Petit automatic

[mac]

Was hoping to see more postings on this machine. The performance numbers seem unreal. And it puts on a light show at night.

 

[mac]

Seriously thinking of getting two of these. Wash cycle under two minutes. Even allowing for people driving through slow, that will still get you 18 to 24 cars per hour. At $15 a car the numbers add up quick.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Seriously thinking of getting two of these. Wash cycle under two minutes. Even allowing for people driving through slow, that will still get you 18 to 24 cars per hour. At $15 a car the numbers add up quick.

Just a month or so ago, you said you sold your wash and were totally out of the car wash business. Where are you going to put them...your house??? It's killing me to have to pay to get my cars washed. Maybe you could install one of them at my house. Is SW Indiana too far?

 

[mac]

Do appreciate the offer. Going to buy two run down washes and put them there. At least that’s the plan. Couldn’t stand not having anything to do.

 

[MEP001]

Where are you going to put them...your house???

I've got ten vacuums sitting in my driveway, maybe I should wire one up and see if people will use it?

 

[SuperShine]

I’ve got my first of four coming next week.
Definitely a game changer if you program for speed and have your chemistry dialed in. I think my top wash will be a touch longer with six passes vs four for my lower two washes. This will help differentiate the top wash and highlight the ceramic pass.

Only question is do you have the traffic to necessitate two Petits? One machine can wash some serious numbers.

 

[AnalyticWash]

Seriously thinking of getting two of these. Wash cycle under two minutes. Even allowing for people driving through slow, that will still get you 18 to 24 cars per hour. At $15 a car the numbers add up quick.

I'd say more like 3.5min when you add undercarriage and dry time. Add on additional options with more passes=more cycle time.

 

[SuperShine]

True for undercarriage and more passes but if you have a long bay to separate drying and stick to four passes injecting your sealant or ceramic into the high pressure pass, you’ll be at 2.5min. Need to have your pay stations firing on all cylinders to though.

 

[soapy]

I have gone through a brand new petit installed in Mesquite, Nv a few times. He put it in to compete with a new Terrible Herbst tunnel going in the same Walmart complex. My wife commented on the light color show. I think similar can be achieved with a programmable LED available from TSS lights. I got the top wash for my crew cab pickup which had all the options including ceramic after trifoam. It delivered a good wash with great color. After I got in and stationed I timed it for my wash which was at 4 minutes 30 seconds without the drive through dry. It did have the double pump option and the owner told me the cost was about $220K. Faster than my Ryko Radius with similar package by only 30 seconds. You can feel good impact on the High pressure. The owner had a Ryko Radius before and still had a Ryko Soft GLoss next to it and said peopel are still favoring the friction unit but the new Petit has only been in about a month.
My Ryko tech who has been doing this over 40 years also installs the Petit now and he says he has been impressed with the Petit more than any other wash he seen.

 

[Bricks]

I've got ten vacuums sitting in my driveway, maybe I should wire one up and see if people will use it?

I’ve got two Futura revolutions in my driveway. I don’t think my well will keep up though.

 

[mac]

One time I was at an old wash where an automatic used to be. The old coin acceptor was still there but not connected to anything. The owner said let’s just pull that old coin box. It was full of quarters.

 

[APW]

My top wash ($16) on my Petit is a little under 3 minutes. It is a very reliable, fast machine and I plan on putting in another one this summer.

 

[mac]

If I do this the machines would be in different locations.

 

[DiamondWash]

Just a month or so ago, you said you sold your wash and were totally out of the car wash business. Where are you going to put them...your house??? It's killing me to have to pay to get my cars washed. Maybe you could install one of them at my house. Is SW Indiana too far?

This movie scene fits Mac PERFECTLY! LOL LOL

 

[Greg Pack]

The petit is an innovative design with some out of the box thinking. However, to get these short wash times it seems operators are employing a few hacks. I don't use that term in a negative way, but wash times on all machines could probably be shortened by doing some of what they do. The ones that have caught my attention is using a low ph foaming tricolor as a "low ph presoak" and rinsing the presoak off with the high pressure ceramic rinse foregoing the fresh water rinse between the presoak and CCP. Also I don't think they employ onboard tire cleaner or rocker panel blasters, which do take time. This machine seems ideal for high volume sites, especially those in the snowbelt where cleaning off road salt seems pretty easy, and for frequent washers/wash clubs

I think we all need to standardize wash times to get an idea on true throughput. My water wizard bottom wash is three minutes on my F250, but the actually from the time the entry unit prompts the customer to enter until the dryer kicks off is 4:30. I could get another 20-30 seconds off if I discontinued the high pressure bug pass, but I would rather take the extra time to ensure a better finished product. I don't have a throughput problem with my current unit unfortunately, so I am still giving a wash that takes some time and hopefully can produce a better car. And I feel the low pressure concentrated wax products are going to produce a longer lasting shine and protection that the diluted high pressure products. So I guess I'm still of the old school mindset for now but intend to look at one of these with an open mind. Hopefully can go watch APW's in operation soon.


Oh, and Mac, a $1300 G&G LED lightbar will give you a nice show on most any machine

 

[carwashdr]

Was hoping to see more postings on this machine. The performance numbers seem unreal. And it puts on a light show at night.

I am currently running 2 of the 360-i machines. They can be run a high speeds to get the throughput but it can be difficult to clean a car well at those speeds. Where we are located it is difficult to get cars clean that fast do to mud and mag chloride. We operate with stand alone rocker blasters and dryers which does speed up the operation. Our 8 pass wash averages about 5 minutes a car.

 

[Doug P.]

I am currently running 2 of the 360-i machines. They can be run a high speeds to get the throughput but it can be difficult to clean a car well at those speeds. Where we are located it is difficult to get cars clean that fast do to mud and mag chloride. We operate with stand alone rocker blasters and dryers which does speed up the operation. Our 8 pass wash averages about 5 minutes a car.

Is that 5 minute wash time from the time the car is in position in the bay until the spot free finishes or is that from wash activation at the pay station until the dryer is finished?

Thanks

Doug P.

 

[carwashdr]

That is from the start of the undercarriage until the wash is completed.

 

[rhino]

Our Petit top wash is an 8 pass wash. Start of undercarriage until dryer is complete is about 5:30. Dryer is set at 1 min. Depending on what wash packages are purchased we average around 15-16 cars per hour on the days when cars are lined up. I think the most we have run thru in one hour is 18. The machine will do much more but customer perception and turning out clean cars is our focus.