Garage Forecourt Jet/Car Wash Beware!

[trail66]

Hi Thought I might need to take the motorhome into our local BP garage jet wash to remove the corrosive road salt. I asked the garage manager if their wash water was recycled! The answer came back yes! He stated to his knowledge he believed that most garages car washes used recycled water including the jet wash! He confirmed that whist some filtration was carried during the recycling process he doubted that this would remove much if any salt!

The thought of spraying potentially salt contaminated water at high pressure on the underneath parts of a motorhome is concerning, let alone a new car through the automated car wash!

If you are going to wash your motorhome at a garage in the winter best to ask if the water is recycled!

 

 

[aandncaravan]

Motorhomes and Caravans are not designed to be Jetwashed.

The Water can be forced into places that Rain would not enter, for example some Caravans/Motorhomes have overlapping Aluminium side panels that are not always sealed as rain descending downwards would never penetrate upwards.

 

There is also the issue of vents, again not designed to resist anything other than vertical falling rain, even swirling snow will penetrate so you can imagine where the water from a Hose pipe will go, let alone a Powered Jet of water.

 

Even using a plain, slow flowing Hose pipe can send water where it shouldn't into the vehicle.

 

Roof vents to are rarely sealed. Usually an air gap between the Clear/semi clear plastic cover and the roof that can be overcome by a fast flowing hosepipe.

 

Suggest you wash by hand if you don't want the Jetwash to do it's best to force the sealant out of the joints plus the above potential issues?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tall_Mike]

I would not be taking my van to the local BP to put the Jet wash on it, far too many vents and gaps that wouldn't appreciate it, for example the boiler vent and the fridge vents.

 

I do have a jet washer at home, I have very carefully used it from a distance on the larger panels and wheels but well away from the vents and gaps and not on the roof, so far away that no real force is used. - I have a bucket and a long cleaner which I bought at a show, generally use that. - For the underneath, I just put a hose on it, but again carefully, using plain clean cold water all the time. I think warm water, although more comfortable for the hands speeds up chemical reactions.

 

- Certainly here at the moment, the van will stay dirty on the outside or we would have an ice block and a skating rink outside our house.

 

. - I am aware that the under sealing on the fiats isn't that great because these are vans designed for a relatively short life but covering massive mileages, whereas we tend to do low mileages and keep the van much longer. This is a bit of a concern in this weather. - modern paint treatments is a lot better (but not perfect)- , years ago I had an Alpha Sud - lovely engine but the car dissolved in front of me

 

We have found a local mobile Van cleaning service, the guy takes a couple of hours over it, he has something akin to scaffold - type of free standing thing that plasterers use, climbs up but does it all without a jet wash, the only condition is he must have access to a hose, have this done 2 or 3 times a year and for £60 a pop, money well spent in my view.

[pagey]

i would never use a jet wash on a motorhome or even a car just the patio

[Dr Dave]

I would suggest that a bit of recycled salt in the water would be the very least of your worries should you decide to treat the mastic / sealant joints, vents, window seals and all the other flimsy bits on your van to a jet wash. and the wood (usually very poorly sealed) would suffer too. Low pressure hose for me every time!

[fjmike]

There is absolute nothing wrong with with using a quality pressure washer on a motorhome or caravan as long as you:

Run at a low pressure (forecourt machines don't allow this)

Keep the spray head at least a couple of feet away from all surfaces

Adjust the spray fan to wide (again forecourt machines don't allow this)

Keep the spray head moving (this avoids damage to seals and graphics)

Always start the pressure washer pointing away from the van

Don't use addatives mixed in by the machine

If in any doubt, play safe and don't use.

[747]

fjmike - 2017-12-19 1:27 PM

 

There is absolute nothing wrong with with using a quality pressure washer on a motorhome or caravan as long as you:

Run at a low pressure (forecourt machines don't allow this)

Keep the spray head at least a couple of feet away from all surfaces

Adjust the spray fan to wide (again forecourt machines don't allow this)

Keep the spray head moving (this avoids damage to seals and graphics)

Always start the pressure washer pointing away from the van

Don't use addatives mixed in by the machine

If in any doubt, play safe and don't use.

 

I agree with your comments although I have always used an extending brush to wash the motorhome.

 

However, the years are taking their toll on my health and vitality so I am going to attempt applying the cleaning fluid by putting it in the detergent bottle of my Karcher as the pressure is supposed to be lower than the plain water nozzle. It will be washed off with a garden hose fitted with an adjustable nozzle (the sort that Hozelock sell, although mine is a cheap copy nozzle).

 

If that does not work well, I can buy a Karcher Snow Foam applicator for around £12 and I will try Snow Foam.

[fjmike]

747 - 2017-12-19 4:01 PM

 

fjmike - 2017-12-19 1:27 PM

 

There is absolute nothing wrong with with using a quality pressure washer on a motorhome or caravan as long as you:

Run at a low pressure (forecourt machines don't allow this)

Keep the spray head at least a couple of feet away from all surfaces

Adjust the spray fan to wide (again forecourt machines don't allow this)

Keep the spray head moving (this avoids damage to seals and graphics)

Always start the pressure washer pointing away from the van

Don't use addatives mixed in by the machine

If in any doubt, play safe and don't use.

 

I agree with your comments although I have always used an extending brush to wash the motorhome.

 

However, the years are taking their toll on my health and vitality so I am going to attempt applying the cleaning fluid by putting it in the detergent bottle of my Karcher as the pressure is supposed to be lower than the plain water nozzle. It will be washed off with a garden hose fitted with an adjustable nozzle (the sort that Hozelock sell, although mine is a cheap copy nozzle).

 

If that does not work well, I can buy a Karcher Snow Foam applicator for around £12 and I will try Snow Foam.

Nothing wrong with using snowfoam, just make sure you get the dilutions right and avoid the cheap stuff. I said about additives because often folk are tempted to use Traffic Film Remover which on its own is dodgy but put through a P/W is positively lethal

[747]

I'm pleased you replied Mike because I wondered if TFR would be an option. 8-)

 

Obviously not. :D

 

Thanks.

[rooster63]

I made the mistake of using a home pressure washer on my PVC as I reckoned it would be good to reach the high bits. BIG mistake, took off some of the paint from when the van was converted. It had obviously been completely resprayed after the conversion with a paint that doesn't match the original paint. So I now have a patch on the front panel above the wind screen showing the original paint.

If and when I come to sell will have to consider having some panels resprayed if it looks like the 'patch' will affect the re-sell value.

Now use a long handled brush connected to a trickling hose pipe to get the worst of the muck off, taking care near vents etc