I currently do not have soft water but am looking into water softeners right now. I know most everyone runs waters softeners now but my questions is do you soften everything? just the low pressure functions? everything but rinse water? For you guys that heat water what functions do you heat? Im currently thinking that I am only going to heat the low pressure functions. Is this normal? I assume that having hot water mixing with the chemicals at the hydrominder is important but what about after they mix and are setting in the holding tank? Are immersion heaters common for keeping chemical hot while they sit in the holding tank waiting to be used?
Soft Water and Heated Chemicals
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chaz
Active member
Chaz, thanks for the reply. I’ve tested my water with the hardness test strips and best I can tell the hardness is somewhere between 7 and 15. Do you heat your chemical with a water heater and do you use immersion heaters?
OurTown
Well-known member
We soften everything and heat HP soap and wax functions but do not have immersion heaters. They stay warm for many hours and only after a really slow day do the tanks feel cold. From what I understand the air injected into low pressure functions cool the chemical down by the time it hits the bay so it might be a waste to heat those.
MEP001
Well-known member
You don't need to mix liquid chemicals with hot water through a Hydrominder. That would be a waste, although I have seen a couple of oddball washes with hot water plumbed to the foam brush to keep mold and slime from growing in the tank.
I've set up washes with hot presoak. For the most part it doesn't work all that much better, keep in mind I'm in Texas where cars are already 140° when they pull in. It definitely works better in the winter. IMO it's a great customer perception thing and should be advertised in some way. I set up presoak with as little air as possible, just enough to make it fan a bit better, not enough to cool it down. It would be a good idea to have an immersion heater, just set it lower than the incoming water temp so it only maintains heat.
At your hardness range you should be softening everything, unless you have an automatic bay. There's no need to soften undercarriage or high-pressure rinse there.
I've set up washes with hot presoak. For the most part it doesn't work all that much better, keep in mind I'm in Texas where cars are already 140° when they pull in. It definitely works better in the winter. IMO it's a great customer perception thing and should be advertised in some way. I set up presoak with as little air as possible, just enough to make it fan a bit better, not enough to cool it down. It would be a good idea to have an immersion heater, just set it lower than the incoming water temp so it only maintains heat.
At your hardness range you should be softening everything, unless you have an automatic bay. There's no need to soften undercarriage or high-pressure rinse there.
chaz
Active member
Yeah...I’d soften all in your situation. I heat with a boiler and large storage tank. No immersion heaters. You may also want get a better hardness test kit
My wash currently has 1 rinse tank and the water from the rinse tank mixes with the diluted hydrominder chemicals before they enter the pump. So currently I have 1 tank that provides water for my rinse and hp functions. If I were to heat my high pressure functions would it be more economical to heat all my rinse water or purchase a second tank and have one tank designated for hot water and hp functions and one tank designated for cold rinse water?
MEP001
Well-known member
It would probably be easier (and better for the pumps) to have a solenoid for rinse water. You'll need to add a check valve between the tank and each pump so the city pressure won't back up into the tank. If you add a tank for cold water you'll need motorized control valves which are expensive and can be a bit temperamental.
MEP001 thanks for the reply, currently my water for all my bays comes out of the rinse tank then through valves and down to the pumps. If it is a hp function then the chemical is added in after the water passed through through the valves via a solenoid. In your opinion would it be easier just to heat the rinse water ans forget about adding additional cold water tank for rinse?
MEP001 thanks for the reply, currently my water for all my bays comes out of the rinse tank then through valves and down to the pumps. If it is a hp function then the chemical is added in after the water passed through through the valves via a solenoid. In your opinion would it be easier just to heat the rinse water and forget about adding additional cold water tank for rinse?
Debatable I guess....I installed new hot and cold tanks over 4.5 years ago and used motorized Erie valves. Not a single issue yet. I got the valves from Supplyhouse.com for $79 each. They are still the same price...So Not too expensive. They seem to work ok for me....
I soften water down to zero grains and the whole wash uses softened water except for weep. I don't heat any of the hydrominder tanks and use cold water for mixing chemicals. I only heat 2 functions in the bay, wash and wax. Rinse is cold. Another benefit to using the motorized Erie valves, no troublesome CV's to fool with and there is no way to starve a pump with the Eries, even if one fails to switch between hot/cold. So pick your poison, there are many ways to plumb a pump stand... I wouldn't have done mine any different!
MEP001
Well-known member
That's a good price - last time I bought some was direct from Erie. I don't remember what the problem was but there were issues with most of them.
No, I'm using an HTP High Efficiency Modulating Condensing 55gallon 199K BTU NG water Heater....Its awesome!
MEP001
Well-known member
No, I've heard some washes up north use hot rinse in the winter, but it doesn't get that cold here.
