Blasto-Dry

[Bubbles Galore]

I had Mike Doyle from Blasto-dry out at the wash yesterday. I am pretty impressed with their unit. I was amazed at how easy it was to direct the water away with their handheld unit.

As with most products like this, customer education and great signage are key.

Does anyone have these units? What are you averaging a month/bay? What kind of promotion/signage/education etc. did you have to do?

Thanks!

 

[MEP001]

Search thoffmanjr's posts and you'll find some surprising numbers.

 

[car washing systems inc]

I installed one at my wash so my customers could try it, i would send them to the wash that had the other dryers and they always got the blasto-dry, when i had someone in the bay i would turn it on for them to use, mike does have a banner you can get. Payback was less than a year, put it into your bay that has credit card in it

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I am going to see if we can 'demo' a unit for a month and see what kind of reaction we get from our customers. I think it could be huge if marketed correctly.

 

[coincarwash.ca]

I insatlled 3 of them last year in my 3 single busiest bays.....I get a lot of use out of them and the customers love them. I have no way of tracking usage, but I can see they get a lot of use just by watching customers. It is not uncommon to have all three in use at the same time.

 

[Jeff_L]

I don't have a lot of knowledge about the Blasto-Dry, but I put in the Air Shammee from Diskin Systems a little over a year ago. So far the response from everyone who has used it has been positive. I probably installed it at the wrong time of year (October of 2007), so I didn't see it take off until the following Spring when the motorcycles starting getting out again. It's interesting, last summer I would have a line of motorcycles for the bay that has the air dryer in it. Once word got out, they all started hitting it. They told me it's saving them a bunch of time by getting into all the grooves and what-not.

I too started out by putting some extra quarters in the meterbox and turned on the Shammee for the customers so they could try it. I'll look to putting more in sometime down the road.

What I like about air dryers is the ability to put the unit in the attic, that way the bay doesn't look so cluttered. I know this thread is about Blasto, but don't discount all the options out there!

 

[Bubbles Galore]

In doing my research, from an engineering standpoint, the blasto dry will direct the water away vs. how the air shammee is more of a blow dry effect. If I am wrong in my assumption, please let me know.

 

[Jeff_L]

Bubbles, not sure what you mean, maybe the "wind shear" type tool on Blasto? On my Air Shammee my first gun was a round, quarter sized hole. Which was great for nooks and crannies, but didn't give me the wind shear affect I wanted. They developed another gun which has a flat tip on it which gives me that affect. The best thing in my eyes is that you only have to use one hand with the air shammee so customers can reach the top of their SUVs. Looks like (at least from the pictures) that you need two hands on the blasto. I believe they have a little fan in the gun which might make it heavier?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Not that I could tell. There was a switch that had to be pushed to turn the air on to the unit.

The wind shear effect is what I was talking about. PM me about the total cost for your unit in one bay if you don't mind.

 

[bigleo48]

I have the Air-Shammee in 8 bays and since they are 3 motor units (30amps/per), you really need to be concerned about your electrical feed and it's ability to handle them. I know of a few washes who need to upgrade their electrical system if they install them and so the overall cost and longer ROI can be prohibitive.

Mine get used some, but I would not say a lot. They are used on motorcycles at lot, but they don't account for that much of the business. But then again, motorcycle drivers also have cars/trucks.

The biggest problem with them is the fact that a wax (drying agent) or protectant needs to be applied first or the water does not roll off the car very easily. So signage and customer education is required.

Last but not least is the cost. If say you're 60 cents a minute and it takes 4 or 5 minutes to dry the car, it becomes too expensive in the eyes of most customers.

I don't regret putting them in, but it's not all roses either.

BigLeo

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Good advice!

Thanks!

 

[madscientist]

i installed blasto dry units in 6 bays last spring (march-april). i chose between the blasto dry and the air shammee without ever having seen either unit in person. i don't know why i picked one over the other, so you'll have to just make the best decision you can. i'm very happy with the blasto dry. in all fairness, the diskin units could be just as good or better. i'm in no position to speculate. the "air knife" does not have a fan in it. it does use only two motors. the blowing power is awesome. the drying power is up to the customer. i can easily hold the handle with one hand on hard to reach places, but two hands is preferable. as with the wand while using high pressure, some customers will not be able to use one hand. the amount of surface area covered by the air knife is large, making it easier to dry the car. without using wax/clear coat you can dry the car. with wax/clear coat you can dry the car faster. if you want the car to be 100% dry, it will take several minutes. i take about 4 or 5 minutes on my accord, but i'm not racing the clock. many cc users will also not be racing the clock. customers can use it for as long as they want or don't want to. some just finish their remaining time on the clock. some go all out. it is popular. any day that i have customers, i hear the units being used. yesterday someone dried their carburetor out and got their car started. it has been very good for me at that specific location. every location/clientele is different. many die hard cloth dry customers don't touch it. some customers use it, then finish off with the cloth. i give time to every motorcycle i see. some like it, some don't i'll put time on the clock for anyone who asks about it, even now one year after installing. if you have any questions about the little things concerning day to day use, email me or send a pm. i'll be glad to share what i've learned.

 

[TurboJet]

Like everyone else I have certain customers using the high pressure guns to remove snow from their cars, leaves and pine needles, and of course to clean out their pick-up beds. Do you find that customers using the blower/dryers for these types of activities as well? Just a thought.

 

[madscientist]

i haven't seen anyone use only the dryers to clean out their truck bed, but i'm sure it'll become popular at some point.

 

[Jeff_L]

No one has figured that out in my neighborhood yet, they still use the high pressure water or vacuums to clean out the pine needles.

btw, the Air Shammee uses a three motor system.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I talked with Mike again and I think I am going to take the plunge and put the blasto dry unit in my bay with cc acceptance.

I will post some pics of the install once I get it ready.

 

[TurboJet]

I like the SS dryer idea and also giving the customer another profit center to spend their money on, but what do I charge?

I'm at $2 for 4 minutes in the SS bays, and basically full most days and weekends, if I offer the dryer (Blasto or Shammee) and the dryer time is longer than the $2 for 4 minutes, I'm really lowering each bays revenue potential. The other thing is if they use the dryer to dry their car, will they be inclined to stay in the bay to do more detailing rather than drive over to the detail area.

I guess the other option would be to install them as standalone units in the detail area, but then you have added costs of getting power and possibly intergrating the CC option.

For me, the charge would have to be the same as the other bay equip., $2 for 4 min., based on the earlier posts, sounds like a customer would need 6 to 8 minutes to dry a car, so $4. Would customers pay this?

Not trying to be negative, just things to ponder.

Turbo.

 

[madscientist]

the dryers are an option on the meter box, so the price would be the same as the other functions. i believe there has been some discussion about their limited sucess as stand alones. i'm sure each situation is different, and merits its own considerations.

not too many people spend $4.00 worth of time to dry, but some do. the beauty is that they can spend as much or as little as they want. the charge is not a set amount, it is like all other meter box functions.

that's awesome that you're normally so busy. i personally have not experienced customers spending any extra time in the bays detailing since the dryer installations. i guess if the wait gets too long, your customers will start spreading out their washing to mid-week. then you'll have lines on weekdays as well.