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Last coin alert beeper

Don B.

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When I did my remodel I went with the Dixmor 2002 timers. I bought the 12v dc beepers for them. They are mounted in my coin box. They’re not very loud. I get a few complaints from people not being able to hear them. Especially if you’re washing with the high pressure spray when it starts beeping. Unless you’re standing in front of the coin box, you really can’t hear it. I used to use Ginsan timers and the gs-20 beepers were louder. Maybe because they were 24v. Is there a louder 12v dc beeper? Guess I could use a car horn!
 

MEP001

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The standard Dixmor beeper should be plenty loud. I mount them with a zip tie that has a mounting hole and point them right at the coin slot. I used to use a Radio Shack warbling siren, but you can't get them anymore. They were much louder. I plan on ordering a dozen or so different warbling type from Mouser to try. There are a couple hundred different type.
 

Don B.

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I bought these from kleen-rite. They were cheap enough, only around 10 bucks! They’re not loud enough! I mounted mine the same way, zip tied them inside the coin box facing towards the meter face! The Ginsan’s were louder! You have to be very close to the coin box to hear it if you’re using the high pressure spray! Just gonna try to find a louder one!
 
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I bought these from kleen-rite. They were cheap enough, only around 10 bucks! They’re not loud enough! I mounted mine the same way, zip tied them inside the coin box facing towards the meter face! The Ginsan’s were louder! You have to be very close to the coin box to hear it if you’re using the high pressure spray! Just gonna try to find a louder one!
In this case, is there ever something that’s TOO loud? I’m sure you could even put a buzzer on the wall that runs of 120V using a 24 V relay, It’s attention grabbing And they would be able to hear it even while someone’s running the high-pressure functions are and while there’s someone with a motorbike in the next bay, And you could potentially even put a sign up next to the coin box that says “buzzer sounds when one minute left on timer”
 

Don B.

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The kleen-rite beepers that some of you have listed are the ones I’m using. I suppose it’s because they’re mounted inside the coin box. I probably should have mounted them in a separate small enclosure up high and let the face of the beeper protrude outside the box. You can hear them much better with the coin meter door open.
Or, tell people to pay attention to the very large led display up on the wall!
 

Randy

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Mine are mounted inside the coin box and I don't have any problems hearing and hearing isn't very well anymore. We get complaints every now and then from the people next door about the noise from the car wash.
 

Don B.

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Mine are mounted inside the coin box and I don't have any problems hearing and hearing isn't very well anymore. We get complaints every now and then from the people next door about the noise from the car wash.
I’ve only gotten a couple of complaints. I will probably just leave them like they are.
 

MEP001

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Did you mount the beeper so the horn output is facing the coin slot? I use the same horn and they're very loud in the bays.
 

Don B.

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Did you mount the beeper so the horn output is facing the coin slot? I use the same horn and they're very loud in the bays.
Yes, it’s pointing almost directly at the coin slot. I’m just going to keep them the way they are and see if I get anymore complaints.
 

MEP001

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Can you post a picture of what you got? Mine are loud enough they hurt my ears with the door open.
 

Waxman

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sometimes you have to be careful about the noise coming from the car wash. I recently had to reapply for my special permit because the paperwork was completed incorrectly almost 20 years ago. This was discovered by the building inspector who was responding to a noise complaint. My new automatic speaker was too loud at night.

So louder isn't always better especially when you have neighbors in residential housing.

In my case, I had to conduct my own noise study and present the results to the planning board as part of my permit process.
 

Don B.

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sometimes you have to be careful about the noise coming from the car wash. I recently had to reapply for my special permit because the paperwork was completed incorrectly almost 20 years ago. This was discovered by the building inspector who was responding to a noise complaint. My new automatic speaker was too loud at night.

So louder isn't always better especially when you have neighbors in residential housing.

In my case, I had to conduct my own noise study and present the results to the planning board as part of my permit process.
Where I live, the city is pretty lax on commercial property. I live in a fairly small town, in a rural area. Most businesses are not real close to housing districts.
No houses are close enough to me to hear it! But I could see where it might be a problem if you were close to housing districts. Mine would have to sound like a siren before anyone in a residential area would hear it!
 

Don B.

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Can you post a picture of what you got? Mine are loud enough they hurt my ears with the door open.
Here’s my set up. I washed my pickup this morning, and with high pressure spray, I couldn’t hear it unless I released the trigger. I did open the meter door and I could hear it decent! But with the door closed it’s just not loud enough. My boxes are recessed pretty deep. Don’t know if that has anything to do with it! But like I said, I don’t remember this problem with the ginsan beepers that I was previously using. They were definitely a little louder. On the dixmor timer, you can set the beep to constant tone instead of pulse. I thought about trying that, but that might be a little annoying.
It’s not a problem on the low pressure functions, just the noise from the high pressure spray drowning it out.
 

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MEP001

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I wonder if your timer isn't putting out enough voltage. There's one car wash I service that has Dixmor timers, and his are really weak. I can barely hear the coin drop beep, and they put out a very low level ring all the time that blends in with my tinnitus. Set it on constant instead of pulse and check the voltage with the horn hooked up and see if it's 12V.
 

Don B.

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I wonder if your timer isn't putting out enough voltage. There's one car wash I service that has Dixmor timers, and his are really weak. I can barely hear the coin drop beep, and they put out a very low level ring all the time that blends in with my tinnitus. Set it on constant instead of pulse and check the voltage with the horn hooked up and see if it's 12V.
Yeah, I had thought of that. If the voltage is a little low, it could cause the beeper not to be quite as loud. I can set it on constant and check the voltage.
 

Don B.

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I wonder if your timer isn't putting out enough voltage. There's one car wash I service that has Dixmor timers, and his are really weak. I can barely hear the coin drop beep, and they put out a very low level ring all the time that blends in with my tinnitus. Set it on constant instead of pulse and check the voltage with the horn hooked up and see if it's 12V.
Well, I don’t think that’s the problem. I’m getting 11.9 V from the horn outputs. Even on “constant tone I still can’t hear it with the high pressure spray on.
But I can hear it OK with the door open!
I’m either going to have to get a louder horn or move my existing horn out of the meter box. I guess I could always use a 12 V DC relay and use a 24 V horn inside the meter box. Or use a small aftermarket car horn. They’re 12 V DC !
 
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