New Proto-Vest bags! Fun fun!

I installed new blower bags on my blowers yesterday, and a new motor for my top shot! My bags were 11 years old! They look much better now, and im sure will help drying a little since they arent torn.

oh yea and thats me in the pic.

What's your total hp with this setup?
And where is this wash located?

I've got a u92 (30hp), a u325(30hp), and a u345 (45hp). I love the u345.

Michael, are you satisfied with the blower's performance? How old is the top shot to need a new motor?

been looking at the protovest 345 for our next tunnel....how does the unit perform overall? dry well? worth the money?

I have a total of 90hp, this is my only wash in Oroville Ca. How to customers like the untouchable? Any damage to lifted trucks? I almost bought a wash last year that had a horrible manager and the owner lived across the country, they had about 6k in damage to trucks from the untouchable... not sure which model it was though.

The blowers are 11 years old, I had the motor rebuilt, the bearing was out on it. I just bought the wash last July, probably just poor maintenance from previous owner. I do like the performance, the only thing is the back of suv's doesn't get as dry, I think they have a new top shot out that is aimed forward to get the backs of cars.

actually here it is! The tail wind

The 345 does a fantastic job on wide suvs. Running at 110 cph, I think it's great, especially for only 45 hp. I have two air gates and a silencer on the 30...so I haven't had any complaints from the house that's only 60 feet away.
Customers don't say a word unless it grabs their wiper (rare) or a string comes loose. But as with anything that touches the vehicle in the wash process it can be blamed for damaging something. I can honestly say I only had two or three incidents in the last million cars with provest and all of those were due to lose strings or lack of maintenance.
Don't understand damages to trucks...did it pull a fiberglass visor off? The employees must hit open bed hold to prevent the center bag from entering the bed. We did pull a tree stand out of a bed and the next car got stuck on it.
Drying is something that starts in the middle of the conveyor and continues to the end. A good low ph foam on the vehicle, rinsing before the final arches on some of the friction, a good drying agent, good drip space. You can't expect some dryers perform with the way some are set up.
They have more than paid for themselves with the reduced energy costs.

Im not sure what the damages were but the manager just said it was the blowers, and I saw the expences. Im sure they didn't hit the open bed button... that sounds likely especially since I saw damage claims that employees had "accidnetly" driven cars into the building... also at that time those employees were still working there! I am going to look into the low ph foam. I think that will help my drying a lot.

Your conveyor is running at 110chp? how long is your tunnel? Im running at 130cph... was thinking about reducing it a little, I have a 115ft tunnel.

Crapy Update! My Alan Bradley starter for my blower motor that I replaced is bad so now I have to have that replaced! And that will be 1k installed... that sould right? I priced with many electricians in my area and that was the cheapest

My tunnel is 110 feet...130 cph on 115 feet makes drying a lot harder. I would think 120 cph would be better if needed on 115'.

Bad starter...you know you can just replace the coil if needed...and you can replace or file your contacts...be sure to check all screws and connections for tightness. I've kept 20 year old starters in service that way.There's not much else to a starter besides contacts and coil...unless you get a severe short and burn a lead off.

I had problems over time with larger motors and lug connections instead of wire caps. Lug connections are wrapped with a insulating tape, that combined with vibration, can expose a lug and cause a short.
Be careful...

I slowed down to 110 cph and I'm getting a perfect clean, dry car, much happier at that speed. Also the starter had a lead burnt off, this was my first time dealing with those kind of starters, I feel like I got ripped off by the electrician, but It needed to be done. Next time I will try myself... So got that motor working now... but it doesn't end, one of the motors to my windshear has a front bearing going out. It probably had never been greased by the previous owners. Those easy to change on the 30hp motors?

I don't think you were ripped off.
Yea, when you lose a lead, the starter is trash. Must have been loose connection.

Don't think it's too hard to change a 30hp...just heavy. Have that one repaired and save for a spare.