Foam Cannons that work with Hoses?

[tom p.]

Understood. I like the simplicity of the version I have. It`s served me and others really well.

[skibik]

skibik- Comparing your success using the foamgun that way with how it went for me just goes to show how YMMV! always applies. But then I do let mine get *awfully* dirty before I ever wash `em too It bet it works great on that dust you`re dealing with, and I can even think of reasons why it might be *better* than using the pressure washer in your situation.



Good advice IMO, not that I ever tried Gilmour`s Foam MasterII with the plastic dial...couldn`t figure out how I`d take it apart to clean the orifices for one thing, and adjusting the brass mixing bar (to change dilution or switch to clear water) gets to be second-nature.

I really wouldn`t say it is better than a pressure washer(car wash wand) but it is better than the pressure washer I have. It is one of those small portable unit that only sprays some where around 1000 psi, if that. It has no regular spray tip, it has two blades at the end of tube that has an adjustment handle when turned forces the 2 blades together which in turn creates the fan of water. I bought it must be 20 years ago and thought it would work great on my Dakota to take the dirt off first then for rinsing the soap off but it is a useless washer and takes to much time to set up just to rinse a vehicle with no soap inducing capabilities. Which is the reason I picked up the foam gun.

Even though I do like it but for as much as I have been using it I could have done with something a little cheaper. Every year that I have used it for the first time I have to shoot a little WD40(or Rem Oil) on the mixer and work it loose as it sticks and I just assume it is from the hard water here. I have yet to even use it this year, I just went and checked it and I can barely move it. Lately I would rather just take a few bucks and use the wand at the car wash instead but that is just me getting tired of trying to keep this monster clean.

Maybe you can answer a question for me. What is the screw on top for that is directly above the mixer?

[gspam]

The sprayers that are used with a standard garden hose are typically referred to as Foam Guns where the ones that work with a pressure washer are called Foam Cannons. Essentially they accomplish the same thing though a Foam Cannon does a better job when it comes to creating copious amounts of "FOAM". Many users start with a Gun (price to enter the game) and somewhere along the way make the shift to a Cannon. There are a number of threads on this forum where users have complained about Cannons not being all that they had hoped for but after playing with the various settings find something that works for them. For me personally there really is no comparison. I still use my Gun to wash the garage floor but not vehicles. I`m not aware of any that have decided the Gun to be better tool and actually switched back to the Gun having made the jump to the Cannon. Just my .2 Cents.

I started with a foam gun, switched to a pressure washer with a foam cannon, and then went back to the foam gun. The foam from the cannon and pressure washer looks cool, but I have not noticed any additional cleaning effectiveness, and then I have to drag out my pressure washer and extension cord, and then put them away. I don`t even use two buckets anymore for a water wash, just the foam gun and rinseless mitts. Foam gun in one hand and mitt in the other like others have recommended on the forum. I use a thumb lever to turn the spray on and off. The rinseless mitts hose off cleanly really easily, but if I see dirt on it after spraying with the foam gun, I switch to a new mitt.

[Accumulator]

I really wouldn`t say it is better than a pressure washer(car wash wand) but it is better than the pressure washer I have. It is one of those small portable unit that only sprays some where around 1000 psi, if that...

Heh heh, it can`t be any worse than the bottom-end pressure washer I`m using! Good enough for what I use it for on the vehicles though. I don`t need much capability for the pre-rinses that I use it for, just enough to get the big stuff off; I never run chemicals through it, no interest in hooking up a Foam Cannon.

Maybe you can answer a question for me. What is the screw on top for that is directly above the mixer?

You mean on the Foam Master? Look closely and you`ll see a tiny hole in the middle of it; AFAIK it`s a bleed hole for air to avoid a vacuum build-up or somesuch. Don`t want to let it get clogged up with minerals/etc., and I sometimes have to clear mine out even with the softener.

[skibik]

You mean on the Foam Master? Look closely and you`ll see a tiny hole in the middle of it; AFAIK it`s a bleed hole for air to avoid a vacuum build-up or somesuch. Don`t want to let it get clogged up with minerals/etc., and I sometimes have to clear mine out even with the softener.

I would guess it is the Foam Master, it is a BlackFire labeled Gilmour. It appears to be a bleeder screw. It is dead center above the adjustment bar when looking at it from the top. When I was typing up the last response I did unscrew it, took a pliers to break it loose. Looks like a little corrosion in the hole and it is inline with the siphon hole on the bar that is being used or set at. I have never had it open because I didn`t want it to unscrew and loose it. Just never knew what it was meant to do.

You want to talk cheap pressure washers, mine is a Coleman. One all plastic looking red power pack units. Supposed to get 1000 or 1200 psi but I would say once adjusted to make it spray in a fan pattern it is more like 800. It is not a regular pressure tip, the tip shoots a stream like a squirt gun and there is a handle at the end you rotate that pushes 2 flat blades against the stream to make a fan pattern. I bought it off of a tool truck that comes around to our neck of the woods once a year and it was a factory refurbished one so I got it cheap and cheap is what I got. Wished I would have looked it it a little closer before buying.

[shortspark]

Want to wash your car, eh? Below is all you will ever need - just add hose and water (buckets, cannon and pressure washer not needed):

Montana Original Tri-Angle Boar`s Hair Car Wash Brush & Handle

Dood Juice Supernatural Wookie`s Fist Wash Mitt

Chemical Guys HoneyDew Snow Foam 128 oz.

Autopia Quart Foamaster Foam Gun

Tip: fill jug with water half way and then add two/three ounces of soap, shake a little. Place output stem at three dots (half way point). Remove jug from sprayer and spray mitt and brush often to remove any dirt and debris. Piece of cake - have at it.

[Accumulator]

shortspark- I want to try that multi-angle BHB on undercarriages sometime! Wouldn`t work for *me* on the body-proper though.

I`d still need the pressure washer though, before I got mine I had to use a siphon-feed sprayer hooked to the compressor to get the winter-crusty stuff off and I gather those are hard to find these days.

On the shampoo mix, I still need a few gallons of concentrate (~7oz. shampoo:~121oz. water), fill the guns from that. But then I`m spraying it all the time, so I do go through a lot.

skibik- Heh heh, we could play "my pressure washer is crappier than yours!" Mine`s rated about like yours is, got it for Christmas a while back and never expected it to last this long.

I used blue LocTite on the Foamgun`s little threaded bits, having lost one before I wised up.

[shortspark]

[QUOTE=Accumulator;2114752]shortspark- I want to try that multi-angle BHB on undercarriages sometime! Wouldn`t work for *me* on the body-proper though.

I agree. The BHB is for the lower panels only, the wool mitt I mentioned is for the rest. The BHB is not even necessary except when you get my age - then it is like a gift from God! My rule of thumb is the BHB never goes above my knees. "Winter-crusty stuff"? I remember that stuff from growing up in upstate NY. But in 1975 I moved to Texas and never looked north again!! I wonder if that gravity feed gun compressor trick (with narrow needles on the gun) would work with applying tire dressing? I thought I read somewhere that it worked very well.

[Accumulator]

shortspark- I`m a bit different from many (gee, big surprise there ) in that I use the same BHB/etc. on the whole vehicle. If I don`t use the BHB first I end up marring stuff a bit more with (only) the mitts as they just don`t free-rinse the way my BHBs do; something gets stuck in them for a few inches worth of travel and...oops... And holding the mitts the right way while spraying with the foamgun is tough work.

And heh heh, I suspect that living in *your* locale might really change me whole approach to detailing, at least a few months out of the year.

There`s no way I`d ever spray my tire-slime. I`m infinitely more careful with it than that. I apply it to the applicator and rub that against the sidewall, sometimes (depends on the tire) working it into tricky areas with a small brush, and then buff off any excess with a MF before inspecting. I either have to move the vehicle forward/back (stop, wash hands, start and move vehicle, apply/buff more..) or have it up on jackstands so I can spin the wheels in order to get the whole sidewall uniformly. Huge PIA, I utterly hate doing that part of the wash..

And note that my siphon-sprayer doesn`t use needles; its orifice is maybe 3/8" or more and it`s like a mini-pressure washer with chemical injection.

[EdLancer]

The Gilmour Foamaster 75QGFMR is the tried and true foam gun.
Parts will always be available as it is a long time industrial product.
Like the other poster had mentioned, I too had used a foam lance with a pressure washer many moons ago and find it an inconvenience dragging out the pressure washer each time which is a time hog when detailing professionally where you have to be mobile and don`t want to drag a pressure washer along.
I have had mine for over a decade and it is still like the day I got it.
I have a quick disconnect attached to it for fast switch over to my other hose accessories.

[The Guz]

A couple good write up from Mike Phillips on using a foam gun.

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...-phillips.html

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...-foam-gun.html

[EdLancer]

What happened to Mike Phillips`s leg ?

[The Guz]

What happened to Mike Phillips`s leg ?

Check out the podcast. Talks about it in here

Mike Phillips | CARS YEAH

[GearHead_1]

What happened to Mike Phillips`s leg ?

Boat propeller if I remember correctly. I`m sure he`d tell you that it has but you`d never know that it`s slowed him down. He is remarkable.

[EdLancer]

He was Meguiars poster boy the son Barry Meguiars never had !