Hamilton ACW IV upgrades

[lighthousecarwash]

I'm in the market for a new IBA and would like to get some quotes on giving my ACW 4 a face lift. I would like to replace the clear panel, selection buttons, and the LED display. I currently use token notes that I would like to get reprinted, but I noticed that on the back of my door, that there is a cut out for a key pad. Is this an upgrade that I can add to do wash codes, or is it just there for some other reason? Does anyone have a good outlet to get the parts I'm looking for? I checked out Hamilton's web page, but it appears that they have purged the ACW 4 from existance.

I was also wandering if I could utilize the token coin slot to accept $1 coins. Has anyone else looked into doing this?

Thanks
Lighthouse

 

[I.B. Washincars]

You can use the token slot for dollars, but it will recognize it as a token. You would have to have your token value set at $1. No change is given for tokens so a customer would get short-changed if change was required. If you want to upgrade, this would be the time to dispense dollar coins as change. A chip change is required and will correct the dollar/token value issue as well.

 

[vinh]

I have a button panels that i remove from my acw 4 that you could buy for $10 to cover for shipping. I never used the codes at my wash so took it out when I change my new panel. let me know

 

[Randy]

The Key Pad or “button panel” on the ACW-4/5 won’t work if you don’t have the rest of the POS system to go with it?

 

[lighthousecarwash]

Thanks everyone. I will have to get with you when I get closer to reality. Jim at Etowah Valley has the new upgrade for the Hamiltons, and indicated that you could get it with or without a new display. I will have to check that out as well.

Randy, I will be in touch with you when I get alittle further along.

Thanks,
Lighthouse.

 

[lighthousecarwash]

Went to the wash today and the ACW said that it was out of service. The IBA seemed to be fine and in the home run position. I reset the ACW and thought that it would clear it out like it normally does when the wash is broken down. Only this time it still said out of service. I messed with it for quite some time, then discovered the 4 little buttons on the side of the controller. Being desperate, I pushed a couple of them, and it came up and said that the credit card line had been disabled, or something. I then hit another button and it said error acknowledged. It then returned to service. I ran a couple credit cards and it worked fine. My question is, will this thing take its self out of service if the phone line is down and then comes back? I probably lost a whole days worth of revenue from the automatic today.


Thanks,
Lighthouse.

 

[Randy]

No the phone line shouldn’t have anything to do with the ACW going out of service. Turning the ACW On & Off will not clear the error. When you get the “Out of Service” displayed on the display you need to push the “Yellow” or “Action” Button one time and then look at the display. This will give you the error that has just. Push the Yellow button again and the display should say “Error Acknowledged” You might want to go into the programming and set up the controller so that instead of going out of service it will go into the “Use Alt Payment” mode and say Payment options or Use bills only. Something to that affect.

 

[lighthousecarwash]

I'm still having problems with my credit card system on my Hamilton. Seems like everytime we have a storm, it sets the error for "credit card comm". I ack the error and it clears. Yesterday, I did the same thing, but did not receive my fax last night. I went to the wash today, and it said out of service again. I ack'd the error again, and swiped my card. It just says checking credit, then finally says "timeout from PC". I checked the phone line, and I have dial tone. I ran a credit card on my self serve bays that uses the same phone line, and it went through just fine. Do I need to get Hamilton involved with this, or do I have some bad hardware? What can I do to test? I'm not to familiar with the Hamilton as it has always worked since I bought the wash. Can anyone give me some advice?


Thanks,
Lighthouse.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Call Hamilton tomorrow, they can solve this over the phone. I've had it numerous times over the years. Have your handheld hooked up before you call and disconnect the phone line from anything that shares with the ACW. Sometimes, just powering the ACW down will clear this up, but I'm assuming you've already done that.

 

[Randy]

I have to concur with my friend Mr. Hall. Have your Hand Held remote plugged in and ready to go and disconnect any other devices you have plugged into the phone line. You should have the ACW on its own phone line anyway, periodicity Hamilton dials into the ACW’s and does upgrades to the ACW computer, if they can’t dial in they go on to the next ACW. Do you have a surge protector on the phone line? It could be that the modem in your credit card computer is going bad, big bucks to replace that.

 

[soapy]

I have a couple of acw4 that in the last couple of weeks have acted up like you describe. I unplug the power cord to the modem and leave it unplugged for about 30 seconds then plug it back in and everything works fine again.

 

[lighthousecarwash]

I do have the surge protector installed. I tried powering down the whole unit, but that didn't seem to fix it. I share the phone line with the self serve bays, but have never had any problems with it. I use Etowah Valley's system on the self serve bays, and they quick start, then try to authorize the card. So if it can't get out, it will keep trying until it can. The self serve bays never go over 20 or 30 seconds to authorize and it normally isn't enough to interfere with the ACW. That said, I will call Hamilton tomorrow, but does anyone have a contact number that will get me to the correct person? Thanks for all the information.

Lighthouse.

 

[Randy]

1-800-837-5561 Mondays are a busy day, you might have to wait awhile.

 

[lighthousecarwash]

Called Hamilton and got an answer after the first ring. Mark dialed in and fixed me right up. I guess we will see how it runs this week. Thanks for all the help.

Lighthouse.

 

[pitzerwm]

Light that service worth reviewing???