Start with the physical constraints of the site
- Floor level and ramp gradient. An indoor garage or a basement car park with ramps rules out anything that has to be dragged or towed long distances. A walk-behind unit is workable on a flat deck; a machine you can drive between levels is a better fit where staff are few and the area is spread out.
- Power availability. Confirm whether 220 V supply is available near the cleaning bays. If not, you are specifying a battery-powered unit, and battery capacity becomes a real line item rather than an afterthought.
- Water supply and drainage. Note where a hose can be connected and where the water is allowed to go. Many underground car parks have no floor drain at all in the parking bays.
- What is actually being cleaned. Concrete deck surfaces, line-marking areas, kerbs, lift lobbies and vehicle exteriors each place different demands on pressure, temperature and delivery method.
Match the machine type to the working radius
Drive-on units for large or multi-level sites. Our driving-style machines — the PWD01, PWD02 and HMW2 series — are mobile active-water cleaning machines that an operator rides between bays. They offer dry steam, wet steam and hot-water modes, and are built for indoor garages and narrow outdoor parking spaces where a towed trailer cannot turn. Both variants of each model are listed with and without a battery, so a site with no supply at deck level can be quoted the battery option from the start instead of being retrofitted later.
Fixed units for a permanent wash bay. If the facility has a designated corner or a service ramp, a stationary machine gives more heating capacity for the same budget. The Fixed Steam Cleaning Machine PowerDe HW02 is a 220 V unit with a 6 kW heating system, steam temperature of 160°, vapour pressure of 0.8 MPa and an 80-litre SUS304 tank. The published footprint is 1,200 × 800 × 1,200 mm including handles, which is small enough to sit inside a single parking bay converted into a wash point. It switches between dry and wet steam and includes a vacuum function, and it is listed for vehicle exterior cleaning at stations and parking lots, interior work, and engine-compartment cleaning.
Walk-behind units for targeted jobs. Where the work is lifts, stairwells, payment kiosks, or the odd oil patch rather than whole decks, a hand-pushed unit such as the HMW3 is easier to move through a crowd of parked cars. Its published parameters include a 4.5 kW PTC semiconductor heater, a 50-litre clean-water tank, dry and wet steam modes, and a 48 V battery supply, with tap-water inlet through a 4-point internal-tooth fitting.
Write the parameters you need into the enquiry, not the brochure
| Specification point | What to state in your enquiry |
|---|---|
| Power supply | Voltage available at the bay, cable run length, and whether a battery-only machine is required |
| Heating and temperature | Required steam temperature and heating power, and whether cold weather starts are expected in an open deck |
| Water tank and inlet | Tank capacity, inlet fitting type, and whether tap water can be used directly |
| Movement | Driving, hand-push or fixed installation, plus ramp gradient and aisle width in millimetres |
| Protection functions | Ask for the protection features to be listed by name, for example leakage, short-circuit, high-temperature, high-voltage and water-shortage protection |
| Wear parts and service | Heater element, hoses, seals, nozzles and battery — request part numbers and lead times with the quotation |
Water, runoff and duty-of-care points
Write the drainage question into the specification too. State where the runoff is allowed to go, and ask the supplier which mode — dry steam, wet steam or hot water — they recommend for that condition. A supplier who answers with a mode recommendation for your floor type is giving you useful information. A supplier who answers only with a price list is not.
What to ask for in the trial before you place the order
- Heat-up time from cold start, measured on site rather than taken from the specification.
- Time to clear one marked oil stain at your deck's typical temperature, and whether a second pass is needed.
- How far the operator can move the unit between bays with hoses connected, including any ramp on the route.
- Residual moisture on the floor after cleaning, checked by walking the area, not by eye.
Also confirm the noise level with your own staff, and confirm battery runtime against the length of the shift pattern you actually run. These are the two items most often discovered after delivery.
If your site needs something off the standard list
Send the four site constraints from the first section of this article, together with the parameter list above. With that information a manufacturer can quote a specific model, or tell you honestly that the standard range is the wrong tool for your deck — which is often the more valuable answer.
