No-Wax Man!

[Waxman]

The wax isn't coming out on my SS bays! I checked the metering tip going into the wax tank, the screen inside the tank, and the solenoids seem to be magnetized when the wax is selected in each bay. The problem is in all SS bays. There's plenty of product being drawn up into the tank when I manually pullthe float down. It seems like the level of the wax tank does not fall when I select wax in the bays.

What else is there to check? All other functions work fine.

 

[bigleo48]

What kind of pumps are you using? If air-pumps (like Flowjets), it could be your air supply. A while back I drew up some function diagrams for each option...I find it easier to look at and see common points. I emailed you an example.

Big Leo

 

[Eric H]

Just to check that there is nothing stuck in the valves I have removed the tube from the outlet side of the valve and turned the bay on. The wax should come out at a steady flow but will not have any real pressure to it.

 

[Shorco1]

Do you have a clear plastic bowl under you holding tank? If so this may possibly be gummed up. Just a thought.

B-727 Captain (ret)

 

[MEP001]

Normally you won't "see" the wax level in the tank drop since the amount drawn along with the water is so small.

Check the foot valve in the pail - often when it fails, especially if the holding tank is small, it takes enough time for the chemical to draw back to the Hydrominder that by the time it reaches it, the valve is already off again.

You might check at least one solenoid and make sure it's not clogged or gummed, but you usually wouldn't have all bays quit at once.

 

[Greg Pack]

Is your HP soap working?

 

[Waxman]

I use cat 530 pumps. yes hp soap works fine. I will check the outlet side like Eric said. I can see the wax being drawn up into the mixing tank.

 

[bigleo48]

I use cat 530 pumps. yes hp soap works fine. I will check the outlet side like Eric said. I can see the wax being drawn up into the mixing tank.

Yeah, but don't you have a low pressure pump that injects at the HP pump outlet (that's the way mine is). So in that case I would turn off the motor-starter for the Cat pump, open the mixing valve full and try it...at that point you should just have wax/water mix from the mixing tank.

BigLeo

 

[MEP001]

Yeah, but don't you have a low pressure pump that injects at the HP pump outlet (that's the way mine is). So in that case I would turn off the motor-starter for the Cat pump, open the mixing valve full and try it...at that point you should just have wax/water mix from the mixing tank.

That's a very unusual setup. Nearly all self-serve equipment uses gravity and solenoids to feed soap and wax to the high-pressure pumps at the inlet.

 

[bigleo48]

That's a very unusual setup. Nearly all self-serve equipment uses gravity and solenoids to feed soap and wax to the high-pressure pumps at the inlet.

I'm not sure I like it that way, but I didn't think it was that common with newer benches...my M5 and SS benches use a LP pump to inject the chems...and they have been reliable that way....however more expensive to build.

BigLeo

 

[Waxman]

Only foamy brush and 3 color foam utilize flo-jets. the hp soap and wax are fed directly into the cat pumps. I put a mark on a piece of rod, put the rod inside the mixing tank and ran the wax for 1 cycle. It did use a small amount out of the tank during the wax setting being selected in the bay. So, I think it's working, but the scent isn't as strong as I remember. There does appear to be some breaking occurring on the vehicles. I don't know what we did, but it seems to work now. Confusing.

 

[bigleo48]

Only foamy brush and 3 color foam utilize flo-jets. the hp soap and wax are fed directly into the cat pumps. I put a mark on a piece of rod, put the rod inside the mixing tank and ran the wax for 1 cycle. It did use a small amount out of the tank during the wax setting being selected in the bay. So, I think it's working, but the scent isn't as strong as I remember. There does appear to be some breaking occurring on the vehicles. I don't know what we did, but it seems to work now. Confusing.

Well ther's some clogging somewhere. In the past my wax has clogged the hydrominder tip, the foot valve, the needle valve and the solenoid. Might be a good time to pull things appart and clean. Since the waxes are so concentrated, I decided to increse the mixture in the tank, but limit the mix at the pump. I also mix the buckets every now and then as there seems to be a slight amount of seperation in the Kleenright (Simonix wax).

Have you tried increasing the wax/water ratio by increasing the hydrominder tip?

I can say that I don't much like a system that injects soap and wax before the pump.

BigLeo

 

[MEP001]

I can say that I don't much like a system that injects soap and wax before the pump.

I wouldn't do it any other way. Hydrominders and solenoids are very reliable, and the overall setup is very simple. Downstream injectors usually cause a pressure drop, which means you have to run your HP pumps harder to get the same pressure as I do. Injectors themselves are higher maintenance, and you have even more pumps to deal with. You can't even use powdered soap, which I've found can give more cleaning power at less cost than liquid.

Waxman, have you checked the foot valve in the pail? Do you have a hole in the hose below the Hydrominder and above the diluted wax in the tank to act as a siphon break so if the foot valve fails it won't draw diluted product back to the concentrate?