Ryko Soap Tank is being filled by weep

[escarwash]

Normally my weep goes into that brass block and out to the bays from there, the three colored lines are chemical lines from the chemical tank that also normally go out to the bays.

I have a issue where when the weep turns on, some of the weep water feeds back through the orange line on the bottom and is filling my soap tank with water. Any ideas how to fix this?

 

[Randy]

You've got bad check valve in the Weep system

 

[MEP001]

I see an image placeholder but no image, so I don't know what "that brass block" is.

Is it the high-pressure soap tank that's getting filled by the weep?

 

[DiamondWash]

Do you have a Ryko Signature Series Self Serve system if so I do too and can help diagnose this issue?

 

[DiamondWash]

In this picture I have my HP Clear-Coat (Left), LP Pre-soak (Middle), HP Soap (Right) all have 1/4" check valves to prevent this from happening.

 

[escarwash]

Yep, It's a signature series and looks just like that. Mine doesn't have those check valves there. Hmm... looks like I will have to order some.

 

[MEP001]

That might solve the problem you're having right now, but there's still an issue that needs to be corrected. If one bay has an issue with the weep backing up to the tank, then adding a check valve at the tank will cause a different bay to get water from the weep instead of soap.

 

[DiamondWash]

The HP Soap solenoids are the culprit in this situation you can open them to check for debris, but more then like likely the plunger and seat have began to fail so if you replace one do them all for all bays.

 

[MEP001]

The HP Soap solenoids are the culprit in this situation

The HP solenoids can't be the problem because they were never intended to stop flow in the wrong direction. If the solenoid were bad or had debris in it, the pump would draw soap on every function and not just on soap.

 

[DiamondWash]

Check out my video of the system: http://youtu.be/VLJGJO3j010

 

[MEP001]

I'll say again that the solenoid you pointed to isn't there to keep the weep out of the soap tank. It's there only to control the flow of soap TO the pump when that feature is selected. Adding the check valve at the bottom of the tank may solve the issue of weep entering the soap tank, but now if (for example) your bay 6 has the weep on and the check valve in the soap tank is doing its job and someone uses bay 5, instead of getting soap they'll get weep water that's flowing back from bay 6. You obviously understand your system well but you're lacking on that one detail.

 

[DiamondWash]

The Weep system will not come on unless all bays are idle and if at anytime a function comes one in any bay the weep immediately shuts off. If this we're your system what would be your diagnosis to fixing this issue?

 

[MEP001]

The Weep system will not come on unless all bays are idle and if at anytime a function comes one in any bay the weep immediately shuts off.

That sounds dumb. What if someone washes for 30 minutes in one bay and the others freeze because the weep is off? I didn't realize the entire weep system shuts off when one bay is in use, so your check valve solution is as good as any, but I'd unplumb that and route the weep to the outlet of the pump and get the weep from a source that doesn't shut off when a bay is in use.

 

[escarwash]

I have my main weep solenoid connected to a Weepmizer, so if one bay is in use, the others continue to weep. However, the HP Soap tank is the only one that is filled by the weep. I built a temporary check valve from pvc parts from the soap tank and I am adding real check valves inline under the tanks this week, but I am at school so I wont be able to add them until the weekend. Thanks for the video Diamond, It makes more sense now. MEP, I was also under the impression that the solenoid manifolds were there to control what pump the soap would flow to, not to hold back weep water. I was thinking the problem was in the brass block where everything connects (not sure what its called) or could it be in the pump? Diamond said in the video that the weep is flowing back through the pump, should the pump allow flow in that direction? Anyways, I will play around with things some more this weekend and see if I can figure out what the problem is? I will check the solenoid manifolds and add check valves to start.

 

[Robert2181]

We have always put check valves on all lines going to all booms in all bays to a void any problems with any options,weep,freeze guard or back flow problems.

 

[MEP001]

I was thinking the problem was in the brass block where everything connects (not sure what its called)

The block appears to be just a manifold to support all the fittings without letting them hang off the pump, so there's nothing to go wrong with it.

or could it be in the pump?

The pump is not supposed to allow pressure on the outlet to flow back through to ever get to the tanks, so there must be something wrong with it. You can confirm by unhooking the hose to the inlet of the pump and turning on the weep.

 

[DiamondWash]

Also make sure you have strainers on the 1/2" threaded chemical output inside the tanks so is not to suck any debris into the check valve and cause it to stay open.