Gilmour Foam Gun Problem

Macko · 10-15-06, 06:42

I got myself a Gilmour gun last week & finally got a chance to use it today.

Hmmmmm, not sure if I have a problem with mine but about 80% of the water I put through it just comes flooding back out the bottom of the handle. I get a very low pressure output from the nozzle. I ended up completley drenched & went back to the 2 bucket method.

Has anyone else experienced similar problems ?

Setec Astronomy · 10-15-06, 09:31

The bottom of the handle where the hose connects to?

Accumulator · 10-15-06, 09:35

Nope, never had that problem

Hmmm....the water is coming out the bottom of the pistol grip right? I never use those, I take it apart at the central quick disconnect (the thing with the black plastic ring on it) and then I connect it (the foamgun proper) directly to the quick disconnect on the end of my hose (with a shutoff upstream from that to control the on/off flow of water). You might try that and see if it's just a problem with the pistol grip sprayer. If you don't have a brass quick diconnnect on the end of your hose you can use the one on the foamgun (the piece with the black plastic ring), just unscrew it from the pistol grip.

Other than that, I'd take it apart and see if there are any obvious obstructions in any of it's passageways. The foamgun is a pretty simple thing so it's not like you'll take it apart and be unable to put it back together.

I'd contact the seller and see what they'll do to make it right. Some places have super customer service and bend over backwards to keep people happy.

EdLancer · 10-15-06, 10:18

Make sure the other fittings are properly snapped in, looks like a water restriction problem somewhere on the gun.

splattj · 10-15-06, 10:40

Is there a flat rubber o-ring in the gun where the hose connects? If not, that's you're problem. They're under a dollar at the hardware store.

mystickid · 10-15-06, 11:31

WOW!!! what are the odds.

I have the EXACT same problem with my Gilmour Foam Gun. Water keeps gushing out at the bottom of the Gun nozzle where the hose goes in. There aren't any cracks in the Foam gun nozzle. maybe its my hose end. the black O-ring is in mine. The Gilmour foam gun i have seems to be in excellent condition and sturdy.

After fiddling around with it for 6-7 minutes I finally managed to get the Gun trigger to sit tight around the weave of the hose end and water was not gushing out. But even so, when I used the gun, horrible water pressure and soap realease. that's why I'm currently using the Wal-mart foam gun, with better (car being cleaner) results.

is there any small attachment or quick solution (such as a hose attachment or something) to getting more pressurized water other than an expensive water pressure pump?

Accumulator,

If you have a camera on hand, could you post a pic of how your asssembled foam gun looks since you don't use the Gun triiger?

Accumulator · 10-15-06, 05:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystickid

Accumulator,

If you have a camera on hand, could you post a pic of how your asssembled foam gun looks since you don't use the Gun triiger?

Sorry, heh heh, that's almost a bad joke, asking me if I can post a pic (I'm digital imaging ignorant

). [Insert the "yeah, yeah, someday.." thing here]

Here's how I set it up, I'll try to explain it clearly (somebody has posted pics of how this setup looks but I forget who it was):

Get a shutoff valve of some kind (I kinda like the plastic ones but the metal ones last longer) and screw the shutoff on the end of your hose. Take the foamgun apart at the central disconnect- pull the thing with the black ring back to release it, the male half of the disconnect is attached to the part of the foamgun that matters. Unscrew the part of the disconnect with the black ring from the pistol grip (throw away pistol grip). Screw the part with the black ring on the shutoff at the end of your hose. Now you have your hose, with a shutoff at the end of it, with the female half of the quick disconnect on the end of the shutoff. Attach the part of the foamgun that matters via the quick disconnect. Close the shutoff. Turn on the hose. Open the shutoff to send water to the foamgun. Practice so you can do it with one hand

Get a second brass male quick disconnect fitting. Screw it into your regular hose nozzle. This makes it easier to switch back and forth between the foamgun and the regular nozzle. Or just have two hoses, one for general use and one that's dedicated for foamgun use only.

Oh, and FWIW I rest the foamgun on/in/across the top of my rinse bucket when I'm not using it.

Pats300zx · 10-15-06, 05:26

Quote:

Oh, and FWIW I rest the foamgun on/in/across the top of my rinse bucket when I'm not using it.

Awesome tip !!!! I always hated my foam gun falling over etc. You learn something new everyday..Thank you...

mystickid · 10-16-06, 10:07

accumulator,

I understand everything. It makes sense and I know how the set-up should look. One big problem I'm having is that i can't uncrew the disconnect with the black ring from the pistol grip. I used a wrecnh and pliers to grab it hard and turned counter clockwise to uncrew it from the weave, its on super duper super tight. i dunno why.

One other question is that, with this set-up for me, won't my foam gun work even worse since theres only a direct connection between the hose ( which has low water pressure already) and main foam gun? the Pistol sreves as a medium to increase the pressre of the water until it reaches the main foam gun and has some pressure to it?

you're lucky since ya got good water pressure, will I also get better results in compariosn to the with- Pistolgrip method?

Accumulator · 10-16-06, 11:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pats300zx

..You learn something new everyday..

Yeah, I'm always thinking that myself

Mystickid- Glad my explanation made sense!

Yeah, the female disconnect *is* on there really tight and if you squeeze it too hard with the pliers you'll squash/distort it. I just now quit typing and ran out the the shop....I got out one of the pistolgrips that came with a foamgun and I was able to get the female disconnect off with a pair of Channelocks (sp?) but it did take a little effort. Just let the pliers bite into the brass but make sure you only grab on where it's got the metal threads of the pistol grip behind the brass to keep it in shape. After about three turns with the pliers on there it came off the rest of the way by hand.

Yeah, my boosted pressure does mean that what works for me might not work for others, but everybody I know of who's tried the direct connection has liked it. IMO the pistol grip doesn't really help with the pressure/volume anyhow. There are different shutoffs, and some flow a lot better than others (e.g., the squeeze-action one I use from Griot's might not work well with low pressure). There's a Dramm (sp?) brand one that's supposed to really flow well, but the plastic ones from Sears work OK too.

I'm pretty confident that it'll work OK with the direct connection and the shutoff in place of that pistol grip, but let me know if you try it and it does *not* work out.

Lost Pup · 10-17-06, 09:18

I use the quick release from Walmart on our hose, kids toys and such. It did thread deep into the handle and there is a plastic washer in there as well.

mystickid · 10-17-06, 12:19

Accumulator,

So went to my local Home depot and bought a female quick connect, & Brass shut-off valve and some washers just in case. I connected my foam gun just as you explained.

I did a measurement comparison test to see how far the foamgun shoots water with the Pistol Grip trigger VS. the shut-off valve-->female quick connect --> w/ direct foam gun connection that you mentioned.

this will give you a good idea of my water pressure too.

1) -With Pistol grip trigger to foamgun, the foamgun nozzle shoots ----> 4.5 feet (yes, sadly that's all)

2) With shut-off valve-->female quick connect -->Foamgun, it shoots ----> 5.5 feet

So on the positive side, your method got me a foot farther of pressure

... it's a start. Also, with the new female quick connect, my foam gun pistol handle threads in perfectly without leaking. But it's obsolete now that the female quick connect to foamgun gives me a foot more.

So that's about it, I can't find any pressure control knob in my house that would increase pressure. I'm pretty incompetent about that stuff as well.

Any other advice for me? BTW, my spigot knob outside for the hose leaks some water, not alot.

Could you do a test and measure how far your soap/water shoots from your goamgun's nozzle. That'll tell me how much i'm losing out on.

--------------------------

Looks good Lost Pup,

Do you have good pressure on your foamgun? Does it soap thhe whole car nicely?