MacNeil roll over taking off wiper arms

Well Sunday my asst. calls me and says we broke off 4 rear wiper blades and one wiper arm within two hours. I went to work today, all plastic wipers and he even started to double and triple tape them and it still broke them off. Amyone have the problem. I looked at it and it didn't seem like anything was wrong. I checked the air pressure and made sure it had oil in it. I'm at a loss??? Thanks

by roll over I assume you mean the top brush? I used to get wipers two at a time. Never could my distributor or MacNeil to figure it out. Check two things:

1. when the brush comes down and is spinning does it "bounce" off of the stop? If it does it could be two things, the foam has worn uneven and causing the brush to vibrate or one of the welds down the cylinder is broke.

2. are the ends of the foam starting to wear and "curl". If yes that is the problem,

In both cases all the pressure can be correct but the brush will either be too agressive on the bounce or the curl will grab something on the wiper and lift it up. Also if you do not have a fish scale grab one from Wal Mart and drop the brush not running and lift it off the stop with the scale, you should have no more than 15 lbs of force to lift it off. That should not change throughout the day, if it does your foam is going bad and starting to hold water. I used gallop to replace mine:

http://www.gallopbrush.com/

I found out the hard way also but got my answer here, do a top brush search on here, the discussion may still be around. MacNeil told me flat out that it could not be the foam causing the problem, I spent 6 months causing damage to customers cars and spending money on parts to try and fix the problem before I finally replaced the foam. From the second I turned it on with the new foam I have not had a problem

After reading this it sounds a little harsh, I should add that MacNeil has been very helpfull in other areas but this particular problem they could not solve. However my distributor was never any help

We have both MacNeil top brushes and wraps. The only time we had a problem with broken wiper arms is when the foam deteriorated. This was caused by adding a fragrance that had alcohol in it. This deteriorated the foam, (made it long and stringy) and it would wrap around the wiper arm, pulling it from the car, and the rest is history. Deleting the fragrance, and changing the foam solved the problem.

ALSO, did you check and see if the wiper blades were the correct size! We have found customers have put the next larger size wiper blade on!

I had a top brush - but took it out in 1994. It rested gently on the vehicle, but I too had problems with wipers on occassion and window visors. One of the best changes I ever made. Once it pushed the back window in on an Audi. We had to scramble to shut everything off - after several gallons of water filled the back seat. I was truly surprised in recent years that they brought it back. I use mitters now to accomplish the same thing. They come out just as clean and I have no problems. The first thing I thought of when they came out was that the older generation of car wash operators probably won't buy them because we are all familiar with the problems of a top brush, but they're selling ?? Looks nice, looks different, cleans very well but too much possible risk for me.

When we had the problem with wiper arms, it was because the foam fingers were getting stuck in the wipers. What color is the foam on the top brush? Not all the foams are the same. The one we had a problem with was red, and I have heard of another person having the same problem with a red top brush. We had some problems at our new wash at startup with our black top brush. The black foam feels different from the blue. We have never had a problem with the blue foam.

A few things to look at:
1. Lubrication - Make sure that you have enough
2. Bounce - Watch the top brush as it goes over the top of SUVs with luggage racks. You should have about 4-6" or penetration on the top of the vehicle. If the top brush is bouncing, you may want to adjust the air flow controls on the main arm cylinder.
3. Check the weight - the weight of the top brush changes over time. Use a fish scale to pull up on the brush while it is in the down position. The brush should require 20lbs of force to start moving. You may have to adjust the weight forward or back.
4. Haircut - If the small fingers are getting stuck in the wipers, cut off about 2-3" from the ends of the foam fingers. Since the foam is tapered, by doing this, the fingers will be wider and will not get stuck. We did this on the red foam that had stretched from the polish foam with the alcohol, and our problem was solved. We still changed out the red foam to blue and changed the polish foam, but this helped until the new foam arrived.

My foam was blue. I had heard of the problem with black foam, I guess that covers all the colors MacNeil offers. During my research of the problem I heard that MacNeil changed their supplier of foam, this is when the problems began. That comes from someone trying to sell me their product though so take it for what it is worth. It just did not last as long and became stringy as Jimmy said. I have another wash that is 6 months older with still the original foam on it so something was different between the two stores.

Well the foam is curlying over, so I'm going to start by cutting them off. It's about 5 years old next month and still the original foam and it is RED.
Have another question, do your Mac Neil Flex raps bend front Plates and get stuck on the trailer hitch balls. I'm on my second set of foam and I dont want to mess this set up. I think there moving in to far, but if I adjust the side pressure then it doesn't go in enough. Thanks

You definitely need new foam. We get about 250,000 vehicles (about 1-1/2 years) from our foam, and then we replace. Are your wraps hydraulic or electric? Ours are electric, and we have never had a problem with a trailer hitch ball. If a front plate is simply bolted to the bumper without a frame or if the frame is not secured properly, then the front plate may come off. Not much you can do about that.

I don't have a top brush but I do have flex-wraps, but with cloth, and we bend unframed plates and tear off ones fastened with zip ties, wrong screws, self tapping screws into the plastic bumpers ect. We also have the "license bump" that reverses the air pressure so at the front of the car the wraps are free to move across the front as the car approaches. I also have stocked up on screws and such from the auto parts store for different vehicles. Yes the wash took it off but We can put it back on correctly. When the wraps catch on hitches it looks nasty. Even the vehicle rocks a little. Welcome to Texas. 3500's, F350's, Mega Cabs all with a hitch. What the heck are you going to tow with your Camry? I upped the sensitivity on the photo eye to "see sooner" and adjust the "end of vehicle" delay to stay on longer to unfold later to try to miss the hitches. I also found my air regulators are not very consistant. Drivers side was not extending with 15 lbs pres. Made a tool with a brand new guage connected to 1/4' tubing with a quick release fitting. Turn up air pressure the unplug line from cylinder and plug line into tool. Compare pressure on NEW guage to guage in equip room. I had ten pounds difference. Equip guage read 10, tool read 0 at the cylinder. Whew. I read the forum nightly but hardly ever reply. So my questions are is the air pressure correct at the brush and does timing from the entrance have anything to do with when it comes down the back of the vehicle. Our new wash is going to have one of these. Im both glad and worried. Sometimes the curtains don't cut it but also worried about damages.

The hitches that are close to the bumper are fine, its the 3 headed ball ones and also the ones that stick out one foot away from the bumper. I've got the side pressure the way I want it. I think if it didn't move around the rear end so far it would be fine. Has that new wash coming along anyway? Can't wait to see it.