Contemplating IBA conversion

[chewy007]

Does anyone have any solid data on IBA conversion into a mini tunnel??
I am considering doing this at a site where my traffic is at 75% friction and 25% touch free... there are days where there will be three or four cars lined up behind my Mark IIV and no waiting in the Touch free bay! My two options are adding another Mark IIV IBA or adding a MCWW Mini tunnel 50-55'. Either way I will add an ICS or DRB entry system and add RFID to the existing entry stations so we can offer a membership program.

Any input is appreciated

 

[Greg Pack]

No input on motor city equipment, but I did visit Tim Jones in Nashville last month. He has two IBA to tunnel conversions with Sonny's equipment. They did a good job cleaning but the cars weren't quite as dry as I would have liked, but still as dry as my IBA with 60 second countdown. Overall , he seems pleased with their results

BTW, he left the touch frees units in place next to the tunnels and they are still washing quite a few cars.

 

[Waxman]

Why wouldn't you opt for a second friction rollover IBA???

Just curious. Although throughput is less, so is cost, right?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

My new Razor has pretty good throughput, but I would like add a mini tunnel as well to help offer all the services possible...I'm assuming that you would want to self load your operation to keep staffing at a minimum?

 

[robert roman]

When I develop a forecast, I try to avoid making hasty generalizations.

This mistake occurs if I draw a conclusion about a population based on a sample size that is not large enough.

For example, when I estimate sales volumes, the number of potential customers is the effect. So, I would want to determine factors that affect customers. There are two ways to do this.

One method is to conduct surveys. Another is to rely on judgment and experience. Some people do both.

“…. my traffic is at 75% friction and 25% touch free... there are days where there will be three or four cars lined up behind my Mark IIV and no waiting in the Touch free bay!”

You could survey customers to determine why they behave so.

“My two options are adding another Mark IIV IBA or adding a MCWW Mini tunnel 50-55'.”

You could survey customers (both in-bay and wand) to determine how many may be interested in using a conveyor.

“Either way I will add …. RFID to the existing entry stations so we can offer a membership program.”

You could survey customers to determine how many may be interested in joining a program.

This should provide you with some solid data for a conversion.

 

[soapy]

I have been to a couple of classes on converting to a short mini tunnel from a IBA. First thing to look at is available power in your wash. You will need at least 200 amps total availible power for a mini tunnel. If your current IBA uses 125 amps do you have another 75 amps available or will you have to upgrade to a larger service panel. If you have to add power it will cost you a lot more. Concrete work will run you at least 15K and up to put in the conveyor. ON the low side you may get by putting one in for 200K but many are running 300 to 350K. Around 30 CPH is what a 35 foot mini tunnel will do in the real world.