Anyone use Hydraflex Evo?

[APW]

Curious if anyone has ever installed or seen a system like this on a self serve. Thinking about installing one at my four bay.

Chemical Dispensing

hydraflexinc.com

 

[MC3033]

I absolutely love Hydraflex and their panels. As far as tunnel operation goes the flexibility and consistency has been amazing. I feel we get better quality, better show and a lower cost

That being said I’m unsure that you would ever see an ROI on a self serve. I’m not sure the price on this system but the 40gpm systems for tunnels get awfully expensive

 

[DavidM]

I don't have the Hydraflex version but I installed similar system from Innovate It. It uses the Dema injectors and has a complete control system.
It supplies our presoak, bug remover, tire cleaner, foam brush, triple foam, and low pressure wax.

Our customers love it and are definitely spending more time in the bay. We are using a foam gun to apply most of the products and the show is much better than using the high pressure gun.

I will likely add it to our other sites as well.

David

 

[MEP001]

I have only a little hands-on experience with Dema MixRite and Dosatron pumps, none of which has been very good. Tire cleaner seems to eat up the Demas, and they haven't been lasting more than a couple years before they stop pulling chemical. My business partner bought a wash that uses them, and only the foam brush works properly because the water pressure is so low. The guy he bought the wash from has two other washes with Dosatrons, and every time I turned the water off to one to service something downstream it would leak when I turned the water back on.

 

[DavidM]

I guess I should have been more specific. The system uses the Dema Rocket injector, not Mix Rites. It is fed by a pump creating consistent pressure and higher pressure than a flojet.

 

[Greg Pack]

The Evo works fine on my Istobol after I changed a couple of injectors to different flow rates. I don't have any experience in the self serve with these. My questions is how would the mixing be consistent? The system is based on flow rates of product for proper dilution draw. When you have tire cleaner running in one bay you obviously have a different flow rate than you would for if four bays are running. So my question would be how do that while maintaining product consistency?

 

[DavidM]

Each bay has a separate injector for each product.

The pic my tire cleaner panel before I installed it. The injectors connect to the quick connects at the bottom then the lines from the injector go to each bay. This is for my 4 bay SS

 

[traveler17]

Curious if anyone has ever installed or seen a system like this on a self serve. Thinking about installing one at my four bay.

Chemical Dispensing

hydraflexinc.com

I know someone who has this in their wash and love it!! Seriously considering it for my wash. Sick of flojets

 

[Earl Weiss]

I know someone who has this in their wash and love it!! Seriously considering it for my wash. Sick of flojets

You will trade any flo jet headaches for more involved and expensive pressure pump, motor starter headaches. Easy and comparatively cheap to keep and swap out a flo jet.

 

[traveler17]

You will trade any flo jet headaches for more involved and expensive pressure pump, motor starter headaches. Easy and comparatively cheap to keep and swap out a flo jet.

It’s why I’ve been considering it, pros and cons to both. I agree bigger ain’t always better , just weighing options

 

[DavidM]

Earl is partially correct, the pump is more expensive than flojets. However, don't forget to account for the lost revenue and upset customers with more frequent failures. Every failed Flojet = the price of the pump + the price of refunding customers and irritating customers until you find out it failed and get it replaced.

Also worth noting, I would need nine flojets for the functions I am offering in my bays. I am only using one booster pump, so for a complete system, the pump and motor is actually cheaper than the flojets would be. It will also last far longer than flojets.

Most importantly, it looks better in the bay for the customer.

David

 

[mjwalsh]

We looked into hydra-flex before finalizing all the build on our dog wash. The issue we had was the add'l space requirements involved for hydra-flex vs optimizing injector action. Near zero space requiring injectors might need more preventive care such as timely replacing old (no longer soft enough) plastic tubing etc ... once we got onto the nuances that can cause injector problems ... we feel we made the right choice.

 

[APW]

Earl is partially correct, the pump is more expensive than flojets. However, don't forget to account for the lost revenue and upset customers with more frequent failures. Every failed Flojet = the price of the pump + the price of refunding customers and irritating customers until you find out it failed and get it replaced.

Also worth noting, I would need nine flojets for the functions I am offering in my bays. I am only using one booster pump, so for a complete system, the pump and motor is actually cheaper than the flojets would be. It will also last far longer than flojets.

Most importantly, it looks better in the bay for the customer.

David

Can you post some pics of you setup? How is each function plumbed out to the bay? Cancel that, I went back and saw your pic.

 

[MEP001]

I have worked on D&S self serve equipment that I was told was developed with Hydraflex, and uses a lot of the same components. Injector failures are common, there are a lot of injectors, and they are expensive. I'd take Flojets any day over the troubles these guys are having with failed injectors and solenoids. Also, I really wouldn't want to rely on one pump for everything. If I had that system and needed a replacement pump, it could possibly take a week right now.

If you're having a lot of failures with Flojets, try tightening the screws before you install them. I started doing that about fifteen years ago, and between that and making sure the air supply is clean and dry, I never get less than five years out of them. I keep two spares, and with the quick-change mount it takes less than a minute to swap one out.

 

[traveler17]

Earl is partially correct, the pump is more expensive than flojets. However, don't forget to account for the lost revenue and upset customers with more frequent failures. Every failed Flojet = the price of the pump + the price of refunding customers and irritating customers until you find out it failed and get it replaced.

Also worth noting, I would need nine flojets for the functions I am offering in my bays. I am only using one booster pump, so for a complete system, the pump and motor is actually cheaper than the flojets would be. It will also last far longer than flojets.

Most importantly, it looks better in the bay for the customer.

David

Yeah it looks great and not having to worry about my empl

I have worked on D&S self serve equipment that I was told was developed with Hydraflex, and uses a lot of the same components. Injector failures are common, there are a lot of injectors, and they are expensive. I'd take Flojets any day over the troubles these guys are having with failed injectors and solenoids. Also, I really wouldn't want to rely on one pump for everything. If I had that system and needed a replacement pump, it could possibly take a week right now.

If you're having a lot of failures with Flojets, try tightening the screws before you install them. I started doing that about fifteen years ago, and between that and making sure the air supply is clean and dry, I never get less than five years out of them. I keep two spares, and with the quick-change mount it takes less than a minute to swap one out.

What route do you take keeping moisture out of the lines ?That’s my main issue!!

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Why is everyone having such issues with Flojets? I can honestly say any location that I have them at they're quickly forgotten about since I never have to touch them. I keep a spare on hand as they're cheap. With this set up you better have one of those pumps sitting on the floor ready to go. And like MEP said, injectors aren't cheap.

 

[traveler17]

Why is everyone having such issues with Flojets? I can honestly say any location that I have them at they're quickly forgotten about since I never have to touch them. I keep a spare on hand as they're cheap. With this set up you better have one of those pumps sitting on the floor ready to go. And like MEP said, injectors aren't cheap.

One location I have is fine, the other I can’t keep moisture out of the lines and I’m assuming that’s why it picks and chooses why it’s locking up. Thoughts and suggestions?

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I wish I could offer some suggestions but like I said, I've had very few issues. One question regarding your setup though, are your flojets under constant pressure or is there a solenoid killing the air to the pump? All of mine have an air solenoid for the pump.

 

[traveler17]

I wish I could offer some suggestions but like I said, I've had very few issues. One question regarding your setup though, are your flojets under constant pressure or is there a solenoid killing the air to the pump? All of mine have an air solenoid for the pump.

The site I’m having issues w is under constant pressure. Never gave that a thought I guess because my first site is also under constant pressure and never have issues

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I don't know if that's your issue or not, but I can't think of any downsides really to having a solenoid kill the air to the pump when not in use. A plus to using an air solenoid is that if one of your bay solenoids gets some trash in it or doesn't close 100% for whatever reason, you don't pump away an entire bucket of product.