When a car goes through, the FlexWash Coordinator sends a command to your controller specifying which wash package to run, along with any add-ons or retracts to fire. Your controller then drives the actual equipment.
FlexWash does not control the equipment directly. It tells the controller what to do, and the controller runs the wash. Understanding this boundary is the key to troubleshooting quickly.
Isolating the Issue
When washes are not firing as expected, the first job is to determine where the failure starts. Assuming your Coordinator is online and operational, the failure usually falls into one of three categories:
- Communication between FlexWash and the controller
- A bad wire or port
- An issue with the controller itself
To isolate the cause, we need a way to send wash packages without FlexWash.
The best tool for this is a physical PBS (push button station) officially
supported by your controller manufacturer. A PBS confirms whether the controller
can receive and process cars correctly on its own.
If you do not have a physical PBS (push button station) or some other way to
send washes supported by the controller manufacturer, our ability to
troubleshoot and isolate issues is severely limited.A PBS also gives you an
emergency fallback way to wash cars if your FlexWash equipment is down. We
therefore strongly recommend you have a physical PBS or equivalent.
Reading the Result
Using the PBS, send a full wash package, not just an individual piece of equipment.
- The controller processes the package. The controller is healthy, so FlexWash is doing something incorrect. Continue with the FlexWash support steps below.
- The controller cannot process the package. FlexWash will not work either. Contact your controller manufacturer and troubleshoot with them.
Other Ways to Send Washes
Depending on your controller, there may be another way to send washes without
FlexWash. For example, DRB TunnelWatch offers a virtual push button
station
you can use as a PBS.
FlexWash Support Steps
If your fallback (PBS or equivalent) can send washes but FlexWash cannot, the
problem is on the FlexWash side. Our support team will:
- Confirm the Coordinator is reachable with a ping
- Confirm all the required controller settings with you
- Confirm the package codes are correct
- Inspect the logs for errors
After the steps above, if you are still having issues, a controller restart
sometimes resolves the issue. Controllers run a piece of software for receiving
packages that can get into a bad state, and a restart can fix that. 