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Trouble with HP Soap and Wax

W

waterway

Member
Just installed my new etowah valley self serve bay vaults. Needless to say they are pretty great. All the little things Jim adds to the vault really give it a nice touch and you can tell he builds them with an operator in mind. Things are just so accessible to fix.

But on to the problem. I know my wires are hooked up correctly because I was having this issue before the install on my hp soap. Basically the soap and now the wax pulsate very badly and only turn out like 500 psi. The product does show eventually but no for a while. I checked my product mixing pan and took apart the solenoid to make sure it wasn't all gunky. But neither appear to be broke. Could I possibly need a new solenoid. I know they go bad but since my wax has started acting up too I'm thinking it may not be that either. Any suggestions?
 
waterway said:
Just installed my new etowah valley self serve bay vaults. Needless to say they are pretty great. All the little things Jim adds to the vault really give it a nice touch and you can tell he builds them with an operator in mind. Things are just so accessible to fix.

But on to the problem. I know my wires are hooked up correctly because I was having this issue before the install on my hp soap. Basically the soap and now the wax pulsate very badly and only turn out like 500 psi. The product does show eventually but no for a while. I checked my product mixing pan and took apart the solenoid to make sure it wasn't all gunky. But neither appear to be broke. Could I possibly need a new solenoid. I know they go bad but since my wax has started acting up too I'm thinking it may not be that either. Any suggestions?
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Sounds like you are sucking air somewhere in the system, does is happen on rinse?
 
Rinse to the pump is usually supplied at city pressure. If you're sucking air or have restricted flow due to a bad inlet check valve, it will act like what you have.
 
waterway said:
No thats what is so weird the hp rinse works great.
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You are sucking air or is the pump starving for water. I would remove the wax and soap lines where they go into the pump and plug them where they go into the pump and see if the problem goes away, if the pump runs fine then you have to start looking at your hose to see where it is sucking air in.
 
car washing systems inc said:
You are sucking air or is the pump starving for water. I would remove the wax and soap lines where they go into the pump and plug them where they go into the pump and see if the problem goes away, if the pump runs fine then you have to start looking at your hose to see where it is sucking air in.
Click to expand...

+1, thats exactly where I'd start.

Describe (or photo) your system, that makes it easier to offer advice.
 
I have holding tanks for both the water and product. How would my water pressure be an issue if there is plenty of water in the tanks.
 
waterway said:
I have holding tanks for both the water and product. How would my water pressure be an issue if there is plenty of water in the tanks.
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on a gravity feed starving for water means volume, not pressure. How big is the feed hose, are there any constrictions (like check valves etc), any chance of clogs (from corrosion or debris), etc.

Thats why we're saying first you have to determine if the problem is in the soap supply lines, or the water supply lines.
 
waterway said:
I have holding tanks for both the water and product. How would my water pressure be an issue if there is plenty of water in the tanks.
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As I said, on most systems when rinse is selected, the water is supplied to the pump via a solenoid at city pressure. Water is only drawn from the tanks when soap pr wax is selected. Just because the tanks are full doesn't mean there's sufficient flow to the pump. In the layout I've mentioned, there is always a check valve between the water tank and the pump, and if it isn't opening all the way the pump will not get enough water. If the soap and wax solenoids are higher than the top of the water level and there's any kind of leak in that line near the solenoid, the pump will draw air through it but it won't leak on the floor.

Do you have the intention of posting photos of the layout?
 
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