WASHBOT unit- finally a new technology to the carwash industry

[car wash maniac]

Many things not visible by video. Yes. Yes. Yes and yes. See my earlier post that lists several things I find interesting. I also find it interesting that no one has mentioned the fact that you can reset it by smart phone and that you can purchase by smart phone and over the Internet. Does seem like innovations to me.

 

[car wash maniac]

Rph9168, I tend to think that over a hundred touch free washes, a few conveyors , self service and bunch of brush washes gives me the experience to form an opinion. Touch free versus brush is an argument that is moot in this case. People make money with both. Cost wise, my numbers show that touch free is more profitable for a number of reasons. The argument is moot here because it is a combo wash. Customer chooses what they want.

I love lively discussions and understand that oopinions need to be expressed before some folks will even consider anything new.

I hope to continue to bounce good ideas around here. There appears to be a lot of entrenched thought.

New things are scary. Change is scary. People might be on the wrong side of the technology and it can affect incomes.

I am simply saying that it is worth investigating. By that I mean actually investigating like I did. I do not mean sitting back and blasting away. I mean talking to Patrick would be a good start. He must have had a reason to pull out a G 5,(we have them and like them) to put a Washbot in.

I'm just saying.

 

[rph9168]

I was not questioning your opinion as much as your questioning of others. There are other combos out there to compare this machine to. I would like to know how your numbers show that touch free is more profitable but this thread is going no where quickly so let's not go down that path. Enough is enough. You like the machine. Patrick replaced his G-5 with one. No need to drag this out any more than it already has. Time will tell if it catches on or goes the way of the dinosaur and becomes extinct.

 

[car wash maniac]

Again I must differ. There've been several posters here questioning my right to opinion , my experience and knowledge.

Please don't try to be offended so that you can quiet any dissenting view.

I appreciate openness and honesty I have only been open and honest. Hopefully someone out there will see that is the case. Time will certainly tell .

 

[MEP001]

I also find it interesting that no one has mentioned the fact that you can reset it by smart phone and that you can purchase by smart phone and over the Internet.

How is that interesting? Why would anyone mention that? For that matter, why would you now? Again, your "opinions" are coming across as advertisement.

 

[kentadel]

I am able to reset my wash from my smartphone, and can also purchase a wash from it and the internet. Nothing new there.

 

[robert roman]

“I find it very difficult to listen to someone who hasn't even looked at the wash physically and develops an opinion without facts to back it up…..can be easily confirmed by going to wash.

A lot of things can be confirmed by watching the video, visiting websites and doing the math.

WashBot has single basket mitter curtain with couple dozen cloth strips.

Other friction in-bay machines have dual oscillating curtains with “hundreds” of soft cloth washing strips, which cleans the hood, roof and sides of each vehicle.

Other in-bays have dual or quad rotating high-side brushes or wrap-around. Some are cloth (maybe 60 rpm) others are foam (much faster rotational speed, more work accomplished) and some use combination of cloth (lower) and foam (higher).

Washbot has one rotating high-side brush that must cover the circumference of the vehicle.

To accomplish the same amount of work in the same amount of time as rollover with two rotating side brushes, WashBot side brush would need to rotate at 120 rpm and move at 10 meters per minute (or twice as fast).

I see nothing in video or firm’s website that would lead me to suspect this is possible without compromising quality or safety.

“I resent your bias and your implication that I have a dog in the hunt.”

No one said it’s a dog, it just has no pedigree.

For example, Washbot boasts 3-axis platform but it cannot move up or down.

So, touch-less is basically inverted-L with fan spray (we know pros and cons of these) and contour drying is not possible.

Rotating top brush won’t work because of bot head.

Many in-bays have already gone from 22 or 25 GPM to 18 GPM to save water.

Coanda effect dryer with lower hp has already been tried (Laser 4000 docking dryer) and eclipsed by more efficient and effective designs (i.e. contour with nozzles, blades, bags).

Gantries usually have most stuff on-board. What does WashBot mechanical room look like?

Yes, it’s very different, but is it really as good as a Lexus or innovative as a Tesla?

I liken it to a designer product. Want something unique that is only available in limited numbers buy a Washbot.

Industry trends are friction (less cost), faster process, online profit centers, less waiting, hand-finished qualities, etc. This is domain of conveyors which command 74 percent of total available market.

So, I don’t see WashBot as next big thing or revolutionary.

 

[mac]

Nice discussion on state of the art. Maniac don't be put off by comments from someone who thinks he can walk on water. (You know who I'm referring to.) The best way to test new ideas is to throw them out there and see what happens. I would hate to see us get to the point where we simply trash new ideas rather than encourage innovation. Look many of the machines I deal with in the auto dealer market were designed when Carter was president. I happen to know the main people involved and they just want to advance our so-called industry. Who knows where this will go. At least this isn't an example of other manufacturers bringing new technology to the table by copying others and painting it a different color. Ryko got their big start by copying a machine called the triple clean many many years ago. And they advertised it as new technology. So lighten up a little, but don't stop giving honest opinion. There. I feel better now.

 

[washnshine]

Nice discussion on state of the art. Maniac don't be put off by comments from someone who thinks he can walk on water. (You know who I'm referring to.) The best way to test new ideas is to throw them out there and see what happens. I would hate to see us get to the point where we simply trash new ideas rather than encourage innovation. Look many of the machines I deal with in the auto dealer market were designed when Carter was president. I happen to know the main people involved and they just want to advance our so-called industry. Who knows where this will go. At least this isn't an example of other manufacturers bringing new technology to the table by copying others and painting it a different color. Ryko got their big start by copying a machine called the triple clean many many years ago. And they advertised it as new technology. So lighten up a little, but don't stop giving honest opinion. There. I feel better now.

Mac,

I didn't know that about Ryko. Who made the triple clean? What did it look like?

 

[DiamondWash]

I too would be curious about this Ryko system called the triple clean. I know they made an ultra clean system years ago.

 

[rph9168]

It was my understanding that the original Ryko machine was based on the old ROBO drive through washes from back in the 50's. They devised a way for the machine to move on rails with the car remaining stationary instead of having the car drive through the equipment. I had heard of the triple clean but I thought it was also a drive through machine. I have seen an old ROBO Wash but not a triple clean. I wouldn't swear to any of this since all of it was second and third hand information.

 

[washnshine]

It was my understanding that the original Ryko machine was based on the old ROBO drive through washes from back in the 50's. They devised a way for the machine to move on rails with the car remaining stationary instead of having the car drive through the equipment. I had heard of the triple clean but I thought it was also a drive through machine. I have seen an old ROBO Wash but not a triple clean. I wouldn't swear to any of this since all of it was second and third hand information.

About 30 years ago I saw a Birnardi drive through - not their 3 brush roll over, but an actual drive through that had seven brushes configured exactly the same way they were on the Ryko R7B. Two pinwheel brushes mounted above two low side washers at the entrance, and a top brush and two more low side washers mounted at the exit end. I wondered if they copied Ryko and made it a drive through or the other way around. The first set of side washers and pinwheels would close on the back of the car as it passed by, washing the back. The second set would cover the front - very similar concept to the R7B.

 

[mac]

I actually worked at the second Ryko factory in east Des Moines many years ago. Many of the original people were there. They had moved into that place from what I heard, was a double car garage in some small town. According to rumors on the floor, they bough a triple kleen machine from a company in Kansas, took it to the garage, and basically copied it. Memories get a little foggy over time, but we heard that they lost the lawsuit for patent infringement brought on by the triple people. By then Ryko was selling a lot of machines, so they just changed something to get around the patent. The triple kleen was a basic R5B rollover. If anyone has any more info please fill in the blanks. These things are generally not talked about much. Especially back in the 70s, way before the internet. When you look at inventions over time, this is generally the way all have matured. Someone comes up with an idea that kind of works, then someone else comes along with knowledge from another source, and improves it. Kind of like what the Washbot people are doing. There was a fantastic series many years ago, I think on PBS, that described the maturation of devices and gadgets over time. If I think of it I'll post it. Good, bad, or indifferent, it's how things have gone on since the first humans struck a certain type of rock and saw sparks fly out.

 

[kentadel]

Will hand it to the Washbot people, whether it flies or not, no pun intended, they put a lot of motion technology in it and it is different in that regard.

 

[mac]

After sleeping on it last night, the name of the show I was thinking about came to me. The show was called Connections and aired in 1978. It was written and produced by James Burke. Here's a link to it from Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series). Here's a quote from that:
Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" (the subtitle of the series) that rejects the conventional linear and teleological view of historical progress. Burke contends that one cannot consider the development of any particular piece of the modern world in isolation. Rather, the entire gestalt of the modern world is the result of a web of interconnected events, each one consisting of a person or group acting for reasons of their own motivations (e.g., profit, curiosity, religious) with no concept of the final, modern result to which the actions of either they or their contemporaries would lead. The interplay of the results of these isolated events is what drives history and innovation, and is also the main focus of the series and its sequels.
Do not know if the show is available on download, but will find out. It's just fascinating stuff. Happy reading.

 

[car wash maniac]

agree with you mac