Water supply is the part of a steam-cleaner purchase that gets decided last and regretted first. Buyers spend the negotiation on output and price, then discover on delivery day that the bay has the wrong tap, the wrong fitting, no spare outlet, or nowhere to put the run-off. Accessories are where those problems get solved — and they are ordered wrongly more often than the machine itself.
The list below is written as a set of questions to put to your facilities team and to your supplier at the same time. Answer them before you sign the accessory list, not after.
1. What is at the point of use, not on the plan?
Steam machines in this range are fed from tap water, and the fixed machine's published inlet detail is a 4-point internal-tooth joint with a 1/2 inch connection. That specification is a question, not an answer: the accessory you need depends on what is actually fitted where the machine will stand.
- Is there a dedicated tap within hose reach of the operating position, or will the machine be moved between outlets?
- What is the thread and gender of the existing outlet? Measure it; do not assume a building was plumbed to one standard.
- Is the supply pressure and flow adequate for continuous filling, or does the tank drain faster than the point refills?
- Do you need an isolation valve and a filter upstream, and who supplies them?
Ask the supplier to confirm the inlet connection in writing for the exact model and version being quoted. Product pages and pro forma invoices do not always state the same figures, and an accessory ordered from a brochure drawing is a common source of dead stock.
2. Where does the water come from when there is no tap?
A surprising number of sites cannot offer a fixed outlet at the cleaning position: parking areas, forecourts, loading yards, older buildings with limited distribution. In those cases the accessory conversation changes completely, and the option worth pricing is a mobile machine rather than more plumbing.
PowerDe's driving-style machines are described as active-water units for indoor garages and narrow outdoor parking spaces, and the mobile models are listed in with-battery and without-battery versions, working on a battery supply rather than being tied to one location. A tank-fed machine moves the water question from "where is the tap" to "how often do we fill it, and from where". That is a decision about consumables and crew time, so price the fill routine, not just the equipment.
On the fixed machine, published details include an 80 L stainless steel (SUS304) tank. Use that number to work out your own fill cycle: estimated cleaning minutes per shift, divided by realistic tank endurance in your duty, gives the number of fills a crew actually performs. Multiply that by the distance to the tap, and you will know whether the accessory you need is a longer inlet hose or a better located supply point.
3. Which mode will you run, because mode drives water demand?
Water consumption is not one figure; it follows the mode. The mobile machines are described as offering dry-steam, wet-steam and hot-water modes, while the hand-pushed and fixed units switch between dry and wet steam. Dry steam uses comparatively little free water; hot water uses considerably more. A site that intends to run heavy hot-water work has a fill-and-drain burden that a site running mostly dry steam does not.
- Dry steam: low water draw, minimal run-off, best where drying time is the constraint.
- Wet steam: moderate draw, softens compacted soil, more run-off to manage.
- Hot water: highest draw and highest run-off, suited to bulk soiling.
The site positions high-temperature steam as reducing water use, labour intensity and reliance on chemical detergents. If low water use is the reason you are buying, make the mode you intend to run explicit in the order, and ask which accessories support it. The cleaning equipment series pages are where the mode range of each model is stated.
4. What happens to the run-off?
Water leaving the machine is a supply question in reverse, and it decides accessories as surely as the inlet does.
- Is there a drain or gully in the operating area, and is it connected to a separator where oil or grease is expected?
- In an indoor garage, what is the route from the cleaning position to that drain, and does water crossing that route create a slip risk for other users?
- Does any local rule or site rule restrict what may enter the surface-water system?
Where the run-off route is the real limit, the accessory list should include collection and containment, and the layout should be walked with the supplier before the order. Buyers in enclosed spaces tend to under-order here and over-order on spray gear.
5. Which application accessories does the work actually need?
Gun, lance and nozzle choice should follow the surfaces on your list, not a standard kit. The published description of the fixed machine's cleaning method is a high-pressure water gun with a nozzle, and dry/wet steam plus a vacuum function. If your work includes interiors, engine compartments or sensitive areas, ask specifically for:
- A nozzle set matched to broad surfaces and to narrow gaps, rather than one general nozzle.
- Hose and wand lengths long enough to reach the far end of the vehicle or machine you clean, so the unit is not dragged and repositioned every few minutes.
- Suitable fittings and spares for the inlet, since inlet fittings are the part most often lost or cross-threaded.
- Where interiors or hygiene-critical areas are involved, confirm which combination of mode and tool the supplier recommends for that task, and get it recorded on the quotation.
One caution before a tender document: application wording on listing pages is not always consistent, and some scenario terms in use around this product group are marketing directions rather than documented product claims. Ask the supplier to state, for your exact model and version, which accessories are supplied, which are optional, and which tasks they are intended for.
6. What are the protection and power accessories?
Several models are listed with leakage, short-circuit, high-temperature, high-voltage and water-shortage protection, and the fixed machine's overview also mentions high-voltage-explosion protection. Water-shortage behaviour is the item to test on site, because it protects the heater and it is the failure mode most likely to be caused by a crew refilling incorrectly.
Power accessories belong in the same conversation. The fixed machine works on 220 V and published heating power for that model is 6 kW; the mobile models work on a 48 V battery supply. Confirm the cable, circuit and charging arrangements you need, and whether battery versions ship with the battery, since the same model name appears in both versions in the listings.
A question list to take into the quotation
- Inlet connection: thread, size and gender at the actual point of use, confirmed against the model being quoted.
- Supply: pressure, flow, valve, filter, and whether the point can keep the tank filled through a shift.
- Fill cycle: number of fills per shift and the distance to the supply.
- Mode plan: dry steam, wet steam or hot water, and how that changes water draw.
- Run-off: drain route, separator, containment, slip control.
- Tool set: nozzles, hose and wand lengths, spare inlet fittings.
- Power: circuit, cable, charging space, and battery included or not.
- Wear parts and spares, with lead times.
Accessory lists go wrong because the water question is asked after the machine is chosen. Put the eight items above to your facilities team and to the supplier in the same week. Send PowerDe your point-of-use conditions — outlet type, drain route, supply available, area per shift — through the contact page, and ask for the accessory list to be written against those conditions rather than against the standard kit.
