Self-service wax setup

[ACTcarwashlover]

Hey guys, I wanted to ask what’s everyone’s opinion on wax? As in how do you have your wax set up for your self service bay? Plus what is your preference, hot or cold wax? Does it come out of the main gun or a separate gun? Is it high-pressure or low-pressure?

I’m building a self service Bay from absolute scratch and I’m wanting to have hot low-pressure wax coming out of a separate gun there is a wash near me that has a high-pressure gun with a mosmatic style Foamer on the end To make it a foaming wax

 

[Wash4Life]

Our waxes are cold. We have Lemon Glo coming out of the main gun. One of our washes has triple foam wax coming out of a separate gun. Lemon Glo is high pressure. The triple foam I would describe as low pressure.

 

[washnshine]

Hey guys, I wanted to ask what’s everyone’s opinion on wax? As in how do you have your wax set up for your self service bay? Plus what is your preference, hot or cold wax? Does it come out of the main gun or a separate gun? Is it high-pressure or low-pressure?

I’m building a self service Bay from absolute scratch and I’m wanting to have hot low-pressure wax coming out of a separate gun there is a wash near me that has a high-pressure gun with a mosmatic style Foamer on the end To make it a foaming wax

If you are only offering one type, offer a high pressure wax out of your wand. Customers will also use it to rinse and it will cause some shine and water repellency- it’s the bread and butter/entry-level wax. Offering low pressure foaming waxes out of your high pressure wand is good - they will require some extra rinsing - good for meter time. Separate applicators and foaming waxes are usually reserved for the higher end products - carnauba waxes, high shine polishes etc.

 

[ACTcarwashlover]

The reason why I thought about having wax on a separate gun was so that way I can have a larger nozzle to flood the car with hot wax,

In order to make high-pressure wax so it goes through the pump, I would need to grab another chemical pump so it can dose the wax Into the waterline before the high-pressure pump,

Although I did think about having some high pressure Venturi‘s so instead of the chemical going through the pump or even being held diluted in a tank,

while the pump is running The bay panel could open a solenoid which sends the chemical through the solenoid into the Venturi diluting it and creating high pressure functions, does that sound too complicated?

 

[washnshine]

High pressure wax is injected into your high pressure line the same way high pressure soap is and it will be after the pump. Anything that is low pressure - like foam brushes, tire cleaner or a foaming wax will have its own low pressure pump stands with hydrominders and its own injectors that deliver product to the bays.

This is all generally pre-plumbed and ready to go when you buy self serve equipment- not really something you have to put together on your own, unless you are building your equipment from scratch, which some people do.

 

[MEP001]

The reason why I thought about having wax on a separate gun was so that way I can have a larger nozzle to flood the car with hot wax

That could be a great marketing thing. FWIW the waxes I use don't care if the water is hot or cold, but customer perception is most important. I keep thinking about ways to have a hot presoak, which I will advertise. I know a guy who invented a hot foam brush system, he had boxes on the roof with a water heater element in them that heated the foam.

In order to make high-pressure wax so it goes through the pump, I would need to grab another chemical pump so it can dose the wax Into the waterline before the high-pressure pump, Although I did think about having some high pressure Venturi‘s so instead of the chemical going through the pump or even being held diluted in a tank, while the pump is running The bay panel could open a solenoid which sends the chemical through the solenoid into the Venturi diluting it and creating high pressure functions, does that sound too complicated?

An injector will do what you want, but it will also reduce the pressure by about 20% and will create a maintenance point. Self serve car washes rarely use an injector, the "normal" way is to have a tank with water, a tank with soap, and a tank with wax. The water tank is the default source for the pumps, and there are solenoids that open to allow soap or wax to flow. It's dead simple, the solenoids last for decades, and no other parts other than a check valve somewhere to prevent backflow from weep or spot free.

 

[ACTcarwashlover]

I have seen the normal way, but I also have seen variants of that, such as in one case having multiple high-pressure pumps per Bay, It’s all good and well following the normal but when your mind wants to think out of the “triple tank” why not see how it leads? And that’s actually a pretty cool idea, with me what I would’ve thought to have a small instant hot water heater since it’s pretty low flow if you have a hot foaming pre-soak it’ll also help with cleaning as well because with every 20°C the temperature is raised the cleaning power is raised by 10% so I’ve heard, please do correct me if I’m wrong

 

[washnshine]

if you have a hot foaming pre-soak it’ll also help with cleaning as well because with every 20°C the temperature is raised the cleaning power is raised by 10% so I’ve heard, please do correct me if I’m wrong

Hot will clean better than cold, it’s not that simple to say x% per x degrees. There are lots of variables. But still, yes hot will be more effective.