Mytee lite II modifications

[mleroy1989]

Well, after having my Mytee Lite II for 4 months (one month out of warranty) my pump has begun to fail. Low pressure accompanied with constant short cycling. The heater and vacuum are still working fine.

I did some tooling on the machine and adjusted the pressure sensor with no success. The switch works but the pump looses pressure internally apparently.

I have a few questions/ideas to perhaps save me from purchasing the $160 pump and future issues.

I have an on demand pump set up that I was thinking could run my extractor externally. Simply run a hose into the heater and bypass the need for the internal pump. Mytees website advertises their pump as a 120 psi pump. I belive the 120 psi comes from the small diameter hose and nozzle. It seems to me the pump itself is similar in all aspects to the 60psi one I have.

If I run off my pump from the trailer I'd solve two issues. One, I'd quit blowing breakers in the home due to running three pieces of equipment (pump, heater and vacuum) and I'd be able to maintain one pump instead of two.

I'll be going to get some fittings today to convert my existing setup to this to see if it's capable of working. I'd love to have a system that's fixed in the trailer and after pulling the extractor apart I don't see it as being as difficult as I originally thought.

A little bitter about my mytee purchase, especially since I've run the maintainer through it twice and clr once in 4 months and this happened!

Any advice/ideas/criticism is appreciated or just wish me luck!

 

[Stokdgs]

Sorry this had to happen to you..
I have had a bigger Mytee HP60 Spyder for over 5 years, used the heck out of it and never had it fail..
I only occasionally run Distilled White Vinegar through it and nothing else for cleaning it out.
I only run water through it the rest of the time and have never run any slurry, etc., chemicals through it either..
When you called them, what did they tell you ??

If I was Mobile and had to use the Client's electricity, I would bring the appropriate brand 20amp breaker and if they had room in their panel, I would install it, and it would be wired to a mimimum 12awg extension cord with a NEMA female outlet on the end so I could plug my machine into it using minimum 12awg extension cords..

Good luck with this -
Dan F

 

[RDKC]

If I run off my pump from the trailer I'd solve two issues. One, I'd quit blowing breakers in the home due to running three pieces of equipment (pump, heater and vacuum) and I'd be able to maintain one pump instead of two.

I'll be going to get some fittings today to convert my existing setup to this to see if it's capable of working. I'd love to have a system that's fixed in the trailer and after pulling the extractor apart I don't see it as being as difficult as I originally thought.

A little bitter about my mytee purchase, especially since I've run the maintainer through it twice and clr once in 4 months and this happened!

Any advice/ideas/criticism is appreciated or just wish me luck!

If you've been blowing breakers it may have been the added wear from the hard stops that ruined the pump. Also could be the electrical side of things due to breakers cutting off.

Whether you repair the current one successfully or purchase another I would strongly suggest finding a solution to your power problem first.

 

[mleroy1989]

I spoke to Nathan at Mytee and he is sending out a replacement head for the pump. He also informed me the pump has a 1 year warranty.

As far as the power issue I've been working around this by only running two components simultaneously. I run the heater and pump to warm up water by recirculating, then switch the heater off and run the vacuum and pump to do the work. This seems to work and I don't have the issue with the breakers popping. A lot of my clients don't have 20amp breakers and I do not have a generator capable of running the machine yet.

 

[mleroy1989]

Also, the issue seems to be an issue within the pump itself- not the wiring. That's not to say the power issue didn't contribute but I belive the issue is more mechanical than electrical.

 

[RDKC]

Also, the issue seems to be an issue within the pump itself- not the wiring. That's not to say the power issue didn't contribute but I believe the issue is more mechanical than electrical.

I didn't mean to imply it was wiring.

I'm just saying that, on some components, hard stops and everything else that comes with a quick power outage can cause serious damage. Even inconsistent voltage from the power source can fry components. May have caused the motor to weaken or even damaged the pump itself due to lack of lubrication or something similar. I have experienced both. I'm also not saying that that is the problem, I am just saying that it may be a contributing factor. It is good that you have found a workaround for now though to minimize future power problems.

 

[mleroy1989]

I didn't mean to imply it was wiring.

I'm just saying that, on some components, hard stops and everything else that comes with a quick power outage can cause serious damage. Even inconsistent voltage from the power source can fry components. May have caused the motor to weaken or even damaged the pump itself due to lack of lubrication or something similar. I have experienced both. I'm also not saying that that is the problem, I am just saying that it may be a contributing factor. It is good that you have found a workaround for now though to minimize future power problems.

That may be the problem. Mytee said that opening the pump head and inspecting it in the meantime may resolve the issue if debris is causing the issue. If it is an issue with the motor being damaged I'll definitely have to make sure running only two switches at a time will prevent this issue in the future.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Mytees website advertises their pump as a 120 psi pump. I belive the 120 psi comes from the small diameter hose and nozzle. It seems to me the pump itself is similar in all aspects to the 60psi one I have.

If you have a 60 psi pump, it's a 60 psi pump. Restricting the outlet will not increase the pressure. It may increase the velocity, but that will also be reducing the pressure. If Mytee gets 120 psi at the end of the hose, it's because they are putting 120 in at the other end, not because they put a small hose on.

If I was Mobile and had to use the Client's electricity, I would bring the appropriate brand 20amp breaker and if they had room in their panel, I would install it, and it would be wired to a mimimum 12awg extension cord with a NEMA female outlet on the end so I could plug my machine into it using minimum 12awg extension cords.

Holy cow! That would require a good selection of breakers (at least around here), some cojones or electrician training, and a good stomach for the potential liability/finger pointing ("some detailer was monkeying around with my electrical panel just a couple of days before I plugged 14 Christmas lights into this outlet and the house caught fire...")

It seems many resellers of the Mytee Lite are what I consider to be disingenuous by not stating the 20 amp requirement of the machine. This certainly makes it difficult to use in mobile situations (and even fixed if you have older wiring). A different approach is taken by the soon-to-be-extinct Century 400 Sensei (a small extractor like the Mytee Lite) which uses two 15A cords...of course then you still need to find two available 15A circuits within reach of the machine (or plug them both into the same 20A).

 

[MooreImpressive]

I have a similar sort of story. We recently bought a Mytee Lite 2 to replace an old extractor and we had never used Mytee products before. almost exactly 90 days after purchase, a loud noise started coming from the vac, as soon as you hit the OFF switch. took the pieces of the unit apart and noticed that a fan shroud had fallen down off the bottom vac fan blades and the clips were broken. have spoken with Nathan, waiting for a return call now, hoping he is going to fix this issue. will keep updated.

 

[Stokdgs]

Accumulataor -- Mi Amigo ---

Regarding installing your own 20amp breaker if there is a space in the panel, yeah, it does require you to have a few different ones, but there are not really a whole lot of different types and some interchange just fine..

It WOULD require one to have some knowledge of how circuit breaker panels are wired, and a fair amount of good common sense to know that touching the Buss could light one up so you just dont do that..
Some panels have a big breaker at the top that shuts off all the power below, but most dont, unless you want to take the little lock off the electrical meter and twist lock that meter off and out, then you for sure have shut off the power to that panel and of course, the entire house.. This might annoy the Client who now has to reset a few or a lot of little electronic clocks on everything, so that may not be an option..

I went through a few years where I was painting homes on the side, so I had to be able to wire myself up on the electrical panel to run my Binks Airless and never had any trouble wiring up to the electrical panel that was always HOT..

It helps to have a good Fluke meter to know what is there always, and for testing if necessary...

One night I had a neighbor call me pretty late saying some of his lights were dim and a lot of plugs quit working..
I went through his GFCI breaker arrangement first to make sure something was not amiss there, and finding nothing , I had to take the 200amp electrical panel cover off and looked around there, seeing it all looking normal.

I then took out my trusty Fluke 77 meter and measured his electrical at the top of the buss and there it was - he was only getting 120vac instead of 240vac..
A transformer somewhere close by had gone partially out and could only give him and all his neighbors half power, so we called the Puget Sound Energy people and they had it fixed in a couple hours...

Im not sure what is going on with the Mytee Lite-II machine and am sorry it has not been a good experience for a couple of you guys here..
Are you sure that you always have water in the tank and never let it run dry, especially after it has gotten used awhile on a hot day, etc.. ??

I always check my bigger Mytee a lot when using it alot during a Detailing session and keep the tank full so I dont run out.. It needs the water to help cool it off as well.. And it also has the 1200watt heater built in so I always have to have a 20amp circuit on..

If you are using a soap mixture or a slurry in the water tank, you have to know that once that gets all soapy and full of soap bubbles, that will NOT cool off your motors or pumps worth a darn compared to just plain water, so be careful..

Also, if you are extracting a lot of soapy mixture, again, it is not cooling the parts that need cooling from water at all, so the idea is to not make it so soapy there that this has to happen..
I think but not sure, that there may be a valve that will allow water from the tank to recirculate from the tank to the pumps, etc., and then back to help keep them cool, but Im not exactly sure..
Need to follow up with Mytee on this to know for sure how that works...

I have never used any soapy solution etc., in my water tank and instead prefer to prespray and brush anything lightly, and then hit it with steam from my VX5000 steamer, and then extract it all out, check it and if it needs any extra water then hit the trigger on the extractor tool and shoot a little in there..

Tell me what size extension cords you are using, if you are having to use them... Need to be minimum 12awg extension cords and even then you may feel some heat from the plug ends...

Hope you guys can get this all resolved with Mytee... This sucks...
Dan F

 

[mleroy1989]

If you have a 60 psi pump, it's a 60 psi pump. Restricting the outlet will not increase the pressure. It may increase the velocity, but that will also be reducing the pressure. If Mytee gets 120 psi at the end of the hose, it's because they are putting 120 in at the other end, not because they put a small hose on.



Holy cow! That would require a good selection of breakers (at least around here), some cojones or electrician training, and a good stomach for the potential liability/finger pointing ("some detailer was monkeying around with my electrical panel just a couple of days before I plugged 14 Christmas lights into this outlet and the house caught fire...")

It seems many resellers of the Mytee Lite are what I consider to be disingenuous by not stating the 20 amp requirement of the machine. This certainly makes it difficult to use in mobile situations (and even fixed if you have older wiring). A different approach is taken by the soon-to-be-extinct Century 400 Sensei (a small extractor like the Mytee Lite) which uses two 15A cords...of course then you still need to find two available 15A circuits within reach of the machine (or plug them both into the same 20A).

That makes sense. But I can't imagine it's 120 psi when any pump in a comparable price range or even twice as expensive is only 60 psi. In any case hopefully I dont need to find one comparable and my issue is resolved with this new head!

 

[mleroy1989]

Accumulataor -- Mi Amigo ---

Im not sure what is going on with the Mytee Lite-II machine and am sorry it has not been a good experience for a couple of you guys here..
Are you sure that you always have water in the tank and never let it run dry, especially after it has gotten used awhile on a hot day, etc.. ??

I always check my bigger Mytee a lot when using it alot during a Detailing session and keep the tank full so I dont run out.. It needs the water to help cool it off as well.. And it also has the 1200watt heater built in so I always have to have a 20amp circuit on..

If you are using a soap mixture or a slurry in the water tank, you have to know that once that gets all soapy and full of soap bubbles, that will NOT cool off your motors or pumps worth a darn compared to just plain water, so be careful..

Also, if you are extracting a lot of soapy mixture, again, it is not cooling the parts that need cooling from water at all, so the idea is to not make it so soapy there that this has to happen..
I think but not sure, that there may be a valve that will allow water from the tank to recirculate from the tank to the pumps, etc., and then back to help keep them cool, but Im not exactly sure..
Need to follow up with Mytee on this to know for sure how that works...

I have never used any soapy solution etc., in my water tank and instead prefer to prespray and brush anything lightly, and then hit it with steam from my VX5000 steamer, and then extract it all out, check it and if it needs any extra water then hit the trigger on the extractor tool and shoot a little in there..

Tell me what size extension cords you are using, if you are having to use them... Need to be minimum 12awg extension cords and even then you may feel some heat from the plug ends...

Hope you guys can get this all resolved with Mytee... This sucks...
Dan F

I haven't had any issues with cords getting hot or warm, but I couldn't tell you what gauge they are either. They've been used for years for construction work so they're not super cheap and flimsy. I was checking the cords periodically to see if they'd heat up but they never seemed to.

The pump has run low to the point it stated sucking air on occasion but it was always caught immediately and shut down. I know better now and can gauge my water usage and remember to check it.

I've never used anything in the solution tank except for tap water, system maintainer and CLR. All fabrics are pretreated.

When I spoke to mytee they said something about the pump recirculating water. This must be something the pump does internally because the guts of the machine are very simple in and out, nothing coming back to where it would reenter. The pump only runs when pressure is needed so anytime it is running it is getting fresh water run through it.

As far as extracting the keep the unit cool I don't think this is something that is plausible since the water is extracted into a tank and not through any mechanical components.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[Accumulator]

Accumulataor -- Mi Amigo ---

Heh heh..."Accumulator"?!? I hadn't posted on this thread

But since you rang..

... A different approach is taken by the soon-to-be-extinct Century 400 Sensei (a small extractor like the Mytee Lite) which uses two 15A cords...of course then you still need to find two available
15A circuits within reach of the machine (or plug them both into the same 20A).

My Century is their "Ninja" and that might make a diff, but FWIW I can't plug 'em both into a 20w, it always requires two separate circuits. Which *IS* a huge PIA at times.

And no, I still haven't done anything about fixing its heater. It *looks* DIYable, but for practical purposes, when it comes right down to it I'll almost certainly fix it with the VISA card.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

My Century is their "Ninja" and that might make a diff, but FWIW I can't plug 'em both into a 20w, it always requires two separate circuits. Which *IS* a huge PIA at times.

I might have gotten a little carried away--but I can't check on the Sensei because (last I looked, anyway) they had removed all the tech data for that unit from their website. So maybe the Sensei requires more than 20 amps as your Ninja does--so would you prefer that the machine have less heat or less vac power so it could use a 20A outlet? Or stick with the two 15's...or go to 230V? I'm not saying which is the "right" solution, I'm just observing that there's some tradeoff and difficulty for the mfr. in balancing performance vs. power and trying to reconcile that with the user base that may or may not have the right outlets.

 

[Accumulator]

Setec Astronomy- Yeah, the trade-offs can be a quandry for those of us who want it all It's not *that* big an issue out in the shop where I have multiple (but never-quite-sufficient for real convenience) circuits, but when I bring it in the house it's more of a problem.

Eh, the *real* problem (guess I really oughta put "problem" in scare-quotes) is that seemingly all these extractors with the metal nozzles have that too-big opening that's easy on the vacuum motors but inefficient with regard to really sucking out the liquid. The Bissell nozzles I jury-rig to fit are getting hard to find and they don't have an unlimited service life.

 

[Stokdgs]

I might have gotten a little carried away--but I can't check on the Sensei because (last I looked, anyway) they had removed all the tech data for that unit from their website. So maybe the Sensei requires more than 20 amps as your Ninja does--so would you prefer that the machine have less heat or less vac power so it could use a 20A outlet? Or stick with the two 15's...or go to 230V? I'm not saying which is the "right" solution, I'm just observing that there's some tradeoff and difficulty for the mfr. in balancing performance vs. power and trying to reconcile that with the user base that may or may not have the right outlets.

Setec Astronomy -
Apologies for mis-reading your User name here..
Dan F

 

[mleroy1989]

I got around to installing the new head unit this week which after doing a fee cars seems to have solved my issue.

Setec Astronomy- Yeah, the trade-offs can be a quandry for those of us who want it all It's not *that* big an issue out in the shop where I have multiple (but never-quite-sufficient for real convenience) circuits, but when I bring it in the house it's more of a problem.

Eh, the *real* problem (guess I really oughta put "problem" in scare-quotes) is that seemingly all these extractors with the metal nozzles have that too-big opening that's easy on the vacuum motors but inefficient with regard to really sucking out the liquid. The Bissell nozzles I jury-rig to fit are getting hard to find and they don't have an unlimited service life.

I don't necessarily find the vacuum power lacking except on seats. No matter how light I spray or quickly I extract they're still wet. I'm interested in your idea of restricting the nozzle to provide more power, care to give more insight?

 

[Accumulator]

mleroy1989- The setup I use is getting harder to put into service as the Bissell nozzle I like is long-discontinued. BUT...search fleabay for a "Bissel Small Upholstery Nozzle". You want the beige plastic one with the clear plastic window. Then use a conical piece of plastic tubing- bigger end oughta fit the nozzle of your extractor, smaller end fits into the back of the Bissel nozzle. Clumsy? You bet! Taping the pieces together with self-vulcanizing tape can help. Gotta pull off your regular nozzle to spray and then stick that DIYed setup on to extract, I never cobbled together an adaptor so it'll also spray.

Eh, not sure that was clear....post back with any Qs.