New Odessey Finally Up & Running!!

[8flyer]

Well after almost 2 months of construction it's finally going! I still have some signage to install tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it's going to do. Sorry for the poor quality pics. more to come. -Kevin

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Does that thing have 6 brushes???

 

[Dirt]

Is'nt it exciting to flip the switch for the first time?

 

[8flyer]

Is'nt it exciting to flip the switch for the first time?

Yes it does!

 

[pitzerwm]

Usually, not the first time, because there are all kinds of things that aren't quite right, but when you get all of those worked out and you get to actually make it through a cycle without something screwing up, THEN its GREAT.

 

[Dirt]

Yeah, I remember after about 120 grand, and a week at the wash bay terminal box, it was time to turn on the 3 phase, 100 amp breaker.
I almost didn't want to, thinking things like- don't stand there, hold your ears, etc., but every thing went without a glitch.
Best of luck to you, and your new Odessey.

 

[jimbeaux]

Well after almost 2 months of construction it's finally going! I still have some signage to install tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it's going to do. Sorry for the poor quality pics. more to come. -Kevin

Congratulation 8Flyer, I think you'll love it. I started mine up in July or August last year & business just keeps getting better & better as people tell others the kind of wash it gives.
Good luck.

 

[Waxman]

I remember firing up my IBA for the first time. I was scared. Then excited and happy. Then disappointed due to poor wash quality right out of the gate.

Once I got the machine dialed in (pressure, speed, dwells, soap strength and type, water temp.) I was happy again!

Wait, come to think of it, that time came just last week!!!

 

[sudnshine]

Odyssey in Spring Grove Il

Hello everyone! I'm really happy to have found this site. I am a first time carwash owner, came into the business totally green, and after 6 months have learned a few things, most costly on the odyssey, keep your top brush running between 103-107rpm, and don't set the hydraulic pressure over 800psi or you will start ripping out 3rd brake lights. I have a collection, and they can be expensive. I have 4000 washes on my machine, and the biggest complaint is the top brush calibration and control problems causing too much pressure on the corners of the top of minivans. If I were to choose equiptment again for my wash, I wouyld have stuck with 2 quicksilvers instead of one touchless and one odyssey. Even though my Q has gone through 4 motherboards, the last 3 months have been pretty good and now my issues are with the odyssey. I think I need to go to training at D&S's factory a few more times, there's just so much to learn. Good luck with your machine, if I come across any nuggets, I'll post them for you!

-John

 

[Waxman]

4 motherboards in 3 months?

why?

under warranty i hope?

 

[sudnshine]

I never found out the true root cause, all the boards were under warranty, the first board went the first month, and the other 3 in the next 60 days. I went through a few encoders as well, but that may have been symptomatic of the motherboard issue. I did install the last board myself, trimming the extra bare wires down to .250" before inserting into them into the terminals. From the factory some of the wires were stripped over an inch, making me believe that this open conductor was possibly being shorted by debris as the gantry moved about, burning out the boards. Have not had a problem since. The D&S people are all great and their equiptment is well designed, but coming from the automotive parts manufacturing industry, I am surprised by the response time to get answers and resolution to problems. I bought two new machines (Odyssey and Quicksilver) along with all the other SS parts for my wash from them. There were times I was down for 3-6 days waiting on a technician to appropriately address our problem. You really have to build your own understanding of these machines to keep them running properly, there's a lot of technology in there all designed to deliver a superior wash, but there's also a lot to keep tabs on to keep the machines running. I have had many many compliments on the wash quality of both the Q and the Odyssey, and in total, I'm really pleased with the way things have turned out, but the distributor is probably working double time to keep me happy. I can recommend him as well...he took my project on as if it were his own and never has let me down. Good communication with the people you work with is as important as the quality of the machinery in my book!

 

[8flyer]

Sudnshine, who's your distributer?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

"There were times I was down for 3-6 days waiting on a technician to appropriately address our problem."

"he took my project on as if it were his own and never has let me down."

IMO, these two statements totally contradict one another. I have owned about a dozen autos over the last 18 years and have never been down for even three days for a repair. I am usually up and running the same day if I call in the AM. In the rare case that my distributor doesn't have a part Mark VII will send it NDA and I am running the next day. Being down nearly a week on multiple occasions is totally unacceptable. You have much more patience than me and everyone says I'm as easy going as they come.

 

[Red Baron]

"Down 3-6 Days"

IMO this is a distributor issue and not the normal D&S distributor experience. I was shut down when my D&S 5000 broke the main drive motor shaft, but I was back washing cars again the next day when my dist removed my entire gantry and installed one of his as a loner while we waited for the new shaft to arrive. And let me tell you, for 1 guy to remove a heavy cumbersome gantry and install another one, including all hoses and wiring, in half a day, was no easy task.

 

[sudnshine]

Hello guys. My distributor is Carwash Solutions, Bernie Russel. The reason I support Bernie, is that when we had these problems, he was at my wash 10 hours a day on his phone with D&S. Each day, UPS would deliver parts and he would install them with a technician. The troubleshooting went on forever, and he spent many unrewarded hours on my problem. This is my first wash, D&S supplied everything. I had my hands tied with the factory, I'm just a little one wash operator. I was frustrated that the machine was down for so long, and the factory wouldn't spend the required effort to solve my issue quickly, but Bernie was there each day working with God knows who on the other end of the phone. Maybe I am naive to believe I received the best support possible for this case? -John

 

[Red Baron]

Hello guys. My distributor is Carwash Solutions, Bernie Russel. The reason I support Bernie, is that when we had these problems, he was at my wash 10 hours a day on his phone with D&S. Each day, UPS would deliver parts and he would install them with a technician. The troubleshooting went on forever, and he spent many unrewarded hours on my problem. This is my first wash, D&S supplied everything. I had my hands tied with the factory, I'm just a little one wash operator. I was frustrated that the machine was down for so long, and the factory wouldn't spend the required effort to solve my issue quickly, but Bernie was there each day working with God knows who on the other end of the phone. Maybe I am naive to believe I received the best support possible for this case? -John

My D&S dist is Westech Supply and they are first rate! I can't count the times I called them up, panicked because something went wrong on a weekend and I feared losing a lot of business. Virtually every time they have been able to solve my problem on the phone - and as we can all relate to, sometimes when you're panicked you overlook the obvious, and a good dist can provide the clear thinking that eludes you, and say "Are you sure XYZ switch is on?" My IQ drops 10 points when I find the problem was something so obvious and simple as to require the flipping of a switch to fix...

 

[8flyer]

UPDATE: Well everything is going good so far! I'm averaging about 25 cars per day w/ the new Odyssey. The touchless is doing about 20. My only complaint is it doesn't seem to be cleaning the lower quarter panel behind the rear wheels very well. I'm off to the Odyssey training next week. Hopefully that will help me understand more about the unit.

 

[cleaning up mud]

What about the price? we have a D&S 5000 thats 9 years old, and a JC 2.0 thats 3.

 

[sudnshine]

are you using DS Net? Adjustments are really simple with the software. The standard recipies are easily loaded and modified. I has to add rinse and RO time to clear the rear of the vehicles in my odyssey. Let us know how you like the training! -John