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Thank you to everyone here for the great help and advice received during 15 years of SS wash ownership. Many times, the wealth of knowledge on this forum helped turn a perplexing problem into a simple one. In January 2021, I sold my SS wash. I first purchased in 2005 when it was a run down wash...

Getting insurance in a wildfire area is becoming difficult. For many years I was a member of Western Carwash Assn and always insured with their preferred provider. I just heard this morning that 3 companies have refused to even quote insurance, and my current insurer supposedly will not renew my...

I need a gallon or two of methanol. It's a long drive to the chemical supply for such a small amount. Are there any retailers that carry methanol (even under another name) in small quantities? I can't find any. This is for adding to my soap for "winter mix."

Many times while at the wash customers say: "I swiped my card and nothing happened." I go watch, and they swipe, swipe, swipe, and finally it reads the card. I used a card to wash my truck yesterday. It took 6 swipes to read the card. 4 for the first card which was never read. Two swipes for...

I tested the water at my wash several times. First test the hardness came back at about 3. next test about 5. All subsequent tests between 3 and 5. At what point would one consider adding spot free rinse? Am I in that range? And is the variation normal? Our water supply is from wells.....

My car wash is busy during the day. But at night very few customers come in. What strategies can I use to promote night time washing? The benefits are: a) bays are open, b) utility rates cost less at night, c) more customers at night helps overall security. I have thought of this: - promote...

A new competitor is coming. (Gas station auto.) I will lose my small town monopoly and will be sharing customers, so I want to add more functions to my 3 SS bays. The goal is to make up for lost customers with the average customer spending more time, and more money, using more functions. Adding...

My 3-bay SS car wash is in a small town of about 4,000 +/-. My "monopoly" as the only car wash is ending. An existing gas station is about to add an automatic car wash. I don't yet know which type. I'm looking for ideas about how to compete. My SS has 2 regular bays, 1 high "truck" bay, and 2...

Customer complained the vac swiper didn't work. I used my card and verified it did not work. Checked all wiring, which was OK. The swiper did have power to it. I shut off the electrical breaker, turned it on, and the vac swiper worked fine. I checked the other vacuum .. "just in case." Yep...

My hot water float valve shuts off about 98%. And slowly weeps water into the tank, which overnight rises, goes out the overflow onto the floor. When first installed, it worked fine. But the problem slowly developed. Funny thing, the exact same thing happened on the earlier valve as well...

If any of you SS operators have considered pulling out your dumpsters, I'd suggest it's an excellent time now to do so. What better reason do you have than keeping foreign objects (potentially with the virus) from being brought onto the property? I removed mine last October and I will never put...

While working at the wash, a truck pulled into Bay 3. I heard the HP pump come on for 1 second, then switch off, and stay off. Not entirely unusual, maybe the customer switched the dial to foam brush? But then about 1 minute later the exact same thing happened. I walked over to the bay. A...

Since mid-October, I have had no trash receptacles at all. I removed my dumpster after fighting a frustrating, losing battle against excessive trash. Before I removed it, I had increased trash pickups from 2x per week to 3x per week. I hoped more frequent dumps would help; it only attracted more...

A few months ago, I added the JE Adams "security kit" to my vacs. Until recently, that stopped all attempts to sift for coins in the dirt. But a few days ago, someone pried and mangled the latches, but they didn't defeat the upgrade security. I was at the wash yesterday, doing a repair. Whoa-...

I see priced on LPR license plate reader systems have come down, although still in the "expensive" category. Is anyone using them for fleet wash applications, or tracking habitual dumpers, repeat customers, or, ???

It's been over a month since I removed the dumpster. I removed it after become fed up with an out-of-control excess trash problem. Trash: - Except for two instances, I have received no trash at all, except an occasional coffee cup on the ground or something similar. This was pleasantly...

I've learned of some customer feedback making the rounds on Facebook regarding use of my new Cryptopay swipers. A few people have pulled into an empty bay to find the meter running and "counting up" since the prior customer and credit card user didn't push the Stop button. Customers are...

I installed Cryptopay recently. An unusual charge yesterday exposed that I don't have good auditing tools. It appeared that a customer was overcharged. Over $20 in CC fees were collected, yet on replaying video I only saw the customer in the bay for about 18 minutes. Something did not look...

It's hard to run a business in California. Even harder when they keep turning off the power. My power is out again, expected to be out for several days. The utility has cut power due to low humidity and winds picking up. My wife threw out $500+ worth of food a few weeks ago after the last...

I know many, or the majority, of customers don't read signs. But it's time to freshen up the signs at my wash anyway. I'm looking to: - promote in-bay Cryoptopay swipers. Something like: "New! Swipe your credit card in the wash bay!" These signs would be smaller signs on changers, or larger...