Going Full Swing - Looking for some opinions on a few things.

[BobbieB]

I cant understand why they clog so much? I currently have 4 standard vacs and you really can only vac one side at a time. I've had a few complaints on door dings from the islands, or you get 1 person pull in the middle to use both sides of the vacs. Also my islands are 38" wide, I would gain 6.5' of space over there by removing them. I cant see doing all the updates I'm looking at doing and keeping the standard vacs. It gives it so much more of a "modern look" and especially if I intend to charge for them. I wanna do whats right for both me and the customer.

I honestly value your opinion, just trying to play out all my options.

 

[Timmb]

I have a twin arm Kondor. It's in a 29 ft Bay. It has stand alone dryers inside the bay. Externally mounted doors. I wash four-door 8 ft bed pickups all the time. The arms butterfly front and rear complete with no problems and room to spare. It's a tight fit but it works!

 

[HeyVern]

I cant understand why they clog so much? I currently have 4 standard vacs and you really can only vac one side at a time. I've had a few complaints on door dings from the islands, or you get 1 person pull in the middle to use both sides of the vacs. Also my islands are 38" wide, I would gain 6.5' of space over there by removing them. I cant see doing all the updates I'm looking at doing and keeping the standard vacs. It gives it so much more of a "modern look" and especially if I intend to charge for them. I wanna do whats right for both me and the customer.

I honestly value your opinion, just trying to play out all my options.

The hoses are smaller diameter and longer. People constantly vacuum up pens, pencils, straws, and markers that get stuck and cause the blockage.

 

[GPAW]

Completely agree. My arch vacs are paid though. The problem is they clog daily. Pulling out the ladder to unclog them probably twice a day is why im ripping them out. On an express where employees are present and there free then its not much of a big deal. When you getting paid though its not the customer that clogs them and loses service that I care about its the ones after that use it before we realize. I cant tell you how many times I see a customer walking up to me and in my head I immediately think "fuck guaranteed a clogged vac". What it usually is. Standard vacs or combo vacs are the way to go for unattended sites. Learned that lesson the hard way. 100K wasted. Hopefully BobbieB doesn't make the same mistake.

Just curious, what brand of vacs do you have and what diameter is the arch part? Is your hose 1.5” or 2”?

 

[Blanco]

Just curious, what brand of vacs do you have and what diameter is the arch part? Is your hose 1.5” or 2”?

Gin San although it's not a manufacture issue. I have buddies that have JE Adams and it's the same BS. They actually tell me they wish they had mine because the radius of my arch is no where near a JE Adams arch so mine are easier to unclog. I also would not blame the manufactures because it's more of a customer problem. If people just picked up what shouldn't go through the vacuum before the start then there wouldn't be an issue. That is asking a lot though and will never happen. The manufacture sales people should give you a warning if you're going to buy for a SS but it's all about money so you'll likely not get a heads up.

I started with 2" to 1 1/2" tapered hose but the 1 1/2" nozzles would get clogged real quick especially with like snapple caps and what not. After a few weeks of continuous clogging in the nozzles/hose I switched to 2" hose with 2" nozzles and the clogs are not as bad as before but now when it clogs it is in arch or where the hose connects to it. I still get clogs daily.

The actually arch I believe is 2 1/2". It's reduced at the entrance for the vac hose to slide onto with cuff or straight on.

 

[Blanco]

I cant understand why they clog so much? I currently have 4 standard vacs and you really can only vac one side at a time. I've had a few complaints on door dings from the islands, or you get 1 person pull in the middle to use both sides of the vacs. Also my islands are 38" wide, I would gain 6.5' of space over there by removing them. I cant see doing all the updates I'm looking at doing and keeping the standard vacs. It gives it so much more of a "modern look" and especially if I intend to charge for them. I wanna do whats right for both me and the customer.

I honestly value your opinion, just trying to play out all my options.

Your normal vacuum vacs up whatever sends it through a 15ft hose laying on the ground then straight to the canister. No problem.

Arch vacs you have a 15ft hose then it has to make it through a fitting and after the fitting is a 12ft or so curved hard pipe then back to an another fitting with a 2 foot or so hose connected to the canister. Keep in mind it's picking all the debris and lifting it 10 ft in the air to make it back to the canister.

Complaints on door dings because of your islands? Who cares. Id laugh at that. I dont pull up to a home depot open my door and hit the cart collection spot then question who put it there?

One person cant be on both sides of the vehicle at the same time. Im not sure what you mean by they can only vac one side at a time.

If your talking about letting your customers with two people vacuum both sides then your just losing money that way.

Does not make any sense to care about that and spend more money on vacs to lose money. I dont have dual arches and maybe Hey Vern can chime in but id think the vac pressure is significantly loss if both arches are used at the same time or if one nozzle is not put away correctly.

Yes the vacuum arches look nice but they are not worth a shit. If you want id gladly sell you mine that im pulling out soon. Im not saying keep your old vacs but you could easily remove your islands and set up new combo vacs on nice stainless pedestals with an overhead light similar to arch vacs. Minus all the BS.

Me and Hey Vern both own arch vacs on a SS and told you to run away. If you want to do what's right for you and the customer then dont buy vacuums that customers lose money on and you spend time working on just to keep them running. There pretty to look at but thats about it.

 

[Waxman]

i definitely don't ever want a piece of equipment that is going to malfunction daily. give me the stuff that ticks away like a reliable old timex. heck, i still have ptsd from my first automatic breaking down regularly!

 

[HeyVern]

I have JE Adams dual arch vacs, there is some pressure loss when both hoses are being used or, one is being used and he other is lying on the ground, which creates a higher chance of something getting stuck in the hose. Then you have the people who somehow manage to get a hose caught on their bumper or something and yank the hose out as they pull away, that's always fun.

 

[getnbusy]

This is good info discussion. Thx everyone

 

[BobbieB]

Thanks for that info. Between a twin arm Kondor and PDQ right now. I will be a total of 33' minus the brick work for front and back it will leave 31'6" in the bay. So this makes me feel a little more confident.

I have a twin arm Kondor. It's in a 29 ft Bay. It has stand alone dryers inside the bay. Externally mounted doors. I wash four-door 8 ft bed pickups all the time. The arms butterfly front and rear complete with no problems and room to spare. It's a tight fit but it works!

One person cant be on both sides of the vehicle at the same time. Im not sure what you mean by they can only vac one side at a time

What I mean is, lets say you pull up to the vac that's on your drives side, the way my setup is, its hard to vac on with not being able to fully open your door, then you have to run the hose through your car to vac the passenger side.

I discussed this with Premier, and of course they are not gonna say yeah they clog, but what they pointed out is their system is a 2" all the way, also they said most people cheap out and only do the 2 motor vs 3 motors which increases vac power.

If your talking about letting your customers with two people vacuum both sides then your just losing money that way.

Yes but there would be no way to avoid it unless I go with single arches. I plan on upping my vacs to $2.00 for 6 mins.

I thought about putting the vacs against the building and running a long hose, but we all know no one hangs them up as it is. Just hard with all the mega car washes coming in offering free vacs, trying to stay competitive but I get sick of hearing "your vacs should be free". I feel if I didn't upgrade the "look" I cant upgarde the price.

I like all the insight and opinion were seeing here.

 

[Blanco]

What I mean is, lets say you pull up to the vac that's on your drives side, the way my setup is, its hard to vac on with not being able to fully open your door, then you have to run the hose through your car to vac the passenger side.

If you cant fully open the door then you're not getting out the car to vacuum. Vacuums have been set up like that for decades. 99% of car wash owners vacuums are regular vacs on islands or pedestals. There not arch vacs.

I discussed this with Premier, and of course they are not gonna say yeah they clog, but what they pointed out is their system is a 2" all the way, also they said most people cheap out and only do the 2 motor vs 3 motors which increases vac power.

I dont think any manufacture would sell someone 2 motor arch vacs. Mine are 2" the whole way also with a 2 1/2" arch. Three motors of course also.

Yes but there would be no way to avoid it unless I go with single arches. I plan on upping my vacs to $2.00 for 6 mins.

I thought about putting the vacs against the building and running a long hose, but we all know no one hangs them up as it is. Just hard with all the mega car washes coming in offering free vacs, trying to stay competitive but I get sick of hearing "your vacs should be free". I feel if I didn't upgrade the "look" I cant upgarde the price.

Single arches are better then dual IMO because they can only be used by one person at a time plus the driver is not pulling directly in front of the vac arch greatly reducing the risk of them being run into. They pull in between them. I have single arch which technically should clog less than dual arch. It's still a HUGE problem.

You're missing the point though. THE VAC ARCHES CLOG EASILY. Who cares about how modern they look! You think your customers are going to be happy when you raise the price and the vacs dont work. I dont think you really understanding how often they clog.

It's not hard with all the mega washes. I have plenty of brand new washes around me offering free vacs and my vacuums are just as busy as they've ever been if not busier. They've also been around for years and I have seen no decline. They are two different types of clientele.

If someone tells you your vacs should be free then ask them where they work because you're going to go there and demand something for free. No other business gives away anything for free. Even if it's something as small as a OJ from McDonalds. I just bought a sausage mcmuffin from McDonalds the other day with orange juice. I got charged extra for the OJ. Mc Donalds makes a lot more money then us and can probably afford to give away the extra .25. They dont though. Purely business.

You can still uprgrade and raise your prices. Like I said before some good three motor combo vacs where you can charge for vac (2.00), shampoo (3.00), and fragrance (1.00) on some nice pedestals will look great and increase your bottom line more importantly. The most important though is no headaches of vacs getting clogged daily. This business is hard as it why make it any harder and pay extra to do it? Modern look is not a good answer. This is advice from experience. If you want to find out for yourself well thats on you. Just trying to save you money and headache.

Pictures are not the best but see attached. Like these or something similar would create a visible and noticeable change. Something that would defiantly warrant a price increase with no complaints. You will always have that one person that complains though. Who cares. Cant make everyone happy.

 

[DLala89]

We did a renovation at one of our locations that only has 2 automatics. I also wanted modern arch vacs but after reading here and talking with our distributor we decided to go with this set up. 5 JE vacs with tap plus and coin I do wish they had digital displays. Had a welder build a canopy put translucent roof sheets and amazon leds. I believe our hoses are 20’ i’m not always at the wash, don’t know of any clogging issues from our attendant or seen it myself. Sorry I couldn’t find any daytime pictures.

 

[OurTown]

We did a renovation at one of our locations that only has 2 automatics. I also wanted modern arch vacs but after reading here and talking with our distributor we decided to go with this set up. 5 JE vacs with tap plus and coin I do wish they had digital displays. Had a welder build a canopy put translucent roof sheets and amazon leds. I believe our hoses are 20’ i’m not always at the wash, don’t know of any clogging issues from our attendant or seen it myself. Sorry I couldn’t find any daytime pictures.

I'm thinking you might need bollards to protect the vacs, depending on your clientele.

 

[DLala89]

I'm thinking you might need bollards to protect the vacs, depending on your clientele.

I was worried too but it’s been over a year and no dings. As long as they follow the lines the angle keeps most cars pretty far from the vac. We also have delineator post mounted on the lines which seems to help keep people from pulling in straight at the vac.. i should probably I’ll keep my fingers crossed now lol.

 

[BobbieB]

Blanco - please do not think I'm trying to discredit you or ignore you! I appreciate the feedback and opinions. Like the idea of arch vacs, because I'm tired of picking up the hoses.

If I kept my current setup, how would you guys recommend redoing the island. For what its worth, it would probably be easier to just get new vacs, then try to update what I have to tap to pay. The brick and concrete cap are bad and need some work. Or I could put them against the building like shown above.

 

[Blanco]

Blanco - please do not think I'm trying to discredit you or ignore you! I appreciate the feedback and opinions. Like the idea of arch vacs, because I'm tired of picking up the hoses.

If I kept my current setup, how would you guys recommend redoing the island. For what its worth, it would probably be easier to just get new vacs, then try to update what I have to tap to pay. The brick and concrete cap are bad and need some work. Or I could put them against the building like shown above. View attachment 14106

I do not at all. Just trying to save you from the same mistake I made without having to spend the money I did. I thought the same way. Im tired of picking up hoses. Now im tired of getting phone calls everyday that a vac is clogged. I will gladly pick up hoses and I'll even come pick up yours if I can get my 100K back. The arches solved a problem only to create a bigger one. Share with us a google street earth view. Vacs on the street side to be seen by passing customers would be ideal. Not sure if thats possible though unless you share a whole property image. If your only choice is that wall then I would stagger 3 combo vacs on some nice pedestals and a canopy overhanging them. One vac on each end and one in the middle.

 

[Zal]

Hey Soapy. can you expand on how you switched to independent card companies?

 

[soapy]

My auto bays used Hamilton and now I switched to Crypto pay. Nayax or wash card would be other options available.

 

[BobbieB]

Blanco, I appreciate your input. I have your number in my PM's I just need to set a side time to reach out to you.

I'm still going back and forth on what to do with the vacs. Hoping to start a good discussion about the 3 automatics. Right now I'm leaning towards PDQ, a Kondor is my second, and Razor 3rd.

I really like the PDQ & Razo as we have a tight right turn into the bay. I like that both machines will center over the vehicle vs just the Kondor is what it is when they pull in. Pros and cons, I'm meeting with the PDQ rep on Wednesday to learn more.

 

[Keno]

Blanco, I appreciate your input. I have your number in my PM's I just need to set a side time to reach out to you.

I'm still going back and forth on what to do with the vacs. Hoping to start a good discussion about the 3 automatics. Right now I'm leaning towards PDQ, a Kondor is my second, and Razor 3rd.

I really like the PDQ & Razo as we have a tight right turn into the bay. I like that both machines will center over the vehicle vs just the Kondor is what it is when they pull in. Pros and cons, I'm meeting with the PDQ rep on Wednesday to learn more.

A good distributor with good after sales service is going to be far more important than machine brand.