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Writer's pictureBen Sprules

The Evolution of Rotomac and Rotomatic Escalator Cleaning Machines:


old rotomac escalator cleaning machines
Older Rotomac Escalator Cleaning Machines

Rotomac 300/Alta 20


The very first release of the Rotomac came in approximately the year 2000 with the Rotomac 300. At the time, it was utterly revolutionary. Never before had the cleaning world seen a machine capable of simultaneously deep-cleaning both the horizontal and vertical parts of an escalator step.


Prior to this, escalators had to be dismantled to carry out deep cleaning of the steps. This was obviously very disruptive, costly and time-consuming. The Rotomac 300, with its 6x rotating brushes, removed the need for this completely; by allowing an escalator to be completely cleaned in just several hours and not several days or even weeks!


Rotomac 330


After about 2 years after the release of the R300, the Rotomac 330 was released on the open market. The R330 looked essentially the same as its predecessor, the R300. However, many changes and improvements had been made to the machine. The auto cleaning program had been reduced from 60s or 90s down to 30s, 45s or 60s. This change cut the time required to clean an escalator by as much as 50%!


Inside the machine, the electronics were changed from the archaic and proprietary ‘control box’ found in the R300 to an industrial standard, PLC (Programable Logic Controller) made by Siemens. Also, industry standard, low voltage buttons and controls were introduced for improved operator safety and ease of use.


Rotomac 340


A couple of years later and a new revision came to market in the form of the Rotomac 340. This bought with it an even quicker cleaning program, at just 25s per cleaning cycle, further reducing the time it took to clean an escalator.


Shortly after, a new revision of the R340 came out, increasing the number of rotating brushes from 6 to 11. This dramatically increased the cleaning performance of the machine. This was possible because of a change to the motors used inside the machine. By using premium geared motors, paired with a state-of-the-art motor controller, the R340 now had the torque available to drive these 11 brushes. Changes were also made to the gear ratios of the lifting legs, adding in a near 2:1 ratio increased the torque output of the lifting leg motors, meaning the motors were working at 50% less capacity, thus increasing their serviceable life substantially.

Rotomac 340 Escalator cleaning Machine
The Rotomac 340

Rotomac 360


Next came the Rotomac 360. It remained much the same as the R340, in terms of cleaning performance. Noticeable changes included the machine cover changing from a cream colour to a more refined grey colour. An access panel for the static brush was added, making servicing and maintenance easier to perform on the machine. A new detergent pump was also introduced, which eliminated the common ‘pump jamming’ issue found on the earlier Rotomac models.

Rotomac 360 Escalator cleaning Machine
The Rotomac 360

Rotomac ET15B

 

A few years after the R360 came the Rotomac ET15B. This machine brought with it much needed updates and full utilisation of the powerful brush motor. Some of the new features included:

·         A fast 15s cleaning program

·         Battery backup system to allow operation of the lifting legs in a power loss situation

·         Completely revised and proprietary control circuitry

·         15x rotating brushes, compared to the 11x found on earlier Rotomac models

·         Preparation for an optional Travelator Cleaning Attachment (the now discontinued ‘T10’)

·         Screw-on tank lids, where they had been push-fit previously

·         New, more efficient ‘double-head’ detergent pump

·         Blue Cover


The main difference with the Rotomac ET15B was that it was now manufactured entirely in the UK, this allowed much more control over both specific component manufacturing and material sourcing.

Rotomac ET15B with T10 attachment
Rotomac ET15B with (discontinued) T10 Attachment

Rotomatic

 

Finally, in 2019, the Rotomatic was released. Redesigned from the ground up. This machine is the culmination of many years of escalator cleaning and constructive feedback from clients about the previous Rotomac models. The Rotomatic took the best bits from the ET15B and R360 and reinvented the rest of the machine to allow the production of the most technologically advanced escalator cleaning machine in the world. It’s features include:

·         10s Rapid Cleaning Program

·         All new, full industrial spec’, reliable and robust electronic control system

·         Touch Screen user interface, with operator prompts and controls

·         Self-Cleaning Mode; where the machine will run a cleaning cycle to clean itself internally after cleaning an escalator

·         Tough, hard-anodised aluminium chassis; impervious to corrosion and highly resistant to scratches and scrapes

·         Bigger 20L blue HDPE detergent and waste tanks (previously it was just 11L tanks on all previous models), with screw on lids

·         Active step drying, aids drying of steps that have just been cleaned by blasting them with air, recycled from the vacuum system

·         Relocation of the rotating brush assembly, to provide optimum brush pressure and improved reach into the crease of the escalator step.

Rotomatic Escalator Cleaning Machine
Rotomatic Escalator Cleaning Machine

The Rotomatic continues to undergo further refinement and development at Escatechnique Ltd. We have already implemented some small internal changes to improve safety and reliability as well as changing the colour of the detergent tanks from blue to green, to better suit Escatechnique’s brand image.


We also have more planned refinements, such as: removal of the discontinued ‘T10 travelator attachment’ support to allow us to keep the price of the Rotomatic competitive, upgrading the sensors to the latest versions available to improve machine consistency and improving the geometry of the machine to make the user experience even easier and safer than before.

Rotomatic Escalator Cleaning Machine
The Latest version of the Rotomatic Escalator Cleaning Machine manufactured by Escatechnique Ltd

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