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Methanol Foam Brush Soap

Methanol is made from natural gas and I?ve been hearing that natural gas is supposed to take a big hike this fall upwards of 15-20%. This hike is also going affect electric rates also.
 
Randy said:
Methanol is made from natural gas and I?ve been hearing that natural gas is supposed to take a big hike this fall upwards of 15-20%. This hike is also going affect electric rates also.
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I just read that natural gas is expected to go down because the market is tied to the price of oil which appears to be sliding.
 
Maybe in the short term, but gas will trend back up over time. Just my .02

Has anyone ever thought of using windshield washer fluid to keep the lines from freezing? Any ideas on how to do it?
 
Bubbles Galore said:
Has anyone ever thought of using windshield washer fluid to keep the lines from freezing? Any ideas on how to do it?
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For about 5 years, my FB winterizer works with standard foam soap and windshield washer fluid.

The system uses an Idec Smartrelay, programmed to wait for the FB input from each individual bay.
IF? the temp output #2 from the Weepmizer is ON,
AND? the FB input is turned ON, the program waits for the FB input to go OFF.
Once the FB input goes OFF, the Smartrelay then energizes the ?anti-freeze" solenoid for that bay. The Smartrelay?s output is timed to allow the washer fluid to be pumped to the brush?anywhere from 8 seconds for the closest bay to 30 seconds for the far bays.

The program also energizes ALL of the Smartrelay?s outputs when the temperature drops to the setpoint of the Weepmizer for more than 5 minutes. This reduces consumption should the temperature hover at the setpoint. I believe I have the Weepmizer?s output #2 setpoint programmed to 35 degrees. The Weepmizer?s output #2 also turns on my trough blower and warm water circulator keeping the trough nice and toasty.

The system required a NC solenoid, a tee fitting, some ?? poly tubing and a check valve for each bay, plus a Flojet pump and pressure regulator set to 30psi. I draw the washer fluid from a 15 gallon drum. I already had the Weepmizer. The washer fluid injects into the FB liquid lines just before the tubes leave the equipment room.

I?ve had only 2 or 3 brushes freeze in the 5 years the system has been in operation. I use an average of 30 gallons of washer fluid per season?from Sam?s Club?about $1/gal.

It works great?much better than the original air-blow-out system or the water weep system (which resulted in very large icicles hanging from the brushes). And, I get great foam year round using the same foam brush juice and ratio.
 
We are doing the same thing described above with one more step. After the customer finishes brushing the PLC waits 30 seconds then starts a 10 second air only blow down that repeats every minute for 5 minutes to blow out the liquid. After that there is just a 3 second squirt of windshield washer fluid. Our through is also heated.
 
We have very mild winters, but it may freeze overnight 2 or 3 times a year. The evening before a freeze is forecast I'll pour a few gallons of -20? windshield washer fluid in the tank and add some blue tri-foam as an indicator and run each bay until the lines are cleared of the freezable stuff. I've worked out a simple changeover system if we ever start having harsher winters like we did in the 80's, but for now the manual method is more than sufficient.
 
How did you rig your hydro minder with the three tips? Has it helped when doing a changeover for temperature change...anyway to automate this tip change process?
 
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