edredtop
Well-known member
A few questions to ponder...
How big is the gap between your vacuum dome and your vacuum?
Does the attached picture concern you?
Can an adult or child place their hand past the gap into the motor area, and if so, does that worry you?
Can they reach the spinning motors?
Can those curious hands pull on the wiring or touch the uninsulated spade connectors at the motors?
Can they reach the light bulbs and spin them loose leaving a light fixture in a dangerous condition for the next set of curious hands?
I recently accepted a sales invitation/promotion by a well known car wash supplier to refresh our vacuums.
They were promoting new decals, dome covers, hoses, claws, etc. and we thought that would be a great idea as we had just purchased a bunch of used vacuums from Car Wash Consignment.
We decided to upgrade five vacuums that had 20" domes by tossing the extremely faded covers in favor of new ones and add a light kit.
We soon discovered that the supplier only sells 24" domes that require an adapter ( 4 per vac) to get them to fit.
Ok, cool. Let's do it.
When we received the parts we found that the adapters and the way the domes were made, created a gap that exceeded 2" all the way around the inside of the dome.
The supplier was notified that the parts created a safety hazard, and cautioned them about our experience.
Their reaction thus far has been indifference.
Needless to say we sent the domes back (at a round trip shipping cost of $500) and have installed 20" stainless steel domes that produce a very close fit.
My letter to them stated in part that:
"As owner/operators, it is incumbent upon us to identify and address safety issues that may arise, including any inherent design flaws or those from a careless adult to a curious child. With that in mind, it has been my experience in the past 2 decades as an operator that parents will pull up to a vacuum, unload the kid(s) on the vacuum island side, turn their backs on their children and proceed to clean and vacuum while only periodically checking on their children. It is at this time the children will touch, pull, pick, and play with our equipment as you can well imagine. This is an area that needs to be one of our safest in my opinion because this is when the kids are generally out of the car and unsupervised."
I also wrote:
"I was excited to purchase these items in an effort to make an attractive vacuum, not an attractive nuisance."
It makes me sick to think this dangerous condition may exist all over the country and that some unsuspecting soul (our customers or their kids) could be harmed or worse.
Since most of us are only familiar with the equipment we own and service, it would be incredibly interesting to hear what you all think about this situation.
**note: The attached picture does not depict the mentioned adapters, but illustrates a vacuum with a sizable gap. Is this acceptable?
How big is the gap between your vacuum dome and your vacuum?
Does the attached picture concern you?
Can an adult or child place their hand past the gap into the motor area, and if so, does that worry you?
Can they reach the spinning motors?
Can those curious hands pull on the wiring or touch the uninsulated spade connectors at the motors?
Can they reach the light bulbs and spin them loose leaving a light fixture in a dangerous condition for the next set of curious hands?
I recently accepted a sales invitation/promotion by a well known car wash supplier to refresh our vacuums.
They were promoting new decals, dome covers, hoses, claws, etc. and we thought that would be a great idea as we had just purchased a bunch of used vacuums from Car Wash Consignment.
We decided to upgrade five vacuums that had 20" domes by tossing the extremely faded covers in favor of new ones and add a light kit.
We soon discovered that the supplier only sells 24" domes that require an adapter ( 4 per vac) to get them to fit.
Ok, cool. Let's do it.
When we received the parts we found that the adapters and the way the domes were made, created a gap that exceeded 2" all the way around the inside of the dome.
The supplier was notified that the parts created a safety hazard, and cautioned them about our experience.
Their reaction thus far has been indifference.
Needless to say we sent the domes back (at a round trip shipping cost of $500) and have installed 20" stainless steel domes that produce a very close fit.
My letter to them stated in part that:
"As owner/operators, it is incumbent upon us to identify and address safety issues that may arise, including any inherent design flaws or those from a careless adult to a curious child. With that in mind, it has been my experience in the past 2 decades as an operator that parents will pull up to a vacuum, unload the kid(s) on the vacuum island side, turn their backs on their children and proceed to clean and vacuum while only periodically checking on their children. It is at this time the children will touch, pull, pick, and play with our equipment as you can well imagine. This is an area that needs to be one of our safest in my opinion because this is when the kids are generally out of the car and unsupervised."
I also wrote:
"I was excited to purchase these items in an effort to make an attractive vacuum, not an attractive nuisance."
It makes me sick to think this dangerous condition may exist all over the country and that some unsuspecting soul (our customers or their kids) could be harmed or worse.
Since most of us are only familiar with the equipment we own and service, it would be incredibly interesting to hear what you all think about this situation.
**note: The attached picture does not depict the mentioned adapters, but illustrates a vacuum with a sizable gap. Is this acceptable?
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