WW 1.0 Tri-Foam Problem

[Andyjmyr]

Today we noticed our Tri-Foam Clear Coat wasn't up to par as it usually is.

The problem is this:
When the tri-foam comes on, the passenger side produces excellent product while the drivers side is very liquidly.

We've cleaned the chemical mixing tanks & filters inside them. We've even cleaned the strainers up top of the gantry.

We've also cleaned out the bottoms of the tri-foam clear coat PVC pipes.

Any ideas?

 

[Reds]

The fact that the foam is good on one side makes me think that the problem is between the foam generator (tube in top of gantry) and the pvc pipes. On my 2.0 the plastic mesh in the foam generating tube deteriorated, broke up, and sent little pieces downstream. These little hair like pieces got stuck in the holes in the pvc pipes. I cut the bottom of the pipes off and blew air into each little hole, then flushed the hoses & pipe out with water, and put a plug on the bottom of the pipe for future cleaning purposes. Then I replaced the plastic mesh in the foam generator with stainless steel scrubbies from the supermarket. That was 4 years ago and no problems since.

 

[Andyjmyr]

Solution!!!!

Thanks for the reply! It helped. We actually have the stainless steel foam generators in the gantry.

What we found was that the bacteria the chemicals sometimes makes (jelly like material) was in the tubes. We made a tool to clean out the tubes. You have to take off the top and bottom caps on the tri-foam tubes to do this. You would not believe how much crap came out of the tubes!

The tool we made consisted of duct taping two straight rods together (6ft). We made these out of coat hangers. Then attach some type of towel that will fit down the tube to the end.

This was our solution!

Thanks!

-Andy

 

[wisheewashee]

Tri-foam

I am having an issue as well. Only one color is now working properly and the others just spit liquid. I cleaned the tanks and filters, even replaced the foam generator with stainless a couple of years ago.

When you say you made rods to clean the tri-foam tubes....where are you talking about?

 

[Andyjmyr]

Well..... I have a video of me and my boss cleaning the actual tubes. I'll see if I can't send you the video. Or I'll post it to youtube.

The tubes the actual product comes out of on both sides of the gantry. You'll need to get up into the gantry to take off the ends of the tubes. It's a bit tricky. You'll also need to take the ends off the bottom as well. It's quite a task.. I warn you.

Find two metal coat hangers. Straighten them out. Tape them together. You'll need about a 6-7' rod. In the pic below, you'll need a tire cleaner brush that has strait ends. Take it off the plastic handle and attach it to the metal rod you made from the coat hangers. Then using some last minute chimney sweeper skills, stick it down the tri-foam product tubes. I'll send you the pictures and videos of us cleaning them out. You wont believe how much crap comes out of them!

 

[pitzerwm]

What about using a small rotor rooter maybe put a rag on the end and stick it in one end or the other, running it with a drill or manually. I've got one from Harbor Freight, the end is maybe 1" or less.

 

[Andyjmyr]

Hmmm... where would we all be without the forum. Bill has a better idea than my "caveman" like fix.

 

[pitzerwm]

Laziness helps you come up with lazy ideas.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Laziness helps you come up with lazy ideas.

My dad always told me you should give the hardest job to the laziest guy and he'd find an easy way to do it.