New wash help

[Dylanbennett]

Just got our first wash and need some help identifying the meter box. Also the wash doesn't have any spot free rinse option I've read about using a drying agent instead of having a RO system. Is this even possible? It's a 4 bay ss with 6 vac stations also thinking about adding cc reader and a coin op air machine for filling tires any help or insight is greatly appreciated

 

[Dylanbennett]

 

[Dan-Ark]

I have a combo vac with an air compressor and it gets a lot of use, maybe because my air is still only .50 and all the convenience stores charge a buck. I added spot free rinse at my 3 bay wash, found an old procon pump and filter setup on ebay, fills a plastic150 gallon tank with a float switch in it and uses a flojet pump to deliver to the bays. Had to add a carbon filter to protect the membrane from chlorine. I think I spent about $1000 all together using some existing hardware who's function was replaced by the low pressure tank system from Etowah valley I put in. I'm not sure SS customers would understand the use of a drying agent. thinking that is more of a tunnel or IBA thing. The necessity of either will depend on your water quality supplied to your wash.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

View attachment 6387

That is one of our realllly old boxes. Probably at least 25 years old.
1) That GS31 display mounted above it is obsolete and there is no direct replacement.
2) If you do add credit card you'll want to go to a Dixmor timer so that you can do count up. If you are not doing count up with credit cards you are leaving a lot of $$$$$ on the table.
3) There isn't the room on that door to properly add credit card and a Dixmor timer. You will either need to add an add-on box or put in a larger box. In your case I would recommend a larger box because the one in the picture is beat to hell from people breaking into the coin drawer. That box appears to be surface mounted so changing it wouldn't necessarily require cutting the block, although with the age of that unit I would strongly recommend pulling new control wire when changing the box.
4) A 600gpd RO(1 2.5" membrane)with a 150-200 gallon storage tank is plenty for a 4 bay unless you plan on adding an auto at a later date.
5) I would be curious to see pictures of the equipment because I strongly suspect the place hasn't been updated a lick in decades.

 

[Dylanbennett]

That is one of our realllly old boxes. Probably at least 25 years old.
1) That GS31 display mounted above it is obsolete and there is no direct replacement.
2) If you do add credit card you'll want to go to a Dixmor timer so that you can do count up. If you are not doing count up with credit cards you are leaving a lot of $$$$$ on the table.
3) There isn't the room on that door to properly add credit card and a Dixmor timer. You will either need to add an add-on box or put in a larger box. In your case I would recommend a larger box because the one in the picture is beat to hell from people breaking into the coin drawer. That box appears to be surface mounted so changing it wouldn't necessarily require cutting the block, although with the age of that unit I would strongly recommend pulling new control wire when changing the box.
4) A 600gpd RO(1 2.5" membrane)with a 150-200 gallon storage tank is plenty for a 4 bay unless you plan on adding an auto at a later date.
5) I would be curious to see pictures of the equipment because I strongly suspect the place hasn't been updated a lick in decades.

I can post more pics here soon we have not closed on the property quite yet just trying to get some insite and ideas in the mean time. I also am curious about unreported income is that a common practice for this industry? The previous owner kind of hinted towards it but didn't say it directly

 

[Dan kamsickas]

I can post more pics here soon we have not closed on the property quite yet just trying to get some insite and ideas in the mean time. I also am curious about unreported income is that a common practice for this industry? The previous owner kind of hinted towards it but didn't say it directly

Unfortunately, unreported income is still an issue although I don't think it's nearly as bad as it used to be. I talked to one old timer several years ago about potentially buying his wash and when I asked him for financials he literally winked at me and said "Sure, but it does more than that". He got pretty mad when I suggested that was his profit and not what I would be making him an offer on. Just hard numbers. His estate ended up selling it years later for the cost of the dirt.

 

[Dylanbennett]

Basked on what it makes o

Unfortunately, unreported income is still an issue although I don't think it's nearly as bad as it used to be. I talked to one old timer several years ago about potentially buying his wash and when I asked him for financials he literally winked at me and said "Sure, but it does more than that". He got pretty mad when I suggested that was his profit and not what I would be making him an offer on. Just hard numbers. His estate ended up selling it years later for the cost of the dirt.

On paper we paid roughly 2x gross so I don't think we did to bad just needs lots of updating but it's in a not so good area so I'm not sure it would be worth putting the nicest meters and features in

 

[Dan kamsickas]

Basked on what it makes o

On paper we paid roughly 2x gross so I don't think we did to bad just needs lots of updating but it's in a not so good area so I'm not sure it would be worth putting the nicest meters and features in

What you think is "not a good area" can turn out to be quite a good site. I have a local customer with a 5 bay SS that did almost $200K last year in a neighborhood most would think is shady. He put in new, bigger boxes with coins, cc, bills, and rotary switches. His site that is in what most would consider a much nicer neighborhood has a lot more vandalism issues. One thing to consider is in a lot of low income neighborhoods their cars are the single most expensive thing they own so they try to take better care of them.

 

[Dylanbennett]

What you think is "not a good area" can turn out to be quite a good site. I have a local customer with a 5 bay SS that did almost $200K last year in a neighborhood most would think is shady. He put in new, bigger boxes with coins, cc, bills, and rotary switches. His site that is in what most would consider a much nicer neighborhood has a lot more vandalism issues. One thing to consider is in a lot of low income neighborhoods their cars are the single most expensive thing they own so they try to take better care of them.

Never thought about It that way before would I be better off changing the whole meter box and everything at one time or buying a meter box and assembling it myself. I'm a diesel/equipment mechanic by trade so I'm fairly handy. Just trying to get some direction on thus wash as of right now everything works just needs cleaned up some

 

[Dan kamsickas]

Whether you can build one yourself is an impossible question for anyone but you to answer. I've had some do it with little to no problems, some who thought they could and really couldn't, and others who could but once they got into it called me and asked if they could send the parts to me to have our techs build it or just buy it pre-built. Sometimes it comes down to picking your battles. If the condition of those boxes are any indication you probably have a ton of things to do and putting the time into building your own boxes may not be the best use of the time. Being handy is really a bonus when getting into this business. You're going to need it. It's nice to see you are trying to figure out what you don't know. Too many enter this thinking it's a piece of cake and then have their souls ripped out of their chests.

 

[Bill Capron]

I bought a old wash 22 years ago. I have concentrated on the customer experience. What’s behind the equipment door they don’t see, it’s what they interact with that matters. Keep everything working. Always. Have spare parts for everything in stock. When you use it replace it. Simple repairs stay simple when the part is right there.
Have fun with it, enjoy the ride!

 

[Dylanbennett]

Whether you can build one yourself is an impossible question for anyone but you to answer. I've had some do it with little to no problems, some who thought they could and really couldn't, and others who could but once they got into it called me and asked if they could send the parts to me to have our techs build it or just buy it pre-built. Sometimes it comes down to picking your battles. If the condition of those boxes are any indication you probably have a ton of things to do and putting the time into building your own boxes may not be the best use of the time. Being handy is really a bonus when getting into this business. You're going to need it. It's nice to see you are trying to figure out what you don't know. Too many enter this thinking it's a piece of cake and then have their souls ripped out of their chests.

I was asking more from a cost standpoint if it was cheaper to build one your self buying everything speratly

 

[MEP001]

I was asking more from a cost standpoint if it was cheaper to build one your self buying everything speratly

In order to build it yourself, you'd need to buy a premade box and be able to wire it yourself. If you can do this, it will be cheaper than buying a ready-made one. So you still have to answer your own question.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

In order to build it yourself, you'd need to buy a premade box and be able to wire it yourself. If you can do this, it will be cheaper than buying a ready-made one. So you still have to answer your own question.

Exactly. It really comes down to how much your time is worth to you. It's not free. So is the time(money) you spend building your own doors money well spent or is that time better spent on another issue at the site? Only you know that.