Blendco Systems has the fortunate opportunity to view equipment rooms of car washes Nationally across North America and all around the world. In doing this we get to see many things trends, patterns, and common shortcomings of many washes. One that is so simple and so impactful to chemical use and performance relates to a .89 cent part.
As many of us know – chemical consistency is key in providing a clean car, a dry car, and a protected car. While chemical dosing systems vary, many washes use a hydrominder – in at least part of their wash – whether it’s a tunnel wash with a hydrominder supplied wheel cleaner or prep soap, or a self service that is all hydrominder fed, most washes have a hydrominder on site. Blendco has found that before we put any wash on line with chemical there is a simple step that we can take to improve the operation almost immediately – the secret? Replace the small screen and washer on the water line just behind the hydrominder. In virtually every wash we visit, these screens have been clogged with PVC shavings, sand, dirt, and even the occasional frog if you can believe that! This is just an inevitable part of our water systems in that they carry solids from time to time that clog and make the hydrominder inefficient. Hydrominder systems rely on a reliable water flow- and if the flow is impeded the venturi that follows will become inefficient and eventually will become inoperable. Couple this with the fact that many many carwashes wrestle with water pressure variations to begin with- add this to a partially blocked hydrominder and you have the recipe for inconsistencies in chemical pull.
So take a tip from a company that sees this problem every day in servicing car wash operators and take the minutes it takes and the .89 cents for a new screen to the hydrominder supply for reliable and efficient chemical dosing.
Brent McCurdy is manager of Industrial Car Washing Blendco Systems, LLC Blendco manufactures a full line of detergents and waxes for the professional carwash industry. You can contact Blendco at: www.blendco.com.
