Water wizard boom counts are not consistent during boom tests. When machine is running if counts are to low it skips the bug pass. If counts are not the same up and down it will set a code that top prox was on when boom was not home. This happened about a year ago and both counting prox wires and sensors along with the communication wire being changed to no avail. Shut off the red lion for the night and turned it on in the morning and everything has worked until now. Same symptoms as before, shut it off for the night and all is well in the morning. Ran for a day this time then quit. Shut it down again for the night but this time it did not come back to normal. Tech is starting to think a software problem but cannot get assistance or a call back from Coleman. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I saw a post on here about someone setting up a site for help with Water Wizards due to lack of help from the manufacturer but I can't find the information. If someone has the information that would be helpful. My first time using this site, hopefully I did it correctly.
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Water Wizard 2.0 boom counts
- Thread starter mud puppy
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Hope this is OK, but Jackson can delete if not. We're a small group but it's an easy way to get relatively quick input on water wizard problems
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Sounds like a 2.0. I don't think it's a software problem.
First, make sure there is no hose leaking in the area of the sensors. Make sure all wires connections are good. re-strip and re-land all wires to both boom prox switches and even the boom home prox and boom bottom prox. Aftermarket wires and switches are so cheap that I just replace at the slightest hint of a problem.
by the way make sure the switch spacing is correct. You can get a switch too close as well as too far away.
If this is only happening during a wash and not during boom test it could be slack in the boom bearings allowing excessive boom play and the high pressure pushing the boom away from the sensors. You will probably see an error pop up and it will be consistently at one end of the vehicle and probably around the same height when the error occurs. The easiest and cheapest option there is to order the conversion kit that moves the boom count prox switches off the boom and up to a count wheel up high on the gantry. It's only around $100 if I recall. This conversion kit is a good idea regardless and if you plan to keep this machine a long time I recommend it as it will virtually eliminate any boom count errors related to prox switch spacing. It also gets the prox switch wires out of the moving echain that the boom hose is in so that increases reliability
If all else failed you can throw the parts cannon at it and replace all switches and wires involved, the two counting prox switches and associated cables. You can even replace the boom home prox and bottom boom prox. Cables are sensors are all only around $25 each from automation direct.
The final step is to replace the input card. But I would only consider that after all other options have been explored
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Sounds like a 2.0. I don't think it's a software problem.
First, make sure there is no hose leaking in the area of the sensors. Make sure all wires connections are good. re-strip and re-land all wires to both boom prox switches and even the boom home prox and boom bottom prox. Aftermarket wires and switches are so cheap that I just replace at the slightest hint of a problem.
by the way make sure the switch spacing is correct. You can get a switch too close as well as too far away.
If this is only happening during a wash and not during boom test it could be slack in the boom bearings allowing excessive boom play and the high pressure pushing the boom away from the sensors. You will probably see an error pop up and it will be consistently at one end of the vehicle and probably around the same height when the error occurs. The easiest and cheapest option there is to order the conversion kit that moves the boom count prox switches off the boom and up to a count wheel up high on the gantry. It's only around $100 if I recall. This conversion kit is a good idea regardless and if you plan to keep this machine a long time I recommend it as it will virtually eliminate any boom count errors related to prox switch spacing. It also gets the prox switch wires out of the moving echain that the boom hose is in so that increases reliability
If all else failed you can throw the parts cannon at it and replace all switches and wires involved, the two counting prox switches and associated cables. You can even replace the boom home prox and bottom boom prox. Cables are sensors are all only around $25 each from automation direct.
The final step is to replace the input card. But I would only consider that after all other options have been explored
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I have been having same issues for several weeks I finally got it to a point that it sometimes works, and sometimes it doesn’t I will order the conversion kit in the morning Greg I did check on automation direct website can you post us a picture or part number for both the cable and the sensor? I have been getting my cables from Kleen-Rite or Coleman or my local distributor when they had to come up and send a tech to work on it. Thanks for all your help Greg.
Will warn you these switches don't seem quite as sensitive as the turk, but they otherwise work well and are of good quality. The cables are awesome.
Thanks for your reply. I have the conversion kit on this machine. I replaced both counting proxs and both wires. When problem first occurred I also ran a new communications cable. Nothing seemed to change the issue so i shut it off an went home. Next day everything worked and continued to work for almost a year. Problem has returned and the shut off go home idea did not fix it this time. Problem is there when running a boom test on the red lion. Counts are sometimes the same up and down and sometimes they are not. Sometimes counts are in the seventies sometimes the sixties and once in a while the fifties. Sometime the do not match up and down. I ran a test and counts were 77 both ways so I washed a pickup and when the boom went up for the last time at the rear the wash shut off and returned home with code that boom top prox was on when boom was below the sensor. I believe it does this because the count going up is wrong and the wizard thinks the boom is still down a ways because the counts are not matching.
thanks Greg I will try them
Mud puppy try replacing both the bottom and top boom limit prox switches and cables. You could also try tinkering with your proximity switch spacing on your count wheel. Sometimes moving a switch 1/8" makes a difference. Make sure you have a good 24VDC power on the gantry terminal strip. Banner eye problems can sag the voltage so consider that if you have any suspect eyes . Then after that I would check the input card for good connection on the commons and the proper input terminals. Final step would be change be the input card.
Just an update on my boom counter problem. Changed both prox sensors on the boom counting wheel (has wheel update) and has been working fine. I remember about ten years ago the service rep and i decided that when replacing the prox sensors on the gantry counting wheel it was best to replace both at the same time and to also make sure they were the same manufacture. Seems the machine is very sensitive to signals, and they must be exactly the same. After this issue I am going to assume the same applies to the boom sensors. I still don't understand why shutting it off for the night made any difference.
Hope this is OK, but Jackson can delete if not. We're a small group but it's an easy way to get relatively quick input on water wizard problems
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Sounds like a 2.0. I don't think it's a software problem.
First, make sure there is no hose leaking in the area of the sensors. Make sure all wires connections are good. re-strip and re-land all wires to both boom prox switches and even the boom home prox and boom bottom prox. Aftermarket wires and switches are so cheap that I just replace at the slightest hint of a problem.
by the way make sure the switch spacing is correct. You can get a switch too close as well as too far away.
If this is only happening during a wash and not during boom test it could be slack in the boom bearings allowing excessive boom play and the high pressure pushing the boom away from the sensors. You will probably see an error pop up and it will be consistently at one end of the vehicle and probably around the same height when the error occurs. The easiest and cheapest option there is to order the conversion kit that moves the boom count prox switches off the boom and up to a count wheel up high on the gantry. It's only around $100 if I recall. This conversion kit is a good idea regardless and if you plan to keep this machine a long time I recommend it as it will virtually eliminate any boom count errors related to prox switch spacing. It also gets the prox switch wires out of the moving echain that the boom hose is in so that increases reliability
If all else failed you can throw the parts cannon at it and replace all switches and wires involved, the two counting prox switches and associated cables. You can even replace the boom home prox and bottom boom prox. Cables are sensors are all only around $25 each from automation direct.
The final step is to replace the input card. But I would only consider that after all other options have been explored
When I installed the boom counter update wheel my boom counts went from 84 to 77. Has anyone else had this issue? The machines still work however the boom now senses an obstruction while profiling the car. It stops puts the boom to the top and continues the wash. It seems to me that the lower number of counts affects the number of positions the boom stops in and on some cars, it is to low and the safety eyes get blocked by the top of the car. I have had three different tech guys from different companies look at this and of course no help from Coleman so I just run it this way.
The boom count test should reset this number and will use the new values. Change all your recipes to reflect the new boom count limits. But I'm not sure that's the problem, look at your alarm history. You could have an eye problems. Bad eyes and eye cables are the cause of 87% of the problems on that machine.
We checked and changed the recipes, but nothing made any difference. One machine has only two profile eyes the other has four they all work with no codes. The one machine has eyes with no wire connections in the cables. This only happens with certain cars. The first time I noticed it was on my wife's park avenue. The biggest inconvenience is when looking in the alarms next section for codes sometimes you have to sort through a lot of "while profiling the car front or rear eyes saw an obstruction" code. I installed the conversion kit on the machine with four profile eyes first and noticed the issue. We tried to figure out why but with no luck. A couple years later I installed the kit on the other machine and then the problem showed up on it. I have tried different spacing on the prox sensors also with no change
Yes the eyes are on the correct channels, but I don't know about the eye shades. I have never heard about them or seen them. Both of these machines were installed new when I built the car wash one is 17 years old and the other is 14 years old. I never had this issue until I installed the counter update. The machines are working correctly in that the boom is not positioned correctly for some cars and it actually is seeing the top of the car when it sees the obstruction. Our thoughts are due to the lower number of boom counts the machine does not have the same number of positions to stop the boom in when profiling therefor it stops it a little too low on some vehicles. The safety eyes then do their job during the wash and stop the machine, raise the boom and continues the wash.
I'll look today and see how frequently I get an eye error on my busy machine.
And to be more specific about an earlier post, I meant to make sure that the different profile eyes are assigned to the channel Coleman wanted them to be assigned to to minimize cross-talking.
Open the door on the gantry control panel and move the boom down while watching the profiling eye channels on card 2010. See if they all stay on as the boom moves up and down.
Coleman makes eye shields for boom eyes that screw on in place of the nut that holds the eye in place. It's just a piece of black plastic about 3" long with female threads. Someone here just used a piece of 1" rubber hose to emulate and he said it threaded right on.
And to be more specific about an earlier post, I meant to make sure that the different profile eyes are assigned to the channel Coleman wanted them to be assigned to to minimize cross-talking.
Open the door on the gantry control panel and move the boom down while watching the profiling eye channels on card 2010. See if they all stay on as the boom moves up and down.
Coleman makes eye shields for boom eyes that screw on in place of the nut that holds the eye in place. It's just a piece of black plastic about 3" long with female threads. Someone here just used a piece of 1" rubber hose to emulate and he said it threaded right on.
I would also take a look at your eyes on the boom. If they have alkaline scale on them clean them off with an acid. If they are exposed to UV light and really bad they may need a light polish with some plastic polish or cleaner wax. I have one site where the receiver gets Uv exposure and every six months or so I have to polish it, which takes all of two minutes.