Bissell carpet shampooer "jets" are clogged?

YerDugliness

We have one of the lower-end model Bissell carpet shampooers and we have found that it requires $50 worth of service at the vacuum center every time we use it. It seems that the discharge "jets" get clogged up and the machine won't discharge water/soap, so it's not much of a shampooer, now, is it? It is so bad that the repair shop virtually guaranteed me it would need service every time we will want to use it...he also said that ALL the Bissells have the problem, not just the lower end of the product line, no matter how expensive or inexpensive, it's just the way the brand is.

...anyway, I can't imagine cleaning those discharge jets myself could be a difficult job...soak them in some vinegar or CLR to dislodge the hard water deposits....but the repair shop owner refuses to show me where they are. I can tear into it when I get it back from the shop (we need to use it now), but it would be easier if anyone who has had a Bissell with this same problem will tell how they fixed it.

The repair shop owner assures me there are no "treatments" we can add to the water to avoid the problem....perhaps switch to distilled water when we use it?

...this sure is a fine mess they've gotten themselves into, isn't it?

Any suggestion, anyone?

Cheers!

Dugly

bryanp22

You mix the soap with the proper amount of water right? The other thing I've always done when cleaning my carpets is always go back over it with just water to make sure i get all the soap out, and to make sure all the soap is out of the water jet lines.

diy'er on LI

I had a bissel carpet cleaner... don't recall how $$ it was, but I got it in target just to shampoo my apartment wall to wall when I was a renter, so it likely also was cheap. I luckily never had that problem. That being said, long island doesn't have hard water. Buying distilled water in those quantities is $$$ and the $50 service... well, it's cheaper to buy a new machine in the long run. I'd buy a giant brita pitcher and filter the water before pouring it into the machine. That should get rid of most of the minerals and is much more cost effective. If that doesn't work, and you can't CLR it, I'd pitch that machine. Not worth the work....

joecaption

Bryans got the right idea.
Have you ever contacted Bissle about your problum?
I have a cheap one and have never had to have it serviced and have owned it for many years.

Chemist1961

Your repair shop is being straight up. I discontinued servicing Bissell products for that reason, continuous clogging and brittle plastic that fatigued and broke very easily, over and over in the same spots. Rinsing after use is a big help...but its like complaining about a Lada.
Next time buy your carpet cleaner or rent one at the vacuum center, not at Wal Mart... or similar. Ask them which brand they recommend. Odds are if they have a rental its not a brand that is prone to breakdown.

hardwareman

Bissells certainly are prone to that problem. Learn how to tear it apart and clean it, its not that difficult. Otherwise buy a Hoover steam vac, much better than a Bissell.

__________________
................."I want a house that has gotten over all its troubles. I dont' want to spend the rest of life bringing up a young and inexperienced house"...........

YerDugliness

I asked the proprietor of the repair shop which brand he recommends from a "frequency of repairs" standpoint...he said he never sees a Hoover in his shop.

I know they are expensive, though!

I had a Kenmore and never had any sort of problem with it.....loaned it out to a friend, never saw it again after they moved. So much for that one .

Are the jets consumer replaceable? I'm pretty handy with mechanical repairs and if we can order replacements I'm sure I can manage the swap.

I think Becky rinses the soapy water out of the unit after she uses it, but the repair shop owner also mentioned running a rinse through the jets to get rid of the soap scum. Once we get it back, we'll be sure to do that. In the past I have rinsed the carpet with clear water after shampooing it, the house ended up smelling like a cat-box for a week b/c a wet weather front rolled through. I guess the carpet was so wet it "soured".

We've already decided this is the last time we'll pay $50 for cleaning the jets...when it goes down again, it gets trashed and we have what Becky calls a "shopportunity".

The water here in Huntsville, TX is of "superior" quality, according to the sign at the city limits, but it is quite full of minerals (and occasionally smells like sulphur) and that has been a source of problems in other plumbing areas in the past.

She thought she bought a good brand when she bought a Bissell...guess hindsight is 20/20, eh?

I've had the case apart on this unit in the past...finding the "jets" can't be hard, they have to be on the ends of the hoses coming out of the pump.

Not yet, but that is on the agenda for today...found their "contact us" section on their website. We'll see what they have to say.

Thanks for the replies so far, folks! I've wondered about running a dilute solution of CLR through the unit after the final rinse each time we use it.

...onward through the fog ....

Cheers!

Dugly

YerDugliness

The answer is now "yes". I explained the situation to the first lady who answered and asked about user servicibility, and she explained that the model is not designed for self-service. She suggested making sure we use Bissell brand products in the water (I found them under the kitchen sink, we do ) and using the hose that connects the stair-tread cleaning attachment to the unit to suck a couple of quarts of clean water through it after each use. No problem, we can do that.

Our bigger issue is the continuous need for the cleaning and that she could not help with, so she connected me to a representative at the corporate headquarters. Again, we discussed the machine's history and the new issues and in the end she was quite gracious and offered to replace the unit with a "refurbished" higher-end model at no cost to us. This higher-end model does have removable/replacable jets that are accessible.

We're still going to pay the $50 and use it once, then cut off the power cord and sent it to Bissel's corporate location, as requested, and they will ship us the replacement free.

Cheers!!!

Dugly