X-STREAM TOUCHLESS

Has anyone seen one in action, they seem to be new? I was thinking of putting one in a self serve bay because it can fit in 14 feet.

No, this is my first time to hear of it. I like the chemical application. Overall it looks like something made in high school shop class. I don't know what they are talking about thousands less than the competition.

Equipment 69,999
Air Dryer 14,999
Entry System 13,050
Spot Free 7,899
Softner 3,999

Total 110,396

Thats alot of money to spend on a wash that makes some pretty bold claims, but I doubt many if any people on here have seen one in action.

Seen this in action, It appears to be better then some big names. At the same time not sure of the performance in the long run. Presentation was great though.

I've seen them in action and been to the place were they are built and met the owner. It is a very simple and reliable piece of equipment. There just are not many parts to break, and they can all be gotten from Grainger. Like any carwash it has its plusses and minusses. It can be programmed to do just about anything, but that is because you basically have to write the program yourself. You have to think like the machine and tell it what to do each time it makes any movement. It can apply more than one chemical at a time, and can run high pressure through both arms at the same time. It's biggest problems are actually similar to ones that the Laserwash had when it was first introduced, the biggest being that it lacks refinement. There are much prettier machines on the market, but they are not as reliable. It does not have a good weep system but uses a blow down system instead. I have never had good luck with blowdown to prevent freezing. You can not get it in a wallmount version. If you want that you will have to design your own. The best thing I can say about X-Stream is that they are prepared to stand behind their product and give you the support that you need.

3B Ind. in Comanche, OK http://www.3bindustries.com/
is another site you need to visit. There's two on Ft. Hood.

I have a PDQ 4000 (bought a site with one already there) and when I had my distrubtorship I sold Belanger Vectors. Go with who has the best support in your area. They all CAN clean, you just need to know the chemistry or have a dist. that does. They all will do 11-15 cph, dont let someone fool you into 40cph. Your max will be around 120-150 a day period. The laser has been around forever, and the Vector is also a great machine, but it REALLY depends on the distributor; how they put it in, and how it is serviced. You can buy the best machine on the planet, and it can go to hell in a hb in under a year if not taken care of! (the dist. is important especially if you are a newbie)

With all do respects My Typhoon this winter was pushing 250 with out breaking a sweat. ONE Manchine! I agree 40cars an hour is a stretch, but 120 is a slow day at my location. All machines are not created equally. The Machine, Service, chemical and attention will make your location pop. The most at out location was 334 this last FEB. Wash includes Free Vacuuming as well. We have a 120ft cloth tunnel and One IBA Typhoon, the whole lot we washed over 1200 cars

I have one of these machines and have been more than satisfied. They are good looking machines that catch the eye. I must say that once people "feel" it clean the car the machine might as well be invisible. It is plenty wide and if you want a machine to mount to the wall go find one. Myself...if I want to see a trapeze I go to the circus. I can wash more cars than you say is possible chlywily and have. I got busy early in the morning and had them 6 and 7 deep all day. Does this happen all the time? No...but can the machine handle it when it does? Sure thing.
You can all have your lasers, typhoons, tunnels, vectors, and any other over engineered complicated machine you want. You can also have the absurd parts and labor bills that go with them. I will keep my "shop class" machine and out clean anybody around.
Refined? Pretty? you want it to wash cars or go on a date with you? When are people gonna realize that bells+whistles= BIG$$$ and little cleaning ability...

Check one out and you will be surprised...AND HOMER if you are serious let me know. I will talk to whoever I need to and get that number to change.
A.J.

I am glad that you are happy with your machine. I am quick to judge new equipment manufactures that all sing the same song. I don’t mean to be rude when I say high school shop class. It’s kind of the opposite of calling something over engineered. But, when I drive down the road and see Ryko, PDQ, Belanger, and Jim Colemen (I live in Houston) on every corner it makes me think that someone is doing something right. Either these big oil companies / full serve, express wash investors are making so much profit, that they want to throw money away on “absurd parts and labor bills” or the investment is actually worth the return. I was at a laser today that was installed in March of 1996. It is still in service, washing cars and making money. It is not a fluke there are tons and tons of 4000’s all over town that is over 10 years old and still in good service. The backbone of these companies is the distributor. Most of the NON top tear manufactures distributor network consists of wash operators who sell the equipment to them selves, mixed in with a direct sales force. I understand that you have to start some where, but I think they fail to see the forest through the trees. As far as cars per-hour goes, anything above 20 an hour for an IBA. I will believe it when I see it. I am around car washes all daylong, and feel that that is unrealistic. Mr.Balboni apparently has a very high volume location with very well trained customers (not being sarcastic) you can chalk that up to a good operator. And I am sure he will give credit to his equipment. I am happy that he likes his machine too, positive attitude these days is hard to come by.

High volume days are due to having a loader to help with paystation and help load on the treadle, saves 30-40 seconds per vehicle. we usually will employ 4 tunnel attendants and maybe a handful of days kicked one employee to the IBA during hype hours 10am-3pm. Positivity is all I can have after 2008 as well homer!

I have looked at many new IBA's trying to find the right one to replace my 20 year old mity-trax. I just ordered an X-tream from Don. While the design might appear simple, it is a well thought out system that has a lot of positives. The rotating nozzles with a 45 degree angle that sweep both directions do a great job. The most important thing for me is that I can get by without having someone out, it is easy to work on. In twenty years in the business, I found out right away that the only for sure way for me to have a positive return, was to do all repairs myself. I spent two full days in Iowa at a car wash that has an X-tream and met with the owners, and after two years with it, they could not be more pleased, with not one down day and well over 30,000 washes. I have been a firm believer in spinners, and sweeping, so to speak, to get the vehicle clean. I think this wash will be an eye opener for my competition. Here's hoping I can update the forum with a success story in the future!

Yes there the best system I have Ever seen in my life works works great and is supper fast I love it but the one I went averised Powerain so they might suPply it