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Odd Streaking

S

seattleguy

Member
Here is a weird one for you guys. I had a customer complain that our WW left some odd streaking on his '01 Gold Subaru. It is blue vertical streaks on either side of the car. Nothing on the top. When I rub it, it seems to come off but there is some white powdery stuff left behind and kind of loose on the top. The only blue material is the tri foam process, which is a polish. Any ideas what could cause this?
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I would check to see if you perhaps have the blue tri foam tipped at a lower dilution than the other two colors. If so, that's probably your problem.
 
Also check for tri color leaks on the gantry. This is especially possible if you are using a lo ph tri color product as it may have eaten the brass fittings.
 
Tired, fourteen year old, never been waxed, slightly oxidized paint.

A good cleaning, polishing and waxing will likely resolve and resist future staining.
 
Let me guess they got the cheapest wash pkg available?? They havnt washed car in months, and they want you to have the car detailed for them?? I usually give a rewash and send them packing!!!!
 
The sun will likely bleach it out in a day or two. We were using a CCP when we got a batch that was staining pretty badly.
 
pgrzes, im with you, the older I get its hard to put up with people that complain that their car they haven't washed in months did not come clean, and they of course got the cheapest wash.
 
Was it the first wash after a long idle time? Perhaps your tri-foam concentrated in your lines, so they got extra dye on their car that didn't wash off. I've seen that with my IBA after sitting for multiple days of rain. I'll usually just run the tri-foam before the day starts to knock out any concentrate. Haven't had an issue since.
 
pgrzes and cleaning up mud, I don't understand your attitudes regarding this??? The customer isn't a bad guy here. The car wash put some blue crap on his car that didn't rinse off. He has a valid complaint. Seattleguy needs to clean it up, no doubt about it. How do you guys treat a customer that has a valid complaint at your wash?
 
I am generalizing here. It just seems as though its always the bottom washers that complain. I always offer a refund on a complaint of a wash in our touchless, or I will turn on a bay for them if they prefer. Im not going to detail a car that hasnt been washed for 4 months of a bad winters salt and brined up car!! If they come at me with an attitude they can pack up!! I wont deal with an attitude of your wash ripped me off!!!! I dont offer cash refunds ever!! I will give you what ever you were trying to purchase, bay time or a wash coupon. my equipment is all in new or near new condition works fine and very few breakdowns. As much as I love a busy weekend, I cant stand dealing with the cheapos that want to tie up a bay or a vacuum spot while bucket washing and detailing a car for 3-4 hours while they can see I have a line of people waiting to use equipment. Again,It just seems as though the people that spend $$$$ rarely complain, and the cheapskates always have a problem.
 
Is the tri-foam applied directly after the presoak? If so, how is your presoak coverage on the sides? Could the presoak possibly have run off in some streak pattern, and the tri-foam been applied to dry (or relatively dry) paint? Maybe it didn't happen on the top since the presoak will pool more and be less likely to run off a horizontal surface.

Glad it comes off easy.
 
I have had this problem before. I found reversing the order of the Low pH and High pH made it go away. I don't know exactly why.

By the way what brand of Tri Foam are you using?
 
PEI said:
I have had this problem before. I found reversing the order of the Low pH and High pH made it go away. I don't know exactly why.

By the way what brand of Tri Foam are you using?
Click to expand...

Which order made it happen, and which one didn't?
 
Weird ! I had this exact same problem with the same color about 4 months ago. I ended up getting out my orbital buffer to get the stain off multiple cars. I called my chem dist to check concentrate level he of course said it was fine. I changed out my eductor, tip, and hose to rule out any cracks etc.. That did the trick...I also have my chems up on a shelf which is level with the hydro minders and it seems the dilution ratio changes as the chemical level in 5 gal bucket drops I'm guessing it's back siphoning when it's higher than tank then evens out.
 
I was running low pH followed by high pH when the staining happened at one of our locations. After watching how the low pH made the stain release and wash off in the rinse, I reversed the order and ran high pH followed by low pH. The staining stopped. I then changed chemical suppliers about 4 weeks later and went back to my original setup.
 
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