Do you heat your IBA water?

[TechGuy]

I have a WW HV that I'm pretty happy with... and seems to clean just as well (or better) than competitors (touchless) that I've tried in the area. However, there is frequently that "film" of road dirt left, which is especially noticeable on my white car. Nothing but friction seems to remove it... although it sure doesn't take much. After the touchless wash, the film can be easily removed by a light touch.

We currently use a two pass low/high, but have tried high/low and didn't see any improvement (perhaps even a little worse).

I've read that some people use heated water. We're a pretty small small wash and budget is a concern. Adding a water heater seems like a large up-front and continuing expense if there isn't much difference.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[MEP001]

Heated presoak, not high-pressure. There's a Rudy's barbecue here that heats everything, probably very costly. I doubt it affects cleaning.

 

[kentadel]

I have tried presoaks with cold water and found a huge difference in wash performance. Hot and softened is the only way to go for me.

 

[fatboy]

Check out this article from Kleen-Rite. I think they did a great job defining problem/solution.
https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-42018-touchfree-car-wash-chemicals.aspx

I use Lo followed by Hi and heat these chemicals.

 

[TechGuy]

I'm trying to think of some clever way to do a test wash to see how much difference it would make before investing to have a heater installed... perhaps use the existing electric water heater a few rooms over to fill the tank. I've never paid enough attention to notice just how much of the tank is used for the presoaks, but I'm sure it'd cool down pretty quick. Hmm...

 

[getnbusy]

I also suggest heating the chemicals.

However, for hot wash water, go to Tractor Supply and get one of those 110volt bucket heaters. I think about $40. drop it over in the tank and give her a try. It'll get so hot you cant put your hand in the tank. Heck that might even work over the new water heater. I think its worth a try. i might even give this a try myself. Prolly be a good idea to monitor the water temp and check your pump specifications.

 

[slash007]

I heat my presoak and wax. Paid a lot of money to fix my boiler so that the pre-soak would be heated and it cleans better then before. If you are slow then the tank will cool down, but when steady the water stays hot.

 

[TechGuy]

I also suggest heating the chemicals.

However, for hot wash water, go to Tractor Supply and get one of those 110volt bucket heaters. I think about $40. drop it over in the tank and give her a try. It'll get so hot you cant put your hand in the tank. Heck that might even work over the new water heater. I think its worth a try. i might even give this a try myself. Prolly be a good idea to monitor the water temp and check your pump specifications.

Interesting idea... the High Velocity tank is made of some kind of polyethylene plastic (not stainless)... I don't know at what temperature the plastic would start to deform, but I don't really want to find out. I may have to just put something under the bucket heater so that it's not directly against the plastic... hmmm...

 

[rph9168]

It is a good idea to heat your presoak but make sure the temperature does not go above 120. Preferably closer to 110. Overheating a chemical can create cleaning problems by adversely affecting the solution.

 

[Greg Pack]

I leased a self serve one time that had a commerical water heater that would not go BELOW 140. Needless to say the water was steaming hot, and seals in the pump had to be replaced more often. However, I could detect no significant difference in film removal with the hot water.

10-15 years ago, Coleman promoted heated auto wash water for a while. Back then, the sales rep/operator estimated it cost him close to $1 per car.

Although I could see this being a niche thing in snow country, I think it would be best to spend your money on better presoak and heat it.

 

[TechGuy]

I think it would be best to spend your money on better presoak and heat it.

Do you mean, "than heat it"?

 

[pgrzes]

I have a Washworld HV and am planning on putting an on demand tankless and running my chemical supply line from the heater. I would think its a waste to heat your rinse tank. On a busy day you would have a difficult time keeping that tank hot.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

I might have missed this in the thread. Does your high velocity not have the heated Preasoak package, where it heats the Preasoak and you can program what tempature you want it at. On my 4000 I have that and works great you can see the chemicals smoking on a cold day on the car when it has dwell time. If not I would most definitely have your local distributor hook it up and get you cleaning with hot chemicals makes a huge difference no need for hot rinse water.

 

[Waxman]

i wouldn't heat the rinse tank, that's crazy. i run my hot water at 120 but it is slightly cooler because it is mixed with cold at the presoak pump feed. seems to work fine for me. i suppose i could turn it up a bit when the cars are really cold...

 

[pgrzes]

My setup does not have heated tank. Its a single stainless tank. Planning on putting in a Takagi and heat all chemical applications.

 

[TechGuy]

Agreed. It would be nuts to try to heat the whole tank and all rinse water. I was just looking for a way to run a couple of test passes to convince myself that it's worth having an on demand heater installed.

Does your high velocity not have the heated Preasoak package, where it heats the Preasoak and you can program what tempature you want it at.

I've never heard of that... but I'm sure I would have spotted such options in the program if it were there. I'll have to call WW to see if it's available as an upgrade.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

Most defently give WashWorld a call I know a fellow got a brand new razor and his distributor didn't order the heated package thats a must have option in my opinion, he was wondering why the cars were not coming clean. I would do this before I spent one penny on a hot water heater.

 

[TechGuy]

I know that ours has the "cold weather package' with heat -- but I believe that just heats the bars, not the water. It has only an "on" temperature, under which heat is on (e.g. 40 degrees).

I just tried calling Washworld to see if they have some kind of water heating kit, but was on hold for a few minutes. I figure some other operators have more pressing issues on a Friday and this is rather low priority. I'll try again next week.

My HV owner's manual indicates a "1 inch Hose Cold Water Feed" as well as a "1 inch Hose Hot or Cold Water Feed". Perhaps presoak automatically feeds from the latter? I can't find any other mention of hot water in the manual... or when either of those feeds would be used. I never noticed them on mine, but I'm going to take a drive down and look more carefully today.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

Hey email jermey Keyser at WashWorld his email is jkeyser@washworld.com he has helped me in the past. It's just hard for me to beleive the Laserwash 4000"s older than a high velocity has on board heater for soaps only and the WashWorld don't. hey I might have learned something new today that the laser 4000 does and the HV don't. As for hooking up HP rinse water hot I know PDQ and WashWorld offers a kit for that and its a solinod and fittings extra hose that plumbs into the 2"inch water inlet side going to your cat pump. email Jeremy and ask him and he should let you know I am curious my self now. Good luck

 

[wash4me]

If you have a hot water connection close to the pump stand that hooks to the chemical pump it would be unnecessary to have a heater on the pump stand. This can be accomplished with a simple circulation pump from your normal hot water heater. It could be set up so that when the enter light comes on that will trigger a circulation pump to run for five minutes while the wash is going on to ensure that you have the hottest water available at the pump stand. The demand water heater would work as well but it would be much more expensive.