Humbled By 1 Week of Downtime!

[Waxman]

Due to a major repair (drive shaft bearings) and the necesstity to re-engineer a section of the gantry, I have been o.o.o. for a total of 5 days this week.

It is humbling. It is frustrating. I am learning and I am a carwasher so I am fine.

This has made me more 'seasoned'.

Still got Self Serve!!!

 

[I.B. Washincars]

This thread should be a wake-up to anyone buying equipment based on price or just because it appeals to them for whatever reason that may be (not saying that's the case here). SUPPORT should be the MOST important factor in selecting equipment! It will make or break you. I have Mark VII equipment and have never been down for that long at one time, mostly because of my distributor (Eagle Express, New Albany, IN.). As most members here know, Waxman's mfr. went belly-up. IMO, he is on an island with no rescue ships anywhere to be seen. I hope he can keep his machine washing cars, but I won't be surprised if his "glass half-full" attitude changes if he can't keep it reliable. For his sake, I don't want to see his handle change to "I.M. Scrude".

 

[Whale of a Wash]

5 days isn't too bad. I think you have learned alot about your machine, and should be able to keep it going alot longer. Some give up early, and are ready to buy new machines right away. At least the pictures you emailed showed a good line up now. I would kill for some nice weather. It's been light snowing for four days and almost no business. I have missed almost a months worth of business this winter

 

[rph9168]

While some equipment seem to be more reliable than others there is one ugly fact about all of them. There will be times when they break down or need service quickly to stay on line. When people ask me what equipment or chemical to buy I always tell them to find the best distributor in the area and buy from them. Sometimes when you think you are saving money it will cost you in the long run when you are down or need help fast.

 

[Kevin James]

You’ve got to be kidding me!! You had a piece of equipment down for 5 days to replace 2 bearings. A piece of equipment that makes you money needs to be kept running all the time. That shouldn’t have taken more than a couple of hours to change out 2 bearings. Where’s the charlatan that sold you this equipment? Why didn’t you call him to come out and replace the bearing? How much money do you think you lost by not having this equipment running?

 

[pitzerwm]

Waxman, adversity that doesn't kill you makes you stronger and smarter. Never worry about problems, they are the best teachers. Kevin, sometimes, nothing goes right and there is no one there but you. If that is the biggest problem that he has this year, he'll be lucky.

 

[cleaning up mud]

With the weather in Texas lately, we might as well of been down for 5 days! But, we did as many this weekend as we did the first 5 days of February! So hang in there you will catch up!

 

[Red Baron]

With the weather in Texas lately, we might as well of been down for 5 days! But, we did as many this weekend as we did the first 5 days of February! So hang in there you will catch up!

Yeah, it's been cruddy weather over here in Lubbock, too. Yesterday was forecast 50s and sunny - it never got out of the 40s and the sun never showed. They've been missing the forecast really bad this year. That 7-day forecast is a 5-day guess.

 

[Waxman]

this is the longest i have been down and i have washed some cars. my machine was a bargain yes but it washes well and superior going out was unplanned.

you critics may want to recall when you were just 4 yrs into the carwash business. if you look at even the most recent posts here, the big mfgs like pdq and ryko and belanger all have issues. where's my dist.? he's in vt! i dont call for him to help me fix stuff, we fix it ourselves.

the week was chewed up by diagnosing the problem, teardown, bearings ordered and shipped, further teardown to remove bearings from shaft and reinstall etc. i actually think we did really well with the repair. however, we had a separate problem crop up after the bearings repair. separate issue!

i intend to keep running my machine for awhile longer for sure. the amount i saved on purchasing my machine could eat up many days worth of lost business before the savings were negated.

all carwashes have their troubles; mine are here now in multiples so i have downtime. it's part of this business and if you pride yourself on little or no downtime that seems like at least part luck imo.

 

[Red Baron]

Wax, I think you've done really well in just 4 years. I know I made a lot of bonehead mistakes in my first 4 years - heck, I made bonehead mistakes last week after 12 years experience.

If there is one constant in car washing, it is the undeniable fact that there is no right way to operate a car wash. The right way to run a car wash is the way you do it after plugging in the things you want to get out of the experence.

 

[JK Xpress]

It seems to me you made a poor decision (5 days to fix yourself). The 5 down days gave your customers ample time to check out the competition and no matter how loyal your customers are or you think they are, if they wanted their cars washed and shined, they went elsewhere.

 

[Waxman]

I disagree. My dist could've come from VT to hold my hand and fix it. He maybe could've gotten it done more quickly but at a cost. He originally thought it was the gearbox gone bad by my description. A friend from ACF said "maybe it's bearings". It was. They were $60 each. Gearbox is $500. My dist. would've come down from VT, torn into it and discovered gearbox fine, need bearings. Then order parts. They take a day to come in. Then re-install and test. He may have saved a day or two once travel time was figured in. But at what cost? What does a service call cost you? My guy said he made the same repair and in a rush to get it fixed, bent his 1" drive shaft, and had to buy a new one from Superior. What do you think that part cost? If I bent mine I'd have had to have gone to a machine shop to get one made. Cost of that?! We took our time, it was the most major repair we have done and we did not bend any shaft or ruin any parts.

Say what you will about my decision, but I'd rather learn myself how to fix my machine than pay alot more to have someone else do the whole job. Plus, I love my dist., but we did the repair better than he did on his own machine and even he would tell you that.

You are right about my customers going somewhere else to get a wash: they went into my self-serve bays.

 

[MEP001]

If you have a good wash, you won't lose customers to downtime, only money during the downtime. I've had numerous times where I was changing a hose or cleaning a plugged tip and had a customer pull up; I'll say "I'll have it back up in a few minutes if you don't mind waiting." They always do, and there's a competing Laser 75 yards away on the same stretch of concrete. I give them a free wash for waiting; they really like that.

Waxman, I don't know your distributor, but in my opinion a truly good tech would come prepared for all contingencies and would stock those parts rather than order them as needed. I was a tech for 10 years and worked for someone who understood the value of keeping lots of stuff on the shelf, even one of each model of Hamilton changer (DRS, RNS, ER60). It was extremely rare when I would have to make a second trip because of something I didn't bring the first time.

 

[Waxman]

Kudos Mep1. Seems you are a tried and true carwash bada$$, which is what I aspire to be which is why I tackle things like this with a friend who is very talented and smart.

I have never used my dist. for service calls and in 4 years fixed things myself. It's on me to stock bearings hoses and other spare parts. It is also up to me to do PM's etc.

The recent problem I am having with 'slop' in the carriage assy came after greasing the garriage wheel bearings! Then I started shearing off expensive proxes. So I am shimming out the carriage today with 1/8" SS plating.

Y'all with maintenance contracts and no dirt under your fingernails can pay for a tech to come out and change parts, tweak, fiddle and re-engineer as necessary. But I want to learn and that is part of the biz IMO. You're entitled to your opinions too, of course!

 

[Red Baron]

I wish I were more hands-on than I am. One advantage I have is that my dist is only a 15 minute drive from me.

My D&S i5000s are pretty computerized so there are some things I can't do with it. And, honestly, I can change a rotary dial in a ss meterbox if I have time, but I only have 2 ss bays and sometimes I'd just rather pay the $90 service call to have the dist do it fast so I can continue with my real job.

I try to factor in the cost of my time - sometimes it's a net loss for me to do the work myself if I have to stop what I'm doing to tend to a repair at the car wash.

 

[rph9168]

Waxman, you made the best choice you thought possible at the time. There is nothing wrong with that. There was no way you could know what the future held for the manufacturer. Being able to work on your machine is a real plus. Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on your situation. I would recommend you research as many sources for parts or product information possible now before anything else happens. That way when another problem occurs you will have a quick reference to look at.

 

[bigleo48]

Yesterday I had to replace a sheer pin, fix a festoon, readjust the sensor plates to stop machine from going to mechanical limits, and replace a coin mech. All while washing 130 cars. It wasn't easy getting thing done while washing, but yesterday was another good day I could not afford to be down.

I understand your predicament Waxman, but 5 days is way way too long I too have had failed parts and my distributor has been nothing less than excellent. But these types of things generally give you some kind of indication that they are failing before they bite it. So when you see/hear it start to go, you can get your ducks in a row so the work can be done overnight and thus not loose the biz.

I feel for you and I personally would be out of my mind!

Big

 

[Waxman]

big

that stuff sounds pretty minor! plus, don't you have multiple bays so you can still wash cars and fix things at the same time?

my repair was like a heart transplant!

anyway, y'all say what you will but I am now washing cars after re-engineering part of my gantry so criticize me in Vegas suckers.

 

[bigleo48]

Waxman,

I don't have multiple IBAs (although I wish I did the last month ). It was minor stuff that some could blow up into major stuff...but spending time watching and listening to the machine tells me a lot and I try and get this stuff before it gets me bad. I know I won't always be successful at it, but everyone I get is a small victory.

I have replaced many bearings and gear boxes in my time ( like on these things http://www.outfittersatellite.com/images/Globalstar_CliftonGateway448247.jpg and yes they can be major pains and I do feel the pain you've gone through and you'll be way more intimate with that machine now!

I can see Vegas now...all sitting around shooting the s#it...all the time watching our washes from our Blackberrys or iPhones. Hmmm...ok that'll likely only be me

Anyway, hope you like beer! Big

 

[Waxman]

Man it feels good to be back up. Stocking up on bearings and spare parts and belts and hoses and clamps and...