Industrial laundry equipment lasts. A commercial washer-extractor is built to a duty cycle far beyond anything domestic, which is why the second-hand market exists and why a used machine can be a sound purchase. It is also why a used machine can be a liability: the same durability means it may have run for a very long time before it reached the seller. The price does not tell you which. The checks below do.
Unicorp supplies new equipment only and does not buy in or sell used machines. This post exists because buyers ask, and because a used machine bought elsewhere still needs parts, installation and a boiler inspection, which is where we come in.
Parts first
The first question about any used machine is who still makes and stocks parts for it. A machine whose parts are no longer available is worth what its scrap weighs, however clean it looks. Unicorp holds parts for the brands it distributes in Wynberg, Johannesburg, and multi-brand spare parts cover several other makers. Ask with the model and serial number before you buy, not after.
The control system
Controls date faster than the machine around them. An obsolete controller with no replacement available turns one failed board into a dead machine. Confirm the controller is current or has a supported replacement, and that the programmes you need can be set on it.
Cycle history
Ask what the seller knows about how many cycles the machine has run and how it was maintained. A machine from a single owner with a service record is a different purchase from one with no history. Speed Queen's SC Series, for comparison, is tested to 10,400 cycles; the Speed Queen vs Girbau comparison covers what the ranges are built for.
Mounting and the floor
A hardmount washer-extractor is anchor-bolted to a reinforced slab and puts its vibration into the structure. A softmount machine is suspended and needs no anchoring. A used hardmount machine bought for an upper floor or an unreinforced slab is not installable, whatever it cost. The industrial washing machines page explains the difference.
Extraction speed, every day for years
Every percentage point of water the washer leaves in the load is water the dryer has to boil off, and it is paid for in electricity and dryer time on every cycle. An older, slower machine can cost more in running than it saved on the invoice. Size the washer and dryer as a pair; the industrial tumble dryers page sets out why.
Dry cleaning machines are a different question
A used dry cleaning machine commits you to the solvent it was built for, and to the ventilation, waste handling and insurance position that solvent brings with it. Filters, the still and the distillation system are the wear items, and the machine is a fifteen-year purchase whichever way it is bought. The dry cleaning machines page covers solvent choice, and PERC alternatives and wet cleaning covers where the trade is moving.
Boilers and compliance
Where a steam boiler is part of the installation, council approval and periodic inspection under the Occupational Health and Safety Act apply regardless of the boiler's age. A used boiler with no inspection history is a compliance cost before it is a steam supply.
Installation costs the same
Delivery, positioning, connection to water, drain, power and steam, and commissioning cost roughly the same for a used machine as for a new one. So do operator training and the first service. When those are added, and a warranty and current controls are on the other side of the ledger, new is often the cheaper decision over the life of the machine.
The checklist
- Who stocks parts for this model, today.
- Is the controller current or replaceable.
- What does the seller know about cycles and service.
- Hardmount or softmount, and what floor is it going onto.
- What is its extraction speed, and what will the dryer behind it cost.
- For a dry cleaning machine: which solvent, and what does that solvent need from the building.
- For a boiler: inspection history.
- What will installation, commissioning and training cost either way.
Send us the make, model and serial number of a machine you are considering and we will tell you what parts exist for it and what it will need to install.