WASHWORLD High Velocity hits vehicles

[Kardr]

I own two Washworld High Velocity units one with VS2 Vehicle sizing sytem (Sonar measuring), and I have to say I am greatly disappointed with the manufacturer. I was hitting cars on the passenger side intermittently and contacted my installer concerning this matter. Between my maintenance personnel and the original distributor/installer the following items which all appeared perfectly fine were replaced at the direction of Washworld technical support: Measure Prox Switch (2), Measure Prox Switch Harness, Sonar, Sonar Harness, along with rewiring utilized wires traveling on the festoon cable to the computer. After paying for all of these items PARTS & LABOR I still have the same problem. I am now told I need to "upgrade" to the side mount sonar. How & why does Washworld expect I should pay more to have a wash function properly? If it is faulty design not defective/worn or broken parts they should take care of the so called "upgrade" and do so no questions asked. What's worse is I have talked to another operator that they did upgrade at no cost and he says his problems have definitely gone away. I purchase 2 units from them (replacing 13 year old PDQ 4000's with no measure problems) and they expect me to pay for their design flaw, very disappointing. Have others experienced similar issues, I see they have gone to side sonar (the suggested "upgrade") on their current units...at least the newbies won't incur the "upgrade" cost?

 

[Waxman]

Hopefully you can get some satisfactory remedy. Good luck.

I had heard nothing negative about Wash World until this. Too bad it happened.

If it is a design flaw, it seems as though the company could help you out.

 

[sprocket]

I don't know if the Razor is the same,but when I recieved mine the arch would do stupid things. Washworld had me change the prox from a 12mm to a 18mm [I think that was the size ?] and adjust the target and that seem to do away with my problem. I don't know if the Highvelocity operates the same or not but it is worth asking. Having a service orentied business myself I know sometimes some problems are hard to chase down. Most of the HVAC distributors I have to deal with always say " I have never heard of that problem before it must be a install problem" And you are just left hanging. Wasworld has seem to be a very service after the sale company and I can't imagine that you would have to pay for something like that within the warranty period. If I was you I would be on my installing distributor before the warranty was up to address this problem.Be patient some gremlins are just hard to find. I just can't say enough, I think they are great. I sure I'll have another Razor real soon.

 

[ken-pro]

The top sonar design had its limitations. It works, but I always found I was tweaking the sonar mount on my customer's machines to eliminate width measure errors and vehicle hits. Especially with Chrysler minivans and vehicles with low front ends. I have found typical life of the top sonar is 2 to 3 years at which point I replace with the now available side sonar. The side sonar is a huge improvment, and is not much more expensive than a replacement top sonar. Not sure of the age of your machine or your warranty status, but the side sonar is worth every cent.

 

[Ric]

I heard of your problem a few days ago when your dist. called me to see what my experience was in switching to the side sonar. He explained your problem to me. It is strange that only one of your two washes is having the problem. I got the feeling that your dist. is very concerned and doing all they can to resolve your problem.

My experience with the issue mimics that of ken-pro's.

 

[John Racine]

The reason that only one of the washes is having the problem is that on his second wash we only replaced the bridge and reused the existing controller. In doing so it was never equipped with a top sonar, thus not having the problem.

 

[Kardr]

All wash packages on wash with sonar

This problem is only on my machine that has the top sonar, it is not happening on my other machine that does not have the sonar (VS2). Nor did I have this problem for over 13 years on either PDQ 4000's; the only time I ever hit vehicles was when something failed (damaged prox switch or failed component that could be repaired). In this case I have replaced all the components AGAIN with new top Sonar, Prox Switches (2), harness to both prox switch and sonar, and changing useable wires in the festoon cable. Now Washworld states that due to the new vehicles in the market the fix is to upgrade to the side sonar. That is not an upgrade that is a defective design fix and such I shouldn't expect to pay for it especially after paying for another top sonar, etc... when they knew they have a sonar issue. Bottom line is they designed with top sonar that didn't quite work out and now want me to pay for their design flaw???

 

[ScottV]

Kardr,

I agree with you completely that this design flaw should be remedied at Washworld's expense. Is this machine outside of Wash Worlds warranty period? If not, why arent they making it right at no cost to you?

It's no secret that I own PDQ equipment and I'm not trying to use this as an opportunity to bash Washworld, but what's right is right. They designed a piece of equipment that has a flaw and it sounds like they knew it at the time that they sold it to you. To have you replace all of the parts with more of the same parts that still arent going to work correctly, then tell you to replace the entire measurement system with a new system at your expense is unconscionable.

If it were PDQ trying to lead me down that path you can be damn sure that I would be on the phone with whomever I needed to talk to, or on a plane to Green Bay for a face to face meeting. You dont invest $150K in one of these machines to be left holding the bag for faulty design work that is clearly the manufacturers fault. They need to step up and take responsibility for their problems in the field when it's related to design flaws.

ScottV

 

[kabak]

How the side sonar work comparing to the top sonar

 

[whitescout]

How old is the machine that has the problem? How often is intermittently? How old is the festoon cable, rollers, and track? What type of vehicles is the wash hitting?

These are all questions that I would like to hear answers to.

If the festoon cable or rollers, are worn, this can cause intermittent problems with signals making it all the way back to the UCC. ( this can happen with those PDQ things as well) I would want to check the festoon cable anywhere it has a bend, or where it is clamped down. ( especially where it passes through the rollers) If the rollers are not religiously lubed, they can catch in the track and cause unseen damage internally to the wires on the festoon cable.

As I understand the new side sonar, this was an upgrade to help measure the newer sloping cars that have come out within the last couple of years. As I also understand, there are a few more things that you can add at the time of the upgrade, such as virtual attendant, and it comes with a software update that you can monitor the reading of the new sonar, to help troubleshoot an issue, rather than simply listening for "clicks" from the sonar.

 

[lag]

How the side sonar work comparing to the top sonar

The side sonar is the only way to go now that it is offered as an upgrade, we are more than pleased with the performance of them.

As I understand the new side sonar, this was an upgrade to help measure the newer sloping cars that have come out within the last couple of years. As I also understand, there are a few more things that you can add at the time of the upgrade, such as virtual attendant,

If you do not have the Virtual attendant.. that is an upgrade I would highly recommend

How old is the machine that has the problem?

I am assuming the machine is past its warranty period, because in the OP he wrote of having to purchase a bunch of parts. Did this issue start from the day you opened it up, or is it a “new problem”? I have been operating a number of High Velocity for a few years, and Washworld and their employees have been great to work with..

If this problem has been going on since you opened it up, I do understand your frustration. It should have been handled right away by your distributer (who I also have heard good things about).

 

[Kardr]

Age & more details

The machine is 3 years old and the problem started in the first year...to my knowledge not sure if earlier as the problem is intermittent. Although, the frequency is far too often as any time I look at the fault history there is a side impact nearly always listed and many times 2. The repairs have obviously taken place over a period of time, change something and test for a month or two to see if problem goes away. As the operator I am not onsite and therefore don't see it happen very often (own multiple sites) and only have 1 cashier on duty at a time, servicing gas and convenience store customers. It happens on all types of vehicles including my wife's 2006 Volvo S60 which it broke all the mirror covers off of on the passenger side. It is not a festoon cable, rollers or etc... issue I have had this wash and previously PDQ equipment since 1995 and know the operation of the wash and my maintenance people are VERY experienced with the same. My machines are well maintained with festoon tracks and swivels greased semi-monthly - again my previous PDQ machines were 13 years old under extreme use and were only replaced due to the 4x4 bridge metal scaring me into thinking they would eventually drop on a car, in those 13 years I never did a gearbox (which I replaced on both of these new machines already), hp pump, nor any other major repairs while consistently washing 20,000-25,000 units a year. Additionally I already have the auto attendent and VS2 sizing - (no treddle).

 

[Kardr]

Update

Washworld and their area distributor Shane have contacted me to install the upgraded side sonar at no charge, hopefully this resolves the current impacts. I will post once everything is installed and tested for a few weeks, as I have never accessed the machine and not found a side impact fault in the short history displayed. Thank you to Washworld for stepping up and facing this issue. Also, thank you John Racine/Woltco (original installer & service provider) for your help and determination in getting to the bottom of this problem.

 

[lag]

It will solve the measuring issue.. Remeber you can still get an impact on the side if a wide mirror gets hit(usually the only issue we see), but ,you will see a lot less "8" s!!

Good luck