Triple foam draining out of lines after each wash

[D3Dubs]

Washworld Razor Touchless. Triple foam lines are running out of color after each wash. So when the next car gets washed they are only seeing bubbly water up until halfway on the vehicle, then it comes out in full color and foam. I replaced the check valves at the furthest point in the system right before it goes into the foaming thing and onto the vehicle. Inside at the pump station you can see the difference in color from the bay that is working and the one that isn't. After a little while the lines go from bright colors to faded.

I thought having a check valve would stop anything from flowing but you can see the color draining onto the bay floor after the wash. Could this be a bad solenoid? Any other ideas for troubleshooting?

 

[DiamondWash]

Yes I would start there with the solenoid because it sounds like it's not fully closing and allowing just enough water to keep coming through to dilute the lines until the next wash. Disassemble the solenoid and check the diaphragm for damage. Also make sure on the gauge you don't have any pressure in the supply line.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

Possibly sounds like a bad footvalve going back into the chemical barrel is something else also to look at real quick. Take it off the injector and see if it starts to drop in the chemical pickup line back into the barrel. If you have a bad solinod valve & footvalve (combo) it will bleed water through the injector into your chemical barrel diluting your chemical also lets hope its just one problem. Something else to check for what it's worth.

 

[Beddattery]

I agree with Steve H.
I had a similar condition on my Razor...clear lines on the top of the pump stand for the triple foam after a wash. Along with city water pressure (52 PSI) in the manifold. Replaced the diaphragm and pin valve in the solenoid valve for both the triple foam and incoming water....problem solved.

Hope this helps....

 

[D3Dubs]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll give this a try and let everyone know if that fixed the issue. I just needed to replace the pressure gauge on the manifold, the black plug had popped out and it was leaking. I now wonder if that has to do with the city water pressure being present in the manifold. Good advice to check.

 

[D3Dubs]

Update. Just went to replace and realized I don't have any replacement valves or a repair/rebuild kits so I ordered some. I did notice something that would indicate the issue that Beddattery mentioned (both the triple foam solenoid and the city water solenoid at the manifold). I did a test wash pass of the triple foam. When I turned it off the manifold pressure didn't go all the way down, it went to 70psi and stayed there for about 5 seconds, then clicked back down to zero, it was during this time that the lines ran out and the color concentration diminished. When I tested it again a few more times this didn't happen so it is intermittent.

On a related note, when I got to the wash today I noticed that the manifold pressure on the other pump station was at 80. I ran a test pass and couldn't replicate the issue, it went back to 0 immediately after each test. In the past few months I've had to replace a couple other bad solenoids. The solenoids haven't been replaced in over a year so I'm going to rebuild all of them as preventive maintenance. The manual recommends replacing every year but I'm going to try the rebuild first and see how that goes.

 

[Eric H]

Update. Just went to replace and realized I don't have any replacement valves or a repair/rebuild kits so I ordered some.
The manual recommends replacing every year but I'm going to try the rebuild first and see how that goes.

I bought out AutoWash's stock of solenoids a couple of weeks ago. I had them order some rebuild kits for me but I have not received them yet. If you get into a pinch and need to borrow some solenoids let me know.

I also saw that WashWorld recommends replacing all of the solenoids every years, is anyone actually doing it? I have solenoids in my SS bays that are 35 years old!

 

[DiamondWash]

Same thing happens with my Foam n Flow the water solenoid seems to stay open just enough thus allowing the lines to dilute, I need to monitor the voltage to see if Im right.

 

[OurTown]

I also saw that WashWorld recommends replacing all of the solenoids every years, is anyone actually doing it?

It would make more sense if they specified a wash count instead of time.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

I know on my laser 4000 I replace my chemical solinods/ danfoss valves every 6 months if I am lucky they make it that long I check them all the time. Your chemicals and water has alot to due with how long they last. I know the more aggressive HF chemicals they last like 3 months when I had AA online. Some operators don't care that they are sucking waxes & soaps together and cancelling each other out on cleaning due to bad solinods or just don't know. Wash count would be different on chemicals and water depending on how strong or weak different operators run there wash.

 

[OurTown]

Wash count would be different on chemicals and water depending on how strong or weak different operators run there wash

That's true. Everyone just needs to figure that when to change them out from experience with what they are using. We noticed that now we are using a boosted presoak that things are not lasting as long.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

But you are cleaning cars better which equals happy customers which equals more business is the way I look at it. Booster is a necessary evil on a touchless wash.

 

[OurTown]

They do come out cleaner.

 

[D3Dubs]

I bought out AutoWash's stock of solenoids a couple of weeks ago.

That was you?! Haha, I tried buying through Autowash but they were all out so they ordered straight from Washworld. I appreciate the offer, hopefully they'll come in soon.