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Presoak problem

I turn my presoak on and it lays it on to thick like its not getting enough water. I have played with a couple things and doesnt seem to help it. im sure its something extremely simple...
 
Is it happening in all your bays? Do you inject air into it....I assume you do? If you do you will need to adjust the liquid/air mixture.
 
ok now another question. I have them balance chemical and air wise but my pre soak isnt like others in town, mine pulse out the presoak and its not just like a steady stream. It takes longer to put presoak on a car compared to other washes in town. any way to make it a steady stream so the customer doesnt feel like im trying to screw them.
 
Are you using a flow-jet pump?

What are your chemical/air settings at? i dont think you have them set high enough.

If you do not have any gauges to tell what pressure you are at then...a crude way to tell is that your flow jet should be having a small gust of air coming out of it about every 4 seconds with one bay running.
 
yes it is a flow-jet pump, and it does have a gust of air coming out every 4 seconds. but maybe ill turn them all up and see if that helps... ill let you know.

thanks
 
If you want to give the customer a good product, try this: Open any liquid flow control valves all the way, close the air adjustments and turn on one bay with the trigger tied open. Set the liquid pressure at least 60 PSI and the air 5 PSI higher, then just barely crack open the air flow adjustment and wait a few seconds until you hear the pump slow down. Keep the pressures ajdusted as you go (With a FloJet, set the peak back to 60). Check the flow in the bay - you want it just lightly aerated, not foaming. Once you get one bay working with a good, wet coverage, DON'T CHANGE the regulator settings, but set the other bays the same using only the air flow adjustment.

If you get the "pulsing" as soon as you add even the smallest amount of air, your presoak is too weak or it has no foaming action to it. The FloJet won't cause the pulsing unless it's bad and stalling.
 
what do you have them set at?

Air-

PreSoak-

FWIW I do not use flow adjustments. Just pressure regulaters. Air and product Solenoisds are wide open.

Air and Product are joined at a manifold above the boom.

Flo Jet is 40 PSI and air is about 10PSI. I have 3/8 poly to the manifold and 3/8 braided hose to the gun.
 
There are three main reasons I like adjustments (at least on the air side):

1) With tire cleaner/presoak, if the air is at 10 PSI and the liquid at 40, you need a check valve on the air to keep the liquid from backing up into the air lines, which adds something to fail.

2) With such a big difference between the pressures, when the trigger is released only liquid flows through the hose, and there's no aerated liquid to the gun again when it's pulled until the hose purges.

3) You don't get good coverage at low pressures unless you use a big tip, which you can't do and give good high-pressure.

I don't like adjustments on the presoak liquid to get as much volume as possible to the bay. I do like adjustments on the tire cleaner to give it as much pressure as possible to purge the line to the gun quickly.
 
There are three main reasons I like adjustments (at least on the air side):

1) With tire cleaner/presoak, if the air is at 10 PSI and the liquid at 40, you need a check valve on the air to keep the liquid from backing up into the air lines, which adds something to fail.

.

I don't have any issues. Perhaps with the weep guns and the hoses T'd at the Bay the air pressure is enough to keep the fluid from backing up.

I have numerous tunnel setups like this and none have check valves where the lines are t'd in the tunnel. On a few where lines are t'd near the pump the air line check valve is needed but only because when it shuts off gavity causes some liquid to flow back thu the air line.
 
It could be the air regulators you're using - I've always used the type that will bleed off excess pressure, and if higher pressure liquid enters upsteam it will eventually fill the air line and leak out through the regulator. I actually like it that way because if a high-pressure check valve fails it bleeds water where I can see it and doesn't burst tubing lines or back up into and damage the FloJet pumps.
 
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