What size water heater for weep?

[slash007]

I am going to install a hot water heater in order to be able to weep hot water when needed and am trying to decide on the size I need. I have five bays and will only weep hot for the high pressure gun. If I have 5 bays weeping at around 16oz a min, what size water heater would do the job? I looked up different sizes and the recovery rate per hour is about the same for 50 and 80 gallon heaters. I figure I would need to weep about 36 gallons per hour.

Thanks.

 

[Stuart]

Is there a reason you would not use your existing water heater for wash use?

 

[slash007]

Is there a reason you would not use your existing water heater for wash use?

It is not working and hasn't for years. It is my understanding that it would be very expensive to repair.

 

[JGinther]

So you are going to use hot water weep and cold water wash? Thats exactly the opposite of how we do it. Don't think I would be able to afford hot water weep after all my customers left because I had cold water wash... Sorry for giving opinions when not asked for....

 

[slash007]

So you are going to use hot water weep and cold water wash? Thats exactly the opposite of how we do it. Don't think I would be able to afford hot water weep after all my customers left because I had cold water wash... Sorry for giving opinions when not asked for....

You run hot water for your rinse?

 

[cantbreak80]

Oh man…I could write a book.

Slash…I believe you have your priorities reversed.

Repair or replace the boiler and put that hot water weep idea to bed.

At minimum, provide hot water (110F) for soap. For greatest customer satisfaction, hot rinse and wax, too. (You can always use the hot water rinse to thaw the occasional freeze-ups caused by your cold water weep)

 

[slash007]

Oh man…I could write a book.

Slash…I believe you have your priorities reversed.

Repair or replace the boiler and put that hot water weep idea to bed.

At minimum, provide hot water (110F) for soap. For greatest customer satisfaction, hot rinse and wax, too. (You can always use the hot water rinse to thaw the occasional freeze-ups caused by your cold water weep)

That's why I post here, to help figure out my priorities I have decided to get an accurate quote on repairing my current boiler. If it is too much, I will just replace it with an efficient 199 btu water heater. I would rather not weep hot, so I will first thoroughly inspect my trough to see if there is any air getting in or other deficiencies. It is a metal box, so putting rigid foam around it can only help retain the heat from the floor heat loop. Of course I wish it would warm up so that I could work on all this easier.

 

[Stuart]

You run hot water for your rinse?

I run hot water for all weep (it also helps in the trough) and all HP soap selections.
At one location my clearcoat is hot and the other it is cold. all my HP rinse is cold hard water. (Some operators use hot rinse.)
You said your looking at maybe a 199K btu heater, Will you also be using hot water for mixing chemicals and for you RO unit?
You could potentially be using up to 20-23 gpm minimum. You may be looking at a larger heater than 199k. All depends on all the services and applications you are using hot water. This is where you need to start- what is going to use hot water, how much would be used at the same time for how long. Hope this helps,

 

[JGinther]

Cantbreak80 just saved me lots of typing... To answer your question, think like a simple customer. They can only tell a couple of things about the self serve wash: how much pressure there is (or feels like), how much soap you put out (or how it looks anyway), and how hot the water is. They don't really think about which options are hot. If they feel cold water coming out, they start cussing. Way more people notice cold water compared to how many calculate how much time a quarter gives...

 

[slash007]

Cantbreak80 just saved me lots of typing... To answer your question, think like a simple customer. They can only tell a couple of things about the self serve wash: how much pressure there is (or feels like), how much soap you put out (or how it looks anyway), and how hot the water is. They don't really think about which options are hot. If they feel cold water coming out, they start cussing. Way more people notice cold water compared to how many calculate how much time a quarter gives...

I guess it varies in different areas because at one wash I have never had hot water and no one has ever mentioned it or complained, and at my other wash I have been turning it off during the summer and no one has ever said a word. I do have good pressure and put out good hp soap and a foamy brush, and those are the items they notice the most. Especially the hp soap, it has to be the most used function.