Foam Cannon: Over it

[phens82]

I'm a weekend warrior and I have an interest in having a clean DD for my short commute to work. I spent some time on the forum learning about all the products available, and I've placed a few hundred $$ worth of orders so far. The product I was most excited about was the Auto Geek Foam Cannon that I bought a couple months ago. I have been itching for the weather to turn so that I could play with it. YouTube videos look like a lot of fun, and I thought the foam "dwelling" on the paint would be great for my historically-somewhat-neglected city car.

I bought a gas powered PW from Costco (Simpson, with a Honda engine) and hooked up the cannon. I put in a couple ounces of dodo juice - born to be mild, filled up the rest of the reservoir with warm water, made all the connections and pointed the "business end" of the cannon at the car. It was soapy water, at best. Hmmph. I adjusted the knob on top from far left (open) to far right (closed). Fully opened and fully closed the nozzle. Still no "foam". This whole time it was leaking on my jeans (I've remedied the leaking now, by using some new teflon tape at the fittings). Finally, in almost desperation, I flipped the wand upside down (with the idea that gravity may help get the soap into the high pressure water, and create foam). It worked somewhat better, so I finished washing the car that way. But it was still definitely not "foam".

I thought maybe the dodo juice was to blame, so I ordered chemical guys - Maxi Suds II (I also ordered the Honeydew Snow Foam, just to be sure it wasn't the shampoo). Got a chance to wash the car on this past Saturday morning with the Maxi Suds, and the verdict: same disappointing results. But this time, I just took the tank off the foam cannon and dumped the shampoo directly into my bucket. Stuck the tip of the pressure washer in the bucket to get some bubbles, and went on with my business.

Anyway. Not sure whether I have extremely hard water, (although the shampoo bubbles up just fine in my bucket) but I'm done with the foam cannon for now. Just my $.02.

 

[JSou]

Any pics or vids?

 

[phens82]

Any pics or vids?

No. It just looks like water, but when it lands on something dark like a tinted window, it's got a little white to it.

 

[zmcgovern45]

I have hard water... I use a 2000PSI electric Karcher X Series Machine with the DI Foam Cannon... I have used CG Citrus Wash, Citrus Wash & Gloss, Honeydew Snow Foam, Optimum Car Wash, and Ironx Snow Soap (just to name a few) and always get outstanding results.

^CG Citrus Wash & Gloss

^Honeydew Snow foam (after dwelling for a couple of minutes)

^This is a car I worked on just a couple of days ago. This was foamed with CG Citrus wash. Approximately 3-4oz of product in the reservoir, and the rest was warm water. The solution was then mixed up and sprayed... nice, thick foam every time.


... I could post tons of pictures of nice, thick foam.

You mentioned changing to various types of shampoos, did you ever try adding more product? ie 5 oz of soap? 6oz? etc? just to see if that was your issue.

 

[wompasaurus]

Sounds more like user error I havr insanely hard water and I get great foam with a electric low gmp power washer. Don't fill the whole reservoir only fill it half way with water. How much soap are you using? You use a lot more soap with a foam cannon so you may not be using enough soap

 

[GenesisCoupe]

I was going to say it must be the DoDo but since you tried other shampoo's with the same lame results i was stunned. How much product are you using?? Typically you want about 3-4, sometimes even 5 capfuls of a shampoo. I use 4 capfuls for SnowFoam with warm water (add warm water first, then the soap to avoid foaming inside the cannon). Once you put it all in and attach to pressure washer, shake it a little bit to get it all mixed it.

You should be good then, if not, something is wrong mechanically.
What's the GPM of the pressure washer?

 

[Audi X2]

Make sure that you did not use too much Teflon tape. Excess tape around the threads can get sucked into the tubing and cause poor or no performance at all.

 

[Just02896]

Sounds like your foam cannon is defective! Mine can put 3/4 of an inch of thick frothy foam on any car with pretty much any soap.

 

[phens82]

I have hard water... I use a 2000PSI electric Karcher X Series Machine with the DI Foam Cannon... I have used CG Citrus Wash, Citrus Wash & Gloss, Honeydew Snow Foam, Optimum Car Wash, and Ironx Snow Soap (just to name a few) and always get outstanding results.

^CG Citrus Wash & Gloss

^Honeydew Snow foam (after dwelling for a couple of minutes)

^This is a car I worked on just a couple of days ago. This was foamed with CG Citrus wash. Approximately 3-4oz of product in the reservoir, and the rest was warm water. The solution was then mixed up and sprayed... nice, thick foam every time.


... I could post tons of pictures of nice, thick foam.

You mentioned changing to various types of shampoos, did you ever try adding more product? ie 5 oz of soap? 6oz? etc? just to see if that was your issue.

Thanks for the reply. That's the kind of foam action I was hoping for! I didn't try adding 5-6 oz of shampoo (seemed like a lot, considering I ordered a 16oz bottle)... guess I could try it out.

Sounds more like user error I havr insanely hard water and I get great foam with a electric low gmp power washer. Don't fill the whole reservoir only fill it half way with water. How much soap are you using? You use a lot more soap with a foam cannon so you may not be using enough soap

Ok, thanks. ~2oz of Shampoo +/-

I was going to say it must be the DoDo but since you tried other shampoo's with the same lame results i was stunned. How much product are you using?? Typically you want about 3-4, sometimes even 5 capfuls of a shampoo. I use 4 capfuls for SnowFoam with warm water (add warm water first, then the soap to avoid foaming inside the cannon). Once you put it all in and attach to pressure washer, shake it a little bit to get it all mixed it.

You should be good then, if not, something is wrong mechanically.
What's the GPM of the pressure washer?

I can try using more product. First I used a 3000psi gas @ 2.4GPM, now I'm using an electric 1800psi 1.5GPM

 

[phens82]

Make sure that you did not use too much Teflon tape. Excess tape around the threads can get sucked into the tubing and cause poor or no performance at all.

Ok, thanks. I don't think I used too much, and the performance was the same before and after (except the part where it leaked before, that's fixed now)

 

[zmcgovern45]

You will definitely need more than just 2oz of product.

You will use considerably more shampoo if you use your foam canon than you will if you just do a traditional bucket wash.

 

[Gokite]

I was just looking at that Cosco 3000PSI gas powered. Looks like a nice machine. I'd love to have that! Good luck sounds like you didn't mix, and used too dilute a mixture.

 

[zmcgovern45]

I have 2 articles on the DI AAP Blog regarding the proper use of a foam canon... check them out

 

[Kacz]

2 questions:

1. Did you shake the cannon to mix up the soap?

2. Is the 'suction draught tube' connected?

 

[GenesisCoupe]

Your pressure washer should be okay. 2oz of product is not okay.

 

[phens82]

2 questions:

1. Did you shake the cannon to mix up the soap?

2. Is the 'suction draught tube' connected?

I have 2 articles on the DI AAP Blog regarding the proper use of a foam canon... check them out

suction draught tube??? Theres a SUCTION DRAUGHT TUBE?? haha.. I did not realize this until I was checking out zmcgovern45's blog entry over on the DI AAP Blog. :dunno::dig::doh:

I think I've identified the problem. Will report back after I secure this tube and try again

Thanks everyone rops:

 

[Angus]

Make sure that you did not use too much Teflon tape. Excess tape around the threads can get sucked into the tubing and cause poor or no performance at all.

:iagree:and I'd also check to make sure the tiny little air intake hole located below the dial knob (where the detergent bottle screws in) isn't blocked. It sounds like you may have a pressure/vacuum issue developing.

 

[runrun411]

I've been thinking about a foam cannon too. But I have a couple of questions:

1) Other than the fact that it looks so cool, is it really that much better than just putting soap in a bucket? :dunno:

2) Do you have to agitate the soap when it's on the car (most of the time when I see people post using one I don't see any mention of that)? :dunno:

3) Isn't it a little bit of a hassle because you have to hook up and plug in the pressure washer not to mention break it all down when your done? :dunno:

4) I have a Husky 1750 power washer, will it be good enough or do I need a better one? :doh:

 

[Just02896]

I only use my cannon on very dirty vehicles to break up and knock off any heavy contaminents that could cause marring during a hand wash. If a vehicle comes in that isn't too dirty, I just do a good rinse down first.

 

[zmcgovern45]

I've been thinking about a foam cannon too. But I have a couple of questions:

1) Other than the fact that it looks so cool, is it really that much better than just putting soap in a bucket? :dunno:

2) Do you have to agitate the soap when it's on the car (most of the time when I see people post using one I don't see any mention of that)? :dunno:

3) Isn't it a little bit of a hassle because you have to hook up and plug in the pressure washer not to mention break it all down when your done? :dunno:

4) I have a Husky 1750 power washer, will it be good enough or do I need a better one? :doh:

A foam cannon is not something that is needed for routine maintenance. It is something that I find useful for prepping a vehicle for a full detail or when the vehicle is particularly dirty.

There are many benefits to the foam canon... allowing the heavy concentration of shampoo to dwell on the surface helps to break down contaminates and degrease the surface (depending on the shampoo you are using. This step will surely help to degrade any previous wax or sealant that may be on the surface of the vehicle and will help to eliminate larger dirt and contaminates that may be caught in your wash mitt and lead to marring should you not foam the vehicle beforehand.

You do not agitate the foam during your initial soak... spray it on, allow to dwell, rinse off. The goal of this foam presoak, as I mentioned before, is to help loosen and remove contaminates before touching the paint. After this initial presoak and rinse, you can then foam the car down again and wash the vehicle with a wash mitt if you choose... or you can proceed with a traditional bucket wash.

**The foam canon is not a replacement for a traditional wash, it is simply an additional step in the process**

Yes, it can be a PITA to get the pressure washer out, hook everything up, and then put it all away again shortly afterwards. This is why I mentioned it is not something that is needed for every routine maintenance wash.