Rotation Speed of Side Brush

[hkim310]

Does anyone know the recommended rotational speed of a side brush with filament? We have the top part of the side brush in foam and the bottom in filament. I have found the recommended speed for foam but don't see anything for filament?

 

[hkim310]

So I emailed Anthony Analetto at Sonny's and he responded stating that with filament the brush needs to spin faster than other materials and should be set at about 100 rpm. He also stated that a lubricating soap should be applied so the filament does not leave any marks on the body of the vehicle. Anyone that currently uses filament can chime in and let me know if this is correct based on use in the field.....

 

[Washmee]

He is right about the rotation speed. I operated many washes with filiment back in the late 70's, early 80's. The best way to lubricate filiment is from the center. The hardware cores for filiment had slots and nozzles mounted at the top that sprayed the soap solution into the middle of the core. As the core rotated the solution goes through the slots and lubricates the filiment from the core out to the tips. You need a high volume of water for best results.

 

[Earl Weiss]

IMO you do not need any more lubrication for filament than you do for cloth or foam. Filament is non porous and easier to flush contaminants from than cloth. Your cores may not have holes in the center and lubricating from the center on some cores is not possible. (No Holes and no top opening. ) As long as the speed makes the filament extend you are likey OK. Since it is a mix of cloth and filament the other consideration as always is that rotation should not allow excessive penetration to the core. The tip of material should do the work. Dan at Erie Brush confirmed my thought that liquid lubricates better than foaming soap on the material..Makes sense since a large component of foaming soap is air which does not lubricate.

One less efficient thing I see is the mfgrs set up which sometimes has liquid application to side wheels 180 degrees or more from where it contacts the vehicle so much liquid is "Spun Off" It's the easier set up due to where side brush supports are and rotation direction. I moved mine typicalyto the opposite side , sometimes to the next piece of equipment, so the app is about 45 degrees before contact. Spun off solution is then mostly spun onto the vehicle.

 

[rph9168]

"Dan at Erie Brush confirmed my thought that liquid lubricates better than foaming soap on the material..Makes sense since a large component of foaming soap is air which does not lubricate."

Dan is a good guy but I tend to disagree with him on this point. A good lubricating product helps a great deal in cleaning as well as lubrication. Products designed to increase lubricity do not foam a lot. A lot of foam is not a good thing in the lubrication process and in fact can inhibit cleaning by not allowing the brushes to make good contact with the surface.

 

[Earl Weiss]

"Dan at Erie Brush confirmed ........liquid lubricates better than foaming soap on the material."

Dan is a good guy but I tend to disagree with him .................. A lot of foam is not a good thing in the lubrication process and in fact can inhibit cleaning by not allowing the brushes to make good contact with the surface.

Seems you agree????

 

[rph9168]

I took the quote to mean that water lubricated enough but maybe I misread it. I always respect what Dan has to say.

 

[Earl Weiss]

The imperfection of communication . "Liquid" does not equal plain water in this instance. Had someone try to sell me on installing foamers. My counterpoint was that injecting air into the soapy water mix to create foam did not add to cleaning efficacy or lubrication. Since it was an EE and the windows still had soap on them it did not really ad to any "show" . So, I was not smelling what he was selling.

 

[washnshine]

Does anyone know the recommended rotational speed of a side brush with filament? We have the top part of the side brush in foam and the bottom in filament. I have found the recommended speed for foam but don't see anything for filament?

You are lucky that you have customers that will accept a filament brush - they clean great when set up and used properly. Why not have filament on the top part of the brush too?

 

[rph9168]

While there are still some customers out there that don't like them I think the fear of filament brushes is much less than it used to be. In fact few of those under 50 may not have ever heard about the accusations of filament damage. There was probably as big an issue of them tearing of hood ornaments (remember them), antennas, and side mirrors as there was scratching. When properly lubricated filament does a really great job.

 

[Earl Weiss]

You are lucky that you have customers that will accept a filament brush - they clean great when set up and used properly. Why not have filament on the top part of the brush too?

Same reason as always "Marketing" .

 

[hkim310]

So we got our side brush up and running. The current RPM of the brush was set at around 45 rpm with cloth. With the change of material to foam and filament, it's not at around 80 rpm. I have noticed that because the brushes spin in the opposite direction of car travel that they do slow down quite a bit once they hit the sides of the car. On the hydraulic power pack the setting for the speed is currently set to 9.5 ( with a max of 10). I am now thinking about moving the side wraps in a bit more to try and get a tad bit more aggressive cleaning on the sides of vehicles.

 

[Earl Weiss]

If brushes slowdown excessively on contact the oil is bypassing. Most likely is the torque control (not the speed control) on the power pack. Adjust this in small increments. A bad hydraulic motor will also by pass internally but this happens less frequently.

 

[hkim310]

Earl you were absolutely correct! I adjusted the torque and the brush spins at the correct RPM. Thanks a lot for the advice~!