Organizing My Equipment Room

[Bubbles Galore]

I found these online and ordered a 3, 4, and 6 rack system to help eliminate some of the clutter I have going on at the wash these days. What other things have you guys done to keep your sanity in the equipment room?

J

 

[Randy]

I don’t use 30 or 55 gallon drums, only 5 gallon pails. I have a small equipment room. I store 10 or 12 pails of chemical under the pumping equipment. On one wall I’ve got my water heaters, on the other wall, 2 ladders, work bench, Tool board. Under the work bench I have metal hose hangers, the kind you use for garden hose. I keep 2 of every hose I use ready to use. On the far end wall I have the back of the changer, vending cart, and a couple of pails of chemical. Up in the attic, I have all of my vending supplies, spare parts, pumps, vac motors and vacuum hose. John, How are you going to get the drums on the racks?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

John, How are you going to get the drums on the racks?

Once I have my current 30 and 55's drained enough, I will load them on the racks and then use a transfer pump in the future for filling the drums as I need more chemical.

 

[DiamondWash]

God forbid if one of those 30's or 55's busts open at the threads.

 

[Buzzie8]

Damn, I can't figure out how your getting them on the racks. Forklift?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Damn, I can't figure out how your getting them on the racks. Forklift?

As my current barrels empty out, I will move them onto the racks and they will be my permanent barrel. I will then place orders as needed and use a pump to transfer the soap to the barrel on the rack. I will add 2 new holes to each barrel - one for filling and one for running to the necessary valve/hydrominder. Make sense?

 

[PaulLovesJamie]

I have a half dozen Stanley XL Fat Max Organizers for all kinds of little parts - electrical, plumbing, repair kits, you name it. Very very handy.
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=297230-82673-014461M

I have several wire shelves for storing vending supplies (etc): http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod6710488

rubbermaid tubs for hoses - all stored on an overhead shelf made out of plywood. All kinds of stuff up on that "once a month" shelf, like boxes of trash bags, out of order signs, coiled water hose, coiled air hose, jumper cables for unfortunate customers...

Also my ladder is raised up to the ceiling with pulleys, nice to keep that out of the way.

 

[Earl Weiss]

As my current barrels empty out, I will move them onto the racks and they will be my permanent barrel. I will then place orders as needed and use a pump to transfer the soap to the barrel on the rack. I will add 2 new holes to each barrel - one for filling and one for running to the necessary valve/hydrominder. Make sense?

no
No, not really. Most 55 gal drums have 2 holes at opposite ends on the top. When horizontal simply position one at the top and one at the bottom. The bungs are threaded and it's easy tom attach a valve to eitheer or both. Why would you need new holes?

BTW, ditto on the no 55s for the most part. I by Rain X and Tire shine in
30's . To get the right concentrate for drying agewnt at a couple of places I pre mix two fives to make a 55 and then run that thru the hydrominder.

Your transfer system seems like more more thing I don't want to mess with.

 

[car washing systems inc]

As my current barrels empty out, I will move them onto the racks and they will be my permanent barrel. I will then place orders as needed and use a pump to transfer the soap to the barrel on the rack. I will add 2 new holes to each barrel - one for filling and one for running to the necessary valve/hydrominder. Make sense?

If the drum is above the hydrominder it may force chemical into the holding tank.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

If the drum is above the hydrominder it may force chemical into the holding tank.

I checked this as well and the uppermost barrel won't be above the hydrominder. Good call on that one, could have been messy.

 

[Kevin James]

Transferring chemical from one drum to another seems like a lot of extra work to me. Why not buy your chemicals in 5 gallon pails and be done with it. I don't understand why have them up on a rack? Are you going to pull chemical out of the drums to feed the Hyrdominder tanks?

 

[car washing systems inc]

I checked this as well and the uppermost barrel won't be above the hydrominder. Good call on that one, could have been messy.

It still may drip in i would think the pressure from the barrel would still cause a problem but i am not 100% on that

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Transferring chemical from one drum to another seems like a lot of extra work to me. Why not buy your chemicals in 5 gallon pails and be done with it.

I see a substantial per gallon cost savings when I move from 5 gallon pails to 30 or 55's.

 

[Kevin James]

Are you taking into account your time transferring the chemicals from one drum to another in relation to your savings? I don’t see how you’re going to be saving enough to make it worth your time. We buy our chemicals in 5 gallon hyper concentrate pails by the pallet and store it in our warehouse.

 

[MEP001]

I have several wire shelves for storing vending supplies (etc): http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/pr...Id=prod6710488

I have a couple of those at the wash too, and I use the clear food storage bins from Sam's to store parts. It's nice to be able to see what's in the bin without having to take them down and open them.

Also my ladder is raised up to the ceiling with pulleys, nice to keep that out of the way.

I've been meaning to do that too. It's hard to store a 16' extension ladder leaned against the wall inside a 14' high room.

Definitely be careful about having the liquid above the Hydrominder. It won't just drip, it will siphon if it can.

Are you taking into account your time transferring the chemicals from one drum to another in relation to your savings?

I use a G57 FloJet to transfer and mix chemical for the auto. It takes about 5 minutes to pump five pails into a 55 gal. drum, and I run the pump about half of what it's capable of doing.

 

[mjwalsh]

Based on experience --- slightly pressurize to transfer works.

Once I have my current 30 and 55's drained enough, I will load them on the racks and then use a transfer pump in the future for filling the drums as I need more chemical.

Bubbles - John,

We used to get all our chemicals in 30 gallon drums. When we did we had a real nifty way of transferring without using a transfer pump. We just used less than 5 psi through one bung hole fitting while the other bung hole fitting would then transfer ... just from the tiny amount of air pressure. We had a 0-5 psi gauge that we watched really close but the tiny regulator was reliable. When filled we would change the position on the manual 3 way so the drum would stop the transfer & neutralize the pressure once again. It seems like the plastic threads would breakaway first before the whole drum would explode --- not that we had that kind of excitement!

Our drums & pails were always vertical so that could be a factor also. In your case it seems like overflow may not be an issue once the the chemical got down below the vertical draw tube.

This went on for about 20 years until about 5 years ago; then we went with the 5 gallon super concentrated Warsaw Micro products which the Dema tips are really small to allow only tiny amounts of super concentrated chemical per water dilution.

I am not sure if OSHA would have required some type of certified relief valve calibrated at less than a few psi ... for redundancy purposes though. Like driving down a heavy traffic 2 lane highway ... I always felt it was one of those tasks that required a person to not fall asleep or allow oneself to be distracted etc.

Just saying what worked good for us ... not necessarily the best fit for a place relying on untrained employees though. Second thought chemical handling needs precautions regardless of who.

mike

 

[mjwalsh]

continued from last post ...

Maybe OSHA expects some type of protective gear & non expired sterilized eyewash ... I am not sure if a spray fountain with regular tap water ... would work just as good.

mike

 

[Whale of a Wash]

I tried pressurizing the drums,and it worked well. I think about 5 yrs ago-- said i was tired of 55's. I use KR's 5g pails in SS and in bay auto uses supersat, so just 50lb boxes. Too much expense to ship 55's, and eventually you will get an older back that
doesn't like 55's.