I know this has been discussed and I just replied to a thread where Sparkey had added a well pump with bladder tank to increase his pressure.he didn't mention what his pressure was at after adding. I was wondering what pressure are others using? Myself I don't find 45 psi enough to thoroughly rinse without additional time...which I quess could work either way when in business but.... Is there a simple pump and motor combo available that will be reliable to run two wash stations?
I must increase water pressure..
- Thread starter A.Milton
- Start date
If I increase the water flow rate with the injector screw I lose the amount of chemical or totally lose chemical draw all together. I have changed size of lines(volume) thinking it would make a difference but no real difference. I thought spray head may have been gunked up but soaked that in hot vinegar water and that is cleaned. The diameter inside the encore sprayer head line is like a jet spray when you take the head off which is weird because once it goes thru spryer head it loses all significant pressure. I am waiting on a new encore spray head I case there are problems with this. If it is not the encore sprayer head, then so far, changing the size of lines to the Honeywell valve 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch has not made a difference. I don't know what else to do. The kleen rite print out says to add a pressure regulator but I thought this would only help if I needed to decrease pressure.
wash4me
Member
Is this for the whole wash? What are you rinsing?
It is for all selections on dogwash. Shampoo, condition, rinse...at present each selection is the same psi...it doesn't matter what selection I feel it needs to be increased. I've visited 4 other dog washes in the past years. I prefer a higher psi...I'm going to take a drive tomorrow to a dogwash about 2 hours from where I am to see their set up. Some cities have higher psi, unfortunately where I am located in this city it is older lines, etc. 3 miles away the city psi is 65...I could probably operate my equipment very well at 65psi or at least would feel better offering this to customers...not satisfied with what I presently have 42-45 psi today.
I have been reading many posts on this site complaining of low water pressure...I can see again there are 25 ways to skin this cat..I'm going to visit a dogwash tomorrow, Monday talking with city about differences in psi 's depending on location. I also read where someone used a flo-jet for getting chemical to solenoid. So I quess I will have to determine what psi I prefer and go from there.i just know I'm not happy with present pressure. I doubt the new hand sprayer ordered from Encore wasn't the answer either.
I was told to keep solenoids in the future from clogging or getting gummed up to run hot water and vinegar thru lines once a month..
I was told to keep solenoids in the future from clogging or getting gummed up to run hot water and vinegar thru lines once a month..
wash4me
Member
You could install a booster pump and regulator but considering maintenance in the future you're probably better off with some bigger solenoid valves. The short of it is the small (cheap) solenoid valves have a very high resistance to flow. If you want to know if 45 psi is enough take the hand sprayer and plumb it in directly to your garden hose connection. While you will never get a full 45 psi you can certainly get most of it with the right solenoid valves. If you are set on increasing flow a spot free pump or just about any pump with a relief valve will probably do it...If you have one on your spot free just plumb it in temporarily to the dog wash supply and see how the pressure is. The city can't really help you. Your pressure is dictated by your elevation in relation to the tower elevation in most cases.
I use a cheap shallow well pump with tank like you find at Lowes to boost the pressure to around 60 - 65 psi which works fine. My dogwash setup has a pressure regulator to even out the pressure as it goes in the the dog wash injector system. I don't know how your set up is but on mine when you switch to rinse it has a solenoid that bypasses the chemical injector portion which greatly increases flow because it doesn't have to go through the injector orifice.
mrfixit
Member
My dogwash runs at 70-80 psi.
Thanks to high city pressure and no restriction from softeners. I run a carbon prefilter in the big blue to reduce chlorine.
Note- we lost too much pressure behind the softeners, went down to 35psi and wouldnt draw chemical when the auto kicked on. We had no choice but to put in front of the softeners on hard water for the time being... The last 4 -5 years. Lol
Thanks to high city pressure and no restriction from softeners. I run a carbon prefilter in the big blue to reduce chlorine.
Note- we lost too much pressure behind the softeners, went down to 35psi and wouldnt draw chemical when the auto kicked on. We had no choice but to put in front of the softeners on hard water for the time being... The last 4 -5 years. Lol
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Jeff_L
Well-known member
Have you checked with your water department? I wonder if they have a minimum pressure they have/should be delivering water to your site? If so, have them check it at your meter to see if it's within their tolerance. After that, I would then start evaluating options as others are suggesting.
