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Foot valves

J

Jim L.

Florida panhandle
This morning I went through 4 new Hydro foot valves (blue ones) before I found one that would hold. I know it wasn?t trash because they would not hold fresh water coming out of a bucket. It was 50 deg. in the equipment room.

Anyone know of a better foot valve or any tricks to make these things hold?
 
Well, this could be the "China Syndrome". I always grab a hand full out of the box and test them with my mouth before buying. I have the luxury of being able to buy locally. I find a high rejection rate with so~called cheap foot valves. The more expensive metal foot valves are more dependable.
 
I do not use many foot valves anymore. I put a John guest in line push lock check valve on most of my stuff. THey fit the 3/8 OD tubing that my stuff uses and they hardly ever fail. THey run about $6.
 
I no longer use the blue ones. Only the gray ones. The blue ones were not comaptible with some products. Gray ones seem to last forever.
 
Earl Weiss said:
I no longer use the blue ones. Only the gray ones. The blue ones were not comaptible with some products. Gray ones seem to last forever.
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Same here, even when I change out a Hydrominder hose the first thing I do is replace the blue foot valve with the grey. The blue ones don't hold up to our chemicals, except for the foam brush soap.
 
I also switched to the grey in place of the blue. I also cut off the bottom inch or so of the draw tube everytime I replace or even remove a foot valve. I learned this lesson after spending hours replacing and cleaning different foot valves on a particular chemical line. It keeps a tighter seal and less worry on my part.
 
I'm having the same problem.... every few days now I'm having chemicals siphoning back into the drums. Can't we find an "in-line" check valve of some type that will last forever?
 
Ben's Car Wash said:
I'm having the same problem.... every few days now I'm having chemicals siphoning back into the drums. Can't we find an "in-line" check valve of some type that will last forever?
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<<<

Easy fix. Drill a small hole in the hydrominder tube that goes down into the bucket about an inch below the rim of the bucket but above the fluid line. This prevents any siphon effect.
 
Earl Weiss said:
<<<

Easy fix. Drill a small hole in the hydrominder tube that goes down into the bucket about an inch below the rim of the bucket but above the fluid line. This prevents any siphon effect.
Click to expand...

This won't work for me... I'm using the I-WASH at the SS (where the foot valves are failing all the time). Would work in the Tunnel for the hydrominder though.
 
There are in line check valves with a minimum draw pressure, nothing will work forever but both failing at the same time would be rare.
 
I must be doing something right or maybe I?m using the right brand of soap. I haven?t replaced a Foot valve in I don?t remember how long, it?s got to be years. I use the Gray one on Presoak and the Blue one of everything else.
 
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