I am having a problem with my power rain automatic. My automatic has onboard dryers but as it is drying the other spray nozzles are still dripping water all over the car. I have a blowdown that blows the excess water out of the lines but I still get quite a bit of water dripping on the vehicle. I was thinking I need some type of valve at the lowest point that would open up and let the water gravity drain to the floor to prevent water from coming out of the nozzles as it is drying. I didn't really want to add high pressure solenoid valves to do this. Does anyone know of a dump type valve or a maybe a spring loaded check valve that would open if the pressure drops below like 15 psi that could be used to drain the water. My system runs at 1500 psi so it would have to be a high pressure valve. I would also welcome any other ideas or like to know how other automatics do this.
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IBA Water Drips On Car
- Thread starter sparkey
- Start date
I have this problem with a Jim Coleman WW2.0. But my dripping water comes from the nozzles on the side of the boom spraying water onto the underside of the top of the gantry during the wash cycles. There is a rotating center nozzle that is supposed to blow it off but doesn't do a darn thing. Do all automatics have this problem in one way or another?
Is your blowdown running long enough? When it is clearing the lines, do you see the water from your top nozzles turning into an airy mist? I'm assuming it is the top nozzles that are the culprit.
Is your blowdown initiating from a low point, and perhaps not lasting long enough and/or reaching the top to thoroughly clear out the top nozzles?
Just my initial thoughts to make sure what you have is functioning as well as it can before you have to modify.
Is your blowdown initiating from a low point, and perhaps not lasting long enough and/or reaching the top to thoroughly clear out the top nozzles?
Just my initial thoughts to make sure what you have is functioning as well as it can before you have to modify.
I have plenty of blowoff, (9 seconds) and yes it does blow down. The problem is it seems like it clears the upper nozzles out but there is still some water in the lower nozzles that still seep water. Thats why I was thinking if I could get get some kind of valve that would open up at floor level the remaining water would just drip to the floor.
Chuck Ivey
Member
The original Ryko Monarch touchfree machines had a valve that drained the water from the arms. These little valves didn't last very long before they just stuck open. The customer advertised the machine as touchfree but it had a full set of mitter curtains. I wish I had taken some pictures. 
cleaning up mud
Member
On board vs. stationary
we have both, after all the water on the gantry the stationary works better!
we have both, after all the water on the gantry the stationary works better!
DiamondWash
Well-known member
The original Ryko Monarch touchfree machines had a valve that drained the water from the arms. These little valves didn't last very long before they just stuck open. The customer advertised the machine as touchfree but it had a full set of mitter curtains. I wish I had taken some pictures.
I wish I could see one of those again you sure you don't have any pictures????
It would be very cool to see some of the older makes and models and machines - both conveyor and IBA. The Slant Brush, Bernardi, older Hanna and Sherman - some cool older stuff.
I know there is a picture section on the forum, but maybe we could get a "blast from the past" picture section going and upload some of these older gems - if anyone has photos to share. Always wished I snapped a few shots of the first tunnel I worked at.
The original Ryko Monarch touchfree machines had a valve that drained the water from the arms. These little valves didn't last very long before they just stuck open. The customer advertised the machine as touchfree but it had a full set of mitter curtains. I wish I had taken some pictures.
Was this valve a solenoid or just a mechanical valve? If it is just a mechanical valve it sounds like what I am looking for. Hopefully someone will have more information on this valve so I can locate one.
Chuck Ivey
Member
The valves were mechanical. But they just didn't hold up. We changed a bunch of them and we only had one of these machines to service. I "think" the valves were made by Spray Systems Inc but don't hold me to it.
soapy
Senior Member
I still have one of the Ryko Monarchs and it has a electric solenoid dump valve. I have never had a problem with it in 8 yeas of use. It opens up after each wash and drains the manifolds after the wash portion of the wash. I have not looked at them in a long but I would guess that they are a normally open solenoid that receives a signal to close during the wash or presoak cycles and simply return to the open mode when those systems shut off.