Two units of the same steam cleaner can behave like different machines on the same bay floor. The difference is rarely the boiler: it is what is fitted to the end of the hose, what the power source is, whether a vacuum and a waste-water tank are present, and whether the accessory set matches the surfaces the crew actually meets. Buyers who spec the base unit first and treat accessories as consumables usually end up re-ordering nozzles, or abandoning the machine for the jobs it was bought for. The questions below are the ones worth putting to any supplier — including us — before a configuration is signed off.
1. What exactly is in the accessory kit you are quoting?
Ask for a written accessory list with part names and quantities, not a phrase such as "complete with accessories". On the PowerDe cleaning range the published pages name a high-pressure water gun with nozzle as the cleaning method, and on the driving-style models a vacuum cleaner with a flat nozzle feeding a separate sewage tank. If a quote does not state the nozzle types, the wand length and the hose length, those are gaps you are being asked to discover on site. Request the list as a line-by-line table and compare it against the product page before you sign.
A practical check: ask which single accessory the last customer in your sector complained about missing. The answer tells you more about the kit than the brochure does.
2. Which cleaning modes does the configuration actually deliver?
Mode is a configuration decision, not a feature every model shares. The fixed PowerDe HW02 steam cleaner page specifies dry steam and wet steam, with a vacuum cleaner noted alongside. The driving-style machines — PWD01, PWD02 and HMW2 — publish three modes: hot water, dry steam and wet steam, which matters when the job is loosening heavy deposit over a large area before any steam work at all. Confirm in writing which modes the unit you are buying will deliver, and which mode the accessory you are being quoted is meant for.
3. Where does the machine get its power, and is the battery included?
Every mobile model on the Cleaning Equipment Series page is published in two variants, with battery and without battery, and the working supply differs by model: a 48 V mobile battery on HMW2 and PWD01, a replaceable 220 V / 455 V mobile battery on PWD02, a 48 V battery on the hand-pushed HMW3, and 220 V on the fixed HW02 and HW03 units. The HMW2 (without battery) page states plainly that the customer provides the battery. That single line changes your cost, your charger provision and your shift planning, so ask which variant the quotation covers and what the battery and charger terms are.
Runtime, battery capacity and charger output are not published on those pages. Ask for them as measured figures for the model you are buying, and ask how they change in a cold or unheated building.
4. Is steam temperature and pressure stated for the configuration, or only for the base unit?
The HW02 specification table gives 160° steam temperature and 0.8 MPa vapour pressure with a 6 kW heating output. The driving-style and hand-pushed models publish 4.5 kW semiconductor (PTC) heating but do not publish steam temperature or pressure at all. So do not assume one model's figures carry across the range, and do not accept a sales figure that appears on no specification table. Ask for the temperature and pressure you will get at the nozzle, on the mode you intend to use, and get that confirmed against the page for the exact model.
5. Where does the waste water go, and who supplies the recovery gear?
Recovery is part of the configuration, not an afterthought, and it is the item indoor and paved-site operators forget to ask about. The PWD02 and PWD01 pages describe a vacuum cleaner with a flat nozzle feeding a sewage tank. The HMW3 and the fixed HW02 and HW03 pages do not publish a vacuum or a sewage tank at all, even though they use the same high-pressure gun. If your site is an indoor garage, a parking area or any surface with drainage rules attached, ask explicitly whether recovery equipment is included for the model in front of you, and if it is not, ask what has to be added.
6. What protection functions does this variant list?
Protection wording is model- and variant-specific and should be read, not assumed. For the HW02, the overview text lists leakage protection, short-circuit protection, high-temperature protection, high-voltage protection, water-shortage protection and high-voltage explosion protection — earlier notes on this machine recorded five items, so treat the list of functions as the reliable part and confirm the count for your variant. Protection names are also operational information: a machine that trips a water-shortage or leakage function mid-shift has a fault to report, not a switch to keep resetting. Ask what the crew is expected to do when a protection trips, and what the response route is.
7. Which tank size does the duty cycle need?
Clean-water tank volumes published on these pages run from 50 L on the hand-pushed HMW3 and the fixed HW03, through 60 L on the driving-style HMW2 and PWD02, to 80 L on the PWD01 and on the HW02, where the tank is listed as SUS304. The HW02 is fed from a tap supply with a 4-point internal-tooth joint; the mobile units are fed the same way but carry their own volume. A plumbed point with a fixed unit means no refill walk; a mobile unit means the walk is the constraint. Match the figure to your duty cycle, and ask how long a full tank actually supports on the mode you will run.
8. Does the configuration fit the way the crew moves?
Form factor is a specification question with a safety edge. The PWD01, PWD02 and HMW2 pages list autonomous driving as the mode of movement, with overall dimensions of L2500 × W900 × H1050 mm on the PWD01 and L1275 × W570 × H1185 mm on the PWD02 and HMW2, aimed at indoor garages and narrow parking spaces. HMW3 is listed as hand push at L1150 × W520 × H1030 mm. Walk the actual route with those numbers: turning space, ramp gradient, threshold height, door width. A driving-style unit that cannot get to the bay is not a cleaning problem, it is a configuration mistake.
9. What are the spares, service terms and the support route?
Ask which parts are expected to be replaced in normal service — nozzles, seals, hoses, brushes, wand — and what they cost and how they are shipped. Ask what happens when the unit stops heating, and how fault diagnosis is handled when the buyer is in another country. The service answers published on this site describe phone support, video troubleshooting and a parts route by courier, so confirm the same terms in your contract and confirm the voltage and supply arrangement for your country before shipment.
10. What does the trial cover, and how is it judged?
Before any configuration is fixed, ask for a trial on your own surfaces with your own deposit on them. Judge it on four things you can record: whether the deposit releases without scrubbing, how long the surface takes to dry enough to return to service, how much water the job uses, and whether the crew can repeat the result on a second pass without being told what to do. If the trial fails, that is a configuration finding, not a product failure.
Send the site details, not just the product name
If you want a configuration rather than a catalogue line, send the working area, the surface types, the deposit you are removing, the power and water available at the point of work, the drainage arrangement, and the shift pattern. Shenzhen PowerDe Automation Precision Equipment lists parameters for each machine in the cleaning range and offers customized steam cleaning equipment against site conditions. Use the contact page with those details and ask for the accessory list, the battery and charger terms, and the protection functions for the specific variant — in writing — before you order.
