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Yet Another Spray Tip/Pressure Thread

Etowah

Alpine Dreams

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PART 1 - SPRAY TIPS:

What spray tip do you use on your self serve spray guns? I have an interesting array of tips installed at the moment.

Bay 1: 1504 MEG
Bays 2, 3 and 4: 2507 IMEG
Bay 5: 2508 IMEG
Bay 6: 2508 MEG

Some things I've observed:

1. Bays 5 and 6 really let you feel the pushback/kick/pressure of the gallons per minute that they push out. Customers that clean thick mud off their vehicles, excrement out of their livestock trailers or blasting lawn clippings off their mowers onto my walls would love this. Customers who aren't as strong in the wrist (older or more petite customers) wouldn't like this because after a few minutes I notice the fatigue that my wrist feels when I spray down the bay.

2. Bay 1 is the extreme opposite. Customers cleaning a huge mess would hate it and weak-wristed customers would love it.

3. I've noticed vastly different times that it takes me to clean bay 1 with the 1504 tip versus bays 5 and 6 with the 2508 tips.

There must be somewhere in the middle of 1504 and 2508 that maximizes cleaning and efficiency.

2508 uses more water and chemical than 1504 but it does clean more speedily.

Do you want to clean more quickly and efficiently because we ARE in the business of selling time.

I have bucket washers. I'm not there 24 hours a day. 1504 fills buckets more slowly. Possibly causing a customers to use 2 cycles to wet their car and fill their bucket.

1504 will also clean the suds off their cars more slowly possibly increasing the number of cycles.

Everything I mentioned in Observation 1, excrement cleaners and mudders and mower cleaners, are all pretty undesirable. 1504 discourages their types. Or, at least, 1504 will make them spend more money.

I have well water. So, 2508 tips don't cost me more in water. They do, however, cost more in chemicals because of their increased flow as well as a small amount of electricity and wear for the well pump.

PART 2 - PRESSURE:

I have been running the pressure at 1400 psi at the cat pump until I recently lowered them to 1200 psi. I noticed little to no difference. Pressure at the guns all seemed to be roughly the same. Cleaning the bays all seems to be the same. Lowering pressure seems to be a winner in order to save chemicals, wear on pumps and a little bit of electricity both at the cat pump and well pump.

PART 3 - QUESTIONS:

What tips do you run?

What tips have you run and what makes your current choice more optimal for your setup?

I haven't been able to notice much difference between IMEG and MEG. Should I try something else? I've seen talk of VeeJet and WashJet tips. Should I try those?

I've read that some tips are more safe than others for their cutting effect on skin. Which would those be?

What pressure do you run at the pumps?

Should I just run a 2008 tip, with dialed down chemicals due to the higher flow of water, because I have well water and charge more because customers would be cleaning more quickly? This would be further supported by the fact that there are 3 express car washes being built within 5 miles of my wash. I may need to court those less desirable customers in order to stay afloat - the large trucks, mudders, mower cleaners and livestock trailer excrement cleaners. More water flow seems less environmentally friendly. But, this could be kept in check with higher prices.

Sorry about the wall of text, but this all has been floating around in my head. I'm probably overthinking it.
 

Dan-Ark

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I am currently running 2506 only because that is what came with the guns I got from Kleenrite. running my auto bays at 1000psi and my truck bays at 1400 psi. still had a guy cleaning his dump truck complain of low pressure but do get plenty of stuff blown on my walls in the truck bays.
 

bigjws

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I've always run with the 2508 tips. At my main wash I have a 6 bay in the back with raised roofs that most of the truckers/mudders use -- I run 1100 psi in the first 3 bays, and 1250 psi in the last 3 bays with signs saying 'recommended for commercial use'. In the 4 bay in the front I have it at 1000 psi for the more normal wash customers. You can definitely tell the difference between the three pressures..have gotten plenty of 'best pressure in town' comments, but I still have women and older people that are able to use the front bays without too much hand fatigue.
 

Rfreeman

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Running 1200 PSI at both locations but just changed my tips from 2506 down to 2505 to reduce the consumption of water at one of my washes (we used 25,000 gallons last month) because the city where that wash is located charges different (by the gallon) vs. my other wash (by cubic foot which is 7.4 gallons). I plan to change them again to dropping it down even further but keeping the pressure the same. I wouldn't use anything less than a 25 degree spray angle; tried it before and I personally didn't like it. With my current setup I still feel that "kick" you refer to but I do notice I don't get as much fatigue when I rinse down the walls/bays. If I was on well water and water consumption wasn't that big of an issue I would leave your setup and maybe even market bays 5&6 as "supreme" or "turbo" bays and charge a little more for start-up.
 

MEP001

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2508 uses more water and chemical than 1504 but it does clean more speedily.
FYI, 2508 uses twice the water/chemical than 1504.

I like 25 degree tips. 15 is too narrow for washing or cleaning bays.

MEG tips are too sharp-edged for me, and can easily cause injury. They also lose most of their impact a foot or more away. Veespray/washjet still have good impact 3 feet away and don't have the cutting ability up close (MEG tips are designed for descaling and will cut concrete).

I'm running 1200 PSI so I' stuck with 25055 or smaller due to city water restrictions. SS washes here aren't even supposed to run weep guns, but inspectors haven't gotten around to every wash to tell them so. I'm still making changes to run shutoff guns in the summer.
 
Etowah

wash12

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Running 1200 PSI at both locations but just changed my tips from 2506 down to 2505 to reduce the consumption of water at one of my washes (we used 25,000 gallons last month) because the city where that wash is located charges different (by the gallon) vs. my other wash (by cubic foot which is 7.4 gallons). I plan to change them again to dropping it down even further but keeping the pressure the same. I wouldn't use anything less than a 25 degree spray angle; tried it before and I personally didn't like it. With my current setup I still feel that "kick" you refer to but I do notice I don't get as much fatigue when I rinse down the walls/bays. If I was on well water and water consumption wasn't that big of an issue I would leave your setup and maybe even market bays 5&6 as "supreme" or "turbo" bays and charge a little more for start-up.
I am running Imeg 2506 if I switch to 2505 is there a formula on how much water would be saved? My water rates just went up quite a bit so need to drop water consumption as much as I can.
 

Rfreeman

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I am running Imeg 2506 if I switch to 2505 is there a formula on how much water would be saved? My water rates just went up quite a bit so need to drop water consumption as much as I can.

Wash12 as Mep001 already referred to you can see the consumption/usage charts on that thread also if you have a kleen-rite catalog handy I remember they used to have on in there where the spray tips are located. Hope this helps...keep me posted as I mentioned on the earlier post my water bill is scaring me at one of my washes!:eek:
 

Kolbyskarwash

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FYI, 2508 uses twice the water/chemical than 1504.

I like 25 degree tips. 15 is too narrow for washing or cleaning bays.

MEG tips are too sharp-edged for me, and can easily cause injury. They also lose most of their impact a foot or more away. Veespray/washjet still have good impact 3 feet away and don't have the cutting ability up close (MEG tips are designed for descaling and will cut concrete).

I'm running 1200 PSI so I' stuck with 25055 or smaller due to city water restrictions. SS washes here aren't even supposed to run weep guns, but inspectors haven't gotten around to every wash to tell them so. I'm still making changes to run shutoff guns in the summer.
Can you post the link to the tips that you use?
 
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