Turbulence in Main Tank causing Hydrominder problems

[TomT]

Hello All,
Incoming water supply pressure is no issue here. When the main/"rinse" tank is filling, there's so much turbulence that the Hydominder float is bouncing and jumping. It unhooked the chain today and it overfills occasionally when the jumping float doesn't shut the minder off.
I might play with choking the flow/pressure down but I'm sure you can go too far in a hurry and run out of water when all bays are running. The more bays that are running, the worse the problem is.
Any ideas on a diffuser or baffle or something?
The inlet /fill pipe is real close to the hydrominder but there's so much turbulence that I doubt moving it away will do anything.

 

[MEP001]

Is there a hose that comes off the Hydrominder and down into the tank? Can you extend it or replace it with a solid pipe with a tee? Post a picture of the setup.

 

[TomT]

Is there a hose that comes off the Hydrominder and down into the tank? Can you extend it or replace it with a solid pipe with a tee? Post a picture of the setup.

 

[TomT]

Maybe not the best pic
It is hard piped - maybe a hose to the bottom of the tank like the others would be better ???

 

[Mchas]

Use a different type of valve. Hydrominder is meant for mixing chemicals, not filling a rinse tank.

 

[Randy]

Maybe not the best pic
It is hard piped - maybe a hose to the bottom of the tank like the others would be better ???

Put a "T" at the end of the pipe to help defuse the water. What your talking about I've seen many times.

 

[cantbreak80]

You could drill several 1/2” holes on one end of a length of 4” PVC pipe
Put the “holy” end at the bottom of the tank and put the float inside.
Only thing is...how to secure the PVC pipe to the tank?

 

[MEP001]

You could drill several 1/2” holes on one end of a length of 4” PVC pipe
Put the “holy” end at the bottom of the tank and put the float inside.
Only thing is...how to secure the PVC pipe to the tank?

I was thinking the same thing, maybe even 6" which you can get in short pieces from Home Depot. That should be heavy enough to stay in place on its own.

 

[MEP001]

Use a different type of valve. Hydrominder is meant for mixing chemicals, not filling a rinse tank.

Hydrominder makes several large valves just for filling tanks.

 

[celica]

I also use a hydrominder to fill my rinse tank. I put a "t" on the discharge hose to prevent the kind of churning that your talking about. My discharge is also near the top of the tank, so that the water falls on top of the water, not pushing into it. I didn't want any air bubbles created to be sucked into the pump. Changing your discharge setup should fix the problem.

 

[bighead]

Can you hook the float directly to the stainless piece coming off the hydrominder? I've done that a few times to get larger batches of soap... also lessens the amount of points of failure

 

[Earl Weiss]

Use a different type of valve. Hydrominder is meant for mixing chemicals, not filling a rinse tank.

I use a Hydrominder Float Valve in many tanks. Perhaps you can put a piece of 3/4" PVC over it with a "T" at the bottom all the way to the floor of the tank. Thiswill move the water in 2 directions nd further down.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

Use a different type of valve. Hydrominder is meant for mixing chemicals, not filling a rinse tank.

This.

I was having the same issues. I went to a pump/irrigation supply place and bought a heavy duty brass float valve with an oversize float and stonier road. No issues in 3+ years

 

[TomT]

Thanks folks, Randy’s the winner again - if nothing else cuz he was first
tried the tee - works good. Adjust the float so the tee is under water when it comes on to reduce splashing

 

[MEP001]

You might also want to get rid of that flimsy metal clip on the float weight. I always replace it with a heavy cable tie. It's plated steel and will eventually disintegrate.

 

[Earl Weiss]

You might also want to get rid of that flimsy metal clip on the float weight. I always replace it with a heavy cable tie. It's plated steel and will eventually disintegrate.

I found I can thread the steal chain thru the plastic eye on the float and the metal eye on the chain making a loop around the plastic eye. Necessity required this once and I I've done it ever since.

 

[cantbreak80]

tried the tee - works good.

Darn it! I was hoping you'd try the PVC pipe thing. I really wanted to know if it would work.

 

[MEP001]

I found I can thread the steal chain thru the plastic eye on the float and the metal eye on the chain making a loop around the plastic eye. Necessity required this once and I I've done it ever since.

I usually replace the discharge fittings and use a 1 1/2" long nipple to move the eductor forward and just loop the wire right through the plastic eye in the float.