Low cost fleet wash
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' Two new vehicle washers, the Britannia Supreme and Britannia Solo, have been added to the Smith Bros and Webb range.
The Supreme is a twin-brush drive-through washer capable of cleaning 50 vehicles an hour. The brushes are designed to run at 45' to the vehicle direction: the righthand brush starts on the left and cleans the front as it traverses with the vehicle movement. It then cleans the right hand side. The left hand brush cleans the side of the vehicle before moving across the back as the vehicle exits the washer.
Brushes are secured at the top and bottom for rigidity. The washer runs on three-phase electricity with lin water piping and a compressed air supply. A latching system can he fitted to stop the brushes falling into the gap between tractive unit and trailer. Prices start from around £16,000.
The Solo has a single brush held top and bottom on a radius arm. It is activated by the vehicle passing over a sensor and washes half the front and one side of the vehicle. The vehicle then reverses into the wash to clean half the rear, turns around and goes back through the washer in the other direction.
Detergent and rinse water pipes and brush rotation are automatically switched over according to which way the vehicle enters the washer which can wash a bus or box-sided vehicle in four minutes without the driver leaving his seat.
To set up the washer requires only a suitable wall and concrete base, three-phase electricity and a lin water supply. The Solo costs around £8,000.