foam and blowers

[Joel D]

Why does foam hurt a blower? Ive had a few times that suction was reduced briefly after extracting a detergent spill or something. But how does that hurt two big chunks of steal?

 

[joe harper]

Why does foam hurt a blower? Ive had a few times that suction was reduced briefly after extracting a detergent spill or something. But how does that hurt two big chunks of steal?

WELL bAwB....?

Wait for it..................................................................................................

 

[Dolly Llama]

Why does foam hurt a blower? Ive had a few times that suction was reduced briefly after extracting a detergent spill or something.

the lose of vac was most likely due to foam in the "hoses", Joel.
Not the blower.


the foam in the hoses causes the lose of air flow.
Not exactly sure why, maybe one of the smart peeps here could explain the dynamics of how/why.
i only know that foam in hoses causes big decrease in vac performance ..as you found out too


Foam and/or dirty water thru the blower is bad cause the crud in the foam and/or dirty water can build up on the blower lobes.
When it gets so bad, it causes the blower to seize up after sitting over night
It can generally be unstuck with a pipe wrench and rarely is there any permanent damage ..
but it sucks to get to your first job in the morning, turn the key on the TM and nothing spins...

if you don't have a blower HX'er on your TM, you know you're getting water or foam thru the blower when you see steam coming from the blower exhaust


..L.T.A.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Many reasons why.

First, chances are the foam is laden with chemicals which if permitted to settle on the lobes will be quite corrosive to the cast iron lobes and blower case.

Second, has to do with the minute clearances inside a blower. Foam is very three dimensional, even when dried out as a residue. The clearances inside a PD blower are barely that of the thickness of a sheet of paper. Foam residue, combined with corrosion(rust), as outlined above, cause the blowers internals to actually make contact. This contact ranges from stressful on the bearings, to outright destructive knocking of the blower lobes. But what happens more often, is that the blower just plain "seizes up", perhaps even overnight, so badly that neither the engine starter motor or the belts can even overcome the "glued" blower internals.

Cast Iron blowers should be kept as clean as possible, with minimal corrosion. The saving grace that many users benefit by is something called "high-heat clearances". This a special modification that some TM OEM's specify wherein the blower lobes are shaved down a bit to create larger than stock clearances. This is done because some OEM's, especially those using blower exchangers, with often tax a blower to elevated temperatures that can heat-seize or actually heat-knock the blower due to heat expansion. The additional clearances permit that expansion, whilst maintaining adequate clearances at these high heat levels. This is why we see a bit less of the what I used to call "Holiday 3-day weekend blower seizures", when we'd always have at least one person in our service department with a stuck blower after a long holiday weekend, where a wet blower was allowed to sit long enough for rust to perform its "magic". Most of the time, daily running is enough to knock most of the rust off of blowers that receive less than desirable maintenance on the daily blower lubing regimen.

 

[tman7]

Someone suggested to me that running diesel fuel through the lube port of a blower can clean corrosion out. Is this true?

 

[joe harper]

Someone suggested to me that running diesel fuel through the lube port of a blower can clean corrosion out. Is this true?

.....................NO................!

 

[AshleyMckendree]

Someone suggested to me that running diesel fuel through the lube port of a blower can clean corrosion out. Is this true?

I run 1/2 cup of kerosene or diesel through my blower every few months.

 

[Jim Martin]

Someone suggested to me that running diesel fuel through the lube port of a blower can clean corrosion out. Is this true?

sure........when your are picking up all the shrapnel from when it grenades you will notice how clean all the pieces are from having all the shit blown off of them................

at the end of each day job just let your blower sit at an idle while you are rolling all your hoses up and it will dry itself out.....at the end of the day lube the port with wd40 what ever you like.......change the oil and/or grease as recommended and you will not have any problems to worry about.....

 

[joe harper]

Someone suggested to me that running diesel fuel through the lube port of a blower can clean corrosion out. Is this true?

I run 1/2 cup of kerosene or diesel through my blower every few months.

You do realize...that the FUEL...is a MAGNET...for all dust and debrie going through
your blower...?

 

[daniel@procarpet]

Someone suggested to me that running diesel fuel through the lube port of a blower can clean corrosion out. Is this true?

sure........when your are picking up all the shrapnel from when it grenades you will notice how clean all the pieces are from having all the shit blown off of them................

at the end of each day job just let your blower sit at an idle while you are rolling all your hoses up and it will dry itself out.....at the end of the day lube the port with wd40 what ever you like.......change the oil and/or grease as recommended and you will not have any problems to worry about.....

Agreed.

 

[Dolly Llama]

never used Kero or diesel to clean a blower...but is it any more or less flammable than WD40??

never played "flame thrower" with a can of WD???... :mrgreen:


lT.A.

 

[bob vawter]

SHUT UP HARPER...I CAN'T HEP IT:
are you guys REAL carpet cleaners....
i thought this was the big dog porch...
wherrt all these pups come from...... diesel fuel?????
I actually USED that way ONCE!
stunk up the place bad.....usually fill it wit warm water soak for a half hour will do the trick.if all else fails LOOSES the end cap bolts a tad ...it comes right looose!

RINSE THAT CRUD OUT WIT CLEAR WATER EVER DAY!

 

[AshleyMckendree]

Mostly i run kero, It sucks like a 5 dollar truckstop whore afterward.

Grenade? Ive done this every few months since I was TWELVE, and never has it done anything than run better afterwards :|


Also, what do you think WD-40 is mostly? Kerosene.

 

[KevinL]

I thought wd40 was fish oil. It sure smells like it.

 

[Blue Monarch]

I didn't read all the posts, but I've blown more water and foam through my blower than you can shake a stick at. Still going strong.

I'm with greenie on the whole blower thing. Those fuggers are hard to break.

 

[Dolly Llama]

I'm with greenie on the whole blower thing. Those fuggers are hard to break.

By far the most durable major component on a TM

..L.T.A.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Setting aside that tough blower for a moment....

Let's not forget that foam, or anything else besides clean air, that passes through the blower also passes through anything after the blower also. Often with fairly negative consequences.

Foam is laden with the all the necessary prerequisites to rot out your blower silencer much faster than if it were not running cleaning chemicals through it. Also, if your unit is equipped with blower exchanger, foam and suspended contaminants really do a fantastic job at clogging the exchanger fins with accumulated build-up. A clogged heat exchanger not only does a poor job at exchanging heat, but the restricted flow really stresses belts, couplers, and the engine,...not to mention dropping your airflow too.

 

[Ryan]

the foam in the hoses causes the lose of air flow.
Not exactly sure why, maybe one of the smart peeps here could explain the dynamics of how/why.
i only know that foam in hoses causes big decrease in vac performance ..as you found out too

..L.T.A.

I'm not one of the gurus lol, but the reason foam in your hose decreases your air flow is the same reason a 2" has more airflow then a 1.5" hose. The air has more room to flow.

 

[Leslie Judson Jones]

d]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teJzXkZ8hcgd]

 

[-JB-]

My ole legend developed a "knock" at about 3k hrs, had been running WD40 nightly since new, thought fo sure was gunna need to replace it, decide to start using "super lube" w PTFTE er what ever it is,(teflon) within a day the knock stopped and never did replace that blower.... fer wat its werth.