Recent content by slamdvw

I have a question regarding Sensortrons... how long do they live? I have done a quick search, and tried all the options listed: replace, clean.. We seem to be going through them very quickly, that don't seem normal. They appear to work fine for a day or two, then go belly up - rejecting coins...

Breaking the reputation of "a crappy, low powered car wash" is tough to break. The wash I work at, the previous owners let it go to the dumps. Hardly any power from the pumps, building looked like it should have been condemed, lights that either didn't work or were so dim you couldn't see. Of...

Get on your favorite online auction site and order some fluorescein. It's a red / orange powder that, in water, makes the fluorescent color like green antifreeze. We added it to our tire cleaner so people could see it vs not seeing it. ( thinking it wasn't being dispensed ).

Stainless won't block the magnetic field.. ( your box is stainless, isn't it? ). A piece of regular rustable iron or steel will, though. hmm, now that it's mentioned they're sensotrons, I'll check the ones at my wash.. we have those too. Are the ones that take the 'program coin' vulnerable?

How long have you been with the new pricing? I am kind of pushing the place I work for to do it, to run off the riff-raff. We don't have much of a problem with bucket washers, but the ones that put in the bare minimum to rinse their trash out. ( We're $1.50, for three minutes. )

Leakage voltage is coupled via capacitance from one wire to the next. ( take your meter lead and touch the insulation on a wire known to have voltage on it. ) Eliminating it, is making sure your grounds and conduits are bonded together. If you have a loose or corroded conduit connector...

I'd say yes, if the conduit even has four volts.. Probably leakage voltage, but it shouldn't be there. Just curious, is the mystery voltage AC or DC?

Given the massive amounts of current passed, a doorbell button would probably handle the task. A non lighted one I would imagine. Or this: http://www.amazon.com/SPST-BUTTON-SWITCH-MOMENTARY-ON-NORMALLY/dp/B006M3GEOA

Real dumb question... at the wash I work at, we weigh our quarters to count them. Is this a normal practice? The reason I ask, is because I found a discrepancy in counting the coins from our vending machines. According to the scale, we should have 90 something quarters. It was a small enough...

Ours is what looks like an upside down submersible pump body - a multistage booster pump. Gravity fed from a tank mounted overhead.

Just as an informational note, if you know anyone in the soda fountain business, syrup pumps make excellent car wash chemical pumps.

I only work at my wash.. The only cost that I know for sure, is electricity. In the city we pay 7.25 cents per kWH, I believe the county pays 5 or 5.5 cents per kwh. I am only going to say it must be pretty cheap to operate here, as a brand new wash just opened up: two HUGE bays, one IBA -...

In Gillette, Wy, we're $1.50 for 3:36, or $0.50 / min on cards. Vacs at $0.50 / 4.25 minutes. Every other wash in town is at least $1.75 start and $0.75 vacs for 3 minutes. We're also the only wash in town with an outdoor bay, as long as the hose don't keep blowing apart, we get lots of...

Quote: "I got the plate, called the cops who called him. He was right over and spent the better part of the morning sweeping my lot! That was priceless!!" Now THAT would have made an interesting YouTube video!

Look around in your area for chemical suppliers. In my area, we can get 80% Acetic Acid, they use it for well treatment. Just dilute to your specifications.