SS Bays' Clearcoat "Peeing" Rather Than Spraying w/ a Good "Fan Pattern"?

[Carl]

SS Bays' Clearcoat "Peeing" Rather Than Spraying w/ a Good "Fan Pattern"?

So we turned on our recirculating weep water system for just 14 hours the other night only to find our self-service bays' trifoam clearcoat guns the next morning putting out "liquidy" clearcoat rather than the foamy stuff that customers love which is more easily applied to customers' cars because of the nice "fan pattern" that the clearcoat dispenses with rather than now where it's dispensing in a "pee-like" fashion which is more like a "straight line" application?

Anyone ever had this happen to them? What's the cause and what's the best way to correct this problem? I'm on my way up into the attic to check on the "foaming strainers" in that weep water line for the clearcoat. My guess is that either the strainer material is "too tightly compacted" now from excessive weep water pressure from our weep pump and/or "a dirtied up strainer" causing foaming to be degraded?

Any advice or shared experiences w/ the above such problem is MUCH appreciated. I don't want to have to climb up into the attic to do this maintenance after each and every night it is that we use the recirculating weep water system. Thanks so much! - Carl

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

sounds like a check valve to me

 

[Bill Manke]

Does your weep system weep water through the guns or does it recirculate? If it weeps try shutting it off. Does your tri-foam return to normal? Might take several minutes for it to return to normal. If so Probably a checkvalve allowing the weep water to go back up the lines. Are your tri- foam tanks at the correct level or are they fuller than normal from water pushing back up the lines into the tank?

 

[Earl Weiss]

Since there is no foam I am guessing that whatever injected air into the product is not working. HArd to say why without more 411. This would also result in less / insufficient volume thru the tip which will result in a straight stream than the fan.

 

[Indiana Wash]

Since there is no foam I am guessing that whatever injected air into the product is not working. HArd to say why without more 411. This would also result in less / insufficient volume thru the tip which will result in a straight stream than the fan.

Yep, no air injection. Possibly broken air line?

 

[Earl Weiss]

Yep, no air injection. Possibly broken air line?

I tend to start from the source and go from there. Make sure the compressor. Have been fooled before. Found compressor off or breaker kicked out, or main valve shut.

 

[ken-pro]

Does the problem go away on it's own when the weep is shut off?

Sounds to me that the weep water is running out with the air and chemical/water mixture. This is diluting the mixture, and preventing it from foaming.

We usually add a solenoid to shut off the weep whenever the function is being used - That way the weep water does not dilute the product.

You may be able to cheat, and turn up the air and chemical pressures OR regulating the weep pressure lower. Either adjustment would prevent the weep from flowing when the function is in use.

 

[Carl]

How Best to Pack a "Foaming Strainer Tube"?

Guys - Thanks so much for the replies. The "peeing" clearcoat that otherwise should have a nice "fan pattern" instead, seems to be caused by the "foaming strainer" up in the attic trough. I am using recirculating weep water but even when the weep is shut off, the clearcoat would still "pee" rather than "spray" so that tells me it's not the weep water mixture which is the entire problem. But the problem does happen AFTER we've used the weep system whereas before the weep was turned on, all was fine w/ the clearcoat's dispensing.

I went upstairs and unpacked that strainer, washed some dirty stuff off of it, repacked it in that PVC tube that holds this strainer material, turned on the clearcoat and the nice "fan pattern" returned? But what baffles me is that the other bay which I did this same thing to...when I removed its strainer material, it was practically 100% clean? So in talking w/ someone who kind of knows about this stuff, he said that people mistakenly think that you shouldn't pack that strainer material too loosely in that PVC tube but actually, if there is too much "room" in that tube, it cannot and will not be able to produce the foam?

So...I'm going to see if indeed it's a bad check valve causing this problem but in the meantime, can anyone share what you know about those "foaming strainer tubes"? Is there a right way and a wrong way to pack that strainer material inside?

My guess is: 1) bad check valve contributing to these problems, 2) strainer material gets pushed to one side of the PVC tube from too much weep water pressure thus making the foaming strainer unable to produce good enough "foam", 3) some dirtiness of the strainer material might have been in play but the clean strainer in the other bay when unpacked, blows this theory away? so then maybe 4) the guy I talked to is correct and if the strainer material slides to one end of the tube thus leaving a "gap" of pipe where no strainer material is present, it can't make foam? (I've never been able to see how this actually works so I have no experience to know how those foamers work?)

Sorry this was so long-winded.

Wishing you a good winter washing season & thanks! - Carl