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  1. Rodebaugh1

    Husky vs Harbor Freight small compressor comparison

    I inherited a Porter Cable 60 gal and a Kobalt 60 gal when I bought my car wash. About a month ago, I had the Porter Cable compressor go out and a week later the Kobalt motor went out. I started scrambling for an Ingersoll Rand 60 gal at the local Tractor Supply. The sold the last one the day...
  2. Rodebaugh1

    Pump Motor Noise

    Well, now I'm as confused as every about the greasing requirements. Mine is a Model M3211T and is about 16+ years old and it appears to be obsolete. I first checked voltages and looked for a dropped leg. Everything checked ok. So, I pulled the motor. It was still quite noisy just spinning it by...
  3. Rodebaugh1

    Pump Motor Noise

    I shut a bay down for unrelated repairs a couple of days ago. When I started back up and decided to test everything, the pump ran for about 2 seconds and popped the breaker. I initially thought I had a pump issue. Disconnected a few things and pulled the belt off of the pump and tried to run...
  4. Rodebaugh1

    Nuisance Vandalism

    When I got to the wash this morning, a lady told me she lost a quarter in one of the bays. I quickly gave her a quarter and went to check out the problem. I could not get any quarters to go in the quarter slot. After taking the door off and dumping out a couple of quarters, I saw something else...
  5. Rodebaugh1

    Chemical backflow possibility through Hydrominder

    It's good to be lucky! The city sends me reminders about a month in advance of the due date every year for my car wash and laundromat. Inspections run about $150 each every time. If there is a problem, the guy that inspects them is also certified to repair them through his sideline business...
  6. Rodebaugh1

    Chemical backflow possibility through Hydrominder

    My last one was also about $600 2 years ago. They are now a little over $800. Mine is brass. If you move up to bronze, they get much higher priced.
  7. Rodebaugh1

    So Ya think you want to be in the Car Wash business

    Hate to see crap like that Randy and I understand your frustration with law enforcement. We do still get them to come out and take a report but that's pretty much the end of it. On our Facebook page, I occasionally post "Disrespectful Person of the Day" with short video clips of people that...
  8. Rodebaugh1

    Attempted theft

    Yes - It wasn't damaged too bad. Just had to use a pick and some small tools to dig the debris out and straighten the hole a bit. Then I used a small hammer and tapped a new key into it. Unlocked just fine.
  9. Rodebaugh1

    Attempted theft

    Got ready to empty coin boxes yesterday and found one that somebody had been drilling on. Fortunately, he was unsuccessful. However, he did enough damage to the lock that made it quite a pain to get the thing open so I could replace the lock. Good news is that I had some excellent pictures and...
  10. Rodebaugh1

    Equipment Utilization Rates

    Thanks Soapy. I don't feel nearly as bad now. I'm not quite up to the 5% mark but I feel better about the number.
  11. Rodebaugh1

    Equipment Utilization Rates

    How, if at all, do SS owners use equipment utilization rates to determine rate increases, employment needs, equipment upgrades etc.? Or is that a number that’s only worthwhile for explaining to the guy that’s sitting in your wash bay detailing his vehicle how much the bay rents for per hour? If...
  12. Rodebaugh1

    Animal Trailers

    That's exactly what she said
  13. Rodebaugh1

    Animal Trailers

    While working at my other job yesterday, I happened to glance over at my car wash cameras. There was a lady with a broom, sweeping out a horse trailer. I was only a mile away, so I took off to go stop her. When I got there, the husband was up inside the trailer washing out all of the horse crap...
  14. Rodebaugh1

    Recommendation for Spot Free Rinse?

    It depends a lot on where you start. Our city water runs 950 - 1100 ppm solids. Our spot free is generally 10 - 20 ppm. If you're running over 95 - 98% rejection, that's about the best you can expect.
  15. Rodebaugh1

    Hunting Season

    Yes, we get a lot of people that pick up food at one of the local fast food joints and come park in our bays to eat. An hour ago, I noticed a truck and trailer parked in one of the vacuum stalls in the shade. He had unloaded his riding lawnmower to go cut the grass for another business down the...
  16. Rodebaugh1

    Hunting Season

    We just completed our first full week of bird season here in South Texas. When I got to the Car Wash this morning, I got a nice reminder of what I have to look forward to over the next few months as we wrap up bird season and move into deer season.
  17. Rodebaugh1

    Just a petty observation

    I'm sure that all of the car wash owners on here have their own way of arranging their equipment. One of them is the way we prefer to wrap our vacuum hoses. I find it odd that only 1 out of 100 can wrap the hose back the same way they found it (if they wrap it at all). Just an observation.
  18. Rodebaugh1

    Argumentative customers!

    The reasoning some of these guys have is simply amazing. Recently, I saw a guy on the camera that was cleaning and gutting fish on the back of his boat - then throwing all of the entrails on the bay floor. I drove over there as quick as possible to confront the guy. He assured me it was no big...
  19. Rodebaugh1

    Remote Loud Speaker

    Does anybody have loud speakers mounted at their SS Wash so you can alert those that are doing things they probably shouldn't. Looking for something that can be easily heard over the noise of the car wash - similar to one you might find on a golf course, or a tug boat or a medium size prison...
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