Anyone have new Solaris

[kart7ny]

Hi we just installed 6 new Solaris SL 3131 last week and have had nothing but complants. They take 50% more time to dry than our 22 year old ADC 285 pockets. we have plenty of air and all that,ADC had us run throught the cycles with them they say it's all normal, they drop 25-30 degrees before the start heating again. Also have been told that our old dryers are hotter true but we have 2 old maytag stacks that only heat to 150.Has anyone experianced the same? I'm tempted to put the old dryers back and use the 30g's for gas
thanks

[kbc747]

Don't have any but American Credit has some on ebay for sale that are just a year old and by the photos there is a whole laundry full of them. 17 units if I remember right. I'm guessing that this may be a not so good sign after reading of your problems.

[mjwalsh]

Keith,

The 285 has a glo bar but has the hi lo board with the computer & special gas valve to modulate the flame so the temperature doesn't fluctuate as much.

Is the "surface ignition" of the Solaris function the same way as the 285's glo bar? Is it as quick as spark ignition? Does the flame fluctuate?

There has to be specific design reasons why the drying time is not as good as the 20 plus year old 285's. Is less cfm allowed by the design?

[laundryman79]

I've heard this complaint from a couple new Solaris owners in the last month. There is no way they can say that lowering the BTU to around 46,000 per pocket and I think lowering the air flow too, that this can improve things.

[pete f]

like fast cars, it takes BTU to dry. But we know some fast cars with small engines. I am not sure why the degree swing, that is not right. An electronic ignition should keep the temp within 5 degrees. The rest, not sure. I know they cut the BTU to save gas, but that may have been to much. I put in Maytag turbo wash machines in my new store, to save water. All hell broke loose when the customers could not see any water while the washers ran. I quickly adjusted the levels back to normal, before the turbo wash was invented. Takes water to wash clothes, heat to dry them. Hope you can find a solution, most of the time there is one, some not factory recomended.. let me give you an example. My new store Maytag dryers worked differernt than any dryer on the market. You had to open and close a door before you could restart it after it stopped. Most people load 2, 3 4 or whatever dryers and start them up. They check one when it stops, if it is not dry, they load more time on the rest of them. Mayatg dryers will take the money, but will not start until the door is opened up and re closed. This became a big issue. Maytag said it was saftey to insure the door switch worked, I said they were crazy, no other dry operates like that. I had a supplier make me a little box to wire in that zap the door switch at the end of the cycle, allowing customers to use the dryer like they do at every other mat in town. don't give up! And if anyone has Maytag stack dryers they want fixed email me or post for the fix. It was about $50 a dryer.

[laundryman79]

So if you have 10 new Maytag stack you need to spend a $1000 bucks to get them to operate like they should?

I think the BTU thing is going to bit them somewhere. My customers would raise hell if it's going to take a lot longer to dry a load of clothes.

[laundryboy]

I installed 5 Solaris 75# dryers in November. I'm still on the fence. My customers are not. They do not like them. I do my own clothing and use the units. They are a good dryer - but not what was advertised. There is considerable customer training as to the load type and size. I could easliy up the minutes per quarter, but then they would vend for LESS than the 30# stacks in the store.

I have another store with 3 yr old Hubesch 30# stacks and 75# dryers. Customers love the big dryer and have NO problem with the vend price:

6min/qtr 30#
3min/qtr 75# .50 to start

They love the Hubsche, if I where to do it over, I would have bought the SpeedQueens for my other store.

I'm not sure if ADC thinks you can increase the vend time on the dryer and the market will then think they are "getting a deal". Customers are smarter than that.

I also had a few issues with initial quality on the new ADC's. One ate a tumber belt within 2 days, another came with a lose motor and bad ignition sensor.

[Ken]

When I read ADC's ad,less BTU ,still dry as fast.I feel this is too good to be ture.
The rule of how much air flow and btu remove water has not changed much,only so much gas you can save.
I don't know what ADC is thinking,they decide only make Solaris.

[pete f]

I had a thought.. you could increase the orfice to boost the BTU on these things. You got to make them work normal this could be a cheap solution.

[mjwalsh]

Is the glo bar part of the problem with the Solaris? Does it light slower than the ignition style or is it a new & improved much faster glo bar?

[Anonymous]

I still can't believe ADC would trash their whole line of dryers that were excellent and come out with a substandard product in its place. If its true they are in trouble and so is Maytag who uses Solaris as their dryer.

[pete f]

So if you have 10 new Maytag stack you need to spend a $1000 bucks to get them to operate like they should?

I think the BTU thing is going to bit them somewhere. My customers would raise hell if it's going to take a lot longer to dry a load of clothes.

No, it is about $50 a dryer, so around $500
I was happy he invesnted it,. cheap enough for a fix. He will still sell them, if interested let me know.

[laundryman79]

Thought you meant $50.00 per pocket.

[Anonymous]

i am starting my search for new dryers. My old dryers are not that old but they scorch and i've had to replace baskets because of nails going through the holes and ripping the basket. and the gas bills are killer. Also the baskets are turning very dark will stainless steel baskets hold up longer ?

[Anonymous]

Kart,
How long does a load of towels take to dry in your new Solaris dryers. ADC said in their tests the Solaris dried the same as a ADC 330 dryer.

[Anonymous]

Anymore info on these dryers or is this just disinformation put out by ADC competitors?

[kart7ny]

Hi all, Just an update on the New Solaris dryers we purchased. First Off They now work great! "whew" It turns out there was an airflow issue unique to our location. With that said I would like to thank everyone at ADC for helping us resolve this problem. After several phone calls back and forth they sent one of their techs out to check out the situation and collect info, then a few days later their head tech and an engineer came out and resolved the problem. I'm very pleased with the company and their great support. The dryers are working well and our customers are happy! Not only do the dryers work great they look great too! I feel as though I made a good decision buying the Solarius.

[mjwalsh]

Kart7ny quote, "airflow issue unique to our location",

It would be great if you could give us a little better understanding so we can avoid that scenario. By air flow, was it make up air that is more critical to these dryers? I still am totally baffled by how they can go back to "surface mount ignitors" or "glo bars" & still not have the temp up & down that previous glo bar dryers had without a hi lo gas valve.

I have 16 single pocket 285 ADCs & I am definitely not biased against ADC. Yes, it would be nice to understand these phenomenons including--- does 46k btu vs 72k btu accomplish the same drying times?

Now that you have had that rush of information, hopefully you can help the rest of out Kartny7 by being more specific.

[laundryboy]

Agree with above comment. Give us more info. I have 5 75# ADC Solaris and am not satisfied to a point. Yes I like the system and use them, BUT my other 75#'ers are hands down better that the ADC's. I am now starting to work through with the factory.

[Anonymous]

I called the ADC factory because I heard that the Solaris dryers did not have holes in the basket, I keep getting nails through the holes and ripping the baskets (very expensive). The engineer said that the baskets don’t have holes so nails can’t go through.
I also asked about the glo bars he said the old dryers were very inefficient and cycled a lot because the air came in the top and out the bottom, now the air goes out the front and in from the back. I don’t really know if this makes sense but he said that the new Solaris will dry better than the old machines.

[MyLaundry]

Here is something you guys may want to know about new Solaris:

http://www.amdry.com/ADCTest.htm
Tell them you saw their link on Coinwash.com. And too please become a Sponsor of Coinwash.com too

[smellysocks]

if you notice there are in huge warehouse with tons of makeup air lets see it in tight laundry with little make up air and long vent to the roof

[Anonymous]

Is the glo bar part of the problem with the Solaris? Does it light slower than the ignition style or is it a new & improved much faster glo bar?
The globar has to glo before ignition so it is slower by nature. The electronic ignition is much better. We had an ADC training session on the Solaris and drove the poor guy crazy with questions he couldn't answer. They shouldn't have sent a salesman to do an engineers job.

[kbc747]

Hi all, Just an update on the New Solaris dryers we purchased. First Off They now work great! "whew" It turns out there was an airflow issue unique to our location. With that said I would like to thank everyone at ADC for helping us resolve this problem. After several phone calls back and forth they sent one of their techs out to check out the situation and collect info, then a few days later their head tech and an engineer came out and resolved the problem. I'm very pleased with the company and their great support. The dryers are working well and our customers are happy! Not only do the dryers work great they look great too! I feel as though I made a good decision buying the Solarius.


So Keith what was this solution, we all still want to know.

[Anonymous]

check this out about the glowbars

CLICK HERE for Solaris-FAQ-1 (http://www.coinwash.com/temp/SolarisFAQ1.pdf)

[pete f]

check this out about the glowbars

CLICK HERE for Solaris-FAQ-1 (http://www.coinwash.com/temp/SolarisFAQ1.pdf)


Very interesting, have to hook them up to a water supply?

[laundryboy]

Water supply? Yes, must be hooked to a water supply ONLY if you have the SAFE option. SAFE is an option for OPL users. You are NOT required to order the dryer with the SAFE option.

[mjwalsh]

laundryboy,

Thanks for the clarification on the SAFE option. Does it look like we are locked into a quarter only coin mech or is there also an option that allows us to put in our own multi coin meters? Remember these dryers are a long term investment & it would nice to have these provisions for a changing future. I honestly believe that some demographics will always be better suited for coinage than for debit cards.

It seems that the dryer manufacturers are shooting themselves in the foot by ignoring the reality of better electronic coin acceptance options. A lot of our customers can get turned off real quick by having to futz with 8 quarters for 40 minutes etc. instead of 1 or 2 coins per dryer. We don't know where our expenses will go in the future so we have to try to be more prepared.

[dryersrus]

YES, there is an option to order a Universal Mech that can be programmed to accept any coin.
I will be more than happy to help you in this option if you like. please
get back to me.