1. Map the bay before you look at the machine
Walk the area with a tape measure and mark three positions: the parking spot for the vehicle, the standing position for the operator, and the point where the machine sits while running. PowerDe divides its cleaning range into mobile units that move with the operator and stationary units that stay in one place, so the layout decides which group fits. The driving-style units are listed for indoor garages and narrow outdoor parking spaces; the fixed steam cleaning machine HW02 is described on its product page for vehicle exterior cleaning at gas stations and parking lots, interior vacuuming and disinfection, and engine-compartment cleaning.
Record what you find in writing: ceiling height at the entry, the turning radius your largest vehicle needs, distance from the parking spot to the power or water connection, and whether rain or sun reaches the bay. Add photos of the floor surface and the drainage gully. A trial on a bay that floods will tell you nothing about the machine.
2. Confirm the utility connection
Stationary units need a fixed supply. The HW02 detail page lists 220 V working voltage, a tap-water inlet with a 4-point internal-tooth joint (1/2 inch), and an 80 L SUS304 tank. Have your electrician confirm that the socket, cable run and protection device at the chosen position match what the machine requires, and have the plumbing checked for the inlet thread before the delivery date. Do not assume an ordinary wash-bay outlet will do; the joint size and the supply point position are the two items that delay a trial most often.
Battery-powered variants in the mobile range are listed both with and without a battery, and the pages for several models mention leakage, short-circuit, high-temperature, high-voltage and water-shortage protection. If your depot has no charging point near the bay, decide before the trial whether you will test a mains-connected unit or install the charging point first, and ask us for the exact electrical and water requirements of the model you are trialling rather than working from assumptions.
3. Fix the workload you will measure
A trial without a defined unit of work produces an opinion, not a result. Choose one repeating job and one difficult job. On a depot fleet that usually means an exterior wash of one vehicle type at one soiling level, plus one engine bay or one heavily soiled rear step. Write down, for each run: start time, stop time, the mode used, and the number of staff involved. If your current process uses a pressure washer and detergent, run the same two jobs with the existing method on day one and with steam on day two, so the comparison rests on your own numbers.
PowerDe describes high-temperature steam cleaning as a route to higher cleaning efficiency with lower water use, lower labour intensity and less dependence on chemical detergents. Whether that holds in your operation is exactly what the trial should measure, so log water use, chemical purchases and labour minutes for both days at the meters and invoices, not by estimate.
4. Set the mode and the order of work
The mobile models are listed with dry steam, wet steam and hot water modes; the HW02 lists dry and wet steam plus a vacuum cleaner. Each mode does a different job, and staff who have only used a pressure washer need to be shown the difference before the trial starts. Agree one working order in advance, for example: dry steam to lift grease and loose soil, wet steam to flush the surface, then vacuum or wipe on interior surfaces. Write the order on a laminated card and put it on the machine, so the trial tests the process rather than the memory of the operator.
The HW02 page also lists engine-compartment cleaning as one of its uses. If you test that, decide beforehand what is isolated, what is covered and who inspects the bay afterwards, and keep the same precautions on every run.
5. Handle water, drainage and floor safety
Steam cleaning uses far less water than a hose, which changes the drainage picture rather than removing it. Check that the gully is clear, that runoff has somewhere to go, and that oil separation or wash-bay rules in your jurisdiction are met for the water leaving the area. Mark the wet zone with cones for the duration of the trial and set one entry and one exit so that dry-foot traffic does not track water across the depot. Where a run finishes, give the floor a defined drying time before vehicles move again.
6. Choose the trial team and give them the shift plan
Name two operators, one supervisor and one person who owns the data. Two operators matters: steam trials collapse when only one trained person is available and they take leave. Put the wash runs in the published shift roster with a start time and an end time, exactly as you would schedule a service task, and tell the drivers that their vehicle has a slot. A trial left to "when there is time" is usually abandoned in week two.
7. Agree the pass or fail record before day one
Write the acceptance sheet in advance: minutes per vehicle, water used, chemicals used, operator hours, and a visual check against the same reference points on the vehicle each time. Photograph the same panels before and after. Add the items your fleet has to pass anyway, such as the condition checks your own maintenance rules already require. If the trial does not reach the numbers you set, that is a usable result — it tells your PowerDe contact which part of the process to change.
8. What to send PowerDe before the trial
Send four items and we can match the machine and the configuration to your site: the bay measurements and photos, the utility details at the chosen position, a short list of vehicle types with the soil you see most often, and the target you want the trial to reach. If your site needs a layout that is not covered by the published models, PowerDe also offers customised configurations and equipment for cleaning operations, so the bay design can be reviewed together with the machine choice.
A prepared trial answers three questions in a week: does the mode sequence clean to your standard, does the cycle time fit your roster, and does the water, chemical and labour total justify the change. Prepare the bay, the utilities and the record sheet first, and the trial will give you those answers instead of a debate.
