Stringing in Central OK

[trentu]

They hit me this weekend on a hamilton XE validator. They got me about 3 weeks ago too but just a little (learning stage I think).

 

[MEP001]

I might as well be the first to say it (again) - switch to Mars and it'll stop. Look at all the posts in this one sub-forum about XE's getting strung.

 

[wendy's wash]

it won't stop

I can tell you that once the crooks find your wash has Hamilton. They will keep coming back. They hit me and came back 3 weeks later as it was their cash cow. Called Hamilton and talked with tech. I did every thing to try and stop it. Xe validators, most updated software, anti-string comb. The tech said there was nothing else that could be done and thats it. I was just out of luck. Spent thousands of dollars with them and was just robbed again. The stringers got a whole lot less money. I Ordered & installed mars validators and it stopped from kleen-rite.

 

[trentu]

Dealing with a distributor that will swap me out even for a Pyramid and he says they have had no problems with them. He says the retrofit for the Pyramid is just the face and the Mars is a much larger retrofit. Thoughts on the Pyramid?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Are you talking about a changer or an ACW? Putting a Mars in an ACW takes a while, but I can convert a changer in ten minutes.

The Mars has a track record of being the most secure thing going for the last 5 or 6 years. I wouldn't consider the somewhat obscure Pyramid just because that is what your distributor wants to sell you. Let someone else be the guinea pig.

 

[Randy]

I?ve sold a lot of Pyramid validators, mostly down in Texas, I gave 2 to the ?Goat? when his HVX?s died. He?s still using them. It?s been almost 3 years now and they are still going strong. They are a low cost Mars knock off. They are easy to install if you know what you?re doing and you have the validator programmed correctly. I?ve only had 2 come back on warranty and they both had water damage. They are like everything electronic, they don?t like water.

 

[MEP001]

They are a low cost Mars knock off.

Mars are already a low-cost validator - for something to be a low-cost knockoff of something already made cheap kind of scares me.

I haven't heard anything bad about Pyramid, but there aren't a lot of them out in the car wash field like there are Mars. The six Mars in our bays have had absolutely no troubles in almost five years, the three in the changer and auto cashier are all over 3 and have only been sent off for upgrades to the new bills. The last time I did it myself.

If someone's telling you Pyramid is easier to retrofit than Mars, they may or may not be right. The original Hamilton retrofit came with an upstacker, which meant cutting a new opening in the changer, obviously a big deal. The Etowah Valley kits just bolt into a Hamilton changer or Gold Line ACW.

 

[Randy]

The Pyramid validator kit is about $150 less than the Mars kit. It uses a down stacker validator with a 500 or 700 bill box on it. There isn?t any cutting or modification required to changer cabinet to install it, it?s a plug and play set up. Currency upgrades are easy, you can download them from Pyramids web site.
If you want to replace the validator in your Goldline ACW. You?ll want to use a 24volt Mars AE2602U7. The wiring harness/24 volt power is on the back of the door.

 

[MEP001]

Why is it that "you'll want to use a 24volt Mars" in a Goldline? I have the same 110 volt validators in the DRS changer and the Goldline.

There isn't any cutting done with an Etowah Valley kit either since they use the downstacker, in fact Hamilton only used the upstacker models for a short time. Their conversions are also downstackers and bolt in.

 

[ted mcmeekin]

Hey Randy, I sent you my phone number. Has your email address changed?

Ted McMeekin

 

[trentu]

Quick update. We went ahead with the Pyramid. It was an easy retro and so far (2 months) there have been no more stringing problems. Thanks for all the replies

 

[Kevin James]

How much did it cost ya to put in the pyramid validator? Who did you get it from? What did you have to do to install it?