Vernon

A product that I use that is environmentally friendly, works well, and is safe to use is called Procyon.  Go to www.soapfreeprocyon.com  The owner of the company, Mr Ivan Day, has had his product tested by leading carpet mills, green seal, and the carpet and rug institute, to name a few. 

Initially you'll be a little shocked at using the product, as it does not produce foam/suds that we have become accustomed to, yet it does the job. 

Venson, on dirty carpets, I will preteat with Procyon using my Lux shampooer, then rinse with the extractor.  Depending on the area I'm in, ie hardwater/softwater, in softwater I'll rinse with straight water, if using hard water, I'll add about one ounce Procyon to 2.5 gallons water to rinse with, as the Procyon will help soften the water.

Vernon

The bag chamber and front door on the Guardian Ultimate is basically the same as any other Lux style C bag canister.  The perfect hepa bags work just fine, I have been using them for more than a year now.  If anything, the bag collar is far sturdier than the Lux ones.  Put a Lux bag in a Perfect canister, and the cardboard collar will separate into two as the suction/airflow is far greater in the Perfect.  (Been there done that)  I have not had a Perfect bag do this in a Lux application.  The door is a little harder to close, but that comes from the rubber gasket that is on the inlet, it can only compress so much.  Where you will notice a problem, if you want to call it that, is the little piece of cardboard that covers the inlet.  The Perfect bag is much more difficult to pierce through, as the collar is much thicker.  Once this is done, opening and closing the door really isn't that big of deal. 

Vernon

Venson,

All the leg work you did on this, it must have felt as if you were running a marathon!!  Thanks!!

Lux can still supply the single gear at the rear, but the two front ones are no longer serviced.  The problem here is that the front gears are not made from the same material like the rear one.  (less durable) 

In regards to durability, I feel that this model is more reliable than the belt driven one.  The main problem is that with age, the plastic gears become brittle.  Whereas the belt driven model does not have this problem, but when the transmission starts to leak on this version, you have to replace the whole motor and transmission assembly.  A big expense.

I was hoping that I might stumble onto the "jobber" that is making these replacement gears in the US.  A lot of times, I have purchased the same product in the US for about 1/2 the price I would pay in Canada. 

Carmine,

In regards to what do I think of this three brush shampooer???  I like the geared version better than the belt driven one, as on the gear driven version, the rear brush spins in the opposite direction to the front ones, thus scrubbing both sides.  It also helps to counter balance the torque steer that you get by having all brushes turning in the same direction, such as in the belt driven application.    The torque steer doesn't bother me too much as I am accustomed to using 15-17 inch single disc buffers. 

I don't use it in the typical shampooer application.  First, I pretreat the carpet with the shampooer, let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then I come over it again with the shampooer to agitate, then I extract the carpet.  I have a five gallon extractor from www.crusadermfg.com, with two, two stage motors and a 100 psi pump, with a 2400watt external heater. 

Vernon

Bud,

If you were to remove your hepa filter and look into the hole where the air is discharged, this is where the "sound filter" is pushed in.

Vernon

Bud, noise levels solved

Lux has come out with a solution for the high pitch/noise levels these newer, more powerful motors produce.  They have taken what looks like a nylon mesh pot/pan scrubber and inserted it into the exhaust port on the Legacy and Classic models.  Does it dampen the noise???  YES!!  BUT, I brought out my Baird airflow meter, and the airflow has now  dropped about 15% or so.  What a great idea     I don't believe they are installing this on the Guardian, but you could ask your dealer for the material as it will still fit yours. 

Vernon