Foam cannon and hard water

Ep3rr

Ep3rr

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Hey fellow clean freaks! I tried to search the forums, and Google, but couldn't find a solid answer.

I bought an mtm foam cannon to use with my pressure washer. I tried it for the first time with CG honey dew, but didn't get the thick foam like in the videos, more like really soapy water. I was using a Simoiz electric 1600 psi pressure washer and thought that was the problem. So I bought a new BE 2500 psi 2.2 or 2.3 gpm pressure washer and am getting the same results.

Now I do know that the water from the garden tap is extremely hard. And now I'm wondering if this could be the culprit. I've seen a few water filtration devices, and wonder if this will fix my problem.

Has anyone had this problem, and a water softener/filter system that works well enough to get the thick foam like I see in the videos?

Thanks for the input!
 
Most of the manufacture produced videos use a pretty potent mixture to get that shaving cream like foam. A washer 2500 PSI with 2.2 GPM flow rate is more than adequate and within MTM's recommended required spec.

Hard water will reduce the amount of foaming to a certain point so that could be it. Have you any idea how hard it is? Your local water company should be able to help you out with that. You didn't say what ratio of water to soap you were using so that could also be the issue. However I would suspect it's a combination of both. What ratio are you using? Also filling up the foam cannon with warm water might also improve the suds.

For DI water solution check out a CR Spotless system. Most people only use it for the final rinse as the resin needs to be replaced from time to time. It can get expensive if your using it from start to finish, have a smaller system and or really hard water.

FYI... I use a 2200PSI 2.2GPM gas and a 1700PSI 1.6GPM electric with honey dew at 3oz to 32oz and get very good foam with both that does the job but nothing like some of the crazy videos. Been using a CR spotless DIC 20 for a few years now as I also have typical North East hard water with excellent results!
 
That's weird, with your PW specs, you should be getting thick foam! Hard water does have somewhat of an effect...
 
First off, how hard is hard? Secondly, I doubt that is it. Can you bucket wash with normal dilutions? If so, that's likely not it. You don't need a crazy GPM / PSI pressure washer to get good to great foam. My pressure washer is pretty weakly spec'ed. And I get great foam. I found water temp has little to do with it.

I found on my MTM foam cannon if the threads are too tight at the brass connection above the bottle (not the bottle threads itself) I get less thick foam.

People have said my cannon is clogged or something when I brought this up before, but that is not the case. Because I get good foam and have always got good foam. I just noticed if the threads are very tight the foam is not quite as good, but if they are a little loose, the foam is thicker and more "shaving cream like".

Dunno why that is. I can't explain it.

I'm talking these threads here:

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Right where you see the Teflon tape peaking out. I'm using about 3oz of Maxi Suds in a full bottle and getting good results.

Check how tight those threads are. They shouldn't be cranked down all the way.
 
Sorry, I'm using about 4-6oz per bottle. I tried warm/hot water, and that seemed to help slightly, but not much.

Thanks swan, I'll try now. It's just so tight! (That's what she said!) do you have to take the nipple off on the other end?
 
I usually do the two bucket, and get ok suds with the water here. When I lived on city water, it seemed to be better suds. Problem is, I just moved recently, and got the cannon a few days ago, so I can't compare it to city water.

I also had a 1oz or so to the bottle to help, but just seems watery.
 
ok i got it loose, after trying to figure out that i didn't need to undo anything else, I had to use a pipe wrench and much force to get it loose. I tightened it hand tight, and i'll test it in a day or two. Thanks!
 
Have you tried adjusting the knob on top? It controls the amount of solution that goes through the gun. You should get some crazy suds with 4-6oz.
 
vman said:
Have you tried adjusting the knob on top? It controls the amount of solution that goes through the gun. You should get some crazy suds with 4-6oz.
Click to expand...

Yup, tried both ways on top and the nozzle, wise open on top seems to get the most soap, but not the shaving cream thick foam.
 
Ok so I tried to loosen the fittings like stated before, but that made no difference. When I get a chance, I'm going to take the cannon to a buddy's and try it on the city water. If that fixes the issue, looks like I'm in the market for an inline filtration device.
 
Depends on the foam product. These days, the flash foam should really not be massively harmed by a bit of hardness. If you use something ridiculous it might but not something that would be reasonable through your water supply. That said, it is still plausible that a budget foam could use older surfactants which are more prone to hard water. Hard water is more likely to cause your foam to collapse more rapidly.
 
PiPUK said:
Depends on the foam product. These days, the flash foam should really not be massively harmed by a bit of hardness. If you use something ridiculous it might but not something that would be reasonable through your water supply. That said, it is still plausible that a budget foam could use older surfactants which are more prone to hard water. Hard water is more likely to cause your foam to collapse more rapidly.
Click to expand...

I've been using CG Honeydew with about 1oz of ONR, also tried CG glossworks.
 
Ok so I brought it to my buddy's who's on city water, foam is much better!!

Now I just have to figure out an inline water softener system to hook up for the garden hose.
 
Try using a soap that also acts as a water softener. I use 4oz of Optimum Car Wash and .5oz ONR in my mtm and while I don't get very thick suds I do get more than adequate to last while doing a 2bm.
 
That's quite a bit of soap, no? And didn't someone say that ONR will kill the suds?
 
That's just based on my experience. I even tried a half ounce of UWWC to my wash bucket one time and the suds where like ONR, pretty weak.
 
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