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Trouble Shooting Poor Foaming Performance
In most cases when you are getting poor foam performance the first thing that gets blamed is the chemical. Often this is probably not the case.
Foam quality is a very subjective science and subject to many variations.
Below we have listed some things to check when trying to improve the quality of your Foam:
1. Remove anything on the end of the hose that compresses foam – things like guns, small nozzles, small aperture connectors etc.
2. Before turning the air on, ensure there is a good flow of the chemical solution. If it looks like it is just water coming out there could be issues with the dosing unit. Apart from usually being able to tell visibly if there is chemical in there or not, if you turn the air on and the hose jumps around it could be because it is just water in the line – water can’t compress like a water/chemical solution will.”
3. Adjust the amount of air – too much will make the foam hose jump and spurt while too little will cause poor throw and foam that is too wet. It may help to have a ball valve on the foam block side of the airline so that cleaners can turn this off or on if needing to use the foam hose to fill buckets. That way they don’t need to interfere with the needle valve to turn air off as it takes a while to tune this correctly to get a good foam. Some people put the needle valve up high so they can’t tamper with it.
4. Make sure compressed air supply is dry air.
5. Ensure the chemical percentage is right for the job you are doing.
A good thing to note here is that wet foam is usually better than dry foam. It does not look as impressive but wets out the soil better and gets more access to it. All the above are helpful tips but a key point to consider is whether foam is the right application for the job you are doing. Remember that chemicals can be used in various ways (foam, soak, fog, thickened gels etc.) so if your foam is not getting the job done right, it may not be the correct method for that application.
If you have tried all the above and still struggling with your foam quality, talk to your chemical supplier to see if they have any suggestions for you. If you get no help here then it may be time to look at an alternative chemical supplier to see if they can help. There are other new technologies now available that cling to surfaces longer than standard foam.
If you would like more information on this fill in the form below and one of our team will be in touch.
