Bay pulsating

[strandon]

I have a Ginsan self serve car wash system and we have 1 bay that has major pulsation that I have had a hard time figuring out. It was bad enough I thought it was losing water intermittently from the solenoid being de-energized every so often. The solenoid for both the hot and cold water work fine, I took the regulator off and jumped the leads out and had water at city pressure. I tested to make sure the leads were getting 24v after the relay when the car wash was set to high pressure rinse or soap. They were.

This particular bay has a new pump as of today (so no cavitation), a new zero pressure regulator and a new pressure flow control. These are the only items in sequence that I thought might be affecting the pressure.

I have attached a picture of our bay equipment. I also have a video of what the wash does while your using it.
Any help would be appreciated. Is there a better product to use than the zero pressure regulator, it seems to cause much of our normal pulsating when the equipment is running fine.

A picture of my equipment.

View attachment 746

 

[Jeff_L]

I was going to say your pump head was washed out our your pump valves are bad, but since it's a new pump that's unlikely. To zero in on the problem, hook a garden hose up to the inlet of the pump and run it to see if you still get the cavitation. This will help you locate the issue (pump or after, or stuff before the pump).

 

[strandon]

Ill give that a shot tomorrow and see what happens. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Randy]

There are a couple of things that could be causing your problem. You could be starving the pump for water or you could have an air leak somewhere in the chemical supply lines. We used a Generant regulator instead of the zero pressure regulator, if you go that route you might have to use an injector on the chemical feed line.

 

[strandon]

How and where would the injector be hooked up. Currently our soap and wax tie into the side of the zero pressure regulator and release the chemicals when the solenoid opens.

 

[strandon]

I bypassed the regulator and hooked straight into the pump. It has to be a lack of water causing the problem because it runs like a dream like this. The amount of water flowing through the zero pressure regulator is insignificant compared to the line pressure from the city, no adjusting the regulator seems to make any difference on the flow.

 

[Randy]

How and where would the injector be hooked up. Currently our soap and wax tie into the side of the zero pressure regulator and release the chemicals when the solenoid opens.

I use this Generant regulator https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-32...2-pressure-regulator-hc-series-5-125-psi.aspx and just downstream I use this DEMA 203C injector https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-16...ries-water-flow-adjusted-with-orfices-12.aspx The Generant regulators last for years as do the DEMA injectors.

I've never been a big fan of the Zero Pressure regulators, they don't seem to last very long.

 

[strandon]

It looks like there are several ways to hook this up. How is it done at your wash, or which method seems the most effective? Currently the high pressure chemicals come in at the regulator before the pump.

 

[Randy]

It looks like there are several ways to hook this up. How is it done at your wash, or which method seems the most effective? Currently the high pressure chemicals come in at the regulator before the pump.

Are you getting a good flow of water to your Zero pressure regulator? It's pretty simple, Generant regulator, DEMA injector, pump. Send me an e-mail and I'll send you some pictures.

 

[MEP001]

The zero-pressure regulator may be bad, or there's a leak in the tubing lines between the soap/wax solenoids allowing it to draw air to the pump. I'd recommend replacing the fittings with the John Guest ones from Kleen-Rite and make sure you use a loop of tubing so there's no strain on the fittings. The tubing fittings you have now are notorious for the seal failing over time, especially if there's no pressure on them.

 

[Jeff_L]

I didn't ask before, are you having this issue on all HP functions or just HP w/ chemicals? If the former, then it's most likely the regulator. If the latter then something w/ the chemical injectors. Are you pushing the chemicals in w/ a pump or are you drawing them in? If the former, then them chemical pump is set too high maybe.

 

[MEP001]

He's using a zero-pressure regulator which is fed city-pressure both hot and cold - when those regulators go bad they generally deliver full pressure through and don't cause a flow restriction. If there's any air leak on the plumbing it will draw air and pulsate on all selections.

 

[mrfixit]

Well funny to stumble onto this thread..
Edit-
Started a zero pressure specific thread with my questions.

http://www.autocareforum.com/showth...ulator-set-up-tips-any-good&p=95465#post95465