Foam Brush Issues

[spf8298]

I've got a 3 bay self serve with a home-made foam brush set up. It's not ideal, but It was that way when I purchased. It does have two manifold blocks (air and product), two regulators with gauges (one controls pressure to flo-jet and one to the air mainfold), and a solution tank that the flo-jet pulls out of. The lines are all 1/4" poly and they are tee'd together in the equipment room with single 1/4" lines going out to the foam brush.

The set-up is very touchy. I usually set the air pressure to the flo-jet at 55-60 and the air pressure to the air manifold at 45-50 and most of the time this makes decent foam. Lately, I just can't get it set with out the product coming out liquidy.

My question is, what can be done to improve the product show? Would running two lines out to each bay and teeing above the boom help? My manifold blacks each have metering ajustability. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Keno]

Sounds to me like your solution isn't strong enough, dump a little straight soap into your hydrominder tank and see how it looks after that.

 

[Randy]

I'd probably do what Keno has suggested first and if that works go up one tip size to get strong solution. You might want to think about building a Foam generator. I have the same type of set up the air and the solution meet in the equipment room and I have one line going out to the bay. But I have a foam generator in the equipment room that the air and solution are tee'd into. I get shaving cream foam out in the bay.

 

[edredtop]

I've got a 3 bay self serve with a home-made foam brush set up. It's not ideal, but It was that way when I purchased. It does have two manifold blocks (air and product), two regulators with gauges (one controls pressure to flo-jet and one to the air mainfold), and a solution tank that the flo-jet pulls out of. The lines are all 1/4" poly and they are tee'd together in the equipment room with single 1/4" lines going out to the foam brush.

The set-up is very touchy. I usually set the air pressure to the flo-jet at 55-60 and the air pressure to the air manifold at 45-50 and most of the time this makes decent foam. Lately, I just can't get it set with out the product coming out liquidy.

My question is, what can be done to improve the product show? Would running two lines out to each bay and teeing above the boom help? My manifold blacks each have metering ajustability. Any help would be appreciated.

If you have a home made set up (nothing wrong with that) you may have some components are 10-20 years old or older. One thing to get rid of is any old aluminum mixing blocks out at the bays (if any) and replace any flex hoses after the mix occurs but before the brush boom. This is a common area where soap build up occurs and will significantly slow down, stop, or screw up a good brush soap show. Totally agree a good first test is to add some pure soap to the mix and see what happens.

 

[Greg Pack]

If your foam generators get clogged the product you can have that symptom. I've even had to replace the hoses going to the brush due to buildup so keep that in mind.

 

[Earl Weiss]

The lines are all 1/4" poly and they are tee'd together in the equipment room with single 1/4" lines going out to the foam brush.

T

I think trying to push foam any distance thru a 1/4" line is an issue. You could try making the line 1/2 Braided or go the route of T'ng above Boom and see which works best. Report Back.

 

[spf8298]

I did discover a few things with the foam brush this weekend. The dilution was way too weak. I ended up going up one tip size and that seemed to help. The other issues I'm seeing is that I get good foam in the two bays closest to the equipment room, but the bay that is farthest from equipment room comes out liquid no matter what adjustments I make. Not sure what I can do to mitigate this.

 

[edredtop]

I did discover a few things with the foam brush this weekend. The dilution was way too weak. I ended up going up one tip size and that seemed to help. The other issues I'm seeing is that I get good foam in the two bays closest to the equipment room, but the bay that is farthest from equipment room comes out liquid no matter what adjustments I make. Not sure what I can do to mitigate this.

Check for cracks in the air line for that bay. It may be time to replace that run.

 

[jbrabold]

44 years in the business. Had the original Bubble Brush system from Mark VII back in 1981. Had many adaptations and new approaches to our FB systems over those years. About 10 years ago switched to a Dosatron all water powered set up and never looked back. The most consistent and efficient FB system of all we had used in the past. One five gallon pail of FB soap lasts 2-3 months and costs less than $100, Once set up no adjusting needed, Works consistently well no matter any variation in water pressure. Since that time we sold a four bay location for redevelopment and took that FB system out. Its FOR SALE if anyone is interested.

 

[mgmtoo]

Sometimes the batch from the MFG can vary in strength, and you have to adjust the mix.

 

[spf8298]

44 years in the business. Had the original Bubble Brush system from Mark VII back in 1981. Had many adaptations and new approaches to our FB systems over those years. About 10 years ago switched to a Dosatron all water powered set up and never looked back. The most consistent and efficient FB system of all we had used in the past. One five gallon pail of FB soap lasts 2-3 months and costs less than $100, Once set up no adjusting needed, Works consistently well no matter any variation in water pressure. Since that time we sold a four bay location for redevelopment and took that FB system out. Its FOR SALE if anyone is interested.

Send me a pic and a PM.

 

[jbrabold]

Really dont know how to navigate this site. Just got on it a few days ago. dont know how to send a photo thats on my phone to you from my desktop. sorry. you can text me at 317 557 5660 and I will attempt to send a photo to you from my I phone. I took this system down 2 years ago and it has been in storage since