New to me wash

[Bigmatthew86]

Put in another pretty full day yesterday. Nailed all the metal trim around the whole building because it was turning loose. Clean out the auto bay where a squatter had taken up residence. Cut a tree down that was against the building. Organized a little more in the pump room. Hauled off all the disgusting trash & almost have it smelling decent. It stayed pretty steady for a workday before 5. There is definitely a customer Base. I’ve been introducing myself & telling people we’re in the process of making improvements. Here it is lit up now vs how it’s been. It’s a little deceiving because it was so dark my camera went into night mode.

 

[Greg_T]

The improved lighting looks good.

I really like the idea of buying a business that has a good foundation but has been run down - it leaves lots of opportunity to put in some hard work and get the reward. I'm still very much a novice, only 3 years in, but everything I have learned about our wash has been from fixing breakdowns and doing all the work on any improvements we have made. I'm sure you will learn lots by getting your own wash back into good shape. All the very best with your efforts.

 

[Rfreeman]

Lighting looks great sounds like your on the right path. I think you will notice the customers will appreciate your efforts seeing you working so hard and seeing an improved product and experience.

I know I did at my last wash I purchased a year and half ago.....and still get thank yous and compliments.

You going to trim the tree back by the auto bay?

 

[Bigmatthew86]

Actually already did lol. I just didn’t take any pictures. More cleaning & started painting the poles around the property. There was an older guy walking around when we got, he said man this place looks a lot cleaner. It’s coming slowly.

 

[edredtop]

You’re the man! Added to the list. Hit it pretty good today. His trash can set up was a mess & looong overdue for a legit cleaning. Place smelled like a hot bag of a$$. Hit the pump room hard & completely filled the bed of my f250 with junk. Tore out old falling apart shelves & added new. Changed the locks on the door. Replaced the old fluorescent light about door & vending with new leds. Spoke to a bunch of people & paid for a few washes. When I left every bay was full so that made me happy. Also adjusted the lights on timers to run until dawn vs just midnight. Is that good practice or do y’all have your’s go off during the night? It was really dark the other night with only 2 lights on the poles lit (out of 6 total bulbs) & none anywhere else. Bays have been converted over to led luckily. I’ll finish the pump room tomorrow & do more cleaning. I know the concrete is jacked, we’ve got someone coming to see what they can do.

Put half of my lights on motion sensors, when a car pulls up to a bay, the rest of the lights come on to welcome them...or warn them, HA!

 

[Bigmatthew86]

Got a big shipment coming in Friday & having the building pressure washed tomorrow. I’m trying to get everything working & I’m having trouble with the tire cleaner. I get nothing in the bays. It’s low pressure naturally & uses Flojet pump. I had a spare so I swapped it but I get nothing at all in the bays. Previous owner just had it turned off but I want every to work. I’ll add a picture of the setup, any suggestions on where to start? I also need another pressure adjuster for my pre soak but not having luck finding one like that.

 

[MEP001]

There's a check valve at the bottom of the solenoid manifold. My first guess would be that you had some high pressure leak back from a bay and get trapped between the check valve and the solenoids, and now they can't open. You'll need to loosen one of the solenoid stems to relieve the pressure, then the FloJet can start pumping. You'll also have to find the bad check valve over the bay to permanently solve the problem.

 

[Bigmatthew86]

I’m at the fire department today but I’ll try that tomorrow. Thanks

 

[Bigmatthew86]

So when you say solenoid stem do you mean the plug in the end or where the line come out of? I removed the plug that would be in the top of the picture & it made no difference. Been putting in major work over the last 3 days. It’s getting there. People are noticing & commenting about it. New hoses, wands, brushes, signs, vending decals & more. Have 3 (of 5) vacuums working well. It was 0 lol. Need a few more motors to get the other 2 going. Also raised the prices to $2 for 4 minutes on the wash & $1 for 4 minutes on the vacuums. I started to go to $2 for 3:30 but didn’t.

 

[MEP001]

The stem is under the coil. The coil is where the wires connect. Removing the plug should have accomplished the same thing. Maybe the check valve at the bottom of the manifold is stuck closed.

 

[Bigmatthew86]

Got it working. Turns out the 2 spare Flojets I had were bad. So we now have tire cleaner. The guys came yesterday & checked everything out & they both seemed to think the SSA has life left in it. They fired it up & it sprayed high pressure & was spraying the pre soak. It started down the track but was trying to come off which turned out it needs new wheels. They used to install Futura before they went out so any time they install something new they keep the old Futura parts so they still have stuff. So we’re going to see if we can run it for a little while. Also changed the brushes in a few vacuum motors, added some decals, & adjusted the time. He had it at .75 for 4.5 minutes they are now $1 for 3. Also added bay signs, swivels to the brushes & guns, new mat clamp decals. 2 people yesterday came up to me & told me how much better it looked.

 

[Bill Capron]

I always like to see a neglected business get taken over by a new operator that sees the opportunity and has the energy to bring it back to life! Nothing you have done has been Rocket Science, it’s just basic daily business operations.
Keep it clean. Keep it working. Keep it looking like a place you would want to go.
Your setting a standard for the whole neighborhood. Watch as businesses around you start improving. Nobody wants to be the ugliest. Your community is lucky to have you!

 

[washmeclean]

Hello everyone, we’re set to close on a new to us 5 bay SS with an old Futura SSA that isn’t currently running. Wash was built in 1998 & has had the same owner since. It’s in need of a facelift & a good cleaning but all the SS bays are operational as well as the 5 vacuums. It’s the only wash in a town of about 7500. Planning to add cryptopay to the bays & adjust the prices to today’s. I’m think the old Futura meter boxes will need to be run in count down? The plan is to get it cleaned up & looking as new as possible & running with the equipment it has for now. I’d love to be able to get the automatic running again if possible for at least a little while if possible before replacing. Not sure if it’ll be possible or not. I’m definitely new to the car wash game but I’m excited. Is there anything I need to be thinking about? I’m researching & trying to soak in as much knowledge as possible.

LED 6 and a little modification

 

[Bigmatthew86]

Looks good, nice & clean. My equipment is old & was too small to add it on the doors. I had to get creative & add a box above the meters for the dixmor & Cryptopay.