Ipso vs. Wascomat

[Anonymous]

I am in the process of having a laundromat built. Looking for information on these two brands of front load washers and dryers. Advantages/disadvantages? Any info would be helpful.

Thanks agian.

[Kitty]

If you do the investigations, you will easily see the advantages and disadvantages.

Mercedes versus buick

[pete f]

Sounds like the cart before the horse? How can you build something if you do not have all the specs yet, ie, machines.
Electric, plumbing ect is by machine spec.
IPSO is more common in Europe, though the big ones are made here in the states. Wasco is more common here in the states. They both have pro and cons. IPSO has a new door handle now, the old one was a little strange. Check them out for yourself at your dealer. IPSO is teamed up with Cissel for dryers, Wasco not sure. Both IPSO and Cissel make very large washers/dryers for commercial grade, ie, the hotel/hospital/prison type laundry facility. The coin line does get some of that experiance. There are plenty of Waco fans here, they will share I am sure. Parts costs has been said to be an issue with IPSO.

[Ken]

High parts cost and tech suppor are the problems for IPSO,IPSO do make good looking ,heavy duty washer,a lot stainless steel, they don't make their dryers,some made by ADC,some made by SQ.
I have older Wasco but I don't know much about the new Wasco Gen6 and their new dryer TD30 30,I look at them in the clean 03,I was not very impress.Gen 6 have a lot same design as Gen 5.
I just hate the painted door and unit body design,why don't they use stainless steel anymore?
Wasco have one of best warranty and tech sppor.
If I build a new store,nither of them will be my choice.

[Kitty]

Ist impressions aren't always correct. Give me some reasons you turn you nose up to the new Gen 6?

[Fred50]

Carlog,

Pick the best distributor first, especially if this is your first store!

I speak from recent experience and even though the equipment I have was not my first choice, the distributor I chose made all the difference. You are guaranteed to have many problems, none of which you could even dream of at this point. A good distributor could easily save you time and money, which to me is much more important than anything else.

[Ken]

Mark is right,good distributor is important.I have not found one in Chicago are since my family start this biz in 1990,good luck.
Most distributors just want to build more stores ,some even build there own stores in my area.
About those Gen 6,I don't like a few design and I can not get anyone answer my questions in Clean 03,I was in Wasco booth over 45 mins.Wasco has the best tech sppor,I guess I can call them ask more questions.
A few thing I don't like about Gen 6.
1,painted door and the front plate door touch,I had Gen 5, those paint front just rust like crazy.
2,Unitbody like Gen5,I saw a few broken one in hotals.Wsaco give 5 years warranty on the body but I like to keep them longer than 5 years.
3,Relays are all the way back,they will be hard to replace.
4,my friend has Gen 6 told me when too much water in the tub,the door won't open,this will be such bad news for any unattendant stores.
5,ply door handle like Gen5
I like washers have stainless front and door ,they are easy to clean,look good for a long time.I won't buy any new design machines for a few years anyway.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info so far. Great board set up here!
Doesn't seem that too many of you are sold on the IPSO product. I have seen demonstrations on the two and the IPSO seems to be better constructed and told more enegy efficent. My concern is that I don't want to pay too much for these machines in relation to what I get out of them. I am planning on having a store for 5-10 years maybe more???-if everything works as planned.

I have been working with an individual at cleanequipment.com with help of constructing a new laundromat. Anyone have experiences with this firm? I'm trying to get as much info as possible about the laundromat business before jump in it.

[Ken]

Why don't you talk your local dealer?Ask info is always free.
Dealer in Chicago area
D & M 773/889-5500
Washtown 773/5451353
Washpro 708/3456825
coin-o-matic 708/3719595
Hales 815/9658767
laundry concepts 630/2389400
coin op sale 773/2478748
McGary Gurnee IL
Those are the dealer you can get more info about your area,I won't suggest any dealer,just the info.

Tell them you saw their name & Phone Number on Coinwash.com

[BWJR]

Wasco's never had a major problem, although I have only owned Gen 4. Ipso's I owned a few and was not happy with them. Coin Mech, bearings, and parts are too expensive.

BWJR

[pete f]

You are not sold on anything written below are you? It is not "real life" Most of the people here are very active in thier stores to make them work. It is not for everyone, and is not as easy as it looks, though it is not hard work. Also it can be low paying compared to other professions. It is not get rich quick by any means. And new stores are more prone to fail, or run in the red for many years, than established stores.

from thier website on coin laundry>>

Coin Laundry stores offer very profitable results and coin operated laundromats do, in fact, offer an unusually attractive opportunity to invest, with financing available to qualified individuals and permits you to own a business that provides a product for a need driven market, produces absolutely no receivables, requires almost no labor force, is essentially recession proof, is not a franchise and can be absentee owned.<<

[Fred50]

Carlog,

Every newbie should read the attached thread:

http://www.coinwash.com/mb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1075&highlight=newbie

The way I explain the business is that it is simple, but far from easy. There is a lot more to this business than as it appears on the surface.

You can't afford to pay someone to do all of the maintenance that is needed and if you are not handy or willing to learn than you are in for a wicked, expensive surprise.

As Pete F stated, this business is not for everyone. There are recent threads here from someone that has gotten into the business on a part-time basis and is unfortunately in over their head.

When I first started looking, a few distributors told me about showing up once or twice a week to collect - HAH!

I do that in addition to the 70 or 80 other hours I work and that is with a brand new store. It is obviously tougher with an older store, especially one that hasn't been maintained.

I know that you are building new, but you better have a distributor that you trust and you have to be intimately involved with every step of the process. Don't forget that this is your money, and no one cares as much about it as you do!!

Good luck!

[PeterH]

Ipso has one of the slowest spins available, some pretty small doors but some great control/pricing systems. They do have the 12, 18 and 30# softmount hi-extract machines that are quite reasonably priced. Their stack dryers are now made by Alliance (Huebsch/SQ).

On the other hand, I'm a Wasco man...

[pete f]

IPSO is teamed with Cissell for dryers, that I am sure of.
Cissel is a tough built dryer.
And the 12# IPSO washer is built tougher, like no other soft mount on the market in it's size.

[mike]

I looked at the 12 lb. ipso softmount at the show.

Nice machine, but was quoted $2,000. from the salesman.

I just can't get my head around paying almost the same for a 12 lb. softmont as an 18 lb. wascomat.

[PeterH]

Ipso/Cissell are all the same company now. They retired the Cissell/IDC design of the smaller dryers and now source them from Alliance. The Cissell 30#, 50# and stacked 30# are now Huebsch.

Kinda like how Continental dryers are switching from Dexter to ADC...

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately,Wasco gen 6 has no real track record,this gen is only a couple of years old.As far as Ipso ,my 20 year tech background would tell you stay away from them.I know they've made improvements but its always been considered a bad Wasco knock-off.I'm sure some have had good luck with them but you're looking for opinions.Now for my self serving push,why limit your options to just these two?Fine machines are built by some other manufacturers D ask E around X or T join E the R cla,gather as many opinions as possible.As you see I'm giving you my unbiased opinion....ha ha

[Ken]

Who made those funny 75# stack dryer? Cissell?
I saw them in Clean 99 but have not seen anyone put in laundromats or hotals.Anybody have them?

[Anonymous]

I sold a dozen or so to a friend of mine.Luckily it was his idea because they have to be the most unreliable piece of s#%&/equipment I have sold.They are built by cissel under the Ipso,Continental names.We were the guinea pig for their r+d.Cissel sent techs out 3 times to correct the numerous problems but to this day,4 years later,they still break every couple of days.Sadly they're hand built and no 2 are alike.The biggest problem is the customers really love them and can't understand why we can't keep them running.Thremostats,spark boards,computers,sail switches,motors,relays,coin drops,door handles,lint screens,door switches,belts all have had problems.I can sell someone 2 80# single pocket dryers that are reliable and use only about 12 inches more space for 2500.00$ less!!!Warning:these are not an opotion!I obviously don't like these.

[Ken]

WOW!
That is the reason I don't buy first few years model.
It looked like a good idea.
Thanks for the info.

[MichaelCa]

Wow, thanks for the Info on the Cissel 75 # stack...

Just like Ken, I had thought this was a great idea, but hadn't seen it anywhere.
DexterRob said "customers really love them", thats exactly what i would have guessed !

Curious what they vended for ?

Also, what alternatives are out there ?

[MichaelCa]

PeterH wrote:
"Kinda like how Continental dryers are switching from Dexter to ADC..."

I just found this out - do you know if these Continental(ADC) Dryers are the identical (& as good) as the ADC models ?

[Ken]

ADC 75# and SQ 50# look good and have been in market for a long time.
ADC75# only 34" deep,coin mech is a little high.
New SQ 50# has a super large door,I think it is same design since 60s.
Maytag ADC is different than the 3 ADC stack but most other companies just change the name and color.

[Anonymous]

The 75# stacks vended at 4-5 minutes per .25.My statement that "the customers really loved them"meant that they loaded the heck out of them but really we observed that they were always running regardless how busy the store was.As far as the switch to ADC,Dexters contract with Continental is up not too far away so they're covering bases.Also, by selling both ,which is they're plan,they can capture both the Dexter and ADC customers.I wish I had the option to sell more than one brand especially with the thread responses on this site!These ADC's are built specifically for them with some exclusive design options only their's will have.If I remember correctly,Wasco did the same thing as well as Maytag,with not so great results.I would think ADC would keep the best for themselves,why compete with their own dryer?But then again Dexter does to some degree...These hidden relationships,where does it end?

[Ken]

I have Dexter's Dexter stack dryer,Maytag's Dexter stack dryer,
Cotintonal's Dexter stack dryer,they are all the same.
Contonal's ADC stack look like ADC,I don't own any of them.
I spoke to ADC's tech,he said the Maytag ADC is between ADC236 and 330,it is 330's front and 236 long shaft design.
The ADC 330 and 360x2 is like SQ's dryer,they don't have the long shaft anymore.I like the ADC 236.

[MSKLAUNDRY.]

Actually, Maytag's ADC is like the ADC435 which is no longer made, It really doesn't look like anything currently produced.
The new Continentals stacks are really ADC330 which is nothing to jump up and down about.

[MichaelCa]

MSK: What do you dislike about the ADC 330 ?

Ken: You think the ADC 236 is better than the 330 ?
The 330 (literature) says they are 98% accessible from the front, also they are only 44" deep, while the 236 is 52"


As for Maytag/ADC's, two tech reps & salesman all said the following:
Maytag 31 is EXACTLY an ADC 330
Maytag 32 is slightly different from ADC 236 (different control board)

I've heard very good things about both 236 & 330, ... the choices make it confusing which to decide...

[Ken]

ADC's tech told me the 330 is there best seller,236 2nd ,360x2 3rd.
The 236 was the old 235,ADC made them since 1987,it is a good design,it works just like the ADC 285 single dryer.I don't believe the literature about 98% accesible from the front.
I like to buy anything has been in the market for a while.

[MichaelCa]

Ken, with the 330 i would have 2' 1" clearance from back of the machine to the wall, with the 236 it would be 1' 5" , do you think that is enough for me ?
(assuming the back of a 236 is smooth - which is what their brochure shows)

[Anonymous]

I have ADC 236 dryers and yes the back is smooth and you really need very little room behind them to work on them. They are a great machine!

[Ken]

As long as you can fit in the space,you have enough space otherwise lose some wight :-).I am just joking.
The 236's back in flat,it build just like 285 sigle dryer.
I don't like the 330 since I don't want to take front pannel out for most service and it doesn't have real shaft.
You don't really need a lot space in the back,large space is nice but 17" is good enough.Some of my dryers have 24" in the back,some only have 18".