Vacuum clean out and bag door lock questions

[BrianLorenzen]

I have JE Adams 9200 vacs and while the cleanouts and bag doors don't contain any money, I'm wondering if I need to put padlocks on those? Any suggestions on best ways to protect?

120V Two Motor Vac | Stainless Steel Commercial Vacuums

The J.E. Adams 9200 Stainless Steel Super Vac is a coin-operated large canister vacuum for car washes. Includes an Imonex acceptor, an accumulating timer, and 2" x 15' hose.

www.kleen-ritecorp.com

 

[Kramerwv]

If you go back and search old threads you’ll see 30 posts with 30 opinions. Depends on your area and level of commitment for either monitoring for thievery or cleaning up messes. We leave all unlocked and occasionally pick up extra trash/dirt which to us is better than repairing damage.

 

[KleanRide]

I keep mine locked because I got tired of hyenas digging through the dirt searching for dimes and then leaving the vac door unlatched, which results in a “hey bro your vacs don’t work” phone call.

And yes, it was a continuous problem

 

[Green_As_a_Gourd]

I'm new to all this but mine were getting opened almost daily after I bought my wash. I took some tie wire and wrapped it around the latches and that has cut it from daily to monthly. A person can still unwrap the tie wire if they want to but it requires just a little bit of effort which deters your casual fidgeters.

 

[MEP001]

I've run washes where I could padlock them and no one would bother them, and I've run washes where I had to leave them unlocked or they'd destroy the cleanout door to get at the change. It really depends on what your needs are.

 

[Greg Pack]

I'm new to all this but mine were getting opened almost daily after I bought my wash. I took some tie wire and wrapped it around the latches and that has cut it from daily to monthly. A person can still unwrap the tie wire if they want to but it requires just a little bit of effort which deters your casual fidgeters.

I used to do something like this with coat hanger wire in the rough area washes. I would snip off a piece and twist with lineman's pliers. As Green mentioned It deterred casual opening, but if someone really wanted in they could get in without tearing up anything.

I use padlocks now on the lower opening because my washes are not in an area where vagrants travel. I would recommend hiding a key on site so that when someone calls and thinks they vacummed up something you don't have to make a trip down there to oprn up the door. I buy the abus brass padlocks from KR, all keyed alike

 

[STXCW]

All our vacs have pad locks. At some sites the locks are respected and not messed with, at others the latches will be pryed open. Most of our IVS vacs have lock shrouds on them to hide the latch for the doors and makes it harder to get to them. At some locations even with it installed, the crackheads pry the shroud off, although it doesn't happen often. Its a daily battle at times until we catch the guys doing the damage.

 

[MEP001]

I use padlocks now on the lower opening because my washes are not in an area where vagrants travel. I would recommend hiding a key on site so that when someone calls and thinks they vacummed up something you don't have to make a trip down there to oprn up the door. I buy the abus brass padlocks from KR, all keyed alike

Some time back someone here said they used cheap combination locks so if someone did vacuum up something and called, they could give the person the combination over the phone.