Search results

  1. Toms PTcarwash

    Cat 310 pump Motor

    The Cat Oil will actually mix with water and not be completely displaced by water. So if you have leaking seals your pump can run for a while until you notice it without trashing the bearings. Otherwise, hydraulic oil is ok to use.
  2. Toms PTcarwash

    More floor heat help

    That is a fin tube boiler. It is possible that the tubes need cleaned. Pop the fill plug off the expansion tank and look in to see if you have any flow with the pump running.
  3. Toms PTcarwash

    Cat 310 pump Motor

  4. Toms PTcarwash

    Need help sizing a circulator pump for Tankless Heater/Storage Tank setup.

    I have three Takagi 250 btu heaters piped to a 150 gallon storage tank in a primary / secondary configuration. One Taco bronze 0013 provides enough flow for all three heaters. The units I have will flow a max of 9.6 gpm and I believe need 1 gpm to trigger a start. Pressure is irrelevant.
  5. Toms PTcarwash

    Cat 310 pump Motor

    The back of the pump has a sight glass, oil needs to be about halfway up into the sight glass.
  6. Toms PTcarwash

    Spot Free Pressure

    For spot free rinse, pressure is irrelevant. Flow is what matters. If you have small diameter feed lines and small narrow angle nozzles, then you need to up the pressure to compensate. @ 150 psi with 1/2 lines I get 1.2 gpm to the bay. You can spot free a car in about a minute and a half.
  7. Toms PTcarwash

    Cat 310 pump Motor

    If you have just contactors and not motor starters, if you single phase a three-phase motor that is not protected, it can smoke pretty quickly. Good luck to you!
  8. Toms PTcarwash

    Cat 310 pump Motor

    You may also want to check the pump. A 5hp on a 310 should last pretty much forever. If the pump locked up, it may have smoked the motor. You should also have a motor starter with overload protection that would trip before the motor smokes. Some systems just use a contactor with no protection...
  9. Toms PTcarwash

    Cat 310 pump Motor

    You can do a 3hp motor at 1800 rpm on a 310 if you are under 1250 Psi (Verify on a cat pump curve chart if you are over 1250) Just an FYI, a three-phase motor does not have a start switch or capacitor.
  10. Toms PTcarwash

    Spot free solenoid

    If the solenoid valve in your auto is leaking from the ss bays you need to replace or rebuild the solenoid valve feeding the RO to your auto wash. If it's a Dema valve you can get a rebuild kit for much less than a new valve. Most of these are rated for 150 psi. They will hold more than that...
  11. Toms PTcarwash

    Spot Free Pressure

    I use 150 psi and always deliver water with under 5 ppm dissolved solids. It works great, and I get many complements from my customers about how much they like the spot free. My auto does not have a dryer and the cars dry spot free. I'm not sure what you mean about charging a premium for the...
  12. Toms PTcarwash

    Spot Free Pressure

    I am not sure why you would want to run your spot free at that high of a pressure? I run mine at 150 psi for all SS bays and the auto wash.
  13. Toms PTcarwash

    Anyone else feeling the sting of the economy

    Not sure where you are located, but the carwash is definitely weather driven. I do probably 85% of my business between November and May. Winter is great with snow, salt etc. Spring is great with pollen. Once summer rolls in, if we don't get much rain business drops hard. I don't have a...
  14. Toms PTcarwash

    Fuse keeps blowing on foam brush

    The fuse is of course there to protect your wiring, relays etc. If it started to blow on occasion, maybe the relay or motor starter has some bad contacts and is increasing your current flow. Do you own an amp probe? If so, read the current before the fuse and see if it jumps up when the motor is...
  15. Toms PTcarwash

    Is it normal for carwash insurance provider to request

    Most insurance companies base their risk on your volume. The more $, the more cars / customers and the higher the risk. About every three years my insurance company asks for my schedule c.
  16. Toms PTcarwash

    SFR pressure

    You can open your solenoid and see if you have some debris in the seat keeping it from sealing. Personally, I would get at least a couple rebuild kits for your solenoids. They don't last forever, and when you open one up, you want to have the parts to repair it if needed. Same thing for the spot...
  17. Toms PTcarwash

    SFR pressure

    Can't really tell anything from your pics. The spot free shouldn't have had any algae in the tank, unless it sat for a long, long, long, time unused. So, you want to figure out what is going on there. When you cleaned the tank, is it possible you let algae get into your solenoid valves? Make...
  18. Toms PTcarwash

    Credit/Debit Card Importance?

    I added crypto pay a few years ago. I waited to long. CC sales are now well over 50% of my business.
  19. Toms PTcarwash

    Cat 310 low pressure and pulsating like crazy

    Take this as you wish, as a couple members on this site say I have no clue, even though i have had my wash for 20 years with very little down time on any bay. For me it is a secondary business, to keep me busy on evenings and weekends. I have an electrical and mechanical contracting business as...
  20. Toms PTcarwash

    Strange issue with Cryptopay

    This may or may not be of help. When I installed the crypto pay on my Hamilton ACW 4 a few years ago, every once in a while, it would keep rearming washes nonstop. Not sure how many free washes were given. If I pulled the power to the swiper and reconnected it would be good again for a few days...
Top