Data Standards

What our evidence labels mean

Manual / manufacturer source

The cited document supports the specific statement within its stated model, region, revision and configuration. The citation does not establish that the statement applies to your individual machine.

Editorial aid

A checklist, comparison or reporting template created to help organize information. It is not a manufacturer procedure or a record of a repair.

Reader report

A submitted observation or reported outcome. It stays unverified unless the supporting evidence and relevant scope are checked. One report does not establish the most common cause.

Field evidence / technician review

These labels require an actual observation or completed review, with the person, date, machine scope and permission documented. The current model guides do not claim a named technician review.

Unverified / not established

The available evidence does not settle the claim. This can include an unlisted serial range, a different battery option, regional compatibility or a reported repair that has not been confirmed.

What a useful citation contains

• Manufacturer and full document title.
• Document number, revision and publication date as printed on the document.
• Model numbers, region and options covered, plus relevant exclusions.
• The printed page number and, when different, the PDF viewer page.
• A link to the source and a source-check date for the statement being checked.

A source-check date is when the document was examined. It is different from the manual’s publication date, the page’s update date and a technician’s review date.

Example from our T7 reference: service document 331045, Rev. 00 (12-2004), printed page 25, PDF page 29. Its historical third-party-hosted copy is labeled as such. The document’s identity does not turn the hosting site into the manufacturer. Read the source and limits in context.

How sources are selected

1. Start with the manufacturer’s applicable operator manual, service reference, parts catalog or product specification.
2. Check what the document actually covers. An English document or a shared download folder is not proof of North American or all-model applicability.
3. If only a historical copy is available, identify its origin, age and hosting limitation. Do not present it as a current manufacturer-hosted document.
4. Use forum posts or reader submissions to identify questions to investigate. They do not override an applicable manufacturer instruction.
5. When documents conflict or compatibility cannot be established, state the gap and direct the reader to the manufacturer or qualified service.

We link to documents and summarize the supported facts. We do not reproduce whole manuals, copy a competitor’s article or treat AI output as evidence. See the manual selection checklist.

Model and serial boundaries

Match the full model suffix, power source, voltage where relevant, control panel, scrub head, region and installed options. A serial break printed beside one accessory or diagram applies to that reference; it does not establish the coverage of every procedure in the manual.

Brand relationships do not prove parts interchangeability. A visually similar component, a shared model family or an unverified seller listing is not enough to publish a compatibility claim. See parts research and fitment checks.

Corrections and reader contributions

1. Report: send the affected page URL, quoted claim, proposed correction and a manufacturer source with revision and page through Contact. Send equipment observations through Equipment Help.
2. Separate evidence: identify what was observed, what a document says and what remains a suspected cause.
3. Check scope: compare the cited document with the model, region, option and relevant serial range before changing guidance.
4. Record a substantive change: the article’s change log should state the date, what changed and the source. A changed page date alone is not a correction record.
5. Credit with permission: do not publish the submitter’s name, contact details or private machine/site information without permission. A public acknowledgment does not imply professional certification.

Not every submission leads to a published change. Unsupported reports can remain unverified, and response times are not guaranteed. Do not send passwords, payment details or unrelated personal information.

What “reviewed” is allowed to mean

Source review means checking a cited document. Technician review means a real person with a stated, supportable background reviewed the identified material. On-machine inspection means the specific machine was physically inspected. These are separate activities.

A technician credit must reflect completed work and permission to publish the name. The record should retain the scope, date, corrections and relevant experience. We do not add reviewedBy, credentials, inspection claims or review dates to structured data when they are not supported in the visible article.

Original photos, comparisons and case counts

Original photos need a known subject, capture context and permission to publish. A manufacturer image or AI illustration must not be represented as our field photograph. Comparisons identify the specific documents and configurations compared.

A future case summary must state how reports were collected, the date range, inclusion rules, duplicate handling and confirmation limits. Counts from a self-selected forum sample describe that sample; they are not equipment failure rates or a representative ranking of causes. No such field-frequency dataset is currently claimed in the model guides.

Safety is model-specific

The model guide distinguishes observations from service work. It does not authorize bypassing an interlock, probing live wiring, removing protective guards or recreating a dangerous fault. Battery, electrical, hydraulic and raised-hopper work requires the applicable manufacturer procedure and qualified personnel.

A generic instruction must not override the matched manual. In particular, ventilation and charging instructions depend on the battery and charger configuration. Follow the relevant document and workplace procedure; a key-off condition alone does not prove electrical isolation.

Policy update

October 16, 2026: expanded evidence labels, citation fields, source hierarchy, model boundaries, correction records and requirements for review credits and original material. Prepared by CleanEquip Pro Editorial.