2010 Table Top Car Wash Tours

ScrubaDub, South Bay, Boston
Bob Paisner noted that “our South Bay is everything you don’t want in a car wash site. It has no visibility. It is on a side road that dead ends with little or no traffic. There is no stacking space for cars waiting to be washed so they must stack on the street. What it has going for it is a huge population in a three mile radius.”
And, that’s why this very busy facility is so interesting! The car wash is over 40 years old and was originally called Boston Car Wash. It is one of the oldest washes in the city of Boston. Originally, this wash was a traditional full service car wash with Sherman equipment and a design that had the conveyor installed at an angle going though the building. The design allowed a full service walkway that started narrow but widened as you walked, creating a space at the end for merchandise.

ScrubaDub purchased the wash in late 1994 and added a 60’ addition to the front end. They ran it as a traditional full service wash for 12 years; the customers all got out of their cars and walked down a walkway, and their vehicles were cleaned inside and out. In January of 2007, they eliminated the traditional full service operation in favor of an express exterior format with a flex service model for the interior. They added a 100’ long by 12’ wide belt where they could both clean the interiors of vehicles and do express detail. This format allowed them to wash more vehicles on busy days while reducing labor cost. Customers who want the interior cleaning service or express detail now get out of their vehicle and watch as their vehicle is cleaned on the belt.

Canton Wash & Gas, Canton, MA
This new, state-of-the-art facility and self-serve gas station was opened in November 2009. When visiting, you’ll see a Sonny’s, I5 Soft Touch Hybrid In-Bay automatic car wash; three Ginsan self-serve bays with Lumi-Touch meter boxes that have LCD timers, lighted positive response buttons and bill/coin acceptance; Hamilton Gold line Plus pay stations on the in-bay and self serve bays; JE Adams dual vacs; and an Aquamizer 1000 reclaim system by Hydro Management Systems.

The Sonny’s I5 unit is a hybrid that has wrap around brushes, rocker brushes and a top brush, all in NeoGlide material. It also has high pressure undercarriage and spinning wheel blasters. It utilizes a vehicle profile system that measures vehicle length and will automatically detect pickup truck beds allowing the top brush to wash the hood, windshield and roof then raise the brush back to rest position and not go in the bed. A 45 hp dryer is mounted onboard and the center nozzle rotates depending on the direction the machine is traveling. Before drying, the top brush spins to clear excess water and a wiper clears water droplets from frame. Also included on this unit are applicators for soap, triple polish, wheel/tire cleaner, drying agent and spot free rinse.

The pay stations have bill dispenser, credit card, bill and coin acceptance, as well as code acceptance for washes sold at the gas pumps or by cashier via the Hamilton HCS-III gas pump interface system. The D.A.N. also allows the operator to track all wash revenue, including cash and coin in the self-serve, print reports, and make changes remotely on the Gold Line Plus or any of the self-serve card reader nodes. It also allows for use of VIP cards in both the automatic and self-serve bays.

All wash equipment as provided and installed by Autowash Maintenance Corporation of Malden, a Sonny’s dealer.

Prestige Car Wash, Brockton, MA
Prestige Car Wash in Brockton was opened in 2008, and also serves as a training center for Econocraft. The exterior wash features a 105’ Econocraft cloth tunnel, equipped with an EZ Top Brush, side to side poodle brushes, front to back mitter wrap around and wheel blaster. The conveyor is constructed of heavy duty, ½ inch steel with spinning rail guard all the way, and uses heavy duty chain and rollers. Fail safe backup equipment includes two 15 HP conveyor motors and two Ingersoll Rand compressors. The end of the tunnel has a heated concrete floor and eight Superior blowers with variable frequency drives.

In addition to the tunnel, there are two, National Pride self service equipped bays with nine different options, dual booms, air dryers and heated concrete floors. The self-service detailing area is furnished with fragrance machines, air machines, J-KO mat cleaner and eight combo vacuums with shampooers. The location also has two National Pride dog washes. A DRB computer system provides full controls throughout the facility. Customers are offered unlimited monthly wash programs.

The wash was built by Prestige Car Wash Equipment of Brockton, an Econocraft dealer, and is owned and operated by the three Drory brothers.

Medfield Car Wash, Medfield, MA
Our final stop is the Medfield Car Wash, just opened in December 2009. This profit center loaded facility features a Sonny’s, 100- foot conveyorized, soft cloth car wash; self-serve gas; convenience store with Dunkin’ Donuts; and an auto repair shop.

The Sonny’s Roller-On-Demand conveyor has Banana Rail guide rails (inner & outer), fork assembly with mechanical anti-jam, pneumatic take-up assembly featuring exclusive double roller bearings for sprocket and ½ inch thick top deck. The brush package includes Sonny’s Spyder dual wrap-around unit with soft cloth and NeoGlide brushes, front to rear mitter with Microclean cloth and Bison brushes that have onboard rocker brushes. This is followed by an Omni 350 high pressure arch with tracking/oscillating heads, spinning wheel blasters, a side to side mitter & rocker brushes and tire shine applicators after rinse area, ending with a 90 hp dryer.

The Sonny’s tunnel controller has 48 functions (expandable), a manager PC station, and it works in conjunction with a Hamilton HTK pay station. This allows for both attended and unattended operation, and it processes washes sold at the gas pumps or convenience store. Customers can purchase a wash at the HTK with either cash or credit card. Change for cash sales is given in $5, $1 bills and quarters by the HTK. There also is a push button station for entering washes which the attendant can use, if necessary. The reclaim system is an Aquamizer 2000 by Hydro Management Systems.

All wash equipment was provided and installed by Autowash Maintenance Corporation of Malden.