Foamy Brush Plumbing

[Kar B Kleen]

Stumbled on a "Tom's Way" video on Kleen Rite site about plumbing a low pressure system. He's saying to tee the 1/4" poly tubing (air and product) together in the equipment room and run 1/2" Polybraid to the bay, with no foam generator needed. I've always ran 1/4" poly tube to bay and tee together in the bay with a homemade foam generator. Thoughts pro/con on doing it Tom's way. I'm remodeling and would like to hear comments on doing it this way. Would 3/8" polybraid not work as good as 1/2"? Would it also work as well on 3X foam? Thanks in advance.

 

[MEP001]

I would run the tubing all the way to the bay, use a generator, and use 1/2" hose to the boom. 3/8" would be okay for a short run, but more than a few feet and it won't flow as smooth from the head. "Tom's Way" would work for a 4-bay car wash with the ER in the middle of two bays, but beyond that the foam would take forever to reach the farther bays. That method is for quick and cheap installation and not for quality. It's actually less expensive to run two 1/4" tubing lines to the bay than just about anything else.

 

[Toms PTcarwash]

The Kleen Rite headquarters are about 5 miles from my wash, I have been doing business with them for 20 years. Tom was a great guy, unfortunately he left us too soon.
For my system, I run 1/4" air and 1/4" foam to a foamer directly above the boom.
I would think Tom's thoughts were that the 1/2" hose and the length of run would effectively become your foamer.
I would consider trying one in a bay to see how it works. I would also think that the larger the ID of the hose, the better foaming you would see.
For my climate, I would be a bit apprehensive of a single line in the winter. The way I am set up, I can switch my foam source from regular summer to methanol mix antifreeze in just about one minute and know the lines are good to below zero.

 

[MEP001]

I would consider trying one in a bay to see how it works.

It won't work well. I pulled systems out of twelve car washes that all used 1/2" hose. It would be an expensive waste of time.

 

[traveler17]

The Kleen Rite headquarters are about 5 miles from my wash, I have been doing business with them for 20 years. Tom was a great guy, unfortunately he left us too soon.
For my system, I run 1/4" air and 1/4" foam to a foamer directly above the boom.
I would think Tom's thoughts were that the 1/2" hose and the length of run would effectively become your foamer.
I would consider trying one in a bay to see how it works. I would also think that the larger the ID of the hose, the better foaming you would see.
For my climate, I would be a bit apprehensive of a single line in the winter. The way I am set up, I can switch my foam source from regular summer to methanol mix antifreeze in just about one minute and know the lines are good to below zero.

Could you explain how you have your system set to switch chems. I need to know . Thanks!!

 

[Toms PTcarwash]

A friend of mine just texted me that it looks like I am not seeing all posts.
I was fortunately able to find, a few weeks ago, that you can choose to ignore post from anyone you choose.
Some people seem to have a lot of spare time and choose to use it for unproductive reasons.
I personally have no time for such non sense.

 

[Toms PTcarwash]

 

[Toms PTcarwash]

I don't know why it posted double pics again.
Anyway, if you can see here the tall tank on the left is my winter foam brush. The tank on the far right is my summer foam brush. The pvc ball valves switch from one to the other.
I switch the ball valves, turn on the foam for the bays it takes about a minute to purge the lines.
I use a red foam for the summer and blue for the winter, so I know when i see blue foam I am good to go!

 

[traveler17]

A friend of mine just texted me that it looks like I am not seeing all posts.
I was fortunately able to find, a few weeks ago, that you can choose to ignore post from anyone you choose.
Some people seem to have a lot of spare time and choose to use it for unproductive reasons.
I personally have no time for such non sense.

I don't know why it posted double pics again.
Anyway, if you can see here the tall tank on the left is my winter foam brush. The tank on the far right is my summer foam brush. The pvc ball valves switch from one to the other.
I switch the ball valves, turn on the foam for the bays it takes about a minute to purge the lines.
I use a red foam for the summer and blue for the winter, so I know when i see blue foam I am good to go!

that is great. Thx!! I’m in SE North Carolina so not real bad but if it dips in the mid to low 20s it’s usually only for a night or two. This would make it so much more convenient, thx again

 

[Toms PTcarwash]

Here in PA it was about 50 on Saturday , 13 tonight, 42 tommorow.

 

[MEP001]

Some people seem to have a lot of spare time and choose to use it for unproductive reasons.

And some people don't have time for your misinformation. I will continue to post corrections for your bad advice for those who can still see it.

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW 3/*" Poly For air, Solution and weep all T'd above the Bay. 2 Flo Jets each supplying a 4 bay manifold. While doubtful all 8 would use FB at one time I still figured I would use 2 flo jets. All other low PSI functions use one Flo Jet for 8 Bays. No Foamers, no needle valves. Adjust pressure and volume with the regulators in the ER. Plenty of room for foam to form from the T thru the 25 feet or so of hose, foam brush handle and brush head.

 

[traveler17]

Stumbled on a "Tom's Way" video on Kleen Rite site about plumbing a low pressure system. He's saying to tee the 1/4" poly tubing (air and product) together in the equipment room and run 1/2" Polybraid to the bay, with no foam generator needed. I've always ran 1/4" poly tube to bay and tee together in the bay with a homemade foam generator. Thoughts pro/con on doing it Tom's way. I'm remodeling and would like to hear comments on doing it this way. Would 3/8" polybraid not work as good as 1/2"? Would it also work as well on 3X foam? Thanks in advance.

The wash I purchased is plumbed exactly like you describe except no poly tube. I’m putting in new blocks , regulators gauges etc… I personally have never seen this until now. I have zero problems foaming and put an in-line check valve above the fb boom furthest out and hardly a wait.