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On professional carpet cleaning machines you will find the pump pressure rated in psi (pounds per square inch). Psi refers to the pressure at which cleaning solution is sprayed into the carpet.

Entry level water pumps

For professional carpet cleaning results, as a minimum we recommend a pump with at least 100psi water pressure. Coupled with a professional vacuum system (to suck the water back out) you can achieve top class professional results with a 100psi pump.

Pumps in the 100psi to 150psi range tend to be diaphragm pumps. In practice this means that, although the pump may be rated as 100psi, the pressure is likely to be a little lower than this when you pull the trigger on the wand. The longer the hoses you run, the greater the drop in pressure. We wouldn’t recommend running more than 75ft hoses with this type of pump.

Entry level diaphragm pumps are lightweight, cheap to replace and self-priming

Advantages

• Lightweight
• Capable of achieving professional results
• Low cost
• Simple to operate
• Self priming

Disadvantages

• Slower cleaning than more powerful pumps
• Pressure tends to drop as longer hoses are added
• When they eventually wear out, they tend to stop working without any warning (normally half way through a job!)

Mid-range water pumps (300 – 400psi pumps)

Step up from the diaphragm pumps you have the 400psi plunger pump. This will enable you to clean more quickly, and with fewer passes of the wand needed to get the carpet clean. The 400psi pump is fully adjustable and with a pressure gauge so you can see exactly what pressure you’re cleaning at. With this pump what you see is what you get – so if you set the water to pressure to 400psi, when you pull the trigger on the wand we supply with this pump, you actually do have 400psi water pressure on the carpet. This pump can run very long hose runs without a loss in performance.

Advantages

• Move the wand much faster on wet passes
• Fewer wand passes needed to get the carpet clean
• Water pressure does more of the work for you
• Fully adjustable with pressure gauge
• Very reliable and unlikely to stop working on the job (if maintained correctly)

Disadvantages

• Heavier than entry level pumps
• More expensive
• Need to be primed before use (normally only takes 10 seconds)

Top-of-the-range pumps (600 – 800psi pumps)

At the top of the range we have the 600 and 800psi pumps. You wouldn’t use this sort of pressure for carpet cleaning but 600/800psi is ideal for hard floor cleaning, which gives you a second use for the machine.

Even if you don’t plan to clean hard floors, it’s still a good idea to go for a bigger pump than you need. You’ll be using the pump at less power than it’s capable of, which puts less stress on the pump head and motor – resulting in a more reliable and longer lasting pump system. The 600 and 800psi pumps are also the best options for running long hoses. You can run very long hoses with little or no drop in water pressure.

Advantages

• Move the wand much faster on wet passes
• Fewer wand passes needed to get the carpet clean
• Water pressure does more of the work for you
• Fully adjustable with pressure gauge
• Very reliable and unlikely to stop working on the job (if maintained correctly)
• Perfect for powering hard floor cleaning tools like the Gekko
• Also the best choice for longer hose runs
• Extremely reliable

Disadvantages

• Heavier than entry level pumps
• More expensive
• Need to be primed before use (normally only takes 10 seconds)