Replacement of Self Serve Equipment

[DiamondWash]

If you were to replace your current self serve equipment with BRAND NEW equipment who would you use and why? I see the direct inject feature is popular because it eliminates the need for mixing tanks and storage which is a major plus in my book that's 1 of many new innovations I am keeping my eyes one.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

Carolina Pride in NC first class equipment if you can afford it the home plant is 30mins from my house very professional equipment and people, Also National Pride Has descent equipment. Either one would last the lifetime of your site.

 

[rph9168]

Hydro-Spray makes one of the best units out there but is a little pricey.

 

[DiamondWash]

I was looking at the new D&S IQ Self Wash unit only 1 picture though, I heard Mark 7 makes a good unit.

 

[Randy]

Steve,
What's wrong with the equipment you've got now? My equipment is 33 years, works better than new. The problem I've found is most operators don't maintain there equipment, no preventive maintenance or they just piece it together to get by when something doesn't work. A friend of mine bought a car wash with no equipment, he installed Custom Craft and is real happy with that. Something you want to remember is K.I.S.S

 

[DiamondWash]

Nothing is wrong with my current equipment just seeing what other operators would do if they got the chance to replace their equipment say a catastrophic event happened what would you go with. The word "Obsolete" is getting common at my wash lately.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I actually did replace the SS equipment in one of my washes a couple of years ago. I had an old Mark VII Proline system and the stands were not stainless steel. After 22 years they had rusted out and were actually falling over. I wanted to get rid of the over-engineered stuff and have Etowah design a system for me, and my small equipment room. Between Jim and I, we had some good ideas that would make a cleaner system and get me more room. In the end, Jim's equipment was going to cost a little over 26K, not including installation. I couldn't bring myself to spend that much and bought a newer Mark VII system (stainless steel) from an ebay seller not far from me. I replaced the pumps with Arimitsu 516s, eliminated much of the over-engineering, and paid my distributor to install it for me. Everything, including installation, came in under 10K.

So, in answer to your question. If I had to do it over again, I would buy some used stuff. There just isn't that much difference from then and now. The customer can't tell that he is washing his car with pump stands from 1995.

 

[pgrzes]

I recently redid my 48 Yr old facility. I took out an underperforming 50' express conveyor and installed a used Washworld High Velocity, replaced my 7 SS Bay equipment with a used Coleman Stainless super Saver I pulled from a closed wash, also installed 7 Coleman Combo vacs we pulled from same wash, and just finished with NEW Ginsan selector doors with Cryptopay, and bill acceptors. I did everything including having an A frame roof installed over automatic bay for about $150k. Best things I ever did, going into 3rd year with auto and numbers are up over 50% in auto, Self serve business is up about 40%. I handle a lot less cash with the Credit Cards in auto and bays, I rarely Ever have a day with Zero cars thru auto, and people love the convenience with all the new equipment. Used equipment is getting tougher to find then it was a few years ago but there are still good deals out there. Only new Equip. I installed was the Selector doors, but we did the install ourself. I am very happy with the coleman pumpstand, ask me later when something goes bad though!!!

 

[Randy]

Nothing is wrong with my current equipment just seeing what other operators would do if they got the chance to replace their equipment say a catastrophic event happened what would you go with. The word "Obsolete" is getting common at my wash lately.

Steve, If your equipment is “Obsolete” I guess mine must antique and I'm not about to replace it.

 

[Fatboy769]

Main thing, keep everything working like it should. Customer could give a rats a$$ how high tech your equipment is, as long as everything works.

 

[DiamondWash]

Our Ryko Self Serve equipment was a experimental unit when built 13 yrs ago, now that Ryko doesn't sell it anymore and alot of it is proprietary parts that worries me.

 

[Stuart]

Our Ryko Self Serve equipment was a experimental unit when built 13 yrs ago, now that Ryko doesn't sell it anymore and alot of it is proprietary parts that worries me.

Though many companies call their equipment proprietary, it does not mean that it cannot be replaced by some other piece of equipment made by another company.
For example I have Ginsan timers but they can be replaced with IDX and others.
My SFR system uses a green circuit board for operations but if it goes down I can replace with an X10 pump controller. I just may have to do a bit of rewiring to make it happen.
The SS equipment can be interchanged fairly easy. You can interchange some IBA items (depending on your unit) but the bulk of IBA equipment ought to be purchased from the manufacturer. The controllers were made specifically for that unit and many of the tolerances and integral operations are codependent. hope this helps

 

[soapy]

I have the same ryko system as Diamond wash and have not had any problem replacing parts with local supplied parts. The only part the customer ever sees is the out side face plates and all the parts can be replaced with aftermarket stuff.

 

[Robert2181]

My SS equipment was made by Hanna. Over the years we have re-built,updated and replaced many parts of the system. Some 35 years later everything is working perfect. And yes we do have all the bells & whistles. You would be surprised at all the different makes of equipment that you can find used and re build. And make it simpler and easier to maintain

 

[Jeff_L]

Steve - did you ever do anything in the way of replacement? How much research did you end up doing? If you have time, give me a call to discuss your research as I may be in the market soon. Jeff 816-679-9788

pgrzes - how's your coleman self serve stand holding up? glad you made the purchase?

 

[pgrzes]

Couldnt be happier with the equipment. Of course the fact that I got a basically new pumpstand for about .08 cents on the dollar factors in quite a bit!!! But its been over a year and things have been excellent. We rebuilt a few pumps and a few bearings in a few motors, but all in all its good. Customers love all the new added features we didnt have before, couple that with new Ginsan meter doors, with cryptopay and bill acceptors business is up substantially.

 

[getnbusy]

I would be cautious of a "direct inject" low pressure set up. Dilling Harris did this once with the machine they called the 2900 TLI (tank-less injection). It doesnt work worth doodly squat. It did not have any tanks or hydrominders. It had a ratio tip on the inlet side of a flow jet. it was impossible to titrate or even keep consistent for that matter. We ended up having to add tanks to every dang one of em.


I havent looked around in awhile so I'm sure there's some new stuff out. I'd like to see a sta-rite hooked up to a manifold with an injector for each product. That'd be awesome. Only trouble is you'd have to have one for each bay