Car and Vehicle Washing

The reliability and low-cost maintenance of Wanner’s Hydra-Cell® pumps is being celebrated by some of the leading OEMs in the car wash manufacturing market. The pumps keep car washes around the world operating 24/7 and needing less than $50* per year in servicing, whilst lasting for 10 to 15 years!!

Hydra-Cell’s reliability is due to its patented design. This unique seal-less design delivers cost savings - year after year, after year – in fact 15 years on average, with some pumps having a life span of over 30 years.

These are helping to ensure that vehicle wash systems consistently work at capacity, maximising revenue for the operators with no unplanned downtime. The beauty of the pump is that it can handle both fresh and reclaimed water, with entrained solids of up to 800 microns. This removes any need for expensive pre-treatment of the water, such as fine filtration, to protect the pump. It also reduces spares holding and simplifies maintenance.

Meeting the environmental challenge the Hydra-Cell pump has a high efficiency pumping action >85% along with eliminating leaks.

15+ Years Life and Low Cost Servicing with Hydra-Cell Seal-less Pumps

Whether using clean water, grey water, recycled water or chemicals for cleaning, Hydra-Cell pumps reliably handle any liquid due to their seal-less design. With no dynamic seals, this eliminates seal maintenance thereby reducing running costs and ensuring wash systems can run to capacity, with no unplanned downtime.

With increasing environmental responsibility to preserve fresh water supplies, vehicle wash systems use recycled water. Even after fine filtration, this water will contain chemicals in solution and is likely to carry particles of grit and other contaminants; pumping this is potentially damaging for pumps with dynamic seals.

In cleaning systems working at higher pressures (e.g. above about 20 bar) the risks of rapid seal wear, loss of performance and premature pump failure increase. Even using clean water, operating at pressures above 40 bar may cause packings and seals of piston pumps to be changed every 6 months, Hydra-Cell seal-less design eliminates this.

High temperatures, sometimes used to improve cleaning efficiency, can intensify problems for pumps with dynamic seals. Water at 90°C is 64 times more corrosive than water at 20°C.

Hydra-Cell seal-less pumps are used in vehicle cleaning systems not only for their high pressure capability, but because of their simple build, low maintenance and high reliability. They tolerate chemicals and abrasive particles (up to 800 microns) without needing fine filtration. They are also sustainably energy efficient – a big factor in their exceptionally low operating costs.

Compared with multi-stage centrifugal pumps, the pumping efficiency of the Hydra-Cell can give significant energy savings from the outset. But any seal-reliant pump, even if theoretically close to the Hydra-Cell in efficiency, will waste energy if seal wear begins and performance is allowed to fall away.