Kränzle car wash vacuum cleaners and valet equipment

A vacuum cleaner used in a carwash has to pick up water as well as dry material, since the interior is worked on immediately after the vehicle has been washed. Kränzle South Africa supplies a commercial wet and dry range, the Storm series, from 15 to 80 litres, alongside valet machines for carpet and upholstery extraction and valet dryers.

Selecting a wet and dry vacuum cleaner

The machine is sized to the number of wash points rather than to the size of the vehicle. A single valet station is generally well served by a 15 or 30 litre machine. Where several vehicles are worked on at once, or where a large volume of standing water is picked up, the multi-motor 60 and 80 litre units are used. Plastic tanks are supplied where the entry cost is the consideration; stainless steel tanks on castors are intended for continuous commercial use.

All run on 230 V and ship with a 2.5 metre hose and tooling - steel wand, wet and dry pick-up heads, crevice tool and round brush.

The vacuum cleaners, the valet machines and the valet dryer are supplied and supported by Kränzle South Africa and are not manufactured by Kränzle in Germany, which builds the pressure washers.

Vacuum cleaners and valet machines

A wet and dry vacuum cleaner removes loose dirt and standing water. It does not clean fabric. A valet machine is a hot water extraction unit: it injects cleaning solution into the carpet or upholstery and vacuums it back out, which is what removes embedded soiling. A valet bay generally uses both.

The Kränzle Predator is the 40 litre valet machine and is the preferred unit for washing carpets; the Sniper is the 20 litre unit and is more commonly used for upholstery and car valet work. When selecting a valet machine it is important to consider the water lift of the vacuum motors, as this determines how much water is removed from the surface being cleaned and therefore how long the vehicle takes to dry.

A valet dryer reduces the drying period further. It consists of a blower, a heater and two 2.5 metre hoses inserted through the car windows, on a stainless steel frame with over-temperature thermostat protection and four castors. It is supplied as a 6 kW unit on 230 V or a 9 kW unit on 400 V, both to a maximum of 65 °C.

The valet machines and the finishing products are covered in full under car detailing equipment, and the interior cleaning chemicals under car wash chemicals.