Add-Ons to a New Water Wizard 2.0 to Enhance Not Regret? (Lava Foam?)

[Carl]

My 13-year-old WW 1.0 recently treated a pick-up truck like a low-profile vehicle thus amounting to over $4,500 in damage claim from three boom hits to its top so this & some other issues finally made me decide I need to upgrade and invest in a new 2.0 machine. Been fascinated w/ the "lava foam" such as Mr. Foamer's or others who offer it, as an add-on to help charge more for such a "special wash" but...

..."lava foam" works great in a tunnel wash but in an in-bay automatic where a car sits stationary, what I notice is residual drip of lava foam throughout the rest of the customer's wash and that's not a great end wash result. (not talking about Mr. Foamer's...talking about a different company's version that I am looking at)

I have seen modifications where on a WW 2.0 you take the two top side gantry spot-free hoses and put these instead into a "rain bar" to then dispense spot-free through the lava foam equipment to flush out residual chemical but one of the things I really liked about the 2.0 machine is the way it dispenses spot-free water so well w/ those top side nozzles and to modify this just to flush out residual lava foam makes me hesitate in wanting to add "lava foam" until I find a way to fix this problem w/o having to not utilize the spot-free nozzles which I believe were great-dispensing as designed by Jim Coleman Company. The lava foam is 3rd party equipment and not made by Jim Coleman Company so before I purchase a 2.0 machine I wanted to find a way to have "lava foam" and rid the residual drip problem yet still utilize the great-dispensing JCC spot-free nozzles.

Has anyone added "lava foam" to their in-bay? How do you deal w/ the residual drip problem? Have you been pleased w/ your "lava foam" add-on? How much are you charging for your wash that includes the "lava foam" option?

Thanks so much!

Carl

 

[GoBuckeyes]

There are a bunch of different ways you could flush out that lava arch. It just depends how complicated you wanted to get. You could pull a 3/8" polyline out to your gantry that simply flushes it with fresh water for x amount of seconds after the lava function shuts off. Or, I'm not familiar with the Wash Wizard but rather than disconnecting those spot free hoses you were talking about, why not T into the spot free hoses and T into the Lava Arch. Then you could run the majority of your spot free through the nozzles you referred to while only letting enough spot free flush out the lava arch by throttling it with a needle or ball valve. Just some ideas.

 

[Carl]

GoBuckeyes - Those are great ideas! Thanks for sharing them. Really helps me be able to keep the original JCC spot-free top side gantry nozzles in place when I buy a new Water Wizard 2.0 rather than lose them simply to flush out that lava foam that so many are reporting has a negative of continuously dripping during the rest of the wash process when put in on some in-bay automatics. Really appreciate the help! - Carl

 

[robert roman]

Lava effect foam is a gimmick to up-sell customers and to get operators to buy more equipment and chemical.

Hot wax and paint sealant programs can cost between $5,000 and $20K. Hot wax requires 4 to 6 oz of product per application.

However, lava “effect” has little to no bearing on performance of hot wax.

Properly diluted and applied through a rain arch or conventional rinse arch with nozzle holders, the hot wax will work the same as if it were applied as foam.

It’s not the foam but rather the ingredients that causes hot wax to work.

In other words, hot wax can be applied by any in-bay automatic, friction or touch-less.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

You could apply Hot Wax with a Super Soaker and save yourself a ton of money on equipment. Don't forget, the sizzle is as important as the steak, sometimes more important. I don't think Simoniz's Hot Wax is all that great, I have other products that work better, cost less and aren't separated half the time when they arrive but their signage and marketing is great. In this case, I believe the sizzle is more important.

 

[soonermajic]

Go Buck John Coopers,
which products do you think are better than Simoniz Hot Wax & why?

 

[washnshine]

Go Buck John Coopers,
which products do you think are better than Simoniz Hot Wax & why?

Ditto on that - I would be interested in what products you feel outperform the Simoniz hot wax.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I have had great success with Diamond Shine's WeatherGuard product. I've applied it several ways including low psi through regular spray nozzles, through pods, as well as lp through a rain arch. I have seen others apply it under HP but I think you lose all of the 'show' by doing so. The product is yellow, foams well and has a grape scent. Using about an ounce and a half a car through triple foam pods I can still smell the fragrance when I park my car in the garage.

 

[carwashireland]

I know this is an older thread but I added a top mounted lava wax arch. Originally I had a tray which looked great but dripped and spilled terribly during the drying cycle. I solved this by just mounting a stainless bar with small holes in it and taking the tray away. I used the triple shine pump on a 2.0 and it looks great with very little drip. It seems to drip only when the air is turned up too high!

 

[MEP001]

Wrong thread...

 

[cleaning up mud]

My 13-year-old WW 1.0 recently treated a pick-up truck like a low-profile vehicle thus amounting to over $4,500 in damage claim from three boom hits to its top so this & some other issues finally made me decide I need to upgrade and invest in a new 2.0 machine. Been fascinated w/ the "lava foam" such as Mr. Foamer's or others who offer it, as an add-on to help charge more for such a "special wash" but...

..."lava foam" works great in a tunnel wash but in an in-bay automatic where a car sits stationary, what I notice is residual drip of lava foam throughout the rest of the customer's wash and that's not a great end wash result. (not talking about Mr. Foamer's...talking about a different company's version that I am looking at)

I have seen modifications where on a WW 2.0 you take the two top side gantry spot-free hoses and put these instead into a "rain bar" to then dispense spot-free through the lava foam equipment to flush out residual chemical but one of the things I really liked about the 2.0 machine is the way it dispenses spot-free water so well w/ those top side nozzles and to modify this just to flush out residual lava foam makes me hesitate in wanting to add "lava foam" until I find a way to fix this problem w/o having to not utilize the spot-free nozzles which I believe were great-dispensing as designed by Jim Coleman Company. The lava foam is 3rd party equipment and not made by Jim Coleman Company so before I purchase a 2.0 machine I wanted to find a way to have "lava foam" and rid the residual drip problem yet still utilize the great-dispensing JCC spot-free nozzles.

Has anyone added "lava foam" to their in-bay? How do you deal w/ the residual drip problem? Have you been pleased w/ your "lava foam" add-on? How much are you charging for your wash that includes the "lava foam" option?

Thanks so much!

Carl

our 2.0 did the same thing to a van! more damage then that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good luck!!!!!!!