Coin boxes are a crucial component for every self service car wash bay. This is how the customer makes their payment and selects which function they wish to use. The goal is to make the coin box easy for everyone to understand so it is convenient for the customer to spend money. Which type of coin box is best for your car wash?
Different Types of Coin Boxes
Coin boxes come in two basic styles: vault-ready and coin-drawer. Coin-drawer style boxes have a drawer in the box itself to hold the coins. Coin drawer styles become more theft-proof with the addition of lock bars and locks.
Vault-ready boxes don’t have a coin drawer on the box itself; rather the coins are usually piped to a remote vault. Many of these vaults are more secure than coin-drawer style boxes and have a higher coin capacity. But, installation is more involved since you must run pipes through the wall from the coin boxes to the vaults.
You can also install a central vacuum system that sucks the money out of the coin box and takes it back to a central secure vault in the equipment room. The coin vacuum system is a safe and convenient method of coin collection. But, it is more expensive and complicated, for both installation and maintenance, than coin drawers or traditional vaults. Newer systems are able to vacuum up bills from in-bay bill acceptors as well as coins, making for a nice comprehensive solution for cash management.
Coin Box Components
All coin boxes have three critical components: coin acceptor, selector switch, and timer. Some systems have the timer in the equipment room, but for the purposes of this article we are considering the timer as a coin box component.
The two principal categories of coin acceptors are mechanical and electronic. Mechanical acceptors count the coins using a mechanical trip-switch and don’t need power to operate. Electronic acceptors use power to distinguish the different coins and give the proper credit for them. Mechanical coin acceptors are cheaper and easier to wire in to a system, but they aren’t quite as good at handling many different coins. Mechanical acceptors are rarely found in modern coin boxes.
Although they are more expensive, electronic coin acceptors are reliable and versatile. Some electronic acceptors will take 5, 6, or even more types of coins. Many operators accept tokens, dollar coins, and quarters. Why would you want to use tokens at your modern car wash? They provide a measure of security since you won’t have as much cash in the bays. Tokens also open up opportunities for promotions that aren’t available to an all-cash operation.
The next key component in the coin box is the selector switch. The traditional rotary switch is still the most popular. They’re simple to install and replace, inexpensive, and reliable. The alternative to the rotary switch is a push-button selector. Push buttons can be more visually appealing than rotary switches, but they are more expensive and complicated.
The last major component that’s found in every coin box is the timer. A basic timer counts coin pulses, and it turns the bay on for a set amount of time after a certain quantity of inserted coins. Most modern coin boxes use much more sophisticated digital read out timers. The digital read out is a must if purchasing new coin boxes. It allows the customer to see how much time is remaining in their wash cycle, making it easier for them to add more time. These timers generally have a last coin alert feature as well, which alerts the customer when time is running out. There are other options like bilingual displays and even talking add-ons.
Going Beyond Acceptors – Bills and Cards in Bays!
Besides coin acceptors, operators are offering more payment options in their bays. Dollar bill and credit card acceptance offer several advantages, including increased sales. For example, if a customer uses a five-dollar bill, they are buying five dollars’ worth of time, since the coin boxes do not give change. Credit card acceptance also increases revenue. Since most in-bay credit card acceptors use a count-up system where the bay operates until the customer tells it to stop, customers have less of the feeling of “fighting the clock” while washing, leading to longer wash cycles and increased income.
Customer convenience is key. The easier we make it for the customer to spend money, the more they will spend. Inserting a couple one-dollar bills or swiping a credit card is much more convenient than going to a changer and getting a bunch of quarters to plug into the coin box. Also, the time a customer spends going to the changer and bringing his quarters back is time when your bay is sitting idle. This may not seem like much, but on a busy weekend when all your bays are in use this can really add up.
Operators have expressed concerns about having bills in the bay, fearing they will lead to increased break-ins. The use of high-quality locks and lock bars reduce the risk greatly. Modern central coin vacuum systems also offer the ability to have the bills pulled into a safe in the equipment room, making this a non-issue. Another concern is how well the equipment will hold up in a wet car wash environment, but modern bill acceptors and card readers are built to last.
We hope that you now have a better understanding of coin box features. The goal is to make the coin box easy for everyone to understand and convenient for the customer to spend money. Read this Meter Box Upgrade blog post to learn about the options that Kleen-Rite offers. As always, if you have any questions, give us a call at 800-233-3873.
