It's the last hallway of the night route, and the battery scrubber is blinking red because nobody plugged it in yesterday. The Clarke CA30 17E never has that night. It's a corded electric floor scrubber: plug the 65-foot safety-yellow cord into a standard 120 V outlet and it scrubs and dries a 17-inch path for as long as the building has power.
It carries 13.2-gallon solution and recovery tanks, a 1 hp brush motor and a rounded cast aluminum squeegee that picks up the dirty water in the same pass. At 154 lb, it weighs about half as much as its battery sibling, the CA30 20B, and it costs $2,563 less.
The CA30 comes in two versions that share the same frame, fingertip controls and rounded squeegee. The real decision is how the power reaches the machine, so settle that first.
| Clarke CA30 |
CA30 17E (corded) |
CA30 20B (battery) |
| Power |
120 V outlet, 65 ft cord |
Two 12 V 105 Ah AGM batteries, onboard charger |
| Runtime |
As long as it's plugged in |
About 2.5 to 3 hours per charge* |
| Cleaning path |
17 in (43 cm) |
20 in (51 cm) |
| Solution and recovery tanks |
13.2 gal (50 L) each |
10.5 gal (40 L) each |
| Brush motor |
1.0 hp (750 W) |
0.75 hp (560 W) |
| Pad pressure |
70 lb (32 kg) |
77 lb (35 kg) |
| Sound level |
72 dB(A) |
70 dB(A) |
| Weight |
154 lb (70 kg) |
282 lb (128 kg) |
| Price |
$3,374 |
$5,937 |
*Runtime as listed by Clarke retailers. Clarke's spec sheet doesn't publish a runtime figure.
The corded CA30 17E fits when your floors sit within reach of outlets and get cleaned after hours: classrooms and hallways, clinic corridors, break rooms, cafeterias and store back rooms. You never manage batteries or wait on a charger, and the bigger tanks mean fewer trips to refill and drain. With 65 feet of cord, you can reach anything within 65 feet of the outlet before you move the plug.
The battery Clarke CA30 20B fits when the cord gets in the way. Think floors cleaned while people are walking through (a cord across a walkway is a trip hazard), big open areas where you'd be moving the plug every few minutes, or rooms without handy outlets. Its 20-inch path also covers about 18% more floor per pass. You pay for that freedom in price, in 128 extra pounds, and in batteries that need charging every night and replacing down the road.
Still torn? Send us your square footage, floor type and cleaning schedule, or call (855) 601-5678, and we'll tell you which one fits. You can also compare every plug-in model in our electric floor scrubbers collection.
Most buyers I talk to assume battery is the upgrade and corded is the compromise. For a lot of facilities it's the other way around. If your crew cleans after hours near outlets, the 17E does the 20B's job for $2,563 less, with bigger tanks and no batteries to replace.
It's also the easier machine to live with. The manual has you tilt it back onto its guide wheel to drain the tanks, and at 154 lb that's a quick move instead of a wrestle.
Two honest notes. The cord is the trade: someone has to keep it behind the machine, and it doesn't belong in a busy lobby during open hours. And Clarke rates it for smooth indoor hard floors only, no carpet, no rough outdoor concrete and no slopes steeper than 2%. For one small restroom or break room, the Clarke MA10 12E does the job for about $1,450 less. And if you want this size at the lowest price, compare the Viper AS430C, another Nilfisk-made 17-inch scrubber with a 65-foot cord and 13-gallon tanks, for $359 less.
Owner reviews of the CA30 17E are thin, so here's an honest read of the two we found, both five stars on CleanFreak. Owners describe it as solid and well built, easy to run and effective on hallways and a garage floor. The one complaint is the cord, which takes some managing. That owner still felt the savings over a battery scrubber made it a fair trade.
65-foot safety-yellow cord. Unlimited runtime from any standard 120 V outlet, and the bright cord is easy for everyone to see.
13.2-gallon solution and recovery tanks. About 26% more than the battery CA30 20B holds, so you stop to refill and drain less often.
1 hp brush motor with 70 lb of pad pressure. Real scrubbing force for daily cleaning of VCT, sealed concrete and tile.
Rounded cast aluminum squeegee. Picks up the solution in the same pass, so floors are dry and safe to walk on sooner.
A run switch in each handle grip. Squeeze either one to start the brush and solution, so operators can switch hands without stopping.
Pad-assist drive. The turning pad helps pull the machine forward, so the operator guides it instead of shoving it.
The CA30 17E ships with a 17-inch pad driver, so it's ready for standard 17-inch floor pads. For grout and textured tile, add the 17-inch scrub brush (Clarke part VF90411). Not sure which to use? Our guide on brush vs pad walks through it.
Squeegee blades are the other wear item. The front blade is Clarke part VF90103 and the rear is VF90104, and the rear blade can be flipped once to use its second edge before you replace it. Nilfisk treats pads, brushes, pad drivers and squeegee blades as wear items outside the warranty, and asks for a yearly carbon brush check on both motors by an authorized service center.
Clarke is one of Nilfisk's commercial floor care brands, which means parts and service run through Nilfisk's own network of authorized service centers. Nilfisk covers corded walk-behind scrubbers for 3 years parts, 3 years labor and 1 year travel. We're an authorized Clarke retailer, so that warranty is yours from day one.
| Clarke® CA30™ 17E Specifications |
|---|
| Brand |
Clarke |
| Manufacturer |
Nilfisk |
| Model Number |
CLARKE430C |
| Cleaning Path |
17 in (43 cm) |
| Pad Driver / Brush Diameter |
17 in (43 cm) |
| Pad Pressure |
70 lb (32 kg) |
| Pad Speed |
150 rpm |
| Drive System |
Pad/brush assist |
| Brush Motor |
1.0 hp (750 W) |
| Vacuum Motor |
0.5 hp (400 W) |
| Vacuum Waterlift |
47.2 in H₂O (1,200 mm H₂O) |
| Power Source |
120 V cord electric |
| Power Cord |
65 ft (20 m), safety yellow |
| Solution Tank |
13.2 gal (50 L) |
| Recovery Tank |
13.2 gal (50 L) |
| Squeegee Width |
28.7 in (730 mm) |
| Sound Level |
72 dB(A) |
| Transport Wheels |
8 in (200 mm) |
| Maximum Working Slope |
2% |
| Operating Temperature |
32 to 104°F (0 to 40°C) |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) |
43.3 x 21.3 x 38.5 in (110 x 54 x 98 cm) |
| Weight, Empty Tanks |
154 lb (70 kg) |
| Weight, Ready to Use |
264 lb (120 kg) |
| Floor Types |
Smooth hard floors, indoors only |
| In the Box |
Scrubber, 17 in pad driver, squeegee assembly, operator manual |
| Warranty |
3 years parts
3 years labor
1 year travel |
Found a lower price? Call or message us and we'll beat it. Returns follow our return policy.
Ready when you are: add the CA30 17E to your cart, or message us first if you'd like a second opinion on corded vs battery.
