Dog Wash Blow Dryers, Vac's or Both?

[ScottV]

I'm finally getting ready to pull the trigger on buying 2 pet wash systems and wondered if any of you experienced operators can shed some light on the pro's / con's of dryers vs. vacs. I'm leaning toward the National Pride equipment and they have a blower as standard equipment. They offer a vaccum for an additonal $500 and I'm not sure if I should include that in the purchase.

Also, since I am buying 2 units and they will be right next to each other, can I buy 1 vac and wire it for both meter cabinets? It would save me $500 and there is little chance that customers at both tubs would need the vac at the same time.

Thanks
ScottV

 

[mjwalsh]

ScottV,

We haven't had our dog wash long enough to really know but so far our 3 speed blow drys are used way more than the vacs. All our blow dry & vac equipment is behind an 8 inch lightweight CMU block wall to keep the noise level down & to satisfy city electrical requirements. If a power outage occurs, the blow dry & vac won't work because of no generator but they will be able to finish up on everything else & with backup emergency lighting also.

I followed Big Leo's lead on just getting hang on the wall 3 HP shop vacs. We modified the bottoms so the water drains automatically. So far so good. Again, I haven't had enough time & usage happen yet to toot our horn too much. For that matter we do not really know how much we gained by having the auto drains unless some other operators can share info on how fast a vacuumed dog fillsthe tank or canister etc. We are not familiar with the special separate vacuum canister system that we noticed that Gin San had. Can anybody out there share what the proven advantages of these fancier pet vacuum systems have? Better hair processing?

 

[bigleo48]

Scottv,

Simple answer, both for both tubs. Pet vacs get used a fair bit and cheap to deliver (very high margin for the timed price). So they will pay for themselves after about 40 uses. Also, some dogs don't like the blower but will tolerate the vac.

The other big bonus of the pet vac is that it makes cleaning the tub much quicker. For example if you have a clump of hair in the drain/tub or floor, just turn the dial to vac and suck it out! Many of my customers have picked up on this trick and will take a second and suck out the drain if water starts to build in the tub. We clean out the vacs about once a week.

$500 for the pet vac option per tub is way too much. Get a plastic 3hp to 4hp Shop Vac (not any stronger as it will be to powerful on the dog's skin), 24Vac mercury relays, 1.5" hose and a pet brush head (like this one http://www.nutone.com/product-detail.asp?ProductID=10294 ) and your done for a little over a $100 per tub.

Big

 

[Bubbles Galore]

You guys rock! I love seeing that kind of innovation! Now if I can just come up with a good way to get my tub built for a decent price

 

[ScottV]

Big,

I appreciate the feedback and money saving idea on the shop vac. I too thought the $500 option was a little steep.

Thanks everyone for your input.

ScottV

 

[Buzzie8]

Scottv,

Simple answer, both for both tubs. Pet vacs get used a fair bit and cheap to deliver (very high margin for the timed price). So they will pay for themselves after about 40 uses. Also, some dogs don't like the blower but will tolerate the vac.

The other big bonus of the pet vac is that it makes cleaning the tub much quicker. For example if you have a clump of hair in the drain/tub or floor, just turn the dial to vac and suck it out! Many of my customers have picked up on this trick and will take a second and suck out the drain if water starts to build in the tub. We clean out the vacs about once a week.

$500 for the pet vac option per tub is way too much. Get a plastic 3hp to 4hp Shop Vac (not any stronger as it will be to powerful on the dog's skin), 24Vac mercury relays, 1.5" hose and a pet brush head (like this one http://www.nutone.com/product-detail.asp?ProductID=10294 ) and your done for a little over a $100 per tub.

Big

I agree, I bought two National Pride dog washes with the vac. I could've bought them at Walmart for $50 each. The Kleenrite Dog Wash is a cleaner installation but costs a bit more.

 

[ScottV]

Buzzie8,

Can you elaborate more on the statement that the Kleen Rite set up is a cleaner installation?? In particular, what do you like about Kleen Rite versus the National Pride setup.

I haven't made my purchase yet, but am planning to this week.

Thanks
ScottV

 

[Buzzie8]

The mixing valve and some of the other hardware is located in the cabinet of the Kleenrite unit. The water hose also is connected to the tub on the Kleenrite unit much like a restaurant dishwashing tub. On the National Pride system the give a elbow valve that you attach to the wall and a hose attaches to the wall mount. You can hide the water lines easier with the Kleenrite system. The Kleenrite system also is supplied with a thick rubber mat. I just saw the new coin box of a local guy installing a dog wash by kleenrite. It had an attractive look to it. Dog hair is a huge problem getting stuck in the drain. I took the thin mat that National Pride supplied and put honeycombed type floor mats below it almost as a sub floor for hair and water to drain underneath the mat. All and all, I do not think one system is much better than the next. If you can get the National Pride system for less you might want to do it. If I had to do it all over again. I would get a local stainless guy to weld me up a tub and I would piece together a coin box, dema valves and everything else I needed and save about half of the price. I have photos of my installation on my other computer. I will try to post when i get a chance.

 

[John T]

For a little more on the Kleen-Rite Unit there are online videos on this web link

http://dogwashonline.com/howitworks.htm

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Kind of a crazy question, but why can't I buy another shop vac and use the exhaust port as the blow dryer also? If it will work for the vac, why wouldn't it work for this?

 

[Waxman]

The shop vac idea would work just fine I think.

 

[pitzerwm]

buy one, borrow one and test it on someone's dog/cat, well, maybe forget the cat.

 

[mjwalsh]

Kind of a crazy question, but why can't I buy another shop vac and use the exhaust port as the blow dryer also? If it will work for the vac, why wouldn't it work for this?

Bubbles,

This might be more information that you want but here goes ---- & remember I only have since November been proving our equipment. So far so good. Time will tell.

Our blo drys inlets are hooked up into a custom made furnace filter duct along with our charcoal filter & hot water heat exchanger heater fan & the surface reclaim heat fan from our commercial laundry dryers. There is also a filter before each of the 2 motors on each blow dry machine itself.

To give you an idea on how powerful the super dry is ---- it required a slow blow 20 amp fuse. Master Blaster MB-3 8 HP 58,500 ft./min. is what we are using ---- mounted behind an 8 inch block wall. Verify that your shop vac will generate similar air flow & not be too wimpy. My gentle & medium speeds are also helpful. Let us know what you come up with & if they share with you the specifications enough to make that judgement.

MJ

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Thanks for the advice guys!