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    City just told me I can't use salt in my softener. Options?

    City just sent me a letter saying that any water treatment system that uses salt is no longer allowed, and I have 90 days to change my water treatment system. Ugh. I'm wondering if any of you have encountered this and what options are available. I think I can use potassium instead of salt in...
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    D&S 5 Column Vendor is dead. Now what?

    I built a SS wash about 15 years ago, and I designed it with a hole in the concrete block to fit this specific vendor. It died recently, and D&S no longer sells this vendor or produces parts for it. Looks like it needs a new motherboard. So now I have a dead vendor in the wall, and I'd like...
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    I need a 4 bay pump stand.

    Need some new equipment for a 4 bay SS wash I have. Let me know if you have anything. Must be in decent working condition.
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    Can't find new Mars bill acceptors

    So I've had two of my Mars bill acceptors die on me recently. Both are inside meter boxes, so they take a beating. I used to buy refurbed acceptors on eBay for like $225. Now I can't find one anywhere new or used. I need an AE 2612. What's the deal? Are the being phased out?
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    Cryptopay showing HUGE charges to customers

    My Cryptopay system for my bays is moving the decimal over one space when showing the final charge amount to customers after they push the stop button. I've had 3 customers in the last two days yelling me about how I am ripping them off etc... I've tested this myself. I swiped my own card...
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    Need a new bay pump motor

    Baldor motor for one of my bays went bad. It's a 3hp 3 phase Baldor motor. What's the best place to buy a replacement?
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    What function should I add to my bays?

    I have an extra spot on my rotary switch. Thinking about adding a new function. Probably go with either Simonize Hot Wax spray gun or Air Shammee. I could also do Rain-X out of the foam gun too since I already have that chemical in my equip room for my tunnel. Which one would be...
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    Best source for Mars bill acceptors?

    Somehow two of my Mars (MEI) bill acceptors died in two of my meter boxes on the same day. Kinda strange. Anybody have a good source to buy new ones besides the usual places? Rebuilt ones would probably be fine too. Thanks.
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    Soft start for a Cat 3535

    I have a Cat 3535 pump with a 25hp motor. Wired at 230v. Standard mag starter on the motor. This pump/motor combo originally came with a touchless auto that I had at my wash. I've since put in a conveyor tunnel, but still use the same cat pump/motor to power the hp rinse arch. I'm re-doing...
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    Need new Coin Acceptor

    I've got IDX X10 acceptors in my bays, and they have worked quite well for the last 10 years. One of them is giving me trouble, so I'm thinking it's time to replace it. I see that the X10 has been replaced by the X12. A quick search on this forum shows many unhappy comments regarding IDX...
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    D&S Meter Box won't open

    Anybody ever dealt wit this? My meter boxes have a plug lock, and then use an allen wrench to unthread a locking bolt. Seems the nut, which is fixed to the top of the box, that the locking bolt threads into is free-spinning when I turn the allen wrench. So I can't get the face to unlock...
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    Ugh. Might need to throw away my SS equip and start over

    I built a 4 bay SS about 12 years ago. I put in a Magic Wand SS system that uses VFDs to control the motors and run all functions, except foam brush, through the Cat pumps. System has worked fine until a few weeks when one morning none of the VFDs worked anymore. Thinking we had a power...
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    WCA and the drought.

    Here in CA, the drought has reached every community, and every day I see stories on the news about how everyone is supposed to reduce their water usage, and let their lawn turn brown, etc. This is an excellent situation for the WCA to get involved and educate the public and the water agencies...
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    Rain Insurance

    Looks like this winter is gaping up to have a very strong El Nino effect out here in CA. So that means a really wet winter, and nothing kills volume like rain in the forecast. I remember a few years ago, there was an insurance company that marketing rain insurance to car wash owners. Anybody...
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    Obama's $10 per hour wage mandate and your bottom line...

    I'm curious what you guys are thinking/planning for when your labor costs start to take a much larger bite out of your bottom line. Here in CA, we have a min wage hike coming this July to $9/hour and another coming 12 months later to $10/hour. After factoring in the "full burden", that's going...
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    Cryptopay swipers keep shorting out.

    I added the Cryptopay system to my 4 bay wash last summer. The system was very easy to set up, and get going. However, the swipers don't seem to last more than a few weeks until they get water in them and short out. I've had to replace the swipers in each bay several times, totalling about a...
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    Chain and Roller life

    How many cars are you express operators getting out of your chain and rollers? I've got about 250K cars on my SC78 chain. The rollers are getting very sloppy and starting to jam occasionally. Seems the popular concensus is to just replace the entire roller assembly and not try to just rebuild...
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    Stupid customer took out my poodle/rocker brush.

    So, my manager calls on Saturday morning (first sunny Saturday in a long time, of course)and tells me how a lady in suburban decided to make a sharp left hand turn half way down the tunnel, and drove up on top of our poodle brush frame and into the attached rocker washer. Lady swears that our...
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    Poodle Brush life

    I noticed recently that my poodle brush at one of my locations is getting worn. Funny, the passenger side is wearing faster than the driver's side. There is about 90,000 cars on the brushes now. Is that about typical for wear? Anybody change out to the Bison brush instead of the poodle? The...
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    How clean is clean enough?

    I have two short EO tunnels in CA. My customers complain if there is a bug left anywhere on the car or any water still on the car, some even about water running out from behind the mirrors. So we prep heavily to ensure all the cars get completely clean. Our prices are $5, $8 and $10. This is...
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