If you subscribe to the belief that “in the real world” things are too hectic to methodically carry out scheduled preventative maintenance (PM), you are potentially leaving tens of thousands of dollars in lost profit on the table. For the most part, the mysterious gremlins that cause breakdowns on busy Saturdays can almost always be traced back to a weak PM program. Car wash equipment is inherently durable. When properly maintained you should expect zero downtime and many years of trouble free service.

For those of you who carefully log each item in your wash and perform the recommended maintenance according to each manufacturer’s documentation on the exact day the service is due, stop reading and continue what you are doing. That is the ideal that everyone should strive toward. This rough overview of PM is for those of us who wait until we suspect something is about to break before servicing it. If you fall into that category and are looking to reduce repair and downtime expense with an easy to implement routine, I hope you find some helpful pointers below.

Successful PM is a Weekly Habit
In a perfect world, each and every item in your car wash would have an odometer. PM would be performed for each piece of equipment individually as directed at a pre-determined number of cars. Since this is nearly impossible, manufacturers instead recommend PM on weekly, monthly, biannual, or annual intervals. Juggling which items need to be serviced on which day can become tedious. Adding or replacing items over time quickly adds to the confusion. Needless to say it often seems less expensive to abandon the comprehensive PM program entirely. This can be a costly mistake.

The first battle to developing an effective PM routine is to eliminate the question of when the next PM is scheduled. Some form of PM should occur on the same day every week. Pick a slower day, when everyone involved is available and not too exhausted to be effective. Another method is to do PM the same night you pull time cards. This means that if your work week starts on Thursday, every Wednesday night, time cards are pulled at the end of the day. Whoever puts the time cards in the envelope is required to insert the initialed PM checklist and sign the outside of the envelope indicating that all activities were completed. Using the time cards is a great trigger to remember PM, and associating the process with paychecks often elevates the perceived importance of the task for everyone at the wash.

1. Thoroughly clean the tunnel, cloth, and all equipment.
2. Grease all rotational bearings. Make a separate task to be initialed for each equipment item that will receive service. Common items that incorporate rotational bearings include conveyors, tire brushes, mitters, top brushes, wrap-around washers, side brushes, and vacuum systems.
3. Clean or replace all filters and strainers. Treat each occurrence as a separate line item; include all pump stations, reclaim-systems, spot-free water systems, and vacuums.
4. Check all nozzles for wear and replace as necessary. Car washes have many nozzles and you will want to list each equipment item separately to avoid mistakes.
5. Check chain tension and remove chain links as necessary.
6. Closely inspect the operation of all moving components in the wash. Make sure to inspect smooth operation as well as all hose connections.
7. Spray lubricant on cylinder rod ends and clevises wherever present.
8. Wipe excess dirt and grime from the conveyor take-up slide.
9. Check that the photo eye signal level is 5 or above depending on lighting conditions.
10. Check oil level in all Filter Regulator Lubricators (FRLs).
11. Rinse down the conveyor trench.

The first weekly PM of each month
At least once a month you will need to increase the number of services performed during the standard weekly PM to include all monthly activities. Often it is easiest to designate the first PM to occur in each month for this routine. During this expanded weekly PM you will also want to include items from your biannual and annual maintenance lists. The goal here is to spread scheduled activities over the year so that no single PM is overly strenuous. Some operators will assign biannual and annual services to the standard weekly PM nights to more evenly distribute required labor. Although very effective, the practice requires more careful management to ensure nothing is forgotten. You will want to check the manuals that came with your equipment, but some common activities include:

1. Grease all pivot point bearings commonly found on tire brushes, wrap-around washers, side brushes, tire dressing applicators, and dryer arches.
2. Inspect all UHMW bearings for wear and replace if necessary.
3. Check oil levels on all pumps, gear boxes, and Filter Regulator Lubricators (FRLs).
4. Check all hardware for tightness and thoroughly clean all assemblies.
5. Remove tire dressing applicator foam pads, check spray nozzles and replace or flip pads as needed.
6. Check all drive belts for wear or damage and replace if necessary.
7. Apply spray lubricant to all vacuum access door latches.
8. Grease conveyor slide tubes on take-up section.
9. Clean sediment and dirt from all pump station storage/solution tanks.
10. Carefully inspect each conveyor roller, chain link and cotter.
11. Check spot-free water inlet pressure safety switch, by shutting off water supply.
12. Check spot-free chlorine level, PPM, and water hardness.
13. Clean conveyor trench removing all debris.

Biannual PM Services

1. Check cloth for wear or damage and replace as needed.
2. Replace air compressor air filter.
3. Change hydraulic power pack return line filters.
4. Clean reclaim tanks. This may need to be done quarterly depending on volume.

Annual PM Services

1. Have a licensed electrician check current draw on each leg of power to all electrical motors.
2. Grease all electrical motors on dryer assemblies.
3. Drain, purge and refill oil in all air compressor and high pressure pump crankcases.
4. Drain, purge and refill all hydraulic systems.
5. Drain, purge and refill oil in all gear reducers.
6. Remove chain from conveyor, flip over and reinstall.
7. Carefully inspect correlator bushings and bearings and replace if worn.
8. Replace all nozzles to prevent excessive chemical usage. Alternatively this critical aspect of wash performance can be scheduled based on cars processed and detergent used.
9. Install air compressor maintenance packs as required.

SUMMARY

Executing a comprehensive preventative maintenance program is vital to increasing the profitability of any car wash. It requires careful planning and precise documentation, but the rewards are well worth the investment of time and resources. Equipment failure and the painful losses that result from unexpected closure are completely avoidable. Often the hardest part is just getting started. I hope you found some useful information in this article to start or improve upon your PM program. Good luck and good washing.

Anthony Analetto has over 25 years experience in the car wash business and is the Chief Operations Officer of SONNY’S Enterprises, Inc. Before coming to SONNY’S Anthony was the director of operations for a 74 location national car wash chain. Anthony can be reached at 800-327-8723 x 104 or at aanaletto@sonnysdirect.com