Tunnel heat units

[Sparkleclean]

Anyone have any recommendations for the best type of heating units in a wash tunnel? We are in New Hampshire and are currently experiencing temps to -16 this week, my modine units are having trouble keeping up. It got me wondering if they are the best option for heating the tunnel. What does everyone else use in cold climates? We have propane for heat here so that is my restriction. I currently have two modine units at the entrance and one at the exit but they never feel hot. They aren’t like standing under a radiant heat tube that gets mounted over garage doors in mechanic shops. My big problem is we are busiest when it is cold and my windstar doors end up open almost all day, then the modine struggle to catch back up. I am wondering if there is a better heater or maybe even one of those air curtains you see at big box stores over their doors which shoots a curtain of hot air down over the door when it is open. They come in lengths up to 144” ......

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Here’s an article that I found about a car wash chain in Chicago.
https://www.esmagazine.com/articles...-chicago-carwash-running-during-winter-months

I’ve also used Cambridge Enginering Heated Air Curtains at the entrance and exit since the 70’s. Works great.

 

[Ric]

Here’s an article that I found about a car wash chain in Chicago.
https://www.esmagazine.com/articles...-chicago-carwash-running-during-winter-months

I’ve also used Cambridge Enginering Heated Air Curtains at the entrance and exit since the 70’s. Works great.

I would like to see some pics or videos of these in use at a carwash. Looks interesting.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Anyone have any recommendations for the best type of heating units in a wash tunnel? We are in New Hampshire and are currently experiencing temps to -16 this week, my modine units ...

How many BTUs each unit? How long is the tunnel?
I Run a 300K BTU at entrance and exit for 100ft building and a third in the center for 150' foot building. I am in Chicago and with lows of -7 so far all is good.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Also, do you have the ability to warn the water going to any of your applications?

 

[Sparkleclean]

How many BTUs each unit? How long is the tunnel?
I Run a 300K BTU at entrance and exit for 100ft building and a third in the center for 150' foot building. I am in Chicago and with lows of -7 so far all is good.

I am not sure of the btu's of the units. I will have to check them. I have 2 smallish modine blowers at the entrance and one larger one at the exit. I have a 60 foot conveyor so the tunnel is maybe 80ish feet overall. Its small.

If you stand in the air flow of the ones at the entrance it feels like cold air. I have other ones that you can feel the heat coming out of them, but these two dont feel that way. My big problem is these units just blow cold air across hot water pipes bringing the temperature up only a few degrees every time it passes through the unit. But with the doors open almost constantly in winter it is always heating outside air a few degrees and never builds temps until the doors close. I like the idea of an air curtain but want to know how they work in real world situations in the car wash industry. Like customers driving under them with windows open, expense of operation, noise, etc....

I also cant help but think i need something different altogether like radiant heat tubes or something that throws heat instead of blowing luke warm air. Right now i have had to close my tunnel for the first time because of extreme weather in the 4 years i have run it. Tonight its supposed to get down to -14 degrees tonight and earlier while running, and being busy, i had to close because my prep guns, which are 15' into the tunnel entrance, started freezing up because the doors were open almost constantly. Today i was a victim of success. So busy that it caused me to close because there is no good heat in the tunnel.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Give Cambridge a call I’m sure they can answer all your questions and give you a solution to your problem.
tel:+18889194779

 

[Earl Weiss]

. But with the doors open almost constantly in winter it is always heating outside air a few degrees and never builds temps until the doors close.l.

Perhaps the heaters need to be positioned differently. The inlet side should not face the open doorway. They can be put on a diagonal so the back is more toward a side wall.

 

[gearhead]

Getting ready to install a 400K BTU Cambridge unit into our new 60ft tunnel conversion w/XRS doors. Have heard nothing but great things about them. We are now using a 250K BTU natural gas torpedo heater at the end pointing towards the entrance. So far ok running at 0 degs F. We load outside so we do get the doors down for very short periods of time. Haven't had the all day freight train here yet. But close.

 

[Sparkleclean]

Getting ready to install a 400K BTU Cambridge unit into our new 60ft tunnel conversion w/XRS doors. Have heard nothing but great things about them. We are now using a 250K BTU natural gas torpedo heater at the end pointing towards the entrance. So far ok running at 0 degs F. We load outside so we do get the doors down for very short periods of time. Haven't had the all day freight train here yet. But close.

What is it costing you to add the cambridge?

 

[gearhead]

The external wall mounted unit cost us about $9k + install.

 

[Sparkleclean]

OK so I'm hoping someone can help me understand this because i think my boss got screwed when this was all put in to the wash years ago. the tunnel has 3 modine units. they are all 86,000 btu's each. 1 at the exit and 2 at the entrance. the entrance ones are one facing the exit door and the other faces the side wall. the two entrance units dont feel like hot or warm air blowing out of them. the exit unit feels luke warm.

they are run by a weil mclain ultra 310. thats a 310,000 btu unit. however that furnace also provides heat to the baseboard heat in the office (8 feet long) as well as 3 other blower units in other areas and the lines run through my attic at one point to heat my self serve bay hoses.

the tunnel is only 80 feet long maybe? i think the conveyor is 60 feet. two wyndstar doors, one on each end. am i crazy thinking this is severely undersized for this application? i know the furnace went in only 7ish years ago but the installer has a rep for not knowing his **** and only wanting to do installs and not service calls. is 3 86k btu units too little for this application? how can you tell if one of these is still working? i dont think the air coming out is hot.

 

[Sparkleclean]

my modines are these....

https://www.ecomfort.com/Modine-HC8...IzU7kTwMDNY1_Wj79NqNWg4c5R_fFwKRoCNJsQAvD_BwE


https://www.ecomfort.com/Modine-HSB86S01/p48477.html

 

[Earl Weiss]

is 3 86k btu units too little for this application? how can you tell if one of these is still working? i dont think the air coming out is hot.

Where are you located and what types of temperatures are you experiencing?

 

[Sparkleclean]

middle of new hampshire and its been down to -16 here in the last few weeks. couple nights ago it was -6. but while we run during the day and are busy these units just run and run and run blowing cold air around. im wondering about air curtains and radiant tubes. but i assume what i have now is undersized?

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW I am in Chicago and would not consider less than 2 330K BTU modines for a tunnel up to 100' and my tunnels over that have 3- one in the center.

Entry and exit units (Except where i have a right turn exit) are positioned a foot or so off the sidewall a couple of feet inside the door angled 45 degrees or so across and down the length of the tunnel. The position does not have them draw outside air directly into the unit. I think we were only down to -7 this year and no ice inside but I did notice once my wheel applicators near the entrance were not working.

 

[Earl Weiss]

................ the installer has a rep for not knowing his **** and only wanting to do installs and not service calls. .

I have found in this industry that certain electricians, contractors and plumbers know the car wash operations and can do the job. The rest my be geniuses for most projects but are sadly lacking knowledge in how to do things in a car wash facility.

 

[patkelly1336]

Not sure if this will help but we are in Wisconsin where the cold and windy days bring all sorts of customers through our 100 foot tunnel. We have a gas fired ceiling tube heater spanning the entrance driver side that fires up below 50 degrees. We also have our heated dry furnace set to kick in at the exit tunnel area when the temperature drops too low at the end of the tunnel. On most days we have our entrance door set to close when the vehicle crosses the enter eyes. On extremely cold days we will have the exit tunnel door close between washes and it is set to automatically open when the vehicle is about 15 seconds from the door. We installed a switch to trigger an emergency stop if the door fails to open all the way.
Our entrance and exit pavement to about 15 feet from the building has radiant heating underground.

Our doors are pneumatic controlled.

 

[Sparkleclean]

Not sure if this will help but we are in Wisconsin where the cold and windy days bring all sorts of customers through our 100 foot tunnel. We have a gas fired ceiling tube heater spanning the entrance driver side that fires up below 50 degrees. We also have our heated dry furnace set to kick in at the exit tunnel area when the temperature drops too low at the end of the tunnel. On most days we have our entrance door set to close when the vehicle crosses the enter eyes. On extremely cold days we will have the exit tunnel door close between washes and it is set to automatically open when the vehicle is about 15 seconds from the door. We installed a switch to trigger an emergency stop if the door fails to open all the way.
Our entrance and exit pavement to about 15 feet from the building has radiant heating underground.

Our doors are pneumatic controlled.

Any shot of you emailing me a photo of what you have?

 

[OurTown]

This was asked earlier in the thread but is there hot water coming through the prep guns? If not, plumbing that in may be a quick solution until the heaters are figured out.