Comac Floor Scrubbers & Sweepers: 7 FAQ Answers from a Commercial Equipment Buyer

I'm the office administrator for a 45-person commercial cleaning company. I manage all equipment ordering—roughly $90K annually across 6 vendors, reporting to both operations and finance. People ask me a lot of questions about the machines we buy, especially since our fleet is mostly Comac. These are the ones that come up again and again.

1. Is Comac the same company as COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China)?

No. Completely different companies.

COMAC—Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China—is the state-owned aviation manufacturer behind the C919 passenger jet. Comac S.p.A. is an Italian cleaning equipment manufacturer based in Rezzato, Italy, founded around the 1960s. The aircraft company doesn't make floor scrubbers. And Comac doesn't build airplanes.

If you searched "comac c919 list price" and landed here, you're not in the wrong place. I can't help with aircraft pricing. But if you're comparing walk-behind scrubbers, ride-on sweepers, or dust collectors, that's exactly what this article covers.

2. How much do Comac floor scrubbers and sweepers cost?

I'll give you ballpark figures, not exact quotes, since pricing shifts. Based on what we've paid over the last three years:

• Walk-behind floor scrubbers: $2,500 to $8,000, depending on cleaning width, battery type, and features.
• Ride-on scrubbers and sweepers: $15,000 to $45,000+.
• Used ride-on floor sweepers: usually $6,000 to $20,000, depending on age, hours, and condition.

The part that catches people off guard is accessories. A set of brush heads runs $200 to $600. A replacement battery pack can reach $1,000 to $2,500. Get your quote with spares included, or you'll be chasing approvals later.

As of early 2025, I'd say Comac sits in the middle-to-upper price range for its category. The support network and parts availability are what keep us coming back.

3. Walk-behind scrubber or ride-on sweeper: which one should I choose?

When we outfitted a new warehouse in 2024, I went back and forth on this for two weeks. The walk-behind offered flexibility—we could also use it in the distribution area. But the ride-on would cut cleaning time on the main floor by a lot. I ended up choosing a ride-on sweeper for the warehouse and keeping the existing walk-behind scrubber for the offices and break rooms. In hindsight, it was a no-brainer—the time savings were huge.

For your situation, here's a rough rule. Walk-behind floor scrubbers—also called walk floor scrubbers—make sense for small to medium areas, tight aisles, and spaces under maybe 30,000 square feet. Cleaning widths run about 20 to 27 inches. Plenty for offices, retail, schools, and smaller warehouses.

Ride-on sweepers shine on 50,000+ square feet of open floor or when you're running multiple shifts. A walk-behind covers roughly 10,000 to 20,000 square feet per hour. A ride-on does three to four times that. If your team spends more than two hours a day scrubbing, the labor savings from a ride-on usually justify the higher price.

4. What should I check before buying a used ride-on floor sweeper?

There are plenty of used ride-on floor sweepers for sale, and honestly, most of them look fine from across the lot. This is where I almost made an expensive mistake, so here's the checklist I now use:

• Battery age: Ask for the manufacture date stamped on each battery. Flooded lead-acid batteries usually last 4 to 5 years. If they're 3+ years old, budget for a replacement set—that's potentially $2,000 or more.
• Brush wear: Start it up and inspect the side and main brushes. Uneven wear usually means alignment problems or a bent deck.
• Squeegee blades: Heavy damage here suggests the previous owner ran over debris carelessly. Tells you a lot about overall maintenance habits.
• Service hours: Under 1,000 hours is light use for a ride-on. 2,000+ isn't a deal-breaker, but the price should reflect it.
• Maintenance records: If the seller can't produce any, that's a red flag.

In 2023, we bought a used ride-on and skipped the battery check. We saved about $3,000 on the purchase, then spent $2,400 on replacement batteries three months later. It worked out in the end, but the savings were way thinner than they looked. Five minutes of verification would've told me exactly what I was getting into.

5. What does "energy-saving floor scrubber" actually mean?

Every manufacturer uses that phrase. And per FTC guidelines (ftc.gov), environmental claims like "energy-efficient" need to be substantiated. Which isn't to say all the claims are false—just that you should ask what's behind them.

In my experience, the real energy savings come from four things:

• Brushless motors: More of the power goes into cleaning instead of heat. You feel the difference on a full shift.
• Battery chemistry: Lithium-ion charges faster and holds a charge better than lead-acid. It also lasts longer over the machine's life.
• Water recirculation: Less water and less chemical per pass means fewer refills and lower operating costs.
• Smart power control: PWM throttle systems avoid wasting energy on hard starts and aggressive speed changes.

But don't fixate on one kWh figure. A machine that uses a bit more energy yet cleans faster can still come out ahead on total cost. Test it on your own floor, measure the time, and decide with actual numbers.

6. What's the biggest mistake first-time buyers make?

Assuming two machines with the same cleaning width are basically the same. It's tempting to think you can just compare spec sheets and move on. But build quality, water management, corrosion resistance, parts availability, and dealer support vary a lot. The "same" machine on paper can perform completely differently from day one.

We made this mistake at a previous job. The company bought a lower-priced scrubber that looked nearly identical to our Comac—similar scrub width, similar tank size, similar battery. Within nine months, the brush motor died. Replacement parts took six weeks, plus expedited shipping charges. The initial savings disappeared completely.

Another thing I'd flag: don't ignore the floor surface. Polished concrete, epoxy coating, tile, and rough industrial concrete all need different brush pressure and sometimes different brush material. Get the right machine for your specific floor, or you'll be ordering different brushes within the first month.

7. How do I keep a floor scrubber running longer?

Prevention beats repair. I'll say that flat out because our maintenance budget has proven it. A simple checklist is the cheapest insurance you can buy.

• After every use: Rinse the tank and let it dry. Drain the dirty water. Stale tank water is the #1 killer of sensors, and it smells terrible.
• Weekly: Check brush wear, clean the vacuum hose, and fully charge lead-acid batteries. Preventing sulfation extends battery life significantly.
• Monthly: Inspect hoses and seals for cracks, test the emergency stop, and lubricate moving parts per the manual.

We didn't have a formal inspection process when I started here. After three avoidable repairs in one fiscal year, I created a checklist and made it non-negotiable. Since then, our repair costs have dropped by maybe 40%—I don't have the exact ledger figure in front of me, but the direction is unmistakable.

Five minutes of daily checking costs less than a single repair call and a day of downtime. Bottom line: build the habit, and the machine pays you back.