I thought this was interesting…. This is a Hamilton ACW controller with v4.23 firmware installed on the chip. With a 49-1200a REV 3 board from 1996.  I am assuming this is what Hamilton charges $150 for (The jumpers)?  I assume this is ready to upgrade to the “c” version firmware also?  You would have to ask super Randy.

I have the stainless case also. If you want to purchase it let me know. I also have the whole ACW part.

All I want to know is… If this controller is undated to v4.23 wouldn’t my ACW now be a ACW 5?  What was the difference?  Besides that switch on the relay box?

The thing I can’t figure out is why the hay was in the car and it was fine….. Then when you get to the car wash you take the hay out THEN put it in garbage bags?

Only thing that makes since is she stole the hay? But how do you even steal hay? Actually where can you purchase hay? What do you use hay for? Why does she have hay in the fist place?

She seemed shocked to found out it clogs up vacuums and I didn’t want her to use mine? Weird…. Maybe this is why she made a huge ass mess at my place of business and not at her house?

The Parker is $30 less for the old Slugbuster I (Old Style)  $108.33.  (They look exactly the same.)

The Slugbuster II quarter only is $107.14.  With tokens also $130.94.

All the Slugbuster II models are less then the Sensortron at $137.75?  What have I done?  :)

What also worries me is in the Kleen-Rite ad for the Sendortron, the info says “with over 100,000 units in service since 1981″.  That I am guessing… means they have sold 100,000?  That doesn’t seem like very many…. so I think I have been purchasing something everyone knows is over priced and other products are better?

Also if you goto parkers slugbuster website:  slugbuster.com  (Which BTW is SO BAD and looks like a phishing web site.  The clip art also is….. WOW!)  They say to fix ANY Slugbuster it cost $65… and a new acceptor has a 2 year warranty?  WTF that site does seem like a scam!  Or to good to be true!  :)  I think I have to switch to Slugbuster acceptors…. unless they are POS?  I don’t know?  :)

But when Rowe of all companies is using and bragging about how good a MEI bill acceptor is…. Things have changed! 

I understand this looks bad because I hate national pride…. just because they don’t give support after the purchase of meter boxes. Nothing kool or important!

But I have had plenty of meter boxes which have been broken into… the content of a cheap meter box which there comparing there $2000-4000 meter box to? HAS NOTHING OF VALUE IN IT…. UNLESS 25 CENTS IS WORTH IT FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON? PLUS IT SHOULD NEVER BE SUGGESTED OTHERWISE!  I understand the top screw mounts probably help just a little!    Even on tin foil boxes! But to say that some one has valuable components in there is ridiculous and just a nasty sales ploy and no one should do business with them. Besides the fact they couldn’t be bothered to help a CUSTOMER!  What is wrong with car wash companies?

Plus I have seen videos similar to this before. They should have hired someone to open the box and show how much trouble it was. Giving up that fast gives the illusion there product is a pos. If Trent Walker couldn’t last more then 30 seconds that’s fine…. What are they going to do resell the meter box?

Oh and Trent Walker actually says “you have thousands of dollars of components in there”. While I am assuming discussing a meter box. WOW multiple thousands!? Would that be considered a lie?

But they are discussing a meter box with a bill acceptor…. Which does hold money. Just a note for a thief… If you see a car wash with crappy boxes and a bill acceptor in it. Run away! What national pride omitted is the operator has cameras and more then likely an alarm when you hit it. “Not FREE MONEY” like there implying…. With the Vegas payout sound effect.

I need to have no shame also because I have greed and want money! I need a sign “Don’t scratch your car with dangerous brushes from express tunnels you can’t inspect! Come to a self serve!”. Its to long though …. But my statement is at least true! Your depending on the employees there to check the brushes…. Scarry! At a self serve you cam do it yourself!

http://www.nationalpridecarwash.com/pages/videos

It’s also funny how you can order chemicals from 5 states away and its cheaper then 50 miles away.

I think that every customer is lazy now…. I don’t want to talk to Bob or Marty at Para Plate.  YEAH I’M LAZY!  That is also why everyone has quit going to self-serve carwashes and going to express car washes… there lazy.  So if I don’t  want to talk to Bob, I email Bob and maybe Bob can just answer my easy question?  Right?

I did the same thing the other day to Dixmor (which BTW probably has the best customer service) and they emailed back twice and it fixed the problem!  :)  I also sent them stuff to fix and they don’t kill you on repairs?  WHAT?  Which is a nice touch (hint IDX…. that’s why I don’t use there coin acceptors anymore,  also Hamilton).

So I emailed sale@usparaplate.com a question:

Could you please email me a manual for your 24400 timer?
Thanks

The reason I had to email them is because either their site it terribly out of date?  Or the manual has trade secretes?  (More to come…  :)

This was Bob’s response:

Just confirming.  Are you a user of the 24400 timer??  Please provide your company name and location.  Thanks, Bob 

Yeah?  Really? For a $70 timer?  NO!  How about rereading my email… but I was nice.  :)  My response:

What are you talking about?  I was going to purchase one?  You don’t have a link on your web page.  Why would I email otherwise?

His response:

So he emailed the manual… why not just do that in the first place?  Also the manual has no competitive intelligence at all.  It’s one page!  It has no schematic?  No pin outs for the display?  No protocol for the display?  In fact I would argue the manual has zero differentiating information except the reference to the T24500 display which Bob did not answer a question about…. maybe tomorrow?  There are 10 or more vendors that sell vacuum timers…. the only thing that makes this only mildly special is the display you can NOT find.

So I should add them to companies I dislike because they are unhelpful:     National Pride, Ryko, U.S. Para Plate

BTW:  I emailed with National Pride in 2010 and told them that their 2007 catalog link was broken.  Still broken.  They also didn’t help which how to install the meter doors they sold me.  NICE!  :)

UPDATE:  10 Days later Bob never emailed back for some reason?  Probably just a sales person that doesn’t care about selling stuff?

I have always been fascinated with there product.  Maybe for the wrong reason.  :)  My Dad purchased two also and they are stupid expensive.  But what I don’t get is if I put a bunch of injectors together on my system everyone would laugh and make fun and say injector are a bad idea.  Make them expensive, fancy and oh also GREEN!  You have a product!  That’s why I enjoy marketing.  :)

My actual question is not the injector there all the same ss or these fancy kevlar (I think?).  It’s the HydraFlex setup.  The picture shows I assume 4 functions.  If 2 or 3 functions or even 4 are in use at one time…. wouldn’t this reduce the threw put of water thus pulling to much or to little chemical?  Which is one of the problems with  using injectors in the first place?  Thus the 27% chemical savings would either go up or down?  In another picture they have 5 functions?  Even worse?  I might be missing something here…. please let me know.  I’m going to build one.  LOL  :)

Also I understand that they use those big well pumps to regulate the water….  which is very important with injectors.  Also the bigger units have 2 pumps I assume it’s a fall over but I really don’t care it doesn’t matter.  I would just think the pressure can’t be consistent on all functions if pulling water at the same time?  I just don’t see it?  Unless it’s just good enough and doesn’t matter?

UPDATE:  The water intake is 200 psi and the output is anywhere from 60-80 psi like the injectors are rated at or 40 psi like some operator said his has at.  Not even sure how you would know that unless there was a gauge on them?  Maybe the color denote the psi also?

Okay maybe I have never seen carwash.com new website until today. I’m a little behind. This carwash stuff is trying to kill me. So I went to their site and it’s a new color red? But they got rid of their forum and started over! REALLY! Didn’t they have a really large forum? I really can’t remember I HATED the layout! Also why on earth didn’t they convert it? The matter what it COULD be converted… I guess the decision was not to. Which seems interesting. As a programmer I was given really bad crap to convert so I know there is no why it was not doable.

Do could I have the old forum carwash.com? Well if you are the ones that had a forum in the first place.

LOL Just kidding!

Why would Ryko publish their Code-A-Wash 4 Manual? or what every their entry unit is called? I forgot the name of the thing which I OWN!

I actually called Ryko they said they do not have it in PDF format… BUT I can purchase it! I think it was $50-100? NICE! Why would they put it online?

Also what really bugs me is on their website they state under “Ryko Advantage” “Proprietary Technology”? WHAT! Shouldn’t customers demand the exact opposite? If the Car Wash industry demanded better standard products maybe we would have products like the vending industry? With interchangeable parts? With DEX and MDB? Instead we have dumb proprietary stuff and expensive proprietary parts and are enslaved to one vendor like a sucker sucked into the sales pitch…. the end

Yeah I don’t have my own products! After looking at the swipe and clean though I should have made one. But I can have my own options for now. The full service controller companies are the worse with over priced stuff. But the market is just so small.