Building A Home Car Wash

Rustyiron · May 4, 2013

The "bubble brush" syatem is all low pressure and seperate from the high pressure side. That get's a little complicated for a home system. There was a tank for all the chemicals to mix in and depending if it was H.P. (soap & wax) it got injected @ the pump. The other low pres. items (pre soak, bub brush, and spot free rinse) were dispensed through a air operated diaphram pumps. I'd just go with a bucket of suds & a good hog hair brush. Check that link I posted, they may have a simple foam generating system, and it's not rocket science but you could prolly come up with some system with reg. street pressure water siphoning out of a soap bucket. Getting that frothy car wash foam brush result may take a little air also. It's been over 20 years since I had that wash and the details are getting fuzzy.

txdon · May 4, 2013

Rustyiron, It looks like the carwash article I linked in the first post used this device at the nozzle to reduce the water pressure and that allows the soap solution to be siphoned.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/ww...GlobalSearch=true&sst=subset&typeaheadSearch=

BillBinNH · May 4, 2013

txdon said:
I'm in the research and planing stage of my carwash project. A gas powered pressure washer is good enough for me BUT building the car wash was in the deal in the move from the city to the country and my wife has not forgotten.

I found this link: Build your own car wash by Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM and it is similar to what I had envisioned. The boom to support the hose is made from two heavy-duty barn door hinges, and two 2x2x1/4-inch aluminum angles that were 10 feet long" - see picture.

I can not figure out where to buy these at.

Has anyone built a similar carwash.
Any suggestions - (a new wife is not an option) Help!

Not sure if you had any luck - Mr. Yago mentions sourcing the soap injector, nozzle and filter from Grainger? They also carry the aluminum angle.

Hope this helps,

Bill

Richard · May 5, 2013

Heh... I was in the store buying valves for a new shower install in the house. (I'm on a 100+ gpm well)

I re-plumbed a 3/4" hot and a 3/4" cold pipe to the valve. I then got 3/4" valves so I had 3/4" throughput all the way to the shower head (which then had the water saver parts yanked out)

While I was ordering this, the gal at the store sort of giggled and asked me if I was building a car wash...

Kyle_in_Tex · May 7, 2013

Don, great project. I was going to mention your welding skills, but seems you're on it.

Don't get the little cheapy $200 electric sprayer, they are crap. OTOH, if you get a powerful 1, your wifey's hand and wrist will complain after a few minutes. Many of the powerful models will only use maybe 4-5 gallons per minute so 3/4" is fine. I know you want a simple turn key ease of use setup, but I'd sure engineer a set of wheels on a cart or dolley into the fray so you can use it somewhat portable. I have a gasoline driven 6hp and it does ok but I like the portability. Wand comfort is a matter of HP, pressure, and a good pistol grip without any crazy bends in the wand.

sodamo · Sep 8, 2013

Don, any progress to report?

I was power washing out by the tractor shed today and was remembering this thread.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

Kyle_in_Tex · Sep 8, 2013

Don, I was wondering about this too. The design for rinsing off cars would be a lot less than for getting mud off of a tractor. that's why I like the portability to wash off the tractor out in the field.

jenkinsph · Sep 8, 2013

Kyle_in_Tex said:
Don, I was wondering about this too. The design for rinsing off cars would be a lot less than for getting mud off of a tractor. that's why I like the portability to wash off the tractor out in the field.

Where I live the water is hard with a high calcium content that leave white spots on the cars and trucks. For rinsing I have an Reverse Osmosis unit that charges up two 5 gallon pressure tanks for a spot free rinse. After rinsing with the power washer I chase this off with about 3 gallons of the RO water, works great.

txdon · Sep 8, 2013

Sorry no progress. Summer in Texas and other priority projects of opportunity keep popping up. I just had another pond dry up in this drought today, so more tractor pond work. This thread will be the first to know of the working car wash.