Single vac booms

[soapy]

I am thinking about upgrading some vacs to the 180 degree pivoting booms. I searched the archives and found one old thread that said the vac hoses would scratch the roofs of cars. Most express washes use the booms but people pull in between them and simply vac from the sides of the car with no hose sitting on the roof. Does anybody else have any experience with the swivel boom setups. One person put felt on the hose to prevent scratches, any other ideas?

 

[Earl Weiss]

I don't think the plastic hose material is a s much of a hazard as the small amount of environmental grit that will accumulate on the surface of the hose and car.

 

[JustClean]

Hi Soapy,

We tried felt but it took too long to dry after the rain. Polar fleece (synthetic wool) is the way to go. Only keep it so long that it covers the car's roof and doesn't sit on the ground to pick up dirt. We change it every year. It's cheap. We get it made up locally and then we pull the "condoms" over the hoses. Before the dirt with the movement of the hose scratched customer's cars. Some people didn't care but others did and I have some expensive cars around.

 

[soapy]

JustClean, Do you have some kind of elastic sewed into the polar fleece to keep it from slipping down the hose?

 

[JustClean]

No, we just use cable ties. We get the fleece in the color of the hose. Just be careful when you get it done: Don't make it too tight - you will have a hard time to get it on
I also tried a pull-up system to lift the hose off the ground but the customers didn't like it.

 

[SSadmiral]

Better off paying some poor sap to pick up the hoses and trash. I have a guy does all the crap I used to do and it's worth every penny. Just stay on top of him and pay him well.