ICE® i18C 18" Cord-Electric Walk-Behind Floor Scrubber - 9 gal

It's 9 p.m. in a medical office building. The lobby, two restrooms and a long hallway of sealed tile need scrubbing before morning, and the last thing you want is a battery that quits halfway through the second floor. The ICE i18C is an 18-inch walk-behind floor scrubber that plugs into a standard 120-volt outlet. It scrubs, lays down solution and squeegees the floor dry in one pass, and it keeps going as long as it's plugged in.

An 82-foot power cord gives you a lot of floor from each outlet. The 9-gallon solution tank and 10-gallon recovery tank are rated by ICE for up to 15,000 square feet per hour, the brush motor is gear driven so there's no belt to wear out, and at 70 dBA it's quiet enough for evening work around tenants and staff. ICE backs it with a 5-year parts and labor warranty.

Corded or Battery: Is the i18C the Right Scrubber?

The i18C and the battery-powered ICE i18B share the same body, tanks, scrub deck and 30-inch squeegee. The difference is the power. The i18C costs about $2,300 less, weighs 110 lb less, and has no batteries to charge, check or replace every few years. The trade-off is the cord: you work within 82 feet of an outlet, move to the next one as you go, and keep the cord clear of the squeegee and of anyone walking by.

Pick the i18C for after-hours cleaning in buildings with outlets along the walls, like offices, clinics, schools, restrooms and small stores. Pick the i18B if you clean while the building is busy, work big open rooms with few outlets, or can't have a cord across a walkway. See every plug-in model in our electric floor scrubbers collection.

How the i18C Compares With Other 17 and 18-Inch Corded Scrubbers

Figures from each manufacturer's brochure or manual, as listed on our product pages.

Still deciding? Send us your square footage, floor type and where your outlets are, or call (855) 601-5678, and we'll tell you which scrubber fits, including when the answer is one of the other two.

The Owner's Insights on the ICE i18C

I'll be straight with you: the i18C isn't the cheapest corded scrubber we sell. The Viper AS430C costs a little less, and both the Viper and the Clarke CA30 17E carry about 4 more gallons of solution, which means fewer trips to the sink on a big floor. Where the i18C pulls ahead is reach and backing. Its 82-foot cord covers more floor per outlet than the 65-foot cords on the other two, it's 16 lb lighter, and ICE's 5-year parts and labor warranty is longer than either of theirs. One thing to know: ICE doesn't cover technician travel on the i18C, so a warranty repair means bringing it to a service center or paying the trip charge.

It's pad-assist, not self-propelled. The spinning pad pulls it forward, which feels light on smooth tile and VCT, but give a new operator a few minutes to learn to walk it in a straight line. It's rated for slopes up to 2%, so keep it on level indoor floors. And never run it on an extension cord; ICE's manual rules that out. If 82 feet doesn't reach, move to the next outlet.

Why You'll Love the ICE i18C

• 82-foot water-resistant cord. A 14-gauge cord gives you more floor per outlet than the 65-foot cords most corded scrubbers ship with.

• No batteries, ever. Nothing to charge overnight, water or replace, and no runtime limit.

• Gear-driven brush motor. The 0.75 hp motor turns the pad at 180 rpm with no belts to stretch or adjust.

• 30-inch parabolic squeegee. The die-cast aluminum squeegee is much wider than the 18-inch path, so it catches the water at the edges and on turns.

• Tool-free changes. Squeegee blades, pads and brushes come off by hand.

• A protected vacuum motor. A float shut-off and filter in the recovery tank keep water out of the 500 W two-stage vacuum motor.

• Easy to clean out. The recovery tank has a large opening, so rinsing it at the end of a shift takes a minute.

What's in the Box, Pads, Parts and Care

Your i18C arrives with its 82-foot cord, a 17-inch pad driver and the squeegee assembly with Linatex blades. The driver takes standard 18-inch floor pads, the same size as the cleaning path. Pads aren't included, so tell us your floor and we'll match the right 18-inch pad to it. If you'd rather scrub with a brush, ICE sells two 18-inch brushes that fit: medium duty (part 9050018) and soft (part 9050018W), both at $254.00 list.

Plug it straight into a grounded 120-volt outlet, never through an extension cord. It draws 13.5 amps, so keep it off a circuit that's already feeding a vacuum or a space heater.

Running costs are low. On ICE's current parts list, a front squeegee blade (8118021) is $44.56 and a rear blade (8118022) is $60.66, with longer-wearing polyurethane blades at $57.40 and $73.38. A replacement cord (8014053) is $417.50, the vacuum motor (8011200) is $396.00 and the brush motor (8015220) is $709.68. Blades, pads, brushes, pad drivers, hoses, cords and switches are wear items, so the warranty doesn't cover them.

After every shift, take off the pad, drain and rinse both tanks, rinse the float shut-off, and wipe the squeegee and store it raised. Wipe the machine with a damp cloth rather than hosing it, since water can reach the motors and wiring. Once a month, lubricate the pivot points, check for loose nuts and bolts and leaks, and inspect the recovery tank seal. Store it indoors and upright, with the recovery lid open so the tank can air out, and drain everything if the room can freeze. Freeze damage isn't covered by the warranty. ICE's walkthrough below covers the same routine.

Why You Should Consider an ICE Floor Scrubber

ICE USA, a division of ICE Cobotics in Holland, Michigan, builds walk-behind and ride-on scrubbers, burnishers and the Cobi 18 robotic scrubber. Its scrubbers carry a 5-year parts and labor warranty, and its rotationally molded tanks carry lifetime parts coverage with 5 years of labor. See all our ICE Cobotics equipment.

ICE i18C Specifications