Boom Hose Pull Down

[wendy's wash]

Does anyone have a suggest on how to stop customers from leaving the Bay hose hanging right across their vehicles and driving off snagging the hose and pulled it down from the boom. Yesterday a car drove off and caught the hose on the spoiler is on top of the trunk. I need some way to ensure that the customer pulls the hose out of the way. At the top of the boom is a breakaway. I've had people pull down the hose. And another customer sees the hose laying on the ground and takes the gun hose and all. I now have chains on all booms that are secured to the bay hose. I've stopped the theft. The boom that was pulled down this morning, I did not reinstall a new breakaway. Hooked hose directly to boom. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I'm assuming you have a 360° center mount boom. The problem is that it's not swinging back to the wall. Shim the mounting points so that the side you want the boom to swing to is lowest. With a little trial and error, you can get it to come to rest about anywhere you want it. I use washers with a chunk cut out so I can just slip them in or out without having to take the bolt all the way out. You might want to have some longer bolts on hand as well. They could be changed out one at a time so you're not wrestling an awkward boom on top of a ladder.

 

[MEP001]

I "home" the booms so they swing to the opposite end of the bay from where the wand holder is. The weight of the hose will pull the boom tight to the wall. If the boom swings itself to where the meter and hanger are, the boom will always be 45° or more away from the wall instead of 90° from the vehicles entering.

 

[soapy]

Do as mentioned above. It might also be a good idea to put a J Hook on the wall that you want boom to swing to. Some customers will take the time to place hose in the J hook to keep it against the wall even closer than just having the boom swing correctly. Place the J hook several feet away from the wand holder so the hose has to stay against the wall when in place. Pat, you might want to stop at a alignment shop and get some car alignment shims. Nice U shape already and they probably have a bunch of used ones you can get for free.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Soapy, one would think using alignment shims would have been easy, but the store I always bought my tires from went out of business. I didn't really know anyone at other stores and didn't feel right trying to bum them (Translation: I was too cheap to buy some.). I had gobs of 1/2" washers and just cut out a notch with bolt cutters. It was pretty easy. I clamped one handle of the bolt cutters vertically in a vice, then just held the washer between the jaws and pushed the free handle in...worked like a charm.

 

[soapy]

Ok Pat, I just did not want your boom to be toed out.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Ok Pat, I just did not want your boom to be toed out.

I think it's more of a caster thing.

 

[MEP001]

Make sure you rotate your booms so they wear evenly.

 

[wendy's wash]

All is right again. Sprayed WD-40 at center of boom and installed half inch washers on the side where the wand holder is. Now all six bay hoses swing right to the side where the wand holder is. Thanks for the help.

 

[mjwalsh]

Our Mosmatic Blow dry boom automatically goes to wall. Hard to fathom... but a percentage customers unwittingly force the hose on to the J-hook that is meant for one of the center Z-booms. Of course they just created a problem for the next customer.

Simultaneous use by 2 people of both the main center boom & center mounted brush (no foam) is another irritation ... especially when the final result is hose entanglement.