What brand Triple Foam setup is this?

[Mchas]

I have this triple foam setup at one of my locations and would like to figure out where it came from so I can add the same type at another location. It is well made and simple and only has one flojet and is very compact and I like better than the ones I see for sale now.

Anyone know who made this?

 

[MEP001]

I can tell you that Dralco made the tank, because I designed it with them when I worked for a distributor, and they just stuck it in their catalog unchanged without charging us the engineering fee.

It's a very basic thing. I can answer any questions you might have about it.

 

[Mchas]

Thanks MEP. After doing some more googling, it looks like Dultmeier sells a version with the same tank but with a separate panel off to the side they has a motor and rotary pump. (Great tank design by the way - nice job!)

How hard would it be to convert it to use a flojet and mount all of the equipment on the tank like mine? This Dultmeier one takes up way more space and I don’t have much left. It also has a lot of empty space which is a waste.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[MEP001]

The way I designed it has it reversed, with flanges on both front and bac, the front for a 12 x 12" stainless board. The Flojet mounts with holes on the right side. My setup still has a separate box, so it won't really save you any room. You could mount the solenoids and controls on a narrower board above the tank if you have the room.

 

[Mchas]

In your opinion, which company makes the best triple foam system these days? Air Logic, Dultmeier, Gin San, .. any other options? From pictures alone the Dultmeier looks like the best design but mainly just basing that on the fact that mine has been very good over the years and theirs looks most similar.

 

[2Biz]

I have the Dultmeier TF system. The previous owner purchased it but never installed it. He purchased the 3 bay system for a 4 bay...Never quite figured this one out...None-the-less, I installed it and converted it for the 4 bays...Only other modification was to put above tank hydrominders in....I despise hydrominders that are hard plumbed in the tank below the lid. Too hard to work on! I had to cut the lid to make it work against the wall, but never had any issues with the modification. I also installed high level cutoff switches that shut off the water supply in case a hydrominder fails (its like that spare part on the shelf, the one in service never fails!)... Been installed now for about 12 years. Never an issue after the mods. Mine has a procon pump....You set pressure using a bypass valve on the procon pump. Don't know if I'd like a Flojet on this system?? You'll get more pressure with the procon, mine is set at 80psi. The procon has proved to be flawless. The system also comes with 1/4" tubing...It works SOOOO much better with 3/8" out to the bays!

 

[Mchas]

Very helpful thanks! I agree the hydrominder inside the tanks isn’t ideal (can’t count the number of times I have dropped a screwdriver into the tank and had to fish it out since there is barely enough room for my hands in there) but I like the idea of having it covered vs open like the Air Logic etc versions. Your idea to cut the lid just before the hydrominder is a good one.

And you’re probably right the Procon is better than Flojet. I just wish they didn’t have such a large second panel to have to mount.

 

[MEP001]

I despise hydrominders that are hard plumbed in the tank below the lid.

When I designed it originally, they wanted the smallest possible footprint for the tank, so I measured and had the tanks make so a Hydrominder would just fit and operate properly. The only modification to anything was to put a longer nipple between the two street elbows between the valve and the eductor so the chain could be removed completely and the float weight hooked directly to the wire to maximize tank volume. It's very easy to service the valve in the tank. I hate the valves clamped to the tank edge because it's a pain in the ass to service the seals, and the tank gets crap in it (Crickets are a huge problem here every few years and they get into everything). The worst part is that you have to pull the Hydrominder out to change the tip, but how often do you have to do that?

All the systems we installed had Flojets. They work fine, usually last three years or so with Viton, rarely more than a year with Santoprene. I've set up a few for customers using Procon and it works about the same, just slightly longer changeover time with the extra plumbing of the regulator and bypass.

I've done both 1/4" and 3/8" tubing on installs, I choose 3/8" if the option is left to me, but at 70 PSI on a Flojet I can't tell a difference unless the longest run is over 100', which it has been.

 

[Mchas]

I will say you did a fantastic job sizing it to be as small as possible and fit *exactly*. I do end up taking the hydrominder tip out more than you would think though, like if the foot valve fails (see the other recent thread) and the solution is too weak and I have to pull in a lot more chemical to get it back to where it should be. I have dropped the hydrominder tip in the tank a few times too - that’s extra fun. I actually bought a long handle fishing net specifically for this!

But I still wonder - why go through the trouble of making the tanks as small as possible, only to then add a giant second panel for the rest of the equipment? It makes way more sense if it’s all attached to the tank like mine and can be really compact.

 

[MEP001]

The complete system I designed has a box that mounts next to or above the tank which was smaller than the tank, not a giant board with everything on it. The solenoids for the bays are on a panel attached to the front of the three compartment tank. The idea was to make the system fairly easy for one person to install, which I did many times, and with the plan of building them to be shipped, which we did I think maybe twice. With the new builds we did there was usually plenty of room, but I installed some of these where there was almost no room to spare.