Triple Foam?? Please help.

[wagsnwheels]

I have two IBA's, a touchless and a soft touch, both with triple foam that comes from the three tubes on either side of the vehicle. I have seen some REALLY BUBBLY triple foam and this is not it. What am I doing wrong? More air? More soap? I'm using Ecolab foam/polish. Is the three tube setup the problem? Any ideas?

 

[Bob Koo]

You may want to do as suggested by yourself, more product, and/or more air. The water added to the solution should be soft water to get the show you are looking for. You can make the solution REALLY BUBBLY, but you may find that you have an issue trying to effectively rinse your vehicles.

The other culprit may be the fact you are using a polish and not a conditioner. Personally, I use a conditioner in my IBA's since I have encountered a similar situation when using a tricolor polish. My only objective is to put on a show for the customer, but at the same time taking the vehicle surface to an acid or low PH state to setup for waxes and drying.

Just me two bits

 

[MEP001]

I've seen some CCP's that foam well, but I'm not familiar with Ecolab's. Are you running it with plenty of color?

 

[BayWatch]

What is the exact chem you are using. Is it the BCCCP, Low PH conditioner, Foam brush? They all act differently to water and air. What type of material do you have in the foam generators. What dilution ratio are you at. What type of mixing equipment? I also agree with Bob's statement about polish/conditioner and getting the best show. Do you apply any type of CCP like Velocity Clear or RainX. I use the Lo PH, it is cheaper than the BCCCP, and helps get a dryer vehicle. I have used Blue Coral for years so maybe this can be helpful.

 

[Earl Weiss]

I have gotten good foam with a BC product. make sure you are not making a common mistake. With Foaming products, sometimes less is more. Too much air destroys foam and inhibits liquid flow. Do you have seperate air controls for each pump and air injection. ? 6 regulators? You should. For starters set air regs to air injection at 10 PSI and air to pumps at 40 PSI. I usualy use no more than 20 PSI for air injection.

Pull Lines at tubes and make sure you are getting product and air to the tubes. If not work backward from there to find the problem. Make sure any check valves at the tubes are opening. Make sure any nylon scrubbies in the tubes are not gummed up.

Make sure you haven't experienced a siphon effect palacing water into your concentrate.
make sure hydrominders / dosatrons / metering pumps / dema injectors are delivering concentrate to the mixture at the predicted dilution. (You can use a simple measuring cup)

Report back

 

[MEP001]

Earl is right about too much air being a common problem. I hate seeing someone just twirl knobs trying to make it work. If you feel you're delivering a strong enough liquid, start by turning the air completely off, giving it a decent flow of liquid, then slowly turn up the air. If the foam becomes so thick at some point that it just blows away in the slightest breeze, you have too much air.

 

[Danny]

Earl is right on with his advice. What kind of equipment you have will play a big role in how to achieve the foam. Are you using pumps? or old needle valve set ups? Sometimes running less air and a drier product will achieve great foam results.

 

[wagsnwheels]

WOW thanks so much for all the advice. The two units I am talking about are both Mark VII. One is the Wesumet and the other is the Aqua GT700. I am definitely using the Ecolab Polish(checked it out last night). I get foam, and all three colors to boot, but it just doesn't put on a good show like I have seen at some other places. The person in the car doesn't mind since their windows get covered but if you watch from the outside it doesn't look good at all. I will try the adjusting the air, first down then slightly increasing, tonight and see how it works.

 

[Earl Weiss]

LAst piece of advice. Sometimes my adjustments have been too good! Great foam and show. So great, the car was leaving with foam still on it.

 

[BayWatch]

Some more advice, and this took me awhile to come to terms with.

I own my business because I enjoy it. I have certain standards I will not budge on. If I cant do it the way I want to, I will sell it.

However, if my customers are happy and I'm not, I have learned to relax a bit.

If the show looks good/great from inside the vehicle, why worry about what it looks like from the outside. The customer doesnt see it from the outside, and that is truely what matters. If you do get it to look better from the outside, will the customer notice or even care. I struggled with this for a long time, but realized I dont pay the bills, the customers do, and as long as they are happy, I am making money and I am happy.

 

[mac]

If I were you I would call the soap salesman and say something like, "Come and adjust this for me, or come and pick it back up." Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I believe that if you sell something, you had better be able to know how to apply it.

 

[pitzerwm]

I got excited by the Turtle Wax's 5 gal concentrate years ago and had the guy bring it and set it up. He was 7 hours late, and later, I found out that he had no clue how to set it up. Of course, I learned a lot as a result, ripped it out and found something that I understood and could set up myself.

 

[evolure]

If there is packing material at the top of the tubes, pull them and clean them out. What is your dilution rate? 120:1 down to 90:1 will work with the pump pressure and air set correctly. less is more so depending on the delivery type of equipment try to adjust from a loww setting and move up till desired results are accomplished.