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Wasking

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Does anybody know how to make the Presoak foam and not watery.(I’m a new Carwash owner,been in the business for almost 2 years)
I’m still learning and I’m very handy I’ve recently made some upgrades to it and I wanted to have the Presoak on its own hose,I currently use the summer breeze from Kleen right.
Before it was coming out from the pressure wand at low pressure but no air,I thought that adding air to it might cause it to foam just like the foam brush but it’s not and it’s coming soapy but not foamy.I’ll attach some pictures of the set up I have.
Like I said I’m very new to this industry and i find it very interesting and fascinating.it’s not in any way an “easy” job but it’s better than a 9-5 job I’ve worked before.
Any help would be much appreciated it.
Thank you all.
 

UtahYoutubeGuy

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Following this thread as well. My pre-soak is the least used setting at my wash. I have a circulating presoak in my attic off a Carlolina Pride stand so theres just a solenoid in my attic at each bay sending the pre-soak down. I want to get rid of the circulating system and plumb in a flojet to pump to my triple foam gun and then use the same air solenoid off the triple foam to get a nice wet foam pre-soak.

I have been using Purple Passion and Summer Breeze from Kleen-Rite as well but my consumption is very minimal.
 

Wasking

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Hey thank you for replying.
I don’t have those fancy set ups as I’ve seen on the internet,I have dosatrons to dispense my quemicals.
Can this set up do do the same and form a nice wet foam!?
 

Earl Weiss

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Gave up on Summer Breeze and Purple passion from KR due to gelling issues . I now use the KR low PH Product. The small tip size on a HP gun cannot provide foam like a Foam Brush. I get this out of the HP gun for wheel and tire and about same can be done with PS but you need to turn liquid volume way down because ttoo much volume forced thru the tip will kill the foam. Bay Wheel Cleaner and Foam Brush.avi - YouTube
 

MEP001

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Did you ever get your safe dial replaced?
 

Wasking

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Gave up on Summer Breeze and Purple passion from KR due to gelling issues . I now use the KR low PH Product. The small tip size on a HP gun cannot provide foam like a Foam Brush. I get this out of the HP gun for wheel and tire and about same can be done with PS but you need to turn liquid volume way down because ttoo much volume forced thru the tip will kill the foam. Bay Wheel Cleaner and Foam Brush.avi - YouTube
Did you ever get your safe dial replaced?
What is the safe dial?
 

MEP001

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What is the safe dial?
 

Greg Pack

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Presoaks vary greatly in performance. Foaming is nice but does not equal cleaning ability. Find a dirty car and test your product on a quarter panel or door. If it doesn't clean appreciably better than High pressure alone why would a customer bother to use it? An old school way to tell if your presoak is effective is to feel it as it comes out of a gun. If it doesn't feel "slimy" it's probably not a great cleaner. Personally I wouldn't want a presoak that is so foamy that its going on like shaving cream because the result would likely be inconsistent on a car.

For many years I have used IBA presoaks in self serve applications, or used self serve presoaks WAY stronger than recommended on the label. I am in a high humidity environment so flash drying is not a real problem here. High Ph will clean painted surfaces better than low ph in the vast majority of situations. If it's not marked hazardous it might not be a great cleaning product. Having said that, I did try some synergy viper in the IBA and it did a pretty respectable job as a non-corrosive presoak with a ph of only around 9.
 

Randy

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I hate to tell this but Purple Passion and Summer Breeze from Kleen-Rite are garbage products. Look at the MSDS sheet look at the PH its 7 or neutral. All it is is show that all it does it does clean. I use Simoniz Correct power as our Presoak and it works great, it has a high PH so it cuts the road grime and it’s not all that expensive. I use about 1 box every 2 months, so it get used a lot. I have my HP soap and foam brush soap pulling a little bit of liquid out of the Correct Presoak tank, it gives those 2 products a little more bite.
 

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Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE all the advice and support given here. I have been reading a lot about the pre soak threads & wanted to post on here since I am stuck on getting my pre soak to work. I purchased a 4 bay self serve last week and am working on it, as it was a bit run down. I'm currently working on pre soak. It is trying to function and I have messed with the air and product, but cannot get it to come out of the triple foam gun the way it should. The product being used is Kleen Rite Cherry Blossom. It's not pre soak, but that's all I have from previous owner. I'm not sure if it's because it's not a pre soak product or because the valves where I control the air and product aren't functioning the way they should or because of some other reason 🤷🏽‍♂️ When I increase the air, only air comes out, when I decrease it I get foam, but very slowly. When I increase or decrease the product, the gauge doesn't seem to move so m 🤷🏽‍♂️ I am going to post a small video clip for y'all to see.
Please advise.
Thank you in advance for all the help.
 

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UtahYoutubeGuy

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Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE all the advice and support given here. I have been reading a lot about the pre soak threads & wanted to post on here since I am stuck on getting my pre soak to work. I purchased a 4 bay self serve last week and am working on it, as it was a bit run down. I'm currently working on pre soak. It is trying to function and I have messed with the air and product, but cannot get it to come out of the triple foam gun the way it should. The product being used is Kleen Rite Cherry Blossom. It's not pre soak, but that's all I have from previous owner. I'm not sure if it's because it's not a pre soak product or because the valves where I control the air and product aren't functioning the way they should or because of some other reason 🤷🏽‍♂️ When I increase the air, only air comes out, when I decrease it I get foam, but very slowly. When I increase or decrease the product, the gauge doesn't seem to move so m 🤷🏽‍♂️ I am going to post a small video clip for y'all to see.
Please advise.
Thank you in advance for all the help.
Im not familiar with the pumps you have there. You also dont have pictured your pre-soak manifold but assuming its the same as your other products this is how I dial in my products. Turn air completely off. Then turn on your presoak and get the pressure up on the product between 40-60psi consistently. Then add in the air until you achieve the consistency you want.

There are other variables too such as tip size etc. But get started there and report back what you find.
 
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Greg Pack

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Are you diluting that product with water before mixing it in the hydrominder? It is an ultraconcentrate. Plus it will have virtually no cleaning power, it's just bubbles.

Someone strayed far from the Coleman factory setup there. Those double hydrominders are way overkill. They replaced the factory pump that is about 1.4 GPM with a 10GPM pump. They may be stalling. But if they work they work. Before you mess with those start looking for product restrictions. There is a strainer in the tank, make sure it is present and clean. I've never seen a filter regulator used on liquid,only air. and I would investigate further there to look for a restriction. If suspect, I would replace that with a standard regulator like this one: https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-16...ter-service-regulator-1-4in-npt-125-psig.aspx. Then follow the procedure above, that thing should be capable of a high product flow.
 

tdlconceptsllc

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Greg is correct take apart your liquid solenoids I promise you they need rebuilding or replacing as well as the regulator. Make sure the hydro minder is sucking product correctly and if you don't listen to anything on here that's been mentioned several times in the thread already TRASH the kleenrite presoak its so weak it will never clean anything but cause problems been like that for 15+ years.
 

Randy

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Greg is right there is no way you need a dual Flo-jet pump in that application. A single Flo-jet pump will be more than adequate in your application. You can separate the 2 pumps and use one pump, you might need some flo-jet hose barb fittings. The placement of the pressure regulator and filter on the discharge side of the pump are in the wrong place, the pressure regulator and the filter should be on the incoming air supply that is coming into the pump. The incoming air pressure will determine the Flo-Jet pump discharge pressure. You need to disassemble the filter/regulator, clean it dry it very well and install it on the incoming air side of the pump. Kleen-Rite Cherry Bloom soap is a garbage product.
 

bNc

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Thank you so much for the help everyone. The holding tanks were disgusting to say the least, I found the strainers and will have to replace them. After cleaning the tanks and strainers, I tried adjusting the air and product and it did not work. Seems as though the regulators are corroded or stuck because I couldn't pull out the knob to turn it and adjust pressure. I would like to just replace all of the regulators and the solenoids as you all mentioned. Greg, your recommendation to replace with a Parker series 20R mini water regulator, can I use these to replace the Norgren mini regulator with filter? And also the air regulator?

Here is what's currently installed:


Also, how do I know which solenoids to order? I don't want to order the wrong ones.

I apologize ahead of time if I'm confusing myself or confusing you. I would like to replace everything with whatever is going to work best. I've attached a couple more pictures for y'all to see. Any further advice is much appreciated. Thank you.
 

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Rfreeman

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a lot of times on the coleman stands the regulator goes out and restricts flows to the solenoid manifold. Also make sure your check valve isn't shot as well. If check valve and regulator are good then go bay by bay and replace the plungers in the stem so long as the coil is still working properly.
With the bay on take a screw driver and you should feel a small magnetic pull from the coil/bay that is on. If you feel the magnetic pull the coil is working properly and the plunger is probably shot restricting flow.
 
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Greg Pack

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Yes, that parker mini regulator will work. It's about the only one I use. Again, I've never seen a filter/regulator used on the liquid side. perhaps someone here can comment on that. I wouldn't be shocked if that is where a significant flow restriction is taking place. At the least it needs to be cleaned out.

If your tanks had goo or no filters at all in there it is possible that the foam generator is clogged. You can check for adequate flow in several places by removing a hose or fitting and seeing if flow improves at that particular point. I actually had to replace two older hoses due to buildup to get good flow on a foaming conditioner to improve. Just work your way in one direction until you identify the point where the restriction starts.

Before you buy a bunch of plungers you can disassemble the ones you have now and just take them out temporarily to see if the system flows better. However, before you screw with them have at least one entire spare plunger repair kit on hand.

https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-3255-g-c-valves-9-211-21-manifold-block-repair-kit.aspx

Turn the air to the pump off. If the top retainer nut (that little silver disc) unscrews easily you're ok, but they often seize on and you can break the plunger housing if you try to force it and you can have a mess on your hands.

Once you remove the nut the solenoid coil should slide off easily. Once it's off, use a 13mm deep well socket to unscrew the plunger housing. You can completely remove the plunger inside and screw the housing back on. Once you turn air back on to the the pump the product will run out the gun. If it flows freely you know a swollen plunger may be a problem. The black rubber plunger seat should be slightly recessed. If it is swollen you can try to shave it flat with a sharp single edged razor blade. That will likely allow enough flow. If that doesn't work replace it.
 
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