leaking foam brush.

[carbe]

Almost all bays in my SS leak foam brush soap when foam brush is on in a different bay, happens mostly when foam brush is used in the adjacent bay but it doesn't has to be adjacent bay, and some bay is worst than other. It is not much of the leak but its there, even on the days the bay is not used i see the foam brush soap leak spots.
Any thoughts on this, is it any check valve issue or is the pressure too high??!!
i keep the compressor to about 40psi.

thanks

 

[Jeff_L]

If all of them leak when one is on, I would suspect it'd be something they all have in common. If you run your FB soap into a manifold with solenoids, you may want to inspect that first.

 

[Earl Weiss]

If all of them leak when one is on, I would suspect it'd be something they all have in common. If you run your FB soap into a manifold with solenoids, you may want to inspect that first.

Ditto. I am guessing that over time the valves have gotten gummed up or corroded and are not sealing properly.

 

[carbe]

ok ..i will check the check valves, will update.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

I don't get it.

I think you solenoid valves arent sealing. The two posts above say the same thing. Your response is that you are going to go check the check valves?

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

+3, its almost certainly the solenoids.

 

[2Biz]

+4 But ALMOST ALL are leaking???


I found a FB solenoid leaking about a year ago and it fills up the line starting in the ER. No Foam just liquid.... Are your lines "clear" inside the ER so you can see whats in them? Might give you a hint as to where to start looking for the problem. Although my foam generators are in the ER and the lines that go out to the bays are clear 5/8 id poly tubing...Yours may be different.

 

[Randy]

It could a couple of things that will cause this problem. The Foam brush Solenoid valves could be sticking open causing leak by. It could also be the check valves in the foam brush weep system that have failed. If you have needle valves on your weep close those valves and test the foam brush system in each bay. If it stops then you know it’s the not the foam brush solenoid valves but the check valves in the foam brush weep system. I had the same problem last winter, turned out to be the foam brush weep check valves.

 

[Jeff_L]

...my foam generators are in the ER and the lines that go out to the bays are clear 5/8 id poly tubing...

Not intending to hijack this thread, but your foam generators are in your ER? How's that working out for you? Doesn't the foam turn back to liquid after not being used for awhile? Does it take awhile for the newly generated foam to get out to the bay? Just curious because I haven't seen that type of setup before. My foam generators are above the bays.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

Not intending to hijack this thread, but your foam generators are in your ER? How's that working out for you? Doesn't the foam turn back to liquid after not being used for awhile? Does it take awhile for the newly generated foam to get out to the bay? Just curious because I haven't seen that type of setup before. My foam generators are above the bays.

You didn't ask me, but I'll answer anyway.

I have one wash that is set up this way. I see no difference at all in the foam or how fast it appears in the bays. It has one 1/2' line going to the bay instead of two 1/4' lines. I don't see any advantage or disadvantage one way over the other.

 

[Jeff_L]

You didn't ask me, but I'll answer anyway.

I have one wash that is set up this way. I see no difference at all in the foam or how fast it appears in the bays. It has one 1/2' line going to the bay instead of two 1/4' lines. I don't see any advantage or disadvantage one way over the other.

I think the only advantage would be to have more "stuff" in the ER. I like to have as few things outside of the ER as possible. I don't think I'll go through the trouble to re-route everything to make this happen, but it is kinda interesting.

Thanks.

 

[MEP001]

I've seen a few washes with the generator in the room. The reason they were done that way was there was an air purge on the one 1/2" line instead of a weep. At least one of the washes had the equipment room at one end of 8 bays, so the farthest bays took a while to get foam, but the rest worked well.

 

[MEP001]

Almost all bays in my SS leak foam brush soap when foam brush is on in a different bay, happens mostly when foam brush is used in the adjacent bay but it doesn't has to be adjacent bay, and some bay is worst than other. It is not much of the leak but its there, even on the days the bay is not used i see the foam brush soap leak spots.

How is the foam brush system set up? Describe it as best you can.

If you expect help, do those that are trying to assist you the courtesy of returning to answer questions and give updates of what you've done in a timely manner.

 

[Randy]

We only have one car wash with foam generators in the equipment room. It doesn’t take long for the foam to come out of the brush. The other washes don’t have foam generators only one hose that goes out to the bay. Air and soap are mixed in a ¼” “T” in the equipment room and goes out to the bay, it’s never been a problem.

 

[2Biz]

Here's a picture of my Foam Generators...I believe they've been set up this way in the ER for over 20 years. Works great...Only takes a few seconds to get foam out to the bays, even 3 bays away from the ER. Plus its instant foam, no liquid. My pump stand is an old Mark VII. I believe it was set up like this when it was new. It also had a manual air blowdown like Mep described. Its mounted on the front of the PVC generator. I don't use the blowdown. I use Methanol mix which works pretty good with this setup.

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW don't use foam generators and don't seem to need them. Plenty of room for soap and air to mix in the 20+ feet of hose and FB handle from the "T" to the Brush.

 

[2Biz]

No argument from me! Mark VII Equipment surely isn't the most maintenance friendly equipment out there. But what I have works flawlessly and I'm not changing it till its broke...

BTW...My Trifoam mixes air and chemical right above the bay...After the "T" there is a short piece of 1/4" brass pipe (maybe 2" long) with a nipple on it to attach the hose to the bay. Inside this short piece of pipe is what looks like finely wound coils of stainless steel. Just another method to make foam....