How to Lessen WW "Rail Jumpers"?

[Carl]

Inevitably this will happen to us in one of our two WW 1.0 bays about once every two to three months.

A new customer who is so used to having to "insert" her wheel into a guide rail system similar to the express washes' system which will then "pull the car along", will enter our Water Wizard bay and JUMP the driver's side rail trying to find a place to "insert" her left front tire. Sometimes such a customer can actually get her car's two left wheels to jump the driver's side rail but then somehow still guide her front left tire back onto the treadle which then starts the automatic wash which then concludes in the gantry hitting and scratching her car!

I've Googled "delineator posts", and I see some bright orange flexible posts which I'm thinking might help deter such customers from wanting to "insert" their tire into a rail if maybe I put a pair of these in front of both the right and left WW rails?

I was wondering what steps you might have taken to lessen this problem of "rail jumpers"?

Thank you! - Carl

 

[robblackburn]

pressure pads

If you remove the treadle eyes and put in a pair of pressure pads then both front wheels would need to be on a pad for the gantry to move. I have done this and it works very well.

Rob

 

[Buzzie8]

I have had rail jumpers on my WW 1.0 as well. I don't think the gantry has ever hit the vehicle (that I know of) yet. I thought about painting lines and using signage but it happen so infrequently that it is not high on my priority list. I was thinking a sign that says "KEEP VEHICLE CENTERED IN BAY BETWEEN TWO INNER RAILS ON YELLOW STRIPES" Maybe I should add "do not drive tires over rails".

 

[Carl]

Great Ideas!

Thanks for sharing those great ideas! Things I'd not thought of which surely will help guide customers into bay better and make for a lot lesser chance of the gantry starting up to be able to hit them if TWO wheels are required to be in place to start rather than just "breaking the beam". I appreciate it! - Carl

 

[Reds]

I have had a lot of problems with rail jumpers. I put yellow reflective tape on my guide rails so they stand out. I also made a small bracket out of a pipe hanger clamp and a piece of pipe nipple that clamps to the guide rail right at the entry of the wash(on both sides). It actually clamps to the piece of aluminum angle that is used to mount the guide rail to the floor. The pipe nipple has a hole drilled in the side, with a nut welded to the outside of the hole. I insert a round 5 foot high fiberlglass driveway marker in the pipe, plumb it, then tighten the nut. Over that I slip a piece of yellow hose that I buy at Lowes. These serve as guide posts. The stick has to be plumb and it then sticks up enough that you can use it as a visual guide and keep your mirrors between them. Also signs that say drive up the middle of the bay. The guide posts did not cure the problem but did reduce the number of rail jumpers. I still have drunks and idiots on cell phones who jump the rail. When some idiot runs it over I can simply replace the fiberglass marker and fix it in 5 minutes. Luckily I have not had anyone hit my gantry.

 

[Reds]

I put my guide posts at the entrance end of the guide rail. That way they are beyond the point where the gantry stops and the water pressure or blowers doesn't affect them.

 

[washnvac]

I put (3) 42 inch bright orange plastic bollards in front of the left rail at an angle (to guide in). And we put one in front of the right rail. It has helped, but people have still run over them. I plan to remove the treadle photo eyes this Spring, and replace with a treadle floor switch. This way machine will not activate like the case mentioned above.

 

[Carl]

More Great Ideas...Thanks!

Guys - Thanks for your reply posts. It's interesting to hear what you all have done to lessen this problem. You answered my curiosity about whether the delineator posts 100% stop people from wanting to jump the rails being that they are so used to the express washes where you need to center your tire in between a couple of narrowly spaced rails. It DOESN'T 100% stop them. Like you said, the "cell phone distraction" remains in play PLUS I think psychologically, if a customer uses an express wash A LOT, she is so used to that action of having to find the pair of rails to thread her driver's side front wheel inside, that no delineator posts will stop her and she'll run over it since the goal is beyond that post. But at least this does sound like it lessens the problem substantially.

I appreciate it! - Carl

 

[cleaning up mud]

Only way to prevent it is (CLOSE)!!!!

Sorry.

 

[cleaning up mud]

Inevitably this will happen to us in one of our two WW 1.0 bays about once every two to three months.

A new customer who is so used to having to "insert" her wheel into a guide rail system similar to the express washes' system which will then "pull the car along", will enter our Water Wizard bay and JUMP the driver's side rail trying to find a place to "insert" her left front tire. Sometimes such a customer can actually get her car's two left wheels to jump the driver's side rail but then somehow still guide her front left tire back onto the treadle which then starts the automatic wash which then concludes in the gantry hitting and scratching her car!

I've Googled "delineator posts", and I see some bright orange flexible posts which I'm thinking might help deter such customers from wanting to "insert" their tire into a rail if maybe I put a pair of these in front of both the right and left WW rails?

I was wondering what steps you might have taken to lessen this problem of "rail jumpers"?

Thank you! - Carl

That reminds me of the folks that drive in to our 2.0, or other IBA's and sit at the front waiting for the conveyor to pull they're car through! And of course it times out!!!!

 

[Greg Pack]

I've used delineator posts with pretty good luck. I don't think I've had an incident yet with them installed.

 

[Reds]

My luck with this issue just ran out. I had a lady run down my guide post, and crash into my gantry. As far as I can see she ruined the skin, bent the nozzles and tubes that hold them, killed the counting wheel when the skin buckled in, and of course destroyed my guide post. I'm not yet sure if the frame has been bent or not. I have her on film, but cannot see the license plate #. I am going to weld a piece of aluminum 4" tall on top of the angled part at the beginning of my guide rail. That will give me a wheel stopper that is 8" high - that should stop them from jumping between the guide rail and track at the entry point to the bay. If it damages their vehicle that's their fault. It won't stop them from jumping the rail further into the bay, but it should help stop the idiots who think they are entering a tunnel wash. I have some 4" square aluminum tube from my clearance arches that have been knocked down and destroyed in the past - that's what I will weld on the guide rail. I would like to make some kind of plate with a spear on it to mount between the rail and track to skewer them and stop them before they can hit my gantry.

 

[Reds]

During the above incident the wash was never activated - she never got onto the tredle. I was alerted to the issue when I arrived and saw an error message that said that the counting proxes detected movement while the drive motor was not running. Yes I am mad, frustrated, and livid. And I just may make a skewer to stop these s.o.b.'s