Installing larger meter boxes

[MEP001]

I know most operators love bill acceptors, but within a few years I think most middle income areas could do credit card and coin and be fine. Young people tend to use credit. The bill acceptor in the box is still a vulnerable spot,and just another point of collection. That's just my intuition, I'm sure some bean counter will come in and cite actual numbers.

I don't have any numbers, but a couple local operators with multiple washes swear by bill acceptors in the bays. Both had washes with and without them and have upgraded the washes that didn't to add them. They say they handle a lot more quarters without bay acceptors, the changers need to be refilled more often, and both are convinced that people are driving off with about 10% of their bill-time still running.

 

[Damoni88]

The more ways for the customers to pay the better

 

[OurTown]

I appreciate all the responses but my question was about water getting into the acceptors or rejecting damp bills. There was only one response to it. Can anyone comment on the issue besides Slash?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I don't have much trouble with wet bills and validators, but my boxes are at the bay entrance.

 

[OurTown]

We would like to move the boxes to the front of the bays but it might be a lot of work. Ours are bricked in a bump out and have the wand holder integrated in it and plumbed to the pits. They also have the round vaults under them. Our bays are perpendicular to the street so passers by can easily see into the bays possibly deterring break-ins. Moving the boxes to near the front of the bay would have even more deterrence. I'm going to look into some ideas about moving them.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Listen to Earl. I bought 2 bill boxes from Etowah to try. Bought more 6 months later.
Best and fastest return for the money.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I cut my hoses so they can’t spray into the box. Some customers complain but when I tell them why I cut them short they understood.

 

[MEP001]

I've never had an issue with customers spraying water into the bill acceptor. There was an employee who would spray the meter door face instead of wiping it down as instructed, which would prevent the bill acceptor from working until it dried. Sometimes the board got wet and it would take hours to dry. I drilled a large hole in the bottom of the bezel which let the water drain out and kept the board from getting wet.

 

[WashCardMarketing]

We are planning a remodel and were thinking that in the big scheme of things installing larger meter boxes may not be that much money. Ours are approximately 8" wide, 12" tall, and 6" deep. (~5" inside depth because the doors are recessed 1") Currently we have 8 position switches and want to go to 12 and should be enough room inside but it will be kinda stuffed in there. Also the decal on the door might be a mess with everything we want to put on there. When I go to a wash that has large meter boxes they look more professional. Our small boxes give our wash a bit of an older or dated look. We would reuse our one year old Dixmor LED 6 timers, do not want bill acceptance and can buy the rotary switch and coin acceptor separately. (if we upgrade the acceptor) I think we just want the bare boxes and doors unless I'm overlooking something. They need to be able to drop coins into our current vault. There are many manufacturers out there and can get anything custom but is there a suggestion on who has a good stock style bare box for our situation? How would we go about cutting them in with our recessed ledge that was bricked in?


View attachment 402

OurTown,
We run into this a lot with customers. Yes, you can cut into the wall and expand the area you have to put a new box in. I would certainly suggest making sure you have CC acceptance in the bay. Taking coins or bills is up to you, but there are options to be able to take both as well as add mobile payments. I see one of your concerns is bills getting wet, and depending on the type of bill acceptor there is in the equipment, this should not be a problem. It is certainly not with the acceptors we use. We also have vault drop capabilities. I have written a blog around the self-serve bays and what the future looks like. Feel free to check it out and contact us with any questions. http://bit.ly/2F21dCo

 

[OurTown]

OurTown,
We run into this a lot with customers. Yes, you can cut into the wall and expand the area you have to put a new box in. I would certainly suggest making sure you have CC acceptance in the bay. Taking coins or bills is up to you, but there are options to be able to take both as well as add mobile payments. I see one of your concerns is bills getting wet, and depending on the type of bill acceptor there is in the equipment, this should not be a problem. It is certainly not with the acceptors we use. We also have vault drop capabilities. I have written a blog around the self-serve bays and what the future looks like. Feel free to check it out and contact us with any questions. http://bit.ly/2F21dCo

What type of bill acceptor do you use?

 

[WashCardMarketing]

What type of bill acceptor do you use?

I believe an MEI reader. I would have to double check with our engineers.

 

[OurTown]

I believe an MEI reader. I would have to double check with our engineers.

Our MEI does not like damp bills and will reject them.

 

[WashCardMarketing]

Our MEI does not like damp bills and will reject them.

Any bill validator will have issues accepting damp bills. They are much better than they used to be, but having coins vs. bills will relieve that issue. We have a stacked validator in our system so if it does get sprayed or someone wants to put in wet bills, it's not damaging the validator. Our Baystation system can be set up to do bills and coins, bills only, or coins only with CC/Loyalty card reader and mobile payments.

 

[Damoni88]

I have not had any issue with apraying the box. I have 22 surveillance cameras everywhere so if it did happen i aure would know. Make sure your validator (highly recommend Mei) only accepts $1 and $5. You do not want anything higher in those meter boxs. I take my cash out every 2 days also.

 

[Overachiever]

Can you snap some pictures of your progress with this if you end up either knocking out the old boxes / vaults or putting them in the same spot? I was thinking about removing the old boxes / vaults but wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into with the two bays sharing the same vault. I didn't want to open up a giant hole in the wall, then have to pay someone to fix it.

When I did this project at my Super Wash I ended up moving the meter boxes to the corner of the bay and put in a vault for each bay. I think it's been about 2.5 years since I did it and I've had maybe 3 bill validators fail on me in that time. There is much less water hitting the boxes now that they are in the corner vs the middle, so I can only imagine how much worse off I could be. If I get some time I'll probably try MEP's suggestion with the hole drilling. I'm only aware of one person purposely spraying water in the box because it ended up breaking stuff and had to call the cops on him but it probably happens all the time given my customer base... haha.

I did most of the work myself so project cost was relatively low outside of the new boxes. I basically just mounted the boxes and the vaults in the corner of the bay then set up some plywood and poured it full of concrete. I ran new wiring in new conduit and didn't mess with any of the old stuff. I still use the bricked up wand holder to hold my guns. I put the boxes on the same side of the wall they used to be on so the gun is still near the box. I ended up going with the Ginsan boxes (12 options and 1 stop button) with cryptopay, quarters, bills and had them print the count up cryptopay directions on the decal on the door. I did two bays at a time so I could stay open.

 

[soonermajic]

I got 2 brand new LARGE J Coleman meter boxes . Lemme know if interested, as they're brand new. Big enough to add Cryptopay & Bill validators & have plenty of room

 

[OurTown]

I got 2 brand new LARGE J Coleman meter boxes . Lemme know if interested, as they're brand new. Big enough to add Cryptopay & Bill validators & have plenty of room

Yeah. I saw you had those a while back but they are not what we are looking for. We would have to modify them a good bit to get what we want. Thanks.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

I appreciate all the responses but my question was about water getting into the acceptors or rejecting damp bills. There was only one response to it. Can anyone comment on the issue besides Slash?

Mine are in the drivers side entrance corner of the bay. Never had a problem. If I did, I'd install covers over the acceptors.

 

[OurTown]

If we did move the boxes to the corners of the bays are there alternative ways to make them somewhat secure? We are planning on covering our walls with a white panel so we could cover some type of framed wall with a plywood for a backer. They could be half buried into the walls so they would only stick out about 4 1/2". I have seen many washes built that way but I would like them to have more of a finished look and at least look more secure. The small bump out could be ran all the way to the ceiling and would hide the conduit.

 

[MEP001]

If we did move the boxes to the corners of the bays are there alternative ways to make them somewhat secure?

Almost all washes built here are steel frame with metal posts at both ends of the wall concealed with brick. The boxes and safes are either bolted or welded to the posts, then the brick pillars are built to finish. You could bolt down a steel post to weld to and then do the masonry.