# Bilt Hamber Foam : Working out dilution rates ??



## wyliss (Feb 9, 2007)

Can anybody enlighten me on the dilution ratios please?. I have a Karcher K2.94M and a HD Foam Lance with a one litre bottle.
It says 4% on the BH site so is that 4% of the 1000mL bottle which means 40mL of BH????:wall:

Also Valet Pro Sf seems to be coming up alot, confused what to go for now ??????? :thumb:


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## Guest (Dec 8, 2008)

4%, or 1:24 (AF:Water), on the paintwork. You'll need to work out the dilution ratio of your lance to determine how much AF to place in the bottle.


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## wyliss (Feb 9, 2007)

Phisp said:


> 4%, or 1:24 (AF:Water), on the paintwork. You'll need to work out the dilution ratio of your lance to determine how much AF to place in the bottle.


Thanks for that. If it is 4% then do I not just put in 4% of 1000ml?
How do you work out the DR of your lance?, mine just has a '+' & '-' on the top.
Thanks for the help Phisp.:thumb:


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## rubbishboy (May 6, 2006)

dibbs26 said:


> Thanks for that. If it is 4% then do I not just put in 4% of 1000ml?
> How do you work out the DR of your lance?, mine just has a '+' & '-' on the top.
> Thanks for the help Phisp.:thumb:


No, the 4% is the recommended strength when the foam comes out the end of the lance, when it hits the panel. The lance will dilute the mix in the bottle further when it's used, so you need to mix a stronger ratio in the bottle so that when the lance dilutes the mix it comes out at 4%.

As Phisp says you need to know what your lance flows/dilutes to to be able to work it out.


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## perm (Oct 26, 2005)

As others have said, if you want to ensure a 4% panel impact ratio then you need to do some measurements with your karchers, water pressure and set dilution rate on your foam gun…. ( a bit of a pain imho )

However most people seem to use around 200ml mixed with 800ml of water and get very good results ( this is mix ratio I use ). The foam lance needs is set onto the highest setting ( maximum foaming ).


Hope this helps.


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## MrLOL (Feb 23, 2007)

i use 200ml of PH neutral snowfoam to 800ml warm water

I tried 100ml of snowfoam and didnt get much cleaning power. 200ml on the other hand actually cleaned the car. 

Its 20 % strength in the bottle, but will be less than 10 % by the time it hits the car.


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

with my K3.99 I was using 100ml foam + 400ml water, and it was working pretty well. Not sure how much different the flow rates are but start from there and see what the foam looks like :thumb:


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## wyliss (Feb 9, 2007)

Bigpikle said:


> with my K3.99 I was using 100ml foam + 400ml water, and it was working pretty well. Not sure how much different the flow rates are but start from there and see what the foam looks like :thumb:


Hi,
Flow rate on my Karcher is 330 litres per hour so will 200ml be ok in a 1litre bottle?.
Just dont want to strip the LSP of Colly.:thumb:


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## perm (Oct 26, 2005)

My Karchers flow rate is about the same..... so you should be fine....... if your concerned try 100 ml in 900 ml of water.... if your are not happy with the cleaning power move up to 200 ml with 800 ml of water on your next wash.

Experimentation is all part of the fun of detailing. 

Perm


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## wyliss (Feb 9, 2007)

Thanks guys for the help. The only thing that worries me is removing the Collinite that I spent a day doing !. I suppose its a fine balance between cleaning power and looking after your LSP. I think I will go for 200ml AF and 800 ml warm water. I hope that should clean and also look after the LSP.
Anybody else done the above and worked fine?
Ta


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## Fritz Blitz (Jun 18, 2007)

Hi dipps,

just follow bassologist´s guide and you can´t go wrong with diluting:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=71201

Fritz


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## dmc (Aug 17, 2008)

dibbs26 said:


> Hi,
> Flow rate on my Karcher is 330 litres per hour so will 200ml be ok in a 1litre bottle?.
> Just dont want to strip the LSP of Colly.:thumb:


im sure that the flow rate will change with the foam lance on you washer ,
correct me if im wrong but the 330 litres per hour will be at full chat with the foam lance removed, 
am i wrong,


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## Guest (Dec 8, 2008)

dmc said:


> im sure that the flow rate will change with the foam lance on you washer ,
> correct me if im wrong but the 330 litres per hour will be at full chat with the foam lance removed,
> am i wrong,


In my experience, it could do. My old KB5050 has a rated 6.7L/min but with a foam lance attached I measured it at 6.5L/min.


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## Downward (Aug 18, 2017)

Call me a nerd but i’m just gonna go with 200ml per litre.
Sod wasting 16 litres of water measuring the 0.04


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## shine247 (Mar 1, 2010)

Downward said:


> Call me a nerd but i'm just gonna go with 200ml per litre.
> Sod wasting 16 litres of water measuring the 0.04


Just half fill your bottle with 500ml and double the result. 
Use the water for plants or something.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

I have a small karcher and heres how i worked it out. Fill your lance with exactly 1L of water. Set the foam adjuster to the max or where you would normally have it for snowfoam. 

Get a bucket and run the PW until the lance is empty. See how much water you have in the bucket. For example mine was 9 Litres or 9000ml.

take the 9000 and times it by 0.04 (9000x0.04= 360ml) this means i need 360ml of Auto Foam and 1000-360= 640ml of Water

360ml : 640ml (AF:Water) for a 4% PIR

So im using 1 part water to 1.78 AF in the lance bottle


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## Itstony (Jan 19, 2018)

https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=400543

This is the best one imho.
Working out ratios and calculations are relatively easy. Have reviewed this myself a few times to double check, so bookmark it, it just get's harder to retain the older we get :lol:

This excellent review by "Brian1612" on BH foam is a very detailed guide how to do the calc's in a good way for those that do struggle. :thumb:


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## Tykebike (Mar 27, 2016)

Downward said:


> Call me a nerd but i'm just gonna go with 200ml per litre.
> Sod wasting 16 litres of water measuring the 0.04


OK so you're a nerd. 
You don't have to waste 16 litres of water, you could always drink it:lol:


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## Downward (Aug 18, 2017)

Itstony said:


> https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=400543
> 
> This is the best one imho.
> Working out ratios and calculations are relatively easy. Have reviewed this myself a few times to double check, so bookmark it, it just get's harder to retain the older we get :lol:
> ...


Interesting about using it with a pump sprayer.
Does anyone do this ?


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## Downward (Aug 18, 2017)

Tykebike said:


> OK so you're a nerd.
> You don't have to waste 16 litres of water, you could always drink it:lol:


I'm trying it with 200ml of water. Should save time and water.....


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Downward said:


> Interesting about using it with a pump sprayer.
> 
> Does anyone do this ?


Funnily enough I do! 

Typically in the winter I do, in the summer it's susceptible to drying out very quickly so not so much. That said if I do use in the summer, I have a foam lance with some high concentration foam that foams up really well from little product.

Obsession Wax Blizzard is great for this as 20ml in 500ml of water comes out pretty thick while being cheap. This stops the AF drying out & providing the strong cleaning power you want.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk


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## sirGonGon (May 28, 2010)

Having the same dilemma myself today. 

I have tried to follow the guidance and burned through a lot of product, I am going to put it down to user error!

First time using the Karcher K4 with the lance that came with it (I think an upgrade is required).

Filled a bucket with 10L from the 750ml bottle. 

By the time I had foamed the 4 wheels front and back (off the car) and the inside of the wheel arches I had used over 1/4 of the bottle...? I was not being trigger happy at all.

Where am I going wrong here? Is the fault with the Karcher bottle or am I to blame??


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## MrMatt (Apr 15, 2011)

sirGonGon said:


> Having the same dilemma myself today.
> 
> I have tried to follow the guidance and burned through a lot of product, I am going to put it down to user error!
> 
> ...


So a 10L bucket to fully empty a 750ml lance? That means if you put neat product in you have 7.5% PIR. So are you putting 50:50 water and autofoam in the lance to give you 3.75% PIR?


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## Downward (Aug 18, 2017)

Reckons I need 560ml of product.. Checked twice.


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## sirGonGon (May 28, 2010)

MrMatt said:


> So a 10L bucket to fully empty a 750ml lance? That means if you put neat product in you have 7.5% PIR. So are you putting 50:50 water and autofoam in the lance to give you 3.75% PIR?


I had diluted for 5% as the car was filthy, however will readjust for 4%.

I have ordered a new foam lance as I am not happy with the speed the Karcher once emptied the bottle.


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## MrMatt (Apr 15, 2011)

sirGonGon said:


> I had diluted for 5% as the car was filthy, however will readjust for 4%.
> 
> I have ordered a new foam lance as I am not happy with the speed the Karcher once emptied the bottle.


In terms of the amount of product used a different lance wont make much difference as 4% PIR is 4% from any lance. Unless the new lance means you get less water discharged overall for the same area covered of course.

My K2 with an in2detailing lance gives me 2.5% to 4% using neat product depending on the dial on the top and I only wet the panel with solution. Unfortunately with this set up 4% is as strong as I can go.


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## Woodsmoke (Feb 12, 2018)

Yeah that's the other thing with this product you just have to coat the panel that's it, you don't need to go back and forth trying to lay thick foam... it just wont, coat the panel move on should have used hardly any of your fixture come the end of spraying.


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## Dunc2610 (May 23, 2011)

Ok, so I think I'm going wrong somewhere with my calculations...

I put 100ml of water in my snow foam bottle, turned the dilution knob to max, and got 4ltrs of water in the bucket, so by deduction 4 x 0.04 x 10 = 1.6 ltrs of auto foam????


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Let's just check, when you say 'turned to max', are we talking about turning the adjuster knob clockwise? So this is towards the '-' on most Chinese cannons and '+' on an MTM.


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

I mean...just put an inch in the bottle and you'll be fine, no need to worry more about it - that's safe and effective.


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Dunc2610 said:


> Ok, so I think I'm going wrong somewhere with my calculations...
> 
> I put 100ml of water in my snow foam bottle, turned the dilution knob to max, and got 4ltrs of water in the bucket, so by deduction 4 x 0.04 x 10 = 1.6 ltrs of auto foam????


As others have mentioned, make sure it's turned all the way to - & not +. Sounds like you may have it set at the lowest foam setting.


Mother-Goose said:


> I mean...just put an inch in the bottle and you'll be fine, no need to worry more about it - that's safe and effective.


It won't give the best results though & may even dissapoint users. Could be suitable for light cleaning but for proper cleaning BH is known for, the 4% PIR is req'd.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

I get what you're saying there Brian, can't argue with that.

2inches for a dirty car, 3 for a filthy one ;-)


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Dirty...









Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

Brian1612 said:


> Dirty...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Dirty is better than filthy in my experience :lol:


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## Dunc2610 (May 23, 2011)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Let's just check, when you say 'turned to max', are we talking about turning the adjuster knob clockwise? So this is towards the '-' on most Chinese cannons and '+' on an MTM.





Brian1612 said:


> As others have mentioned, make sure it's turned all the way to - & not +. Sounds like you may have it set at the lowest foam setting.It won't give the best results though & may even dissapoint users. Could be suitable for light cleaning but for proper cleaning BH is known for, the 4% PIR is req'd.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk


I have an in2detailing lance, I turned the knob to the direction that was the biggest wedge of the 'volume' triangle, I'll try it again this weekend the other way and see what happens. When I turn the knob to - however, I get no foam?


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