Those of you that have been over our place know we live on a dirt road which is very dusty in the summer. The privacy is great, but It really bugs me that I can wash my car and after two days the boot looks horrible. I never cared so much before my MINI because I drove a beat up truck.

So I had this brainstorm the other day to make a drive thru car "rinse" rather than wash down by our barn. When we installed the well I ran 1" pipes under ground so there is a LOT of water pressure.

I went to Lowes and bought about $72 worth of pipe, fittings and irrigation heads. I came home, glued it all together and it works great..

Then i got to thinking about how I could make the water flow without having to get in and out and lift the spigot 30 feet away. Soooo back to Lowes I go for a $14 24volt transformer and a $12 water shut off valve

All you need to do is back up, throw the switch, pull in and out a couple times, then shut off the switch and drive off......about 30 seconds flat!! You can see the switch on a post in the last pic, just outside the drivers window.

Today I did it and then used a white drying towel and dried it off. It was very clean, so I guess the pressure is doing a good job of blasting the dirt away.

This project went from dream to reality in 24 hours so I solicit improvements.

Here is what I have planned.....
1. A truck load of gravel coming monday (mixed with granite dust) to make a hard packed "driveway"

2. Purchase a small RV portable inline water softener that recharges with table salt to reduce water spots from the hard well water.

3. I need a way to have a container of Adams soap and draw it up into the pipes to foam the car, so I can foam it after rinsing. Northern tool sells a little 10 gallon ATV weed killer sprayer tank thats $89 with motor and switch built in. I could fill that with a soap solution, but I'd rather find a cheaper way. I wonder if a 1 gallon keed killer spraer tank with hand pump on top would work if I plumbed it inline. When I wanna foam, just give it a few pumps, and maybe install a petcock valve.

4. Install a "T" fitting and a valve with spigot on the bottom of the left side post so I can fill up a bucket for soaping the car, washing wheels, etc.

What do you all think?

 

Nice craftsmanship, question though. Are you getting stuck with a bunch of water spots now? Or do you dry it after you go through?

 

My well water is really hard, so I do drive the car up to the car port and use a giant basket weave drying cloth right away. It probably takes 2 min tops to dry the car. I am looking into a "water stick" inline water softener to help out and see if thta takes away water spots. They recharge with table salt and I'm looking on EBay for one now.

 

Slick setup. It might to help to add some support to the top PVC as the sun may make sag over time. Especially true since you have a joint in the middle.

As for foam spraying, how about diverting the water through a holding tank for the soap. The water mixing in that should gat you some foam. Might have to use an adjustable pressure regulator to dial it in perfectly. To switch between the rinse water and the soap water you could use electronic sprinkler valves wired in random on the input and exit side of the soap diverter. I think you could wire that to a switch on your post next to he on/off valve and turn on the foam from the drivers seat.

No matter what I am sure you will tinker with it over time. Kudos to you on a cool project. Excellent job!

 

brilliant...nice bit of creativity

 

Cool idea!

 

Whistler,

What a genius you are !! That is awesome.

 

Cool idea....how about adding a couple of 120 volt leaf blowers to "blow off" the water drops...like the ones ar the carwash....
Very creative....

 

Bet the sipon type bottles that attatch to a hose to suck up deck cleaner could be Modded to add soap to the water prior to spraying....

 

Hire a couple of college gals to dry the MINI off during the weekends.

Seriously, that's a very nice setup and creative too.

 

Zippy I told my friends I was waiting for Harbour Freight to have a sale on those carpet dryers you see people laying all over when they have a broken pipe and the carpet floods. I told them I was gonna install 9 of them in an arch......they believed me...LOL...thats pretty bad.

Anyway...I figured how to add the soap....I have a 1 gallon pump sprayer for weed killer I am not using. If I cut a "T" fitting in the pipe just after the garden hose inlet, and then add a threaded plug to connect to the sprayer hose I am in business.

I will remove the wand from the sprayer and put the hose directly on a nipple on the PVC "T" fitting. I can fill the sprayer with a soap, water, 1/2 teaspoon salt mix and pump it up to pressurize it. When I want soap I can simply turn an inline shut off valve to vent the soap mix out the hose and into the PVC pipe flowing the water.

I'm gonna try it tomorrow

 

 

LMAO!!...MCS FEVER,

You got me pegged pretty good....we shot two deer last year on the other side of that white fenced in riding arena out of a tree stand.

And if I could find a way to mount an AR-15 in my rear window you bet I would. "Big Blue" in the background was my daily driver for almost a decade..