By: Anthony Analetto
Originally Published in AutoLaundry Magazine
Everyday, innovations in wash materials, equipment, detergents, and technologies improve. Is it possible to reduce your labor? How can you reduce the potential for breakdowns forcing you to close or deliver an inferior product? What is available to produce a cleaner, shinier, dryer car – faster and more safely?
These are questions you should ask your equipment and detergent suppliers regularly. If you speed up your conveyor to meet demand and wash quality suffers – you need to rethink what you are doing. You may wash a customer once but not again. In order to accrue volume you must be perfect on the busiest day. This is when more customers will try your wash for the first time.
Regardless of what type of wash style you are operating, Full-Serve, Flex-Serve, or Express-Exterior, a successful car wash should have an equipment package capable of producing its highest quality product at a throughput equal to its busiest Saturday hour. In Express and Flex this must be done with absolutely no prep or hand drying. Although Full-Serve operators have attendants, the ability to eliminate labor presents a tremendous cost savings opportunity.
It is useful to make a comprehensive evaluation of all aspects of your wash, starting with the conveyor. Many factors such as climate, bug removal, and type of road grime will effect what possibilities present the greatest return on your investment. Below is a short guide that highlights some very top level considerations.
Step 1: Conveyors
If a conveyor breaks down your wash is closed. No risk or shortcuts should be taken with your conveyor maintenance. Before looking for ways to optimize performance, ensure it is in good working order. Evaluate the integrity of the frame. Inspect the chain, rollers, drive sprockets, and take up assemblies. Chain should be tensioned properly. Once everything is in good working order, verify roller spacing. If not already done, spacing rollers at 3ft 6in is a safe and reliable way to maximize your conveyor capacity.
Another enhancement available is to add an automatic roller up system. This allows the roller to fire as soon a car passes the roller up door. In an Express Exterior or Flex-Serve wash, the guide-on attendant can stay focused on helping customers load their vehicles. This upgrade also improves Full-Serve attendant efficiency for greater throughput.
Next check the condition of your floor. Concrete wears over time. Grooves and pitting can contribute to cars jumping off the conveyor. If the floor is in need of repair, several options exist to correct it. Tracking bars are available to correct issues caused by a worn out floor. Stainless steel slip plates are another excellent alternative for uninterrupted operation.
Now inspect any conveyor cutouts. These are normally found at the tire brush and tire dressing applicator. Make sure there are no pinch points on the exit end of the brush or pad. This condition may damage the vehicle or force it to jump off the conveyor. Common problems to look for are bent or broken stops and worn guide surfaces. Replace as needed.
Last evaluate the type of rollers used. Vehicles have changed and so have rollers. The popularity of SUVs and other large vehicles has inspired the design of mid profile rollers. This style reduces the chance of a larger vehicle jumping and is another method to increasing the safety and reliability of your conveyor.
Step 2: Detergent Application
Even the best equipment cannot clean a car without proper detergent application. It is hopeless to think about improving wash performance at any conveyor speed without a complete and even coating of detergent on all vehicle surfaces. Many washes only apply detergent at the first mitter. If this is the case you will want to consider repositioning your equipment to accommodate a dedicated applicator arch. Best cleaning results are achieved by using two types of detergent. In a hybrid wash it is recommended to use an alkaline presoak followed by a low PH foamed detergent. If an arch exists but wash performance is not optimal, begin with the nozzles. The accuracy of a nozzle deteriorates with every car that is washed. Worn spray tips are difficult to visually diagnose but often the culprit for inconsistent application. Every car wash should have an established replacement interval for nozzles based on the nozzle material, detergent used, and the number of cars processed. Once you are confident of the integrity of your nozzles check how they are pointing. Many application arches have a single row of nozzles on one manifold perpendicular to the vehicle surface. This configuration presents difficulty getting full coverage of front and rear surfaces. One possibility to address this situation is angling some nozzles towards the front and rear of vehicles for increased coverage. Additional options exist to add a tee and convert one nozzle port into two nozzles aimed at the front and back of the vehicle. Be aware that increasing the number of nozzles may require reducing nozzle size depending on pump capacity. No matter what you do to get complete detergent application, it is fundamental to producing a clean, dry, shiny car.
Step 3: Online tire and wheel cleaning
As with vehicle washing, even the best equipment can not get wheels and tires clean without proper detergent application. Many new foaming applicators are readily available. Foamed detergent, when properly applied, increases dwell time for better cleaning. If you have the space it is recommended to have two CTA applicators for each side spaced 40 inches apart. This will insure complete coverage. Tire brushes are extremely effective for tire cleaning and can often be located under a mitter if space is limited. Wheel cleaning is ideally performed by a combination of cloth friction and high pressure washers. Chain speed will dictate the number of cleaning actions required for perfect wheels.
Step 4: Top surface cleaning
There should be at least two top surface cleaning actions in different directions for effective performance. Greater cleaning power is required as conveyor speed is increased. Multiple equipment items also build redundancy. This vital aspect of a properly designed wash can mean the difference of washing at a slower conveyor speed or being closed in the event of equipment failure. If you have at least two items in different directions, properly sized for your maximum conveyor speed make sure all equipment is in good working order. Check the integrity of the frame, bearings, motors, and plumbing. Check the condition of all cloth and foam materials. Make sure they are well lubricated. Rebuild or replace items as necessary. If you are using standard cloth and not getting the results needed – look to some of the newer materials on the market. Closed cell foam materials can increase the wash performance of an existing top brush. Plush or textured wash materials can dramatically improve the capability of mitters. Each material has different cleaning characteristics. Many washes mix different materials for better overall cleaning.
Step 5: Front-side-and rear cleaning
Wrap-around washers are a safe and proven way to clean front and back surfaces. It is extremely difficult to get a clean car with no labor without at least one wrap-around. When using one, you will also want to supplement rocker panel cleaning with low side washers. These can be mounted under mitters, on tire brushes, or free standing. Washes that do not have at least one wrap should evaluate the ability to shift or replace equipment to accommodate it. From that foundation you can build upon your side cleaning capability to handle higher conveyor speeds and vehicles of varying heights. A high side washer of 50 inches is commonly added to provide complete cleaning on taller SUVs and trucks. Higher volume locations with faster conveyor speeds often supplement or substitute the side washer with equipment concentrating on the front of the vehicle. Added focus to the front for bugs and road grime while still washing the side of the vehicle can reduce the need for prep labor.
Step 6: High pressure cleaning components
Many operators are increasingly turning to a hybrid combination of both friction and high-pressure wash technologies. Leveraging the advantages of each, they are able to produce cleaner cars, faster, more safely, at the lowest possible cost per vehicle. Friction cleaning is more efficient on flat surfaces. High pressure washers complement that cleaning action to flush dirt out of areas where friction wash materials can not reach. Better cleaning results are achieved when both wash technologies are present in a tunnel wash. When evaluating your wash performance, problems with cleaning wheels, wheel wells, under front wiper blades, and front bumpers can often be addressed through incorporating correctly placed high pressure wash components.
Step 7: Waxing
Triple foam wax is a popular service and an excellent opportunity to increase your revenue. If you already offer triple foam, where is it located in the tunnel? Simply relocating it as a conditioner towards the beginning of the wash can increase customer satisfaction as well as improves rinsing. Additionally, keeping a colorful triple foam conditioner on the vehicle longer advertises the service to other customers who may be watching at a full-serve or riding behind at an express-exterior location.
Step 8: Rinsing
Rinsing should occur in three stages and is the precursor to successful drying. First evaluate your pre-rinse. In low volume locations, pre-rinse can start in the last mitter if plumbed with fresh water. As volume increases you will need a separate function to pre-rinse. This can take the form of a rain arch. High volume washes with fast conveyor speeds will want to consider using a pressurized pre-rinse arch. Immediately following pre-rinse you should apply a drying agent and sealer wax. If your current system uses v-nozzles for this process you may want to evaluate alternatives. Although they rinse well, the mist created can be counterproductive to drying. Rain arch systems use gravity water fall to eliminate misting and enhance rinsing of grooves. Additionally, they promote water shedding that can greatly improve drying performance. A setting arch is the final stage in rinsing. Again, a rain arch for this application will promote beading and water break. Proper water break floods water off of the car making it easier to dry. Spot free water is often used in the final setting arch.
Step 9: Drying
Several options exist to increase the performance of your drying system. First, inspect the positioning and condition of your blowers. All motors, bearings, and housings should be in good repair. Make sure the blades are balanced properly. Verify that all screens are clear of debris. If your blowers are positioned and working correctly but not delivering sufficient power to dry vehicles at the highest speed your conveyor is operating, you may need to increase horsepower. First look at your electrical service and determine the maximum amperage available. A properly sized drying system will have sufficient horsepower to remove all water. If your utilities are maxed, prohibiting you from increasing total horsepower, consider increasing surface coverage. Mixing smaller producers to increase coverage at the same horsepower can maximize drying performance from your existing electrical service.
Step 10: Controller
Many of the options available to improve your car wash performance require a controller capable of operating them. If your car wash controller can not perform automatic roller up or tire tracking, you may want to consider upgrading it. Newer controllers have also improved upon the ability to control detergent consumption. Additional features you should look for are a simulated pulse or simulated entrance management system. This ability will allow your car wash to continue operating even in the event your photo sensors are damaged or malfunction.
Summary
There are many factors to consider when upgrading your wash package. For proper evaluation you must take an extremely dirty car and run it through the wash at the conveyor speed you set during your busiest hour without any prep. If you have a specific problem you are trying to solve, get help. In addition to your equipment and detergent suppliers, excellent information is available from other operators who have faced similar issues. There are several excellent online forums where you can easily converse with other car washers across the country. The equipment, wash materials, and detergents are available to wash cars without any prep at very fast conveyor speeds. Making the decision to evaluate your wash is the first step to producing cleaner cars, faster, and more safely. Good luck and good washing.
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