boiler recommendation for iba

[MudMoney]

I'm looking for input and recommendation regarding boiler for IBA.I want to heat 80 gallons in 6 minutes, going from incoming water temp of 38 degrees to 125 degrees.I'm currenting looking at Quikwater HotShot,anybody have any experience with this manufacture.

 

[wash4me]

I'm betting long term you will have less maintenance and operating expenses with 1 or possibly 2 large conventional tank type water heaters. I would think about undersizing the unit. If you have the exact temperature you want 90% of the time and luke warm water in the winter 10% of the time what difference will it make? You will get more efficiency and smaller upfront investment. I replaced a large boiler with a 250000 btu triangle tube condensing boiler. The numbers I was running were saying 4-500000 btu was needed. I have a monitoring system and only a few times a year does my water go from 140 down to 100 to 110 and this is winter time rush....in my opinion the water seems hotter when it's colder outside!

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I'm guessing since you want to heat 80 gallons every 6 minutes that your entire wash process is done with hot water?! Why? Why dont you save yourself a ton of money and simply heat your presoak passes, and possibly your waxes if you feel the need, cold hard water for the rest. If you're really dead set on it, maybe heat your presoaks to 125 and use tempered 80 water for the rest if you must. Personally, I think using hot soft water for high pressure in an automatic is just money down the drain. My 2 cents.

 

[MudMoney]

wash4me
What do you recommend for a tank type heater?

 

[Greg Pack]

Hope I'm not drifting too much but have you done a cost analysis? A buddy of mine once did it. He calculated that it cost nearly $1/car and that was in the South ten years ago. Customer perception was good but finished wash quality was not substantially better. He swapped to stronger presoaks and got a better finished product for much less money. We have no ice or snow to deal with though, and that may be what you're after.

 

[MudMoney]

Thanks for all the input, but back to my original question...Does anyone have a recommendation for an IBA boiler that will heat 80 gallons of water in 6 minutes? Does anyone have experience with the Quickwater HotShot?

 

[MEP001]

When I worked in plumbing some 30 years ago we installed a 10 million BTU water heater (Yes, 60-gallon water heater, not a boiler). It had a 4-inch gas inlet. I'm not sure what else can heat that much water that fast.

 

[soapy]

I have several 80 gallon RHEEM or VoyAGER water heaters that are gas fired using a 190,000 btu boiler. The best I have ever seen them do is about a 6 degree rise in temperature per minute for the 80 gallon tank. They have a digital reading and use outside combustion air brought in with a 4 inch pvc tube. They are said to be 90%+ efficient. 1 unit will easily provide enough hot water for a 4 bay SS and 2 auto bay wash that uses hot water for IBA presoak and wax application and hot water wash and wax applications in the the SS bays.

 

[wash4me]

Gallons per hour 800 x temperature rise (87) x 8.33 = BTU/hour required (579,768) btu per hour then add 5-20% more to this depending on the efficiency of what you select. So whether you use a boiler, tankless water heater, conventional water heater this is the btu's you have to have to do this steadily every six minutes. Tank type is probably the lowest maintenance but I am wondering about using 4 199000 btu takagi type tankless units and a large holding tank. The tank could be just a larger than typical iba stainless tank with a float valve. To get the tankless to fire on high you have to put cold city water through them and the hot temp you want out the other side. You can hook them to a recirculation system to just go into a water heater but once the water starts getting warm they would no longer fire on high which means they wouldn't give you your required btu's.

 

[MudMoney]

wash4me
Thanks for the input on this subject,I've been given a list of references by an outside source to contact regarding my post and will explore that.Thank-you to others that weighted in too.

 

[wash4me]

Let us know what you decide......we can always use more info

 

[wash4me]

swampdonkey on carwashconsignment.com a boiler setup was just listed that will do what you want.