Water damage to IBA control box

[Overachiever]

Would you pay this invoice?

I have a relatively new Razor Edge, started washing cars end of February. I used the distributors recommended electrician.

We had a few days of nonstop rain and I used it as an opportunity to take a break from the car wash and when I came in the machine was out of service.
Looked in the control box and noticed a little bit of water at the bottom of it. Long story short a VFD was fried and water damage isn't covered under warranty.

I still haven't figured out where the water came from, so I'll probably be in a similar scenario again at some point. Everything seemed to be bone dry the last time it rained. The conduit going to the driers is the only thing exposed to the outdoors so you'd think its the only possible thing it could be but there wasn't any evidence of water on the wires during the last storm.

Only other thing I can think of is the thermostat for the infrared heater was filling up with water and tripping a breaker and maybe it backed all the way up to the control box somehow and the rain was just a coincidence. I complained about that in May/June but they didn't seem in a hurry to come fix it so I fixed it myself a few days ago.

I feel like this is something I shouldn't have to be dealing with, it could have been a lot worse, and it sucks that I'd have to pay a bill for it. What do you guys think?

 

[chaz]

Maybe condensation in box. I’ve got drain holes drilled in bottom of box

 

[Overachiever]

There is a drain hole in the corner and I didn't see any evidence of water coming out of it. There wasn't enough water in the box to pool up and drain out of it. The VFD that had the issue was in the middle of 3 of them. You think the heat in the box is creating enough condensation to do it?

I put a few bags of silica gel beads in there to hopefully help out.

 

[chaz]

I had a similar issue years ago....luckily no expensive parts but lots of trouble shooting. Finally found issue in box drilled holes and checked all connections all good since

 

[MEP001]

Is it possible the water ran down the wires into the VFD? Maybe backtrack those wires and see if there's any chance it could have come in that route. It may not help your case, but you certainly don't want it to happen again. I've seen some severe issues caused by installs by licensed electricians, including one where they hung lights through the roof panels with toggle bolts, and the lights and conduit filled up with water until it was pouring out of the bottom of the breaker box.

 

[mac]

This does seem like a warranty issue. If the box is factory installed with no modifications they should cover it. And out of curiosity, I am assuming that there are no holes or conduit or cord grips going to the top of the box. That is a big no no.

 

[Overachiever]

No holes going into the top of the box, I believe they had a sticker up there saying not to do so.

Here's a picture I took the day I was having the issue to get an idea of the amount of water I'm talking about. That middle VFD in the bottom left is the one that was bad. You can see a little bit of water on the bottom of the box, there was a little more on the right side of the box also, the drain hole is on the right side.

 

[Greg Pack]

Is that a vent right next to your VFDs?

 

[Overachiever]

Yes, also another vent in the top right corner.

 

[mac]

The only explanation I can come up with is that there might be a high pressure water leak somewhere. Over the years I have noticed that leaks tend to hit the most expensive thing in range.

 

[mac]

I also find it kind of curious that someone who manufactures a car wash machine would not cover water damage. I can see if someone left an enclosure open that would not be covered, but that isn’t the case here.

 

[WW Service Team]

Feel free to give us a call, we would be more than happy to provide you with any information or suggestions on how to find where the water is coming from. We are also going to want to get photos and information on the location of the control cabinet and any of the surrounding equipment. Give us a call so we can further assist you.

Washworld Technical Support

 

[DiamondWash]

Is that control cabinet in the bay or in the equipment room?

 

[PEI]

Are you sure this was caused by water damage? It is unusual that the VFD closest to the vent didn't get wet, just the one sandwiched between the other two. I would think that this could only happen if the water dropped straight into the Trolley VFD, which would lead me to check the door seals.

 

[Overachiever]

Is that control cabinet in the bay or in the equipment room?

It's in the equipment room. I believe the requirement for the control cabinet was that it has to be mounted right next to the pumpstand for the IBA.

Are you sure this was caused by water damage? It is unusual that the VFD closest to the vent didn't get wet, just the one sandwiched between the other two. I would think that this could only happen if the water dropped straight into the Trolley VFD, which would lead me to check the door seals.

I didn't see any evidence of water anywhere around the control cabinet or on top of it. Maybe condensation was raining down on it?

Feel free to give us a call, we would be more than happy to provide you with any information or suggestions on how to find where the water is coming from. We are also going to want to get photos and information on the location of the control cabinet and any of the surrounding equipment. Give us a call so we can further assist you.

Washworld Technical Support

Thanks, I'll give you guys a call when I get a chance.

 

[getnbusy]

I agree with chaz. To me it looks like a lot more water than condensation but I'll throw in for you checking the ceiling on the inside of the box. You may have condensation there. If so you can better ventilate your equipment room and/or turn down the heat a bit. I say this because to me it looks like water stains on the top of the vfd on the center and also the one on the left, so im thinkin it could have dripped down.

The conduits outside the box in the bottom left of picture look wet to me. take an hour and activate/operate everything in the room. Probly got a spray comin from somewhere.

Id drag my feet a day or two for the payment and try to identify the real problem asap. If its just one of them thangs, id pay it. If its truly the result of something somebody did wrong, we'd talk about it and go from there

 

[JGinther]

Is that not water on the wire bundle in the upper left? Sure looks like water on the wires to me between the wire tie and the panduit. I would assume the water ran down the wires, into the panduit, and rained right into the top of the drive. Did the drive blow the caps? That's usually a tell tale sign of water failure.

 

[Overachiever]

Is that not water on the wire bundle in the upper left?

I don't think it was water as I ran my hands down those wires and didn't feel anything but when I opened the box up that those wires go to the same day there was condensation at the top of the box, no standing water in it though.

Did the drive blow the caps?

I'm not sure if the caps were blown or not, the service tech took it with him when he pulled it out and there wasn't much investigation done at the time.

I'll run through all the options for the self service bays today and see if anything bad is happening.

 

[mac]

I don’t buy any of this condensation talk. I’m in south FL where we have 90% humidity year round and have never seen it on the inside, always on the outside of things.

 

[hedwigpong]

It seems unfair that you'd have to foot the bill for something out of your control. Have you tried reaching out to the distributor or the electrician to see if they can offer any assistance?