Low Pressure System

Has anyone made their own low pressure soap system before? How does it compare with the one you can buy? Does anybody have any drawings for them, or pictures? I would rather build my own the purchase one for what they want. I already have most of the parts. Thanks

How do you have most of the parts if you don't know what you need?

We've made our own and they work fine. A while back I had several car washes that had Mark VII units and we would rip out all the old solenoids and install these. I used the GC SS manifold blocks and mount them on aluminum diamond plate although you could use most anything. We attached to existing hydrominder tanks. Some we installed the needle valve solenoids, others we didn't. In the end all worked OK, needle valves or not.

Homer, I have looked at a lot of different companies low pressure systems and most of them use a flojet pump. Those aren' that expensive to buy, along with the manifold blocks that GregPack said. I have a few tanks laying around and hydrominders. I would just like to know if anybody has bought one of these in the past or do most people make them themselves. Greg do you have any pictures of some of the ones you done, also what is a needle valve?

p.s. I am still new to this biz, and I dont want to get ripped off by buyin equipment I can make myself for 1/3 the price.

gotchya, You have come to the right place!

I have never built one, I work for one of those companies that rip people off!...(just kidding) It will always cost less if you do it yourself. The advantage to having someone else do it is they will do it right and you can hold someone accountable if it is wrong. I say go for it! The worst thing that could happen is you could learn something, that's priceless.

There's not much to a low pressure system. There's usually a tank filled by a Hydrominder, a FloJet pump fed with air and a set of solenoids. You can "dead-head" the FloJet against the solenoids to keep it as simple as possible, or you can add a controller and an air solenoid to prevent the loss of chemical if a solenoid faild open. You want a good tank with a lid and strainer to keep trash and bugs out of the system to prevent problems, no steel fittings and all stainless solenoids so they won't wash out, and you should have something that will last and be reliable.

Needle valve or metering valve allows precise adjustment of the air or chemical. You can buy some manifold blocks with them built in. there is a little screw on the side that allows you to adjust. I used them on the air side, but not the chemical side. Companies such as Coleman do not use them at all and the low pressure seems to work fine.

basically for each function, you need two solenoid manifolds, a flojet pump and mounting bracket, air regulator, two pressure gauges, a check valve (to protect the pump from high pressure if the in-bay check valve fails),90 degree poly fittings, and a hydrominder tank. My GUESS would be about $600-800 for a four bay setup per function.

Homer, that is precisely what I'm terrified of.(learning something,that and getting dirty)lol

Greg,
Thanks you very much for that info, I believe I am able to complete this task. Thanks for the pointers.

Ryan

Made this one about ten years ago. This pumping unit has been removed from service so the lines are cut and one of the coils is gone. But I believe you can get the general idea of how to build one.

I really like to know the pressure ranges,(min and max)for T/C,Presoak,Foam brush and R.O. Why i like to know is simply, it will help me getting the right polyeth. tubes

Use nylon tube instead of poly. It will last much longer and handles more pressure.

whats the market name of Nylon tubes in the market?is it the PA (poyamid)?
and what do you use 1/4 or 3/8 inner diameter?

1/4" OD for tire cleaner/foam brush, 3/8" OD for presoak/RO. I prefer 3/8" OD for presoak to get maximum volume to the bay, but I'm probably in the minority.

http://mdmetric.com/prod/mazzer/prodotti_tubi_spirali_tubi_pneum_protezioni_mazzernew.htm

i believe and from my experience 3/8 produce best results for customer satisfaction considering limited minutes and maximum liguid flow rate

Then why did you ask?