Equipment: Reinforce Your VX5000 Vapor Steamer Hose

Reinforce Your VX5000 Vapor Steamer Hose

In January of 2010 we were crazy enough to purchase a VX5000 Steam Cleaner from Steam-Cleaners-Direct. It’s been a reliable work horse, fearless around interiors, and one of our most important tools. Do a search on any Detailing forum and you’ll see it’s one of the best entry line professional vapor steam cleaners you can buy on the market without entering the $1000-$2000 range. We’ve modded ours with a custom horsehair brush attachment we may reveal in the future. What was particularly awesome was seeing Greg Nichols of Reflections Detailing Utah reinforce his steamer hose:

Autopia – Steamer Hose Made Heavy Duty

DetailingBliss – Steamer Hose Made Heavy Duty

With Greg’s blessing and correspondence this is our write up on how to reinforce your VX5000 steamer hose without breaking the bank.  Reinforcing the hose allow:

– cheap straightforward option to preserving your hose

– protection for your hose around doors, walking on the hose, hard abrasion, and heat reduction

– won’t scratch paint as easy when moving the hose up and down

– looks funky cool with custom heat shrink tubing colors

– spend $25-40 to save a $1000 steamer hose

– at the moment there is only one company that sells the existing VX5000 unit with a reinforced hose.

Materials for VX5000 Hose Reinforcement

The hardest part of this process is obtaining the right materials. Your biggest obstacle is finding the right materials to go over the thick handle. Greg was awesome in providing the info:

1) 1 3/4 dia expanding braided sleeving (will expand to 2 1/2 which should fit over the handle) at 11 Feet.

Measure your hose as a precaution. I measured my hose to be cheap and came up with 11 feet. Having finished the install 11 feet is plenty, you will trim some off the hose during the install.

** For future installers, try and see if you can chose “Rounded Sleeving”. Mine came flat and I despise the look, it adds way too much material to the hose. They also make these sleeves with fire retardant specs.

2) 3:1 heat shrink tubing 2 Inch size

1 Foot is plenty, but you may use 2 feet. 2inch tubing allows the heat shrink to pass through the handles. I went with 2:1 heat shrink tubing since finding 2 inch tubing was so hard. You may also use 4:1 tubing.

3) Heat Gun

4) Scissors

How Much Does it Cost?

Shipping Method:  First Class Mail (USPS)	Payment Type:  CREDITCARD    Last 4: 5213
ORDERED SKU DESCRIPTION PRICE 11 BS175BK 1 3/4 in PET Sleeving- Per Foot- Black $16.50 1 HS2-200FT-GN 2:1 HEAT SHRINK TUBING 2 inch Per Foot $5.62
Returns will only be accepted with an approved RMA.

Product Total: $22.12 Sales Tax: $0.00 Shipping: $3.77 Grand Total: $25.89

 

Pretty cheap. I sourced everything from CableOrganizer. The biggest issue is finding a place with the 2inch heat shrink tubing:

http://www.cableorganizer.com/expandable-sleeving/

http://www.cableorganizer.com/heat-shrink/heat-shrink2.htm?gcssku=HS2-200FT

Where Can I Purchase Everything?

A few other options that you can play with:

http://www.wirecare.com/products.asp?prodline=h3

http://www.wirecare.com/products.asp?prodline=ptn

http://www.parts-express.com/techflex-1-3-4-expandable-sleeving-25-ft-black–082-396

http://www.parts-express.com/2-black-2-1-heat-shrink-1-ft–080-702

Instructions & Method: Reinforcing Your VX5000 Hose

If you haven’t read Greg’s original guide: Autopia – Steamer Hose Made Heavy Duty, do it.

Step 1: Assemble your items. Remove hose off steamer and find a large flat working area.

Step 2: Thread sleeve on top of hose, you’ll find lots of extra material. My biggest tip is to hold one end of the sleeving, then slowly pull in the opposite direction so you smooth out the sleeving. This enables you to cut any excess at the end.

Step 3. The sleeving will make it, hence why you should push the material the entire length of the hose. Trim the sleeve, I would advise you to have at least 1 inch of sleeving up the plastic handles. 

Step 4. Start with one end for the heat shrink tubing, the connector handle is easiest. It’s crucial you align the flat shrink with the flat section of the steamer hose. Shrink slowly and constantly around the hose so it goes on evenly. It’s better to have more sleeving underneath the shrink tubing. (Don’t ask me how I know). Again, pull the sleeving all the way to the end so you don’t have excess throughout the 11 feet of hose.

Step 5: The main handle is the hardest due to the size, but if you give enough material it should be a cinch at the end. I went with green to make it funky.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts

Reinforcing your VX5000 is fun and pretty easy. The hardest part of this guide is really finding all the parts. If I had to redo everything I would recommend:

– purchase funky heat shrink tubing colors

– try to purchase rounded sleeving (I dislike the flat sleeving I used)

– make sure your sleeving is secured enough underneath the heat shrink tubing.

This hack is a quick 20 minute improvement that makes your steamer way more professional, custom, and preserves the longevity of the hose. Just position your materials correctly and shrink away. Thanks to Greg Nichols for his information and guide. It only took us 2 years to finally sit down and accomplish guide.

Trackback URL: https://liquid-finish.com/equipment-reinforce-vx5000-vapor-steamer-hose/trackback/