lot of help, but I could find out the brand. They are reasonable at less than 20 squid with attachements and are quite popular for cleaning Air Conditioner fan coils and wok burners, no idea how long they last. Going over at the weekend, I'll have a look.

Alternatively Screwfix have one with all the attachements inc wallpaper stripping for 50 squid.

Just looked in the Screwfix catalogue and sure enough, they are £50.00... however, on the website, they are down to £30.00... off to buy one tomorrow :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By using our website you agree to our Cookie Policy