SS car wash holding tanks

[MarkAllen]

I'm new to the forum, in fact very new to the car wash business. I bought a small 4 bay car wash in a very small town. Evidently the guy that built the car wash went the cheap way around on doing everything when he built the car wash. I need to know if there is anywhere I can buy a used holding tank with multiple compartments and a hot water rinse holding tank that will hold enough water to supply four bays using Cat 310 pumps at a reasonable price.

 

[Ben's Car Wash]

are you saying that you want to recycle 100% of your water?

 

[MarkAllen]

are you saying that you want to recycle 100% of your water?

No, just a tank 5 or 6 gallons each that can hold my wax, pre-soak soap, high pressure soap, foam brush soap, and/or tire cleaner. Right now, the way it is setup, the previous owner had cut a 14" PVC pipe that is 5 feet tall that has the end capped off used as the storage tanks for each chemical. It probably holds 30 or 40 gallons of each mixed chemical in each and they take up a lot of room. Not a typical setup where you have a multi-compartment tank that holds all your chemicals on a stand.
The other tank I was referring to was like a hot water reservoir that pulls hot water from the water heater and holds it until the pumps need them.

 

[MEP001]

These tanks are available from almost everywhere car wash equipment is sold. Dultmeier's is among the best since it's built by Dralco and designed by the car wash industry, and is fairly inexpensive compared to some that don't even have full tank covers.

 

[MarkAllen]

I'm aware of a lot of other places like Dultimeir. In fact there are others out there that are significantly cheaper than them. Windtrax, Kleen Rite, Kim Supply and Scotch Plaid just to name a few but I was wanting to know if there was somewhere to buy something that has been only slightly used that would be discounted. Unlike other parts that can become damaged after use I would think a used tank would be alright. Your thoughts....?

 

[Kevin James]

Quality stainless steel tanks are expensive. You might try a 5 gallon soap pail, that might be within your budget.

 

[MEP001]

I was wanting to know if there was somewhere to buy something that has been only slightly used that would be discounted.

Sorry, missed the "used" part. Try eBay or CarwashConsignment.com.

 

[Wally]

Mark, send me an e-mail. I can help.

 

[Randy]

Most car washes have tanks that are over sized for there application. I?ve been equipment rooms at small 4 bay car washes that have 50 gallon holding tanks for soap, wax and presoak, that?s 50 gallons for each product. It?s absolutely nuts how thy size these tanks, you don?t need to have a big capacity tank for a small S/S car wash. When I bought my wash it was that way. I took a 15 gallon AOK tank welded in 2 walls to make in a 3 compartment tank. I told AOK what I did and they said it wouldn?t work that I?d run out of product. I?ve been running that way for 20 years, now you can buy that tank from AOK. For my Wax tank I use a AOK water supply tank, I?ve never measured to one see how big they are but they are pretty small. . (Pictures available upon request) I saw a couple of tanks on EBay that looked pretty nice and inexpensive.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120214792114&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=002

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120214803951&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=002

 

[MarkAllen]

I have 4 small tanks that only hold about 3 gallons and 2 tanks that hold about 3 1/2 to 4 gallons. The 4 were used as cold water reservoirs and the other 2 were used to hold the hot water for all four bays. I don't know why it was setup to have cold water reservoirs (if I'm not mistaken most car washs don't have them) but I am in the process of taking those out.
Do you think they could hold enough product for all four bays if I could get a Hydrominder on them? If so, I could use these 4 small tanks to hold each of my products and just buy one larger tank to hold the hot water.

 

[ibspuds]

MarkAllen,

I PM'd you, I can help you.