Touchless Tunnel System

[jkjkjk]

Hello All,

I have been researching to differentiate my business running tunnel system but no brushes as I see more people are getting interested in that field.
Is there any system or manufacturer that offers tunnel in touchless fashion?

 

[washnshine]

Yes. Anyone who makes a friction tunnel makes a touchless tunnel. You must have presoak and detergent applicators and all the touchless components that will target and cover every area of the car - top, sides, front, back, wheels etc., with no friction components installed. Sonny’s, Peco, Hanna, McNeil - they all can do it. Might want to do some research and see how many people are doing it effectively and successfully. Dwell time plays a big part in touchless washing and that is usually not a major strength in tunnel set ups.

 

[liftheavy]

you can go complete NCS-Macneil and have a menu item where you can select to have the traditional friction tunnel or a menu item with all brushes retracted for a completely touchless tunnel wash.

high pressure rinse arch is a must in it -- petit xr series would be my pick if i had infinite money.

 

[Earl Weiss]

There are reasons touchless tunnels are virtually non existent.

 

[jkjkjk]

Could you share your insights why touchless tunnels is not popular?
Wouldn't this a better solution to prevent minor scratches to the car?

 

[AnalyticWash]

You could certainly do it but your input CPC will make this significantly less profitable vs a friction tunnel

 

[washnshine]

Could you share your insights why touchless tunnels is not popular?
Wouldn't this a better solution to prevent minor scratches to the car?

I have a friction tunnel and it does not produce scratches on vehicles. I am confident in stating this because my personal vehicles are washed 5-7 times per week and the finishes are clear. Also, I would not have the customer base that I do and be washing the volume of cars at my location if my equipment was causing problems to finishes. I guess you could scratch paint with a friction system if you do not have the proper pre rinses, detergents, high pressure components and lubricating soaps all in check, but that is part of the business.

 

[liftheavy]

Could you share your insights why touchless tunnels is not popular?
Wouldn't this a better solution to prevent minor scratches to the car?

i think the best analogy ive ever heard is this: when you take a shower, do you just pour body wash without lathering it up and scrubbing? a car is the same thing, really.

car wash scratching a car because the brush material holding dirt is a bit outdated story. those brush materials are made of closed celled foam, same stuff as yoga mats or those silly ab belts, and are doused with water and lubricating soap so it does not hold dirt.

lots of people who claim that the car wash left micro-scratches on their car usually come from dust and other contaminants in the air when you drive, which is why they form a radiating spiderweb pattern. if the scratches came from a car wash brush, it would be all in one direction because of the brushes spinning in only one direction.

only time ive seen a car wash leave scratch on a car was when one of my employee forgot to check the truck bed about 10 years ago. turns out it had c-wire which caught on our mitters and scratched up 3 cars behind it causing 20K in damages.

 

[Axxlrod]

Could you share your insights why touchless tunnels is not popular?
Wouldn't this a better solution to prevent minor scratches to the car?

You're spending too much time on facebook.

99.9% of all the "scratches" that people say are from the car wash are not from the car wash; they just happened to notice them right after getting their car washed.

Touchless tunnels never caught on because they don't really work. Too much water and chemical is needed, plus the focus of tunnels is throughput speed, which is inverse to what touchless needs to work... dwell time.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Could you share your insights why touchless tunnels is not popular?
Wouldn't this a better solution to prevent minor scratches to the car?

Many operators tried it over the years and few succeeded. Conversations indicated continually changing conditions of dirt and temperature made constant monitoring of cleaning solutions a nightmare. They could use high pressure to the point of knocking the paint off the car and the flakes would still have dirt on them. Extremely caustic chemicals could help break the bond of the dirt but use of those posed all sorts of other issues.

Then there is the huge cost factor for huge amounts of high pressure water and cleaning solutions.

A common theme was the most effective dirt removal in the system was the towel drying.

A properly run automatic car wash is one of the gentlest ways to wash a car because dirt does not get trapped between the material and car surface,