How do you clean you IBA bay?

[BobbieB]

So, working on getting and IBA and wondering how everyone washes them down. Currently I wash my bays daily. I know that's crazy, but that is something that drives me nuts.

So with the wand & boom removed, how would you wash the bay down? I thought about leaving the boom, we have enough height, but that may be a disaster with customers. Thought about a quick disconnect in the bay in a lock box, but last thing I want to do is drag a hose every day. Just curious what those with experience do?

 

[Greg Pack]

At one wash Just inside my equipment room door I have a wall-mounted hose reel with 150' of hose. Coming out of one of the pumps I have a Tee with two valves so that I can come the bay off and divert the water to the reel. I use this setup at least weekly, mainly to do a quick wash down of the vacuum area. It takes fifteen minutes to do the area around four vacuums and the entire area just seems so much cleaner than just blowing.

At another wash I have a hose reel on wheels and on one centrally located bay up high I have a high pressure quick disconnect. I figured It would be problematic with leaks and possibly even a theft but it has worked fine for a couple of years.

On both setups I just swipe my attendant card and it will run 15 minutes, you could wire in a manual override easily if you like.

 

[Eric H]

I had one site set up similar to Greg’s, but I had it run off of a spare pump. It made it easy to wash down without shutting down one of the SS bays.
What IBA do you have? I’ve used the remote for my Razor to turn the inverted L around so it faces the wall and then I use the remote to mover the bridge around the bay. It good for daily/weekly cleaning. I still use a long hose from a SS bay when I scrub the wall and machine covers. I try to do my deep cleaning on rainy days

 

[BobbieB]

I do not have anything installed yet but looking at a PDQ.

 

[BenW@JCCW]

I don't have SS at my remaining site. Installed an electric pressure washer in the equipment room and ran hose to all four bays. I just have to connect the bay hose to the pump and a hose in what ever bay needs cleaning. I like this set up better than using a gas pressure washer.

 

[BobbieB]

You turned your 4bay ss into automatics?

 

[BenW@JCCW]

You turned your 4bay ss into automatics?

No, it was always a four bay IBA. I sold my other locations, one had SS and IBA's.

 

[BobbieB]

Would love to see what that looks like. The company im working with is suggesting going with 2 IBA and 2 SS bays

 

[Car Wash Man]

We have a dedicated pressure washer on wheels. Works well.

 

[StoneWall]

I have a quick connect clasp on my self serve bay closest to my automatic. I picked up a 45' long hose and just keep it in my maintenance room for deep clean days.

 

[Wes F.]

I do not have anything installed yet but looking at a P

I do not have anything installed yet but looking at a PDQ.

I would recommend you look at Washworld Inc. The Razor wash is hard to beat. Plus, they offer tech training and tech support to the site owner. The Razor and Profile are built from Stainless steel frames. But more important than equipment is the service after the sale. What is the reputation of the equipment distributors in your area.
Go by other locations and talk to owners/managers, are they happy with their distributor? What are the response times? Do they stock parts, or do they have to order the parts when needed? What is the life span of the equipment? Some advice If you are financing your project, finance the equipment separately. Most equipment will not last through the 15-20 year note and will need to be replaced after 7-10 years. A lot of washes have gone under because they can't afford a second note to replace equipment worn out equipment. I financed my wash for 12 years and equipment for 5 years.