Gilmour Foamaster II (lots of foam)

[mbs431]

Tried searching but didn`t really find what I was looking for. I recently purchased the Gilmour Foamaster II foam gun and have never used it before. I am looking for a lot of suds when dealing with one mid size sedan. I will be using Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II. The gun has 5 settings. I am looking for help on what setting to use, how much product/water in the canister, etc. I usually go by "cap fulls" when it comes to measuring with the shampoo. I get confused when people use ounces :tongue2:. Thanks in advance.

[Legacy]

Are all caps created equal?
Tried searching but didn`t really find what I was looking for. I recently purchased the Gilmour Foamaster II foam gun and have never used it before. I am looking for a lot of suds when dealing with one mid size sedan. I will be using Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II. The gun has 5 settings. I am looking for help on what setting to use, how much product/water in the canister, etc. I usually go by "cap fulls" when it comes to measuring with the shampoo. I get confused when people use ounces :tongue2:. Thanks in advance.

[Bunky]

There are recommendations but I had been thinking about figuring it out myself to double check recommendations As a minimum, you want the foam to be at least same water/soap ratio as you would normally use. You could do an experiment by figure out approximately how much water is dispensed by the hose nozzle, then how much is dispensed when you use engage the pulling for the bottle. For example, you can dispense just water and see how much water is pulled from the bottle when you spray 1 gallon of water.



For example, if you nozzle puts out 1 gallon per minute and pulls out 6 oz from the bottle you would want the dilution to have enough soap to diluted in the 6 oz to equal the minimum soap concentration.

[mbs431]

Are all caps created equal?



Chemical Guys, yes. So I guess I am looking for someone who has used maxi suds II with this foam gun.

[tom p.]

Chemical Guys, yes. So I guess I am looking for someone who has used maxi suds II with this foam gun.



MBS, welcome aboard!



I`ve got the same foam gun and find myself adding 1.5 - 2 ozs* to the foam gun`s resevoir. (I have not used the particular soap you mention, but maybe you add 2 ozs to the resevoir and use that as a starting point.) The dial on the foam gun will permit you to alter the concentration on the fly with the "E" setting being the strongest. Very handy indeed :) There`s going to be a bit of trial `n` error involved `til you determine what meets your expectation.





Some of us keep a gallon of pre-mixed wash solution (maybe 6 - 8 ozs in a gallon of water) and just fill the resevoir on the foam gun as needed. It probably takes me about 1 month to use up this gallon of pre-mix. As you gain experience, you`ll find you need to mix some soaps stronger than others.



Enjoy.









*I have to quote in ozs. since I have no idea what size the CG`s cap is.

[BigAl3]

put about 3-5 ounces in the foam gun with water and shake it well (you`ll have to experiment and decide which amount suits your needs). btw.. after you use up the MSII, check out the 3D Pink Car Soap which works equally as well (in the bucket too), if not better...





Prepare Vehicle for Polishing & Waxing with Cleaning Soap - Pink Car Soap (http://www.3dproducts.com/Pink-Car-Soap.html)

http://www.3dproducts.com/images/D/202G01.jpg

[mbs431]

Thanks for the input guys. I`m going to give this a try on Monday morning. I`ll let you know how it worked out.

[mbs431]

Ok so I used the gun today. It went very well for the first time. I used 3 ozs of chemical on the "E" setting but I almost used the entire batch. Would putting the gun on another setting allow less chemical to be used?

[SpoolinNoMore]

I was always under the impression that the settings would already dilute your liquid. I just fill the bottle on the gun with pure solution, and then change the dial to the dilution ratio my soap/chemical would tell me to use (ie: fill full with CGCW and set dial to "A" for 1oz/gal dilution in accordance with what the CGCW bottle said to use). Dilluting the solution before putting it in the bottle and then setting the dial to something else would just further reduce the ratio (ie: if you dilute soap 1:10 in the bottle and then set the dial to 1:10, it would come out 1:100 ratio). Unless I`m mistaken, just fill the foammaster container with your soap and then set the dial to the dillution your soap tells you to use.

[tom p.]

Ok so I used the gun today. It went very well for the first time. I used 3 ozs of chemical on the "E" setting but I almost used the entire batch. Would putting the gun on another setting allow less chemical to be used?



Yes, the "A" would output at the lowest rate. "0" stops the flow entirely yielding nothing but hose water.



Remember, the stronger the soap solution, the faster you strip your wax/sealant....I`m always trying to figure out what the lowest strength is I can get away while enjoying good cleaning power + excellent lubricity.

[tom p.]

I just fill the bottle on the gun with pure solution, and then change the dial to the dilution ratio my soap/chemical would tell me to use (ie: fill full with CGCW and set dial to "A" for 1oz/gal dilution in accordance with what the CGCW bottle said to use).



Spoolin`, WOW, I`m surprised the soap solution (at 100% strength) will still flow from the gun. Seems like it would be too thick to be drawn out.



People have to find what they are comfortable with. There isn`t a single "correct" solution, if I may.



In my pre-FMII days, I`d use the traditional bucket method like everyone else. I typically used 1oz of in ~2 gallons of water. That would be a dilution ratio 1:250. You mention a dilution ratio of 1:10 which sounds really strong to me. I can`t recall what the various settings yield on the FMII, but even 1:100 sounds strong. Again, I`m trying to use the least amount of soap possible during my weekly routine in an attempt to preserve the LSP. I suspect I use 1.5 - 2.0 ozs per car as I mentioned above.

[SpoolinNoMore]

Spoolin`, WOW, I`m surprised the soap solution (at 100% strength) will still flow from the gun. Seems like it would be too thick to be drawn out.



People have to find what they are comfortable with. There isn`t a single "correct" solution, if I may.



In my pre-FMII days, I`d use the traditional bucket method like everyone else. I typically used 1oz of in ~2 gallons of water. That would be a dilution ratio 1:250. You mention a dilution ratio of 1:10 which sounds really strong to me. I can`t recall what the various settings yield on the FMII, but even 1:100 sounds strong. Again, I`m trying to use the least amount of soap possible during my weekly routine in an attempt to preserve the LSP. I suspect I use 1.5 - 2.0 ozs per car as I mentioned above.



I`ve been using CGCW, Dawn, and other soaps at pure strength through my Foammaster for almost 2 years without any change in performance of the unit. It`s really just plastic pieces with an adjustable one-way valve inside, so as long as you run some pure water through the unit after use on the highest setting (ie: fill the bowl with just water and run it through), that way you can minimize the amount of soap residue that gets left behind and may harden, clogging the pathway.



My 1:10 dilution ratios were just figurative for simple math sakes, I guess I should have mentioned that :oops:. But I do know that most soaps meant for foam lances/guns are typically very low viscocity so maybe I`m doing it wrong by using pure soap, but I only paid ~$35 for my unit off of amazon and for as long as I`ve used it without issues, it`s gotten its use out of it even if it were to break tomorrow.



Here`s a pic of the foam dwelling with Dawn, maybe I could get more suds if I thinned it with water to help it flow:

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/4900/20110717021.jpg

[tom p.]

OK, thanks for clarifying that. I probably still have the directions for mine so we might be able to see what the mfr quotes in terms of strengths.



Out of curiosity, if you filled the resevoir with Meg`s Gold Class shampoo, for example, and you washed two cars per week, how long would that amount of shampoo last you under "normal" conditions ?? Are you typically running it on "A"?

[SpoolinNoMore]

I normally only fill it part-way and then empty what is left over back into my bottle of shampoo, and most of the time I use it is for Dawn soaks to remove LSPs and polishing oils though, and that I set to E pretty often just to be sure :D

[umi000]

I dilute my soap based on the soap`s recommended dilution ratio, and with the assumption that I`ll use the gun`s 4 oz to 1 gallon output, then just change concentration on the gun itself if needed. So if the soap recommends dilution of 1 oz to 1 gallon (1:128), I`d have the solution in the soap canister mixed at 1 part soap to 3 parts water, and set the gun to output at 4 oz per gallon - comes out to (a little less than) 1:128 on the panel. I can then up the concentration to 1.5:128 (6 oz per gallon setting), or even 3:128 (12 oz per gallon setting).