Which function would you add?

[Noob]

My current functions at the wash are tire/engine cleaner, presoak, hp soap, foamy brush, hp wax and rinse.
Based on your experience what would be the best function that I could add to the wash. Tri foam, dryers, RO, rainx?
Does anyone have any experience with a low pressure wax that would be similar in application to tri foam but would obviously only be 1 color? That would be a substantial savings compared to the cost of a triple foam unit.

 

[slash007]

RO for sure first, then dryers.

 

[Randy]

I'd probably add the Blow Dryers. None of the car washes here have RO

 

[soapy]

If you are in a area with hard water I would go spot free rinse first then dryers. I switched my SS trifoam over to Rain X and it sees much more use than my trifoam ever did.

 

[Damoni88]

I would start with RO first and then tri foam or dryers.

 

[Noob]

Thanks guys. My water hardness is about 10. We soften everything to 0 but everything still spots.

 

[MEP001]

Definitely RO first, trifoam or dryers next. RainX requires some customer education in my experience since it needs to go on a CLEAN car, where trifoam it doesn't much matter. If you do trifoam and/or RainX, you could do both through the same foam gun. Placement of that gun is important - the guys I've known who installed it and had poor performance mounted the gun holder in the opposite corner from the high-pressure gun and meter box. I put it straight across on the opposite wall and hang the foam brush in the middle of the wall next to the trifoam. Customers can see and hear it come on and can find it. They can't find it when it's catacorner from the selector, then they think it's supposed to come out of the high pressure gun, they think it doesn't work so they just go to wax or rinse. I've seen that happen over and over.

 

[Noob]

Have any of you guys ever purchased a used RO unit? Are they reliable and easy to rebuild ? Are you applying it with high pressure or low pressure?

 

[MEP001]

I would not buy a used RO unit unless it's still installed and working for me to test it. If it's been sitting in a warehouse for a year, the membrane is 100% ruined. The pump and/or motor could be bad, or there could be a control unit that's dead. You could easily spend what you saved fixing an old unit.

Reliability depends on its simplicity. If you keep it supplied with soft chlorine-free water, the membrane should last 10 years or so. A good pump/motor setup ideally should last 20 or more years. A basic unit won't have any sort of controller and will turn on/off with the float switch or pressure switch.

You don't want to deliver spot free at high pressure, even if you recover all the reject water. Your customers will spend too much time rinsing with it and your system will run all day to keep up. I like medium pressure (400-500 PSI) but it takes a lot to pump it, like an oversized high pressure pump and motor on its own stand. Big solenoids and 150-250 PSI delivery is more than adequate IMO.

 

[Noob]

MEP are there any units that you would suggest off the top of your head?

 

[MEP001]

I either get them from Watts Water Quality or build them myself.

 

[OurTown]

I either get them from Watts Water Quality or build them myself.

Mep, what do the Watts RO systems usually cost? I see they make a 2,200, 4,400, and a 6,600 GPD model.

 

[MEP001]

That will depend on who you buy it from. They don't sell direct, and I don't work for a distributor anymore.

 

[CarWashBoy]

My current functions at the wash are tire/engine cleaner, presoak, hp soap, foamy brush, hp wax and rinse.
Based on your experience what would be the best function that I could add to the wash. Tri foam, dryers, RO, rainx?
Does anyone have any experience with a low pressure wax that would be similar in application to tri foam but would obviously only be 1 color? That would be a substantial savings compared to the cost of a triple foam unit.

I add Triple Foam, Spot Free Rinse and Air Dry..

 

[Earl Weiss]

I'd o with Blow Dry over Spot free. You might want to try a couple bays and see what usage they get.

 

[Noob]

Do dryers and RO kind of serve the same purpose? If you use RO yo shouldn’t have spots even if you don’t dry right? Also if you dry you shouldn’t have spots even if you don’t use RO?

 

[Noob]

Do dryers and RO kind of serve the same purpose? If you use RO yo shouldn’t have spots even if you don’t dry right? Also if you dry you shouldn’t have spots even if you don’t use RO?

 

[soapy]

Summer sales makes both RO PRODUCERS and distribution setups. They have worked great for me for many years.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Do dryers and RO kind of serve the same purpose? If you use RO yo shouldn’t have spots even if you don’t dry right? Also if you dry you shouldn’t have spots even if you don’t use RO?

To an extent, yes, but I think customers use it as a rinse and may still want to dry. I see them also blow drying mats on the wall, as well as motorcycles, blowing out vents, under the hood an interiors etc.

 

[MEP001]

I've had more than a few customers ask for air dryers when we have medium-pressure spot free. They tell it doesn't matter how much they rinse the crevices and behind the mirror glass, etc., some water rolls out when they get on the road and streaks when it dries. They want to blow all the air they can out. I'm trying to rehab a run-down wash, no way I can budget Air Shamees or anything like it, but I'm thinking about adding a compressed air gun on a couple bays for people to try. I figure for now I can just hook the solenoid straight to timed load and have it active with the timer on instead of changing anything, and if no one likes it I can just remove it.