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Adding Tunnel Style Spot-Free Arch to IBA

bigleo48

bigleo48

Active member
All,

I have a PDQ M5 and I have a spot-free rinse pass at the end of all my packages.

What I was thinking of doing was to install a fixed arch for the spot-free final rinse passed the bridge, in order to speed up the wash process and off load a full pass from the M5.

So, after the last M5 pass, the spot-free arch would turn on for about 20 to 30 seconds, at the same time as the dryer ahead of it. Thus applying the rinse just before passing under the dryer.

Some potential problems I foresee...

1-Rinse would not apply well with dryer pushing back the rinse.
2-Rinse water would blow onto loading vehicle, thus diluting presoak.

Perhaps the fix for this would be to move the rinse as close to the dryer as possible.

Comments?
 
raisetheprice said:
Have you considered the productivity arch? Pretty reasonably priced and would add speed and less wear on your swivel.

http://www.pdqinc.com/store/product.asp?pID=10018
Click to expand...

I have it...but you can't really run Spot Free through it.

First, it uses the HP pump and not made for mineraless water.

Second, it would use way to much Spot Free water.

Three...it would not save me much time for a wash. That's mostly what I'm looking for.
 
What you are proposing to do is similar to what engineers did in designing an in-bay express.

Some of the systems are Autec (EV-1, hybrid), Oasis (Eclipse, touch-less only) and Istobal (Express-on-Rails, hybrid).

An in-bay express is between 55 and 60 feet in length. The typical in-bay is between 36 and 44 feet in length.

So, depending on whether the dryer is on-board or free-standing, the most you could hope for with an averaged sized in-bay is to separate out the rinsing cycle.

One solution would be to use a “rain” manifold that streams rather than fans water on vehicles. The stream eliminates misting. Manifold can be mounted to the ceiling or conventional standing arch.

You can have a triple rain manifold; drying agent, total body, spot-free.

A simple set up of drying agent and spot-free could be made to work with a floor switch (as used in tunnels) and a timer box.

Placing the rinse as close as possible to the dryer nozzles is called zero drip-space drying and it can be made to work very well.

PDQ supposedly pioneered the concept and it is now being used in the conveyor market.

The key is to have adequate dryer horsepower, more than most in-bays, and configuration of nozzles.
 
Robert,

Thnks for that.

My building is 50 feet and have four 15hp peco dryers at the exit.
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Spot free shower just before the dryer sounds interesting. I was going to have a PLC or the M5 control it. After the last pass and the M5 indicating to the user to unload, with a short delay, it would turn on the SF rain arch for a pre determined time...like 20 seconds.
 
The sealer and spot free rain arch right before the blower can essentially give you a "flash dry" effect, which can be very effective. The water never has time to stop moving and settle on the surface of the vehicle. Once it hits the car, it is simultaneously being pushed off by the blower.

Although this type of dry is typically seen in IBA's and conveyors, where the speed of machine or vehicle movement is fixed, it can be effective in a drive-thru situation, providing the driver does not move too quickly.

I know a tunnel operator who has the potential to have tons of drip space, but he stacked is final rinses and blowers really tight together and is getting a very dry car - much better than he used to get with 20 feet of drip space. Needless to say, it is important to have the right drying chemicals for your set up.
 
Most tunnel guys would kill for 20 feet of drip space. If he had trouble getting a dry car with that much space he definitely had a chemical issue. The flash dry system works well but does not compare to good drip space.
 
rph9168 said:
Most tunnel guys would kill for 20 feet of drip space. If he had trouble getting a dry car with that much space he definitely had a chemical issue. The flash dry system works well but does not compare to good drip space.
Click to expand...

He didn't have any trouble drying the car before, he just wanted it a notch better, as he does not towel dry and his competition does.

I know it is hard to believe, but he is drying better now with the same chemical. It is an ecolab sealer. I should also mention that he has ten Belanger air cannon generators. They are staged from dead center on the top to gradually moving out to the sides of the vehicle. The first two act as the initial flash, and the remaining eight get the car bone dry. He also runs a fairly slow chain speed when he can due to lower volume.
 
PDQ Productivity Arch

We have 3 G5's and they all have the productivity arch.

On the G5's you CAN put spotfree through it and you CAN adjust the pump speed so you and reduce the overall volume of water being applied.

This arch saves us a LOT of time :)
 
easywash said:
We have 3 G5's and they all have the productivity arch.

On the G5's you CAN put spotfree through it and you CAN adjust the pump speed so you and reduce the overall volume of water being applied.

This arch saves us a LOT of time :)
Click to expand...

Yes...I use it for a regular quick rinse, but I know you can't put SF through it.

However, my spot free system has a delivery pump, so I could possibly do it through the productivity arch with a manifold and check valve. Will look into that one...thks
 
This is what I decided to do. I'm gonna mount a home made PVC Rain manifold to the same box steel the productivity rinse manifold is attached to. Then I'll run a 3/8 hose back to the spot free delivery pump via the festoons.

Then, I'll have the M5 programmed to run a productivity dry pass and have it fire the SF delivery pump.

Easy and should cost me less than $100 to do. Should save me about 20 seconds per wash, or about 5 mins/hr. That's about one wash per hour. On a busy day for me that's a revenue increase of about $100/day. So a one day ROI...that's good!
 
Sorry I missed this thread! I did this years ago for a customer (its still in operation today). Of course you want it as far away from the dryer as possible. We are putting wax on instead of RO but its the same idea. The best thing I did was to install photo eyes so it only works when they are under the arch. It still has a timer, but why waste product if they are going to drive out quickly?
 
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