A week of driving steam cleaners through a fleet bay usually produces two records: a set of operator notes and a stack of clean vehicles. Neither one answers the question a purchasing manager actually has, which is whether the machine deserves a line in next year's budget. The trial report exists to close that gap. Below is the recording format we suggest for a trial of a driving style steam cleaner, using the PowerDe PWD02 steam cleaner as the reference unit, together with the fields that carry weight in a procurement review.
Why the trial record matters more than the demonstration
A short demonstration shows that a machine works. A month of recorded trials shows whether it works inside your own constraints: the width of your gate, the height of your underground garage, the length of your shift, the state of your water supply and drain, and the number of vehicles an operator can finish before the crew goes home. Those constraints are what separate one cleaning equipment purchase from another, and they are specific to your site. Recording them is the only way to compare a mobile steam unit against the pressure washer you already own on something other than price.
Before the trial starts: fix the baseline
Write down the current situation while nothing has changed yet. A trial measured against a vague memory of "we wash cars" produces a vague result.
- Existing method: equipment, water source, drainage point, chemicals used, and who performs the wash.
- Time per vehicle, timed on the same vehicle types you will run in the trial (sedan, van, truck, bus).
- Labor cost per wash, including the pre-rinse, the drying pass, and the bay clean-up that usually gets forgotten.
- Water and chemical usage read from meters or purchase records, not estimates.
- Failure and complaint record: rinse residue on paint, oil left in the engine bay, wet floors, downtime waiting for the machine to heat up.
Keep these figures in the same table you will fill in for the steam unit. Without a baseline, savings claims are unfalsifiable, and an experienced reviewer will discount the whole report.
Field conditions that must appear in the record
The PowerDe PWD02 is listed as a mobile active-water cleaning machine with dry-steam, wet-steam, and hot-water modes, intended for indoor garages and narrow outdoor parking spaces; the variant on the product page is offered with or without a battery, and the battery version's page also lists leakage, short-circuit, high-temperature, high-voltage, and water-shortage protection. Those published features are the ones worth testing on your site, and the trial record should state clearly which variant you borrowed. Write down:
- Site type: underground garage, open yard, service-station forecourt, or enclosed detailing bay, with measured gate and ceiling clearances.
- Power and water arrangement: where the unit was connected, cable length needed, whether tap water was available at the wash point.
- Mode used per job: dry steam, wet steam, or hot water, and why that mode was chosen.
- Weather or ambient temperature on each trial day, since it changes drying time and operator comfort.
- The operator: their name or ID, prior experience, and how long the training took.
These entries look administrative. In practice they are the fields a reviewer checks first, because a result recorded in an underground garage with 2.0 m clearance cannot be compared to a result recorded in an open yard, and an experienced operator's time cannot be used to forecast a new hire's.
The performance fields worth recording
One row per vehicle, filled in on the day of the wash rather than reconstructed afterwards.
- Vehicle type, soiling condition (road dust, traffic film, engine-bay grease), and the job actually requested.
- Elapsed time from start to hand-back, split into steam work and any conventional step still needed.
- Water consumed and chemicals used, if any, for that job.
- Result check against a fixed criterion: paint finish, wheel arches, engine bay, interior surfaces, and floor condition after the job.
- Any interruption: refilling, heating wait, hose or fitting problem, battery change, or move to another bay.
Judgement calls need a scale. Use a simple three-level pass on each surface area, agreed with the customer or the fleet supervisor before the trial begins, so that the same dirt is scored the same way by different operators.
Cost and capacity: what the numbers should show
At the end of the trial, convert the rows into three figures your finance colleague will accept: cost per vehicle (labor plus water plus chemicals plus consumables), vehicles per operator-shift, and the fixed cost of the machine spread over the expected service life with the maintenance you actually performed. Compare these against the baseline table. If the mobile unit wins only on time and not on cost, say so; a report that reports both directions is more credible than one that only reports wins.
Also record what the trial could not test: peak-season volume, a full night shift, the wash schedule during a rainy week, and the wear you would only see after a year. Naming the limits of the trial is part of an honest record, and it tells the buyer what a second phase should measure.
What to attach to the report
- Before-and-after photos of the same surfaces, shot from the same angle and distance.
- The raw per-vehicle log, not only the averages.
- Meter readings for water and electricity, with the reading dates.
- Operator notes in their own words, including the complaints.
- The exact model and variant tested, with the product page reference.
If your site raises requirements the standard product pages do not cover — a fixed wash point, a different power arrangement, or a duty cycle outside the published configuration — customized steam cleaning equipment is the route Shenzhen PowerDe Automation Precision Equipment describes for its cleaning line, and the trial record is the document that makes that conversation specific. A well-kept trial does double duty: it settles the purchase decision in front of you, and it gives the manufacturer the operating data to configure the machine to your site instead of selling you a catalogue unit.
