Thread Number: 16676
Rainbow AquaMate 3
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Post# 177859   4/21/2012 at 13:20 (4,359 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)        

eurekastar's profile picture
I'm sure this has been discussed before. However, has anyone ever used the AquaMate 3? What are your thoughts? Is it worth the $200 price tag? Thanks!

Post# 177926 , Reply# 1   4/22/2012 at 02:12 (4,358 days old) by kirbyvertibles (Independence, KS)        

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Great question and if I may i'd like to add a question with it. Can one be used on older models???

Post# 177957 , Reply# 2   4/22/2012 at 06:46 (4,358 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)        

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The AquaMate 3 can be used on earlier E Series models only if the original hose and wand is replaced with the newer triple insulated hose and wand. According to what I read, the later hose/wand setup was designed for wet pickup. I don't think it can be used with models earlier than the E Series for that reason.

Post# 178032 , Reply# 3   4/22/2012 at 13:18 (4,358 days old) by williamr1248 (USA)        
Rainbow Aquamate3

Bil,
I don't want to be the only one writing about the Rainbow but here is what I like and dislike about my Aquamate System:

Price: I cannot say becaue mine came with my Rainbow. I bought from a club member who is a Rainbow dealer and he sells in a COMPLETE package.
I will say I had one with my old SE and never used it.

Good points:
(1) it has 3 settings(a) soap (b) rinse (c) vacuum only
(2) you can control and operate any setting with the brush on or off
(3) you use the quick release trigger on the hose handle so you have instant contol
(4) your regular electric wand direct connects to the Aquamate and has easy release
(5) it has a horizonal revolving brush, so if you are doing a delicate rug or carpet you can use all the different functions and the brush still raises the nap with the forward and backward motion of the Aquamate
(6) the new formulation of the Rainbow shampoo is almost sudsless and it DOES NOT require the use of hot water to clean.
(7) you have the full suction and air flow of the main Rainbow unit-so it pulls a lot more moisture out of the carpet.
(8) because the dirty water recovery tank is NOT on the wands or Aquamate itself you have much less weight to push and pull.
(9) With the new Electric hose that is designed for water pick up you can just sit the Rainbow in the middle of the room. I use the suction of the Rainbow to clean out the Aquamate tanks afterwards.
(10) because the cleaning solution is so concentrated it takes much less water to clean the carpet and it is desigend to work with the Rainbow. I only emptied the water basin 2 times when I cleaned my family room carpeting and almost NO suds.

I am only speaking for myself but I got rid of my regular carpet steam cleaner as it was so LOUD and heavy compared to the new Aquamate. I also much preferred the horizonal brush to my old system which had revolving brushes and much less suction to pull the moisture out of the carpet.

The Aquamate is a quick set up because it just slips on the the bottom Rainbow wand. All direct connect and quick clean up to dry the wands and Aquamate tanks with the regular Rainbow suction. The revolving brush also snapes down for cleaning under the brush roll.
I am not crazy about putting water into any carpet so I may not be the correct person to ask but I do like at least 5 times better than my old steam cleaner.
I hope this helps. I think the big difference is that you can do all the different fucntions with the brush on or off and you have a lot more suction to remove the moisture from the carpet.
The downside for me was that the unit is not as wide as my old steam cleaner.
The easy set up and clean up made it easier to use.


Post# 178074 , Reply# 4   4/22/2012 at 20:08 (4,357 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)        

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Williamr1248,

Would you be able to provide pics of the aquamate? How often do you have to empty the water pan when cleaning an average size carpet?

Thanks,
Gary


Post# 178079 , Reply# 5   4/22/2012 at 21:06 (4,357 days old) by williamr1248 (USA)        
Rainbow Aquamate 3

Gary,
check under Rainbow Cleaning System.com,then hit accessories and then Aquamate.
They have an updated web site for the new machine.
Because the system was designed from the ground up and uses a new shampoo,it all works together much better. The water and shampoo go in separate tanks that snap onto the Aquamate itself but the regular Rainbow basin is used for the recovery tank.
I filled the Aquamate 2 times and emptied the basin 2 times for my family room. It would depend on how dirty your carpets are at the start. I was advised to use my Rainbow for a few months before using the Aquamate to make sure the sand and dirt are removed first.
What was very different with the Aquamate was not only was the water dirty in the recovery basin BUT the Rainbow basin had a layer of very fine sand in the bottom. This is something that NEVER happened with my old carpet steamer. I only got dirty water before. Not sure if the Aquamate brush is better or the suction and the air flow from the Rainbow is so much more powerful than on my previous steam cleaner.
You will get grit,grit and more grit for a long time when you start using the Rainbow for dry cleaning. You stop seeing so much fluff and more sand and grit.
I knew something was much better when I just had so much less dust in the house.
It makes me feel like I was just re-distributing the dirt over and over again before I used the Rainbow exclusivley.



Post# 178080 , Reply# 6   4/22/2012 at 22:18 (4,357 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)        

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Rob, thanks for the evaluation! It's very thorough. I always felt like my Hoover extractor left a lot behind because of the weak suction.

Post# 178084 , Reply# 7   4/23/2012 at 03:10 (4,357 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)        

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I have the Aquamate 3 and I like it but I have one issue with it.

When the spray comes out, it's not as wide as the aquamate. Here is a pic I sketched of what I'm talking about. Other than that, it's great


Post# 178210 , Reply# 8   4/23/2012 at 18:23 (4,356 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

What I did is use the 1st generation AquaMate (connects to faucet) w/Kenmore SprayMate power brush & so far it did GREAT on shag carpets. The ONLY problem is the belt slips off the brush pulley once the brush gets wet.

However, when I connected the AquaMate & SprayMate together, it pulled NASTY stuff from the carpet, even more than when I had used the regular AquaMate head (no rotating brush) including the most BIZARRE stuff deeply embedded that the SE couldn't get out in dry vacing mode.

Are belts & brush rolls still available for the SprayMate Power Brush?

Can I use the new AquaMate on a SE or chrome dome Rainbow? I hope it works on older Rainbows?


Post# 179474 , Reply# 9   4/30/2012 at 18:37 (4,349 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

Here's a pic of the SprayMate & AquaMate connected together.

Saves my back & arms! :P


Post# 179649 , Reply# 10   5/1/2012 at 20:59 (4,348 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

The Rainbow & SprayMate together are MUCH QUIETER & MORE POWERFUL than either a Hoover Steam Vac or XXX SteamMaster.

Now I can clean carpets for a living; as long as I can still get parts for the SprayMate brush.

You should try this combination if you've got a SprayMate & AquaMate (1st generation w/50 ft water hose)


Post# 179901 , Reply# 11   5/4/2012 at 16:15 (4,346 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)        

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I've had my Aquamate 3 for a few months but only used it once. As of now, it's all I have for a carpet cleaner because I sold my other Hoover to a friend. I really needed to clean my carpets so I spent a few hours last night doing it. The first time I used it I didn't spend that much time with it. For me it's one of those slight learning curves. When I do carpets I tend to really get them wet before extracting... That Aquamate soap is strong! I only used about 4 cap fulls for the entire house. It smells good.

With the type of low pile carpet I have, the Hoover would only extract decently if I put some sort of hand weight on top of it to push it down into the carpet because of the low pile. This aquamate 3 extracted the water much better. I like how you can also flip the pedal to rinse. Carpets were dry in about 5 hours. It's really easy to stop, park the unit, pull out the reservoir, fill, put back in.


Post# 179931 , Reply# 12   5/4/2012 at 20:44 (4,345 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)        

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That looks really good. I seriously plan to get one of those when I need to clean the carpets. That won't be for a while since I just got new carpeting last month. Did you ever have problems with streaking when you had the Hoover? I had low pile carpeting in my last house and the Hoover was really bad about streaking.

Post# 180091 , Reply# 13   5/6/2012 at 20:07 (4,343 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)        

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I've never had any problem with streaking. The type of carpet I have doesn't show anything as far as vacuum paths or foot steps.

The cleanup is easy as well. All you really have to do is snap the front plastic plate off the front of the aquamate, get a cup of water and let it get sucked through the intake and that cleans that and the hose at the same time & you can also just use the suction hose to clean any remaining water out of the tank, then leave running a bit to dry the hose, and dump/ and clean basin and put away as usual. The brush roll pop forward so you can get under that and clean it. There wasn't much on mine because I vacuumed really well before I washed the carpets.


Post# 180154 , Reply# 14   5/7/2012 at 15:10 (4,343 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

Has anyone used the new AquaMate on bare floors? How good of results does it bring vs. the regular Squeegee? It looks like there is a squeegee adaptor for the AquaMate 3.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO floor-a-matic's LINK


Post# 180262 , Reply# 15   5/8/2012 at 05:41 (4,342 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)        

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There is an a squeegee to that can be put on the Aquamate 3 for bare floors, but I don't think it would work nearly as well as the regular Rainbow squeegee or the Rainjet. Then again, I've never tried it so I'm not sure.

Post# 180335 , Reply# 16   5/8/2012 at 19:01 (4,341 days old) by pr-21 (Middletown, OH)        
Aquamate 3 I tried it....

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When they first came out I asked if I could use it with my E Series and they said yes, but you have to buy a new electric hose and use the wands that some with the Aqua Mate 3. I bought it and that was before this concentrate shampoo. I hope it has been improved. The steering was terrible. Too much play when trying to move the base unit. Also my E Series had 60 inches of water lift compared to the SE PE Edition which had closer to 68 or so, don't exactly remember. Anyway, my carpet was soaking wet and I finally gave up and just used the suction to pick up what I could. I let it dry overnight and then used my Electrolux Shampoer and fixed the mess....Just my experience...

Bud Mattingly
PR-21


Post# 180339 , Reply# 17   5/8/2012 at 19:43 (4,341 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)        
Bud

mark40511's profile picture
I was concerned about that because that sounds kind of like my experience with the Hoover (at least for my low pile carpet) The carpet always felt soaking wet until I taped a hand weight to the Hoover and give it more weight at the front so it would push down in the carpet more and that helped a lot. Before I did that, It would take 24 hrs for the carpet to dry. After I taped the hand weight to the front, about five hours. I knew (at least) my 2 speed gold Rainbow way more suction than a Hoover steam vac so it stood to reason in my mind that it would extract more water (even from the low pile) and it does! I don't have to put a weight on it either. I'm not sure what you mean by the "steering"

I soaked the carpets pretty good and then extracted, then rinsed, then extracted. After an hour, to touch them they felt slightly wet, but I could walk on them with socks and there wasn't enough moisture to make my feet feel wet through the socks, in about five hours they were totally dry. I just went over in extraction mode only a few times to get as much water as I could and it seemed to work. I didn't think my Gold 2 speed has that much more lift than the one speed. I could be wrong. I know the motor in the 2 speed vs 1 speed are completely different.


Post# 180365 , Reply# 18   5/9/2012 at 01:18 (4,341 days old) by rainbowjoel (Dexter NM)        

I love my aquamate 3. easy to clean up. When I about to rinse the carpet I clean the soap tank area and put clean water to clean soapy lines and pump, So there be any no dry soap can clog. Like Mark said cleaning wands and hose from remaining clean water from aquamate tank its a breeze to use it:D

Post# 180367 , Reply# 19   5/9/2012 at 04:18 (4,341 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)        
Joel

mark40511's profile picture
UGH

That's one thing I didn't think of........filling the soap container with water only to flush lines. I'll have to remember that. The soap is very very diluted anyway. Hopefully it won't be an issue.


Post# 180471 , Reply# 20   5/9/2012 at 18:20 (4,340 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

I use Rug Doctor Oxy Steam halfway (like up to the line where it says "Floor Cleaning Concentrate") & the rest of the cup with water instead of up to the line that says "AquaMate Cleaning Formula" & I have LESS detergent to waste & rinse off the carpets. :)

Post# 180476 , Reply# 21   5/9/2012 at 19:30 (4,340 days old) by mark40511 (Lexington, KY)        
floor-a-matic

mark40511's profile picture
I don't think you're supposed to fill the small detergent container with full on aquamate soap, just a cap full and fill the rest with water.

Post# 180479 , Reply# 22   5/9/2012 at 19:40 (4,340 days old) by rainbowjoel (Dexter NM)        
Mark

lol I learned from Aquamate 2 saying clean the solution bottle and use warm water to flush soapy water for pump.

Post# 180493 , Reply# 23   5/9/2012 at 21:34 (4,340 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

I was referring to the container of the 1st-generation AquaMate (the one that connects to water faucet)

Maybe the new detergent is 2X Concentrated? I think I better follow the instructions for the current AquaMate so I don't waste too much detergent.


Post# 180547 , Reply# 24   5/10/2012 at 16:20 (4,340 days old) by floor-a-matic (somewhere)        

How good does the AquaMate compare to a Rug Doctor or Bissell Big Green?

I tried the AquaMate/SprayMate on tile & got mixed results:

1. The tile AND the grout came VERY clean, despite the SprayMate's bristles being soft.
2. Unfortunately, even after making several passes w/o spray, the floor took just as long as a mop to dry. Maybe because the floor is too uneven?

I think it still did better than a mop/bucket, but the FloorMate did better drying the floors. Or is there a squeegee that can be attached to the SprayMate?

When I used the AM/SM on shag carpet, the SM's triple row brush roll did nicely grooming the carpet fibers & removing even years-old stains that the Hoover Steam Vac SpinScrub or XXX SteamMaster couldn't get out. Like the tle, the shag carpets took a while to dry (Approx. 8-9 hrs)

Overall, I DO like the combination setup because I can switch from "WASH" to "RINSE" & back; AND have CONTINUOUS water supply w/o refilling water tanks. :)

I wish parts were still available for the SM!


Post# 362303 , Reply# 25   11/12/2016 at 01:19 (2,693 days old) by adam-aussie-vac ( Canberra, Australia )        
spray mate

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where can i get one that runs on australian power?(240v 50hz)


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