Every small business needs equipment of some type to operate and a mobile auto detailing and/or car washing business is no different. In fact, since you are going to the customer’s car, you have to bring all your supplies with you, actually everything, including your own source of power and water. Not long ago a mobile detailer, well actually a future mobile detailer asked me:
“Do you use generators for the electrical tools?”
Indeed, we do use generators, generally Honda, due to their quiet, low-maintenance and reliability attributes. You need a minimum of 2500 watts, I recommend 3000 because a 5-6 hp. shop vac is really killer for vacuuming and sucking up waste water and pumping it into a holding tank or shrubbery, as you cannot allow it to enter the storm drain or water ways.
Also with 3000 watt you can go to an electric pressure washer, saving you from having two motors on-board or you can go 2200 -2500 watt and get a 5.5 hp pressure washer. But if you are going to clean big fleets, you’ll need to go with hot water (Landa – type skid unit, check the various brands out) and 2500-3000 PSI. I’d skip the big bad buffer syndrome, way over rated, if you are going to do that, stay with auto detailing, keep prices high, go for only high-end big ticket customers. That is a totally different business, this is why we separated them out for instance;
- CarWashGuys.com
- DetailGuys.com
You see, once you determine the way in which you want to run your business and the type of equipment you’ll need, well then you can determine the size generator you’ll use. So, think on this.