How Do You Test Dryers Strength? (cars still wet)

[Carl]

I have a Water Wizard 1.0 automatic that has four end-of-bay freestanding Mac Neil dryers (2 center, 1 on each side). I don't think I'm drying as well as I used to? But all four dryers are still working.

Is there a way to test the strength (blowing force) of these dryers to determine which one (or more) might be causing the poor drying effect? These dryers are 9.5-years-old. What kind of life have you gotten from your dryers' motors before they've gotten "weak"? I just want to improve my drying quality but am having a hard time determining how to find the cause of the poorer drying quality. Any advice? Thanks! - Carl

 

[robert roman]

Carl,

In order to get a dry car, you must first have a clean car.

The Wizard 1.0 is a good machine but, like most touch-less in-bay systems, getting the grime off can be a challenge.

If you don’t want to bring in a qualified technician (not salesman) as in fixing the problem yourself, you are pretty much confined to trial and error approach.

If you are using single step cleaning, you may want to try ratcheting up concentration to see if you can clean better without flashing the surface.

You may also want to try two-step cleaning – alkaline followed by acidic to create heat of neutralization.

Depending on your climate and environmental conditions, this may give you better cleaning results, thereby improving drying quality.

If cleaning is not an issue, I would look next to the drying agent – is it too strong or too weak.

As for the dryers, you could measure RPM’s with a strobe light or measure noise with a decibel sound level meter and compare the data with the manufacturer’s specifications.

Another possible cause of a wet car can be reclaimed water.

 

[Carl]

didn't think of that angle...

Robert,

Thanks for that info. I didn't stop and think how maybe my dryers are truly 100% fine and my problem is actually the cleanability of this bay instead. Will look w/ different eyes at this problem now and progress...

I appreciate it!

~ Carl

 

[soapy]

Another thing you might try is using a amp meter on each dryer motor to see if they are drawing close to the same amps. A high reading on one may indicate a worn motor. I always go through my IBA and look for the wax cycle to bead the water so I get a dry car.

 

[Buzzie8]

I have water wizard 1.0's as well. The solenoid valves go bad below the clear coat tank and you also need to choke off the fresh water feed to the cat pump (until it cavitates then back just a bit until it stops) for it to pull wax. If you are getting a good "break" from your clear coat application and still not getting a good dry then I would check your blower motors. Mine are less than 9 years old and all have been replaced at least once. Some twice. When they were replaced they were not working at all and tripping the starters.

 

[Greg Pack]

I would guess your dryers are probably fine. I have three bellanger 10s at one auto and the cars are pretty dry if the chemistry is right. You most likely need to improve the beading process. If the water is not breaking after SFR, that is your problem.

If this is a new problem, you have a couple of areas to look at. Did you recently change any chemicals? As mentioned the car has to be clean and the paint in good condition for the water to bead. Increased presoak alkalinity can impair beading. Did you change to a stronger high ph? Did you remove a low ph pass? Did you change tri colors?

This process can be enhanced with a protectant type tri color product. I also use two wax passes in a row to allow the wizard to apply sufficient wax. The first is high pressure, followed by medium pressure. You also have to put a big tip in to get the proper dilution on the car. I often use a tip in the red-blue range.

As mentioned, the seal on the wax plunger can swell, occluding wax flow. You can dissasemeble and shave the rubber off flush with a razor blade.

I only have one firstgen wizard but converted it to low pressure wax. It works well to bead and help dry.