Just so you know…

[cantbreak80]

When you lose a leg at the car wash
And, you are the only business in the area with 3-phase power…

Other businesses don’t call the power company to report the outage...
When you call the power company, they always say it will be at least four hours before they can have a crew on site…

And, so when you close off the entrance with traffic cones, trash cans, saw horses, or sandwich board sign with the word “CLOSED”…someone will always move the traffic cones, trash cans, saw horses or sandwich board sign with the word “CLOSED” and try to use the vacuums or bays…followed by 10 to 20 more customers who all get their panties in a knot because the danged car wash doesn’t work.

And some of the language…YIKES! I need to calm down.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

I had a leg down after a storm for four days. I purchased all kinds of capacitors to try and get the three phase motors to run on single phase. Wasn't successful.

I have one bay that has a single phase motor, and that bay stayed busy. Try telling people that you have a power outage when one bay is still working - they don't get it.

 

[slash007]

I was working on the pumps one day and had a bay shut down with a cone on each side. An older women pulled up, got out of her car, moved the cone then drove in. I ran over and asked her what that heck she was doing, she said "I just wanted a quick rinse and figured it wouldn't be a big deal". Thank goodness I had the power to the coinbox off or it could have been bad. Or imagine if the grate was missing and she drove into the hole. My goodness people can be so stupid.

 

[MEP001]

I've lost count of the times someone drove right over a cone or pail I had blocking a bay. I was replacing a boiler at a wash and was right in the middle of getting everything filled and primed, and a girl came in and demanded I help her get the pail unstuck from under her car. I could hear her driving down the highway with it still under there.

Once a "customer" uses foul language with me, I consider that free license to use it right back. They don't expect that and generally change their attitude really quick. Some people think they have a right to be abusive to someone who works at a business, but I won't take it for a second.

 

[slash007]

I'm with you on the language. I am super nice until they start cussing. I give them one more chance to be respectful and if they keep on I let them have it. Of course they all end with "I'll never come here again" with which I respond, "thanks, I don't want your business anyway if you can't respect the place and follow the rules"

 

[JMMUSTANG]

So Slash007 did the crew show up in 4 hours and get you back up and running?
Was it their problem or one of your breaker?

 

[bigleo48]

When I worked for the phone company, I would at times need to cone under my ladder if I was on a sidewalk. You wouldn't believe the people who would stumble their way under my ladder. Sometimes I would strategically drop a big wrench near them and say "so why do you think there is a cone there?"

So now that I own a wash, I'm not that surprised by people trying to access the property during power outages when entrance is coned off. A couple of week ago we lost power due to a storm, a kid in a pickup truck drives to the cones, rolls down his window and I say "power outage". He says "I just want to use the ATM". So I say "Oh ok"...so I move the cones and let him in. He goes to the ATM, it doesn't work, drives back ti me and says "It's not working either". I reply "the mice in it must have died".

Sometimes the world scares me.

 

[bigleo48]

Slash,

There are devices that monitor all there legs and can shut equipment down when a leg or two are off or if there is a phase reversal. You can use that to shut off 24v power supplies and such. More to protect stuff than stop stupid people from trying to use it.

 

[slash007]

Guys I think you are meaning to respond to Cantbreak80 about the 3 phase...

 

[MEP001]

There are devices that monitor all there legs and can shut equipment down when a leg or two are off or if there is a phase reversal. You can use that to shut off 24v power supplies and such. More to protect stuff than stop stupid people from trying to use it.

I make sure the thermal overload on the contactor is wired to break the 24V control when it trips. It takes only a second with a dead leg to trip, which isn't long enough to hurt anything. At least that way only one customer will lose money before it shuts off. It's not perfect, but it's more or less free.

 

[cantbreak80]

Yeah…utility corrected the outage in less than 4 hours…which is great, considering all previous power failures have required 12 to 48 hours to resolve!

Customers moved the traffic cones(!) and tripped the overloads on SFR and 5 of 8 bays…one customer tripped 3, all by herself!

Overloads open 24v to coin boxes, so timers and acceptors go off…eliminating additional money loss to following customers.

120 volt air compressor’s circuit breaker tripped…me thinks the leg “browned out” rather than going to 0 volts…the compressor started, and caused the breaker to trip???

Anyway, customer refunds totaled $20. (pretty sure several folks didn’t report money loss)

Lesson learned…I need a better way to close off the car wash entrance.