aca carwash 2
Member
I have two ss bays, when you hit the foam brush on both bays getting nothing but air through the brush. anybody have any suggestions?
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foam brush
- Thread starter aca carwash 2
- Start date
Many things can be the cause,
breaker tripped/fuse- check breaker panel or fuse to see if blow fuse.
power not getting to the chemical solenoid valve- get multitester out to check voltage when activated
pump malfunction/motor bad- verify power to motor when called for
low water cutoff switch activation or malfunction on the chemical tank -check for LWCO float switch stuck or bad unit
You can start here. Hope this helps.
breaker tripped/fuse- check breaker panel or fuse to see if blow fuse.
power not getting to the chemical solenoid valve- get multitester out to check voltage when activated
pump malfunction/motor bad- verify power to motor when called for
low water cutoff switch activation or malfunction on the chemical tank -check for LWCO float switch stuck or bad unit
You can start here. Hope this helps.
cantbreak80
Maybe I need new clubs
Common problem with both bays indicates pump or pump control failure. Is the system fitted with a motorized pump or air-powered pump?
aca carwash 2
Member
thanks for the reply. the fuses are all good and no tripped breaker. how do you check the solenoids? I have a volt meter. its also foaming up in the holding tank, no leaks upstairs either. just not pulling product.
mjwalsh
6 bay SS w/laundromat
Check for 24vac on the 2 terminals of the chem solenoid.
aca carwash 2
Member
do I try on oms while its running? all low pressure items are all air
The solenoid valves could also have jammed closed from debris. Take the valve apart to clean, might go ahead and replace the plunger if you have them.
I have 2 ways to check to see if power to solenoid for power.
First is the paperclip method. I hold a paperclip to the top of the enclosing tube and slowly move away. If clip holds onto the clip a bit with power and not so with the power off- the power is at the valve.
The second is with the volt meter. Set the selector switch on the meter to 50 on the AC section (put on higher range if you are not sure the voltage is less than 50. Not setting to a range higher than voltage being tested can damage the meter.) the 2 wires coming out of the coil of the valve-follow them to a terminal. The red and black lead wires from the meter- place the each of the exposed ends of the red/black leads to the terminal ends of the valve wires. Testing is done while the switch is on foam brush and the coin meter is activated.
Hope this does not sound to confusing but if you can master the use of a volt meter, it will be one of your BEST troubleshooting tools for the carwash!!! Ask a friend electrician to show you, it will be well worth the time.
Might disconnect the hose from the outlet side of the valve and turn on just a second -have a rag around outlet in case liquid comes out. this is just one other thing I have done to verify whether something works or not.
Hope this helps.
washguy2010
New member
My wash has air/flo=jet pump,If the air pressure on the air silenoid is overriding chemical solenoid the result is air only from my foam brush in the bays. So I have to balance air pressure between the two. good luck hope this helps
aca carwash 2
Member
Neither bay works, all air in both. This comes out of nowhere as they were both working fine two days ago.
aca carwash 2
Member
Thanks for that detailed explanation Stuart. So with the power on the circular things on the end should have enough charge to hold a paper clip. I see on the foam brush solenoid that one of the circular things on the end is gone. What exactly does the solenoid do? I have other solenoids on the bench, ie tire cleaner and pre soak I could change but they are all air as well. There are three flo jets on the bench as well, I believe for tire cleaner, bug off and foam brush. They are in a very awkward place and hard to get to. When you run either product the flow jets make no noise. It looks like they may have been leaking for some time. Could it be the flow jet pump. Maybe they all are bad, should you hear them pump when product is selected. How can I work backwards to see if it's the pump or solenoid. If I'm getting only air does it mean the flo jets are working? Sorry.......I know you are right about learning to use the volt meter. I can fix a lot more laundry machine and am really bad at troubleshooting car wash problems, if I learn this I will move to the next level. Thanks for all the help, it's driving me crazy, and nuts.
soapy
Senior Member
On a foam brush system you generally have the pump that moves the liquid soap through the lines and then is mixed with a separate incoming air line that creates the foam when going through a foam generator or mixer. It sounds like you have the air portion of the mix coming in but not the liquid. As mentioned earlier if the air pressure is higher than the incoming liquid it can overpower the liquid and keep it from making it out to the foam brush. I would first check the liquid tank and look at the bottom of the tank and follow the line down to the tank and check it. Foam brush solution will generate a algea that can block the filter in the tank so that no solution can be sucked up to the pump. 2. If you have a spare pump for the solution I would replace that and check to see if that is the problem. You can check the solenoid that supplies air to the pump by simply unhooking the incoming air line that goes to the flojet and then call for foam brush in one of the bays during a cycle. If you hear air blowing you know the solenoid is working. 3. you might need to turn down the air pressure that is used for mixing and foaming the solution. I would turn the air off so the solution did not have to fight it and then once you get solution coming out of the brush add air pressure slowly to get your desired foam level.
aca carwash 2
Member
soapy
Senior Member
Sounds like the solenoid is bad or plugged. Not sure what type of solenoid you have but I would guess it is a plunger type. First thing to do is to remove coil from the stem with the air off. Then you should be able to unscrew the stem and look for debris around the plunger. If you find debris removing it should solve your problem. If you have other solenoids for the other functions you could swap the coils and see if the solenoid works with a different coil. Then you would know the coil was bad. If it were me and I had a seperate solenoid and coil I would just replace it.
aca carwash 2
Member
i replaced the solenoid, when you activate foam brush it has a charge. i believe it must be a bad flow jet pump. when activated no noise, nothing. i put another one on i had lying around but i believe its bad as well, nothing, no pumping noise. i have air and product to the flo jet. should you hear it pump if its good? i noticed on the air line to the flow jet it had a little white piece on the end that needs to be pushed in to release the air. should that be on there? interesting now, no air only to the bay as that is all i was getting before.
soapy
Senior Member
One additional thing you can try is to unhook the incoming solution line that goes to the flojet pump and then activate the foam brush. You should hear the pump rapidly pumping if the pump is still good. If it does try to pump you have a plugged fluid line between the pump and the solution tank. I have seen this several times with algea in the tank. If the pump does nothing then it is probably the pump.
Earl Weiss
Well-known member
Note to all. Flo Jets are great to swap out using te quick disconnects BUT!!! I have had that little white thing go bad. Swapped out for a new pump and it did not work. Made me crazy until I swapped out the little white thing as well.