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Hi Earl, It has always been our practice to keep the wash material (side wheels and mitters) flushed full of soapy water. Yes, we do one initial high foam application to the vehicle, but we feed the material with soap solution. It keeps it cleaner, and more slippery - regardless if you are...

Earl, You can also replace just the first row or two (entrance side) of cloth with something quieter like micro or lammscloth (you don't have to do the whole mitter in a new material. That will "hush" the traditional strips behind it, until the car is well into the mitter and they become...

I can't say for sure with KR products, as I have not used them, but generally, wheel and tire cleaners for the automatic are much stronger than their SS counterparts. They often have sodium or potassium hydroxide, making them corrosive and requiring a hazardous DOT shipping label and fee. Most...

Do it! Any possible way you can up-sell the top packages is a good thing to do. Once a wash already has tri foam, wheel brite, super sealer, underspray, etc., it can be difficult to find more to add - this is perfect. Let us know how the customers like it.

With a second IBA, you will never be totally down for repairs (highly unlikely both would go at the same time) Also - if you go with the same machine as your first, you will have parts for two machines available at all times.

If this is a touchfree unit, it depends on your other cycles and wash program and how many passes your machine makes. If you are using only one hp cycle, you might want to keep that as pure water and then go low pressure on the ccp and then sfr. If you have two or more hp passes, then you can...

"Bill and The Forum are the best thing to happen to our industry since the conveyor and wrap around brush." - NY Times Bill - all kidding aside, I truly appreciate all you have done to help me and countless others in this industry. Thank you very much. Mike

Hey Waxman, Will sealer in the underspray yield the same effect as a rust inhibitor product? I've never used one, so I am not sure if there is an advantage to using a dedicated rust inhibitor solution for the undercarriage. Maybe it is a matter of semantics - who really wants to claim rust...

I think one of the reasons our industry struggles with the increases is that we are pretty much forced into $1 increment increases (at least for automatic washes, not s.s. so much). A grocer or dining establishment can go up a dime, quarter, fifty cents, whatever. Even if they do this rather...

You can also retract them enough so the core is not aligned with the center of the vehicle, but rather about 50% off center to either side. You will still get cloth coverage over the center (providing your cloth is not too short), but it will not overlap with the opposing brush and will be less...

The cloth is so heavy when wet, it is tough to prevent this. Most tunnel operators I know have gone with foam wraps, or if they use cloth exclusively, they have pulled them back and wash fronts/backs by hand.

Yes - something similar to the D&S IQ - a three brush lightweight machine, suspended from above, but without the guillotine top brush. Done right, that could be a winning design.

Thank you Robert - I do appreciate your advice - especially for initial set-up. Mike

I'll be switching my chemicals over to Simoniz and will be purchasing through KR - no distributor. Have spoken to some other operators, visited locations, as well as KR people and Simoniz directly. Simoniz has an extensive line and I was wondering what specific products some other Simoniz...

I'm interested in any thoughts on incorporating this product in a friction IBA. I know it is designed to be used with a heated bubble type applicator in a tunnel wash, but I was thinking of putting it on through the tri foam applicator cycle and then letting the friction go to work. I would...

Good to hear - thanks for posting. It's posts like this that help many of us make a good decision when it is time to purchase equipment.

I have no doubt someone has the ability to design a touchfree IBA that can process 30 cars an hour - and perhaps someday that will go even higher. In the touchfree environment, however, dwell time is of utmost importance - right up there with water temperature, water hardness, properly titrated...

Hydro Spray has the i5 on their website also. Are they just distributing it?

Yes, but he said he has a SoftGloss, so it would be accurate if the machine uses Foambrite material. I've seen many PDQ owners call their washes "LaserWash" on their exterior signage. I never really questioned it.

Ditto - Put all your chemical on before any HP. Two, three passes, double on the fronts, whatever. Get all the chemical on and let the dwell time set before any HP water hits this area. That is the best way to maximize the treatment of the front end bugs with your current chemicals. If...