cta

[Jimmy Buffett]

I want to add a chemical foam applicator in my auto to come on after my spinners. I want to spray the wheels and rocker panels on my top wash. Sonny's has a unit that will work but is fairly expensive. This has not been a great year at the wash and the cash is not flowing quite as freely as in the past (crappy economy and the second rainest year in history in central KY). I'm wondering how "buildable" one of these systems might be. I have a blue white pump on the shelf and I have a spare floor tape switch laying around so it seems that I may already have 2 of the most expensive parts that I need. I would have to pay a tech to install and do some of the assembly. I was thinking I could just accumulate the parts as cash flow permits and once I have everything do the installation. Does it make sense for a guy who is not particulary handy and time constrained to try this or should I just buy a unit and suck it up? What else would I have to have?
Thanks

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I really like the DIY approach, but that's just me. If you aren't extraordinarily handy and don't have the time, I would probably just bite the bullet.

 

[DiamondWash]

Will the chemical stay on the vehicle/wheels due to the amount of water being sprayed on it prior?

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

I think that it will. I'll only do it on my top wash that has 15 secs of dwell for bug spray already.

 

[MEP001]

I want to add a chemical foam applicator in my auto to come on after my spinners.

I've considered doing the same thing, but if I do I'll eliminate the side spinners and leave just the undercarriage. We don't get salt and very, very rarely get muddy vehicles in the auto, and I don't feel like the spinners are doing anything but wetting the cars and weakening the presoak.

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

You know the more I look at it the more concerned I am about the water from the spinners being a problem. They would have to be pretty far back to get the rear of the vehicle. I wonder if it is feasible to put the sprayer onboard and spray a different chemical on the wheels and rocker panels. That would give decent dwell on the front wheels and right behind them, the hardest places to clean, but would be pretty short on the back-end as the brushes begin in the rear.
Maybe I should have gone with the cta instead of the spinners but I was trying to do away with that pre-rinse pass. I thought about just adding chemical thru the spinners but I don't see how the chemical would stick long enough to be effective.

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

I have been trying to use 2 tape switches to turn the cta on and off. It seems to be kind of hit and miss whether it actually hits the wheels or not. I think I'll switch it to a timer and just spray the whole side. How long is long enough to leave it on? 10 seconds? Less?

 

[MEP001]

My thoughts would be to use several tape switches and a PLC or programmable relay with a number of fixed sprayers. Each sprayer would come on for a very short time when the wheel hits the switch, then the next switch would start the next quick spray, etc. It would be easy to program it so it would only come on progressively so someone backing up wouldn't start it again.

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

I'm leaning more toward a "kiss" (keep it simple...) method. I think that they may eventually figure out that it stays on for x number of seconds and if they don't get their wheels covered it's on them not me. Coming on progressively as a good idea. Now some of them go back and forth and every time they hit the tape switch it starts the cta. I'm spraying a tremendous amount on the floor.

 

[whitescout]

I don't know what kind of auto you have, but couldn't you just put the applicators in the bay so when the average vehicle is parked, the "sprayers would hit the wheels? You could then use the first cycle start to apply the tire cleaner.

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

Ummm. What?

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

Oh I think I see what you are saying. There is too much variation in vehicle size to try to place them to hit wheels on a stationary vehicle and I don't want to sacrifice the time to dedicate a full pass. That would seriously cut down on the dwell time as well. Thanks.

 

[RykoPro]

You could use the wash to do most of what you want to do, it all depends on what program and revision level you currently have. Its fairly cheap to upgrade to a newer program if needed. Here is something I found for the Softgloss XS:
TSpryRkrPnl? YES/NO Answer “YES” if tire chemical will be applied to both the tires and the
rocker panel area. If answered “YES” and both fixed undercar and tire
spray options are present, the undercar input and the tire spray input can
be tied together so that only one input device is needed for both options
Answer “NO” for normal tire spray operation or if tire spray is not
installed (25696-000 Rev L or later).

 

[ToFarGone]

Use a set of telco eyes...Dultmeier...they have a built in relay. As long as they are blocking the eyes it will spray. Set them low and only wheels will turn them on. My auto has this built in. Works like a charm. You will need the eye to come before the nozzle as you enter and angle the nozzle slightly towards the entrance of the bay. Hard to describe but easy to do. If you are powering with DC there are cheaper options than the Telco too.