Installing larger meter boxes

[OurTown]

We are planning a remodel and were thinking that in the big scheme of things installing larger meter boxes may not be that much money. Ours are approximately 8" wide, 12" tall, and 6" deep. (~5" inside depth because the doors are recessed 1") Currently we have 8 position switches and want to go to 12 and should be enough room inside but it will be kinda stuffed in there. Also the decal on the door might be a mess with everything we want to put on there. When I go to a wash that has large meter boxes they look more professional. Our small boxes give our wash a bit of an older or dated look. We would reuse our one year old Dixmor LED 6 timers, do not want bill acceptance and can buy the rotary switch and coin acceptor separately. (if we upgrade the acceptor) I think we just want the bare boxes and doors unless I'm overlooking something. They need to be able to drop coins into our current vault. There are many manufacturers out there and can get anything custom but is there a suggestion on who has a good stock style bare box for our situation? How would we go about cutting them in with our recessed ledge that was bricked in?

 

[GoBuckeyes]

"We are planning a remodel and were thinking that in the big scheme of things installing larger meter boxes may not be that much money.....
How would we go about cutting them in with our recessed ledge that was bricked in? "

And therein lies the problem. The meterboxes themselves might not be that much but to make it happen is another story. We built our washes from the ground up. My dad was a bricklayer by trade so he wouldn't have thought twice about doing what you're asking. Now that he has passed we're in the same boat as you. I have yet to find a competent bricklayer that is reasonably priced.

I do agree with you that small meter boxes look dated compared to the new larger ones, however yours don't look bad. Having more room to work with is never a bad idea either but since you're not really adding anything except a larger rotary to the box I'm assuming the extra room would be nice but not necessary. To freshen it up what if you added an aluminum frame around the existing box the width of the column and one course of brick above and below. Then you could treat the frame and the meterbox door like it was all one piece. Have a custom decal made to make it look like one piece. Move your wash logo and some of the other type from the door to the larger frame and it won't look so busy. Since your block is notched you could even move your cryptopay swiper off of the door to the right of the box with its own instructional verbage.

Just an idea.

 

[OurTown]

We have thought about that "perimeter sign" idea too and could go that route.

 

[mac]

It is actually easier than it seems as we do this a lot. Get as large of a saw as you can and put in a concrete blade. Cut the opening 1" larger on all sides. You can overcut the corners slightly. Then just get out the chipping hammer and start chipping out the pieces between the old box and the cut. You might consider renting a large saw with a concrete blare as that will reduce the chipping. Gently remove the old box being careful to not harm the wires. Try to get new boxes where the hole for the coins is as close to the old as you can. Insert the new box and jam some rocks in there to hold it steady. Then you can either use hydraulic cement or that foam in a can to secure it.To cover up the space between the new box and the column you can either use some wall tile or have a fab shop make a stainless outer cover like a picture frame. It is messy to do but not hard. And BE DAMN SURE to wear a respirator to avoid breathing in the concrete dust. Having a helper with a garden hose keeps the dust minimal also. If you do it, post some pictures. Your wife and friends will be amazed and you will have saved a nice chunk of change.

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

You say you dont want bill acceptors - but you might in the future. IMO if you are doing a rehab, do the extra work to put in a bigger box now so that you have options later, even if you dont think you want/need it now.

FYI mac is correct, a 10-1/2" circular saw combined with a rotary hammer to chisel out the rest makes this an easy job. Easy as in not complex or difficult, it just requires a few hours of manual labor.

Off the shelf boxes with the holes exactly where you need them might be tough to find, or you could drill your own holes in a stock box. I'd suggest just calling etowah valley to get the exact boxes you need. I'd also get the heavier steel for a little extra vandal proofing.

 

[OurTown]

It is actually easier than it seems as we do this a lot. Get as large of a saw as you can and put in a concrete blade. Cut the opening 1" larger on all sides. You can overcut the corners slightly. Then just get out the chipping hammer and start chipping out the pieces between the old box and the cut. You might consider renting a large saw with a concrete blare as that will reduce the chipping. Gently remove the old box being careful to not harm the wires. Try to get new boxes where the hole for the coins is as close to the old as you can. Insert the new box and jam some rocks in there to hold it steady. Then you can either use hydraulic cement or that foam in a can to secure it.To cover up the space between the new box and the column you can either use some wall tile or have a fab shop make a stainless outer cover like a picture frame. It is messy to do but not hard. And BE DAMN SURE to wear a respirator to avoid breathing in the concrete dust. Having a helper with a garden hose keeps the dust minimal also. If you do it, post some pictures. Your wife and friends will be amazed and you will have saved a nice chunk of change.

Thanks Mac. The wife won't be amazed because she's helping.

 

[OurTown]

You say you dont want bill acceptors - but you might in the future. IMO if you are doing a rehab, do the extra work to put in a bigger box now so that you have options later, even if you dont think you want/need it now.

FYI mac is correct, a 10-1/2" circular saw combined with a rotary hammer to chisel out the rest makes this an easy job. Easy as in not complex or difficult, it just requires a few hours of manual labor.

Off the shelf boxes with the holes exactly where you need them might be tough to find, or you could drill your own holes in a stock box. I'd suggest just calling etowah valley to get the exact boxes you need. I'd also get the heavier steel for a little extra vandal proofing.

I talked to Jim at Etowah Valley yesterday and he's working up a quote. He said the same thing about bill acceptors and we might just go ahead and put those in instead of just prepping for them.

 

[OurTown]

Has anyone used one of those concrete chain saws for the cutout? It might be overkill but it could make clean and square corners. They are expensive to rent though as they are the same price per day as a Bobcat skid steer.

 

[MEP001]

I didn't even know there was such a thing. I wouldn't rent one though, since you can do the visible cutting with a hand grinder for more control, cut the bulk with a concrete saw, then clean up inside with a masonry blade in a grinder. It might take longer but I would think it would be a lot neater with straighter cuts and cost very little. I've installed several Cryptopay systems where the brick protruded past the meter door and prevented the door from opening, and using a grinder with a diamond blade it took maybe a minute per bay to cut the brick down on that side.

 

[OurTown]

Stihl GS 461

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I noticed that every scene with the bar nosed into the wall, never showed the initial insertion. I'm thinking it wasn't nearly as controlled as all the other scenes.

 

[OurTown]

I noticed that every scene with the bar nosed into the wall, never showed the initial insertion. I'm thinking it wasn't nearly as controlled as all the other scenes.

Although this type of block is not that really hard here is one showing the plunge cut.

 

[OurTown]

I'm not sure why my post embedded the video but the previous one just showed a link.

 

[OurTown]

If we went with bill acceptors in the bays would there be issues with water getting in? Would we need those clear flip up covers? I have noticed that our Mars acceptor in our changer will reject damp bills. It has one of those flip up covers and just after a rain it is still wet. People will take their dry bill out and as they are inserting it into the changer it gets wet because the wet cover touches it. I could see that happening a lot in the bays. Our meter boxes are just forward of the middle of the bay. I'm not sure why Super Wash didn't build their washes with them in the corners to stay away from spray.

 

[slash007]

I had my meter boxes in the middle of the bay and after having many bill acceptors get water damages, I put the clear covers on and never had another issue. Later I remoded and moved the meter boxes to the corner of the bay and I am not having any water issues and not using the cover.

 

[Randy]

People are ba$tards! They'll spray water into the coin box, coin acceptor and bill validator that are in the bays thinking that they'll get more free time. As our bill validators fail we don't repair or replace them, we remove them and block off the hole. One of our competitors installed bill validators just after we started removing them. 6 weeks later he was buying new coin boxes without bill validators, they pried open and destroyed every one of his new coin boxes going after the bill validator. He got them on video, the police wouldn't do anything.

 

[Greg Pack]

I know most operators love bill acceptors, but within a few years I think most middle income areas could do credit card and coin and be fine. Young people tend to use credit. The bill acceptor in the box is still a vulnerable spot,and just another point of collection. That's just my intuition, I'm sure some bean counter will come in and cite actual numbers.

 

[Earl Weiss]

The bill acceptor in the box is still a vulnerable spot,and just another point of collection.

That is one of the reasons I chose to ad a separate box for bills. Suffice it to say I an happy I did it and whatever time it takes to handle the additional collection point is off set by not dealing with lots of quarters. (or Dollar coins)

 

[OurTown]

That is one of the reasons I chose to ad a separate box for bills. Suffice it to say I an happy I did it and whatever time it takes to handle the additional collection point is off set by not dealing with lots of quarters. (or Dollar coins)

I was thinking along the same lines about coins. We went to a wash yesterday that had a bill acceptor and credit card reader in each bay but no coin acceptor. Not a terrible idea.

 

[OurTown]

I know most operators love bill acceptors, but within a few years I think most middle income areas could do credit card and coin and be fine. Young people tend to use credit. The bill acceptor in the box is still a vulnerable spot,and just another point of collection. That's just my intuition, I'm sure some bean counter will come in and cite actual numbers.

After having Cryptopay in our three SS bays for over a year now we are at 32% CC vs 68% cash. (all quarters) I'm sure every area is different on these percentages. Now that we have our wash cranked up a bit I'm starting to get tired of dealing with all the quarters.