Re-charging your CRSpotless *Resin* - Page 2

SuperBee364 · 11-07-09, 08:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by 15951

This seems to be a pretty big investment just to avoid towel drying a car. I'll stick with the microfibers!

The initial investment is 385 bucks or so, then about two dollars worth of chemicals to recharge the resin. I think they figure on about 300 gallons of DI water for water that is "average" hardness per resin refill, and it comes with a total of two sets of resin. So that's 600 gallons of DI water.

And to me, there is *no* investment too high to avoid using a towel to dry a car. Well.. almost none.

I get home from work late tomorrow night. Monday I'm planning on doing a complete pictorial of the recharging process from start to finish, including every item used (and where to buy it, pics, part numbers where appropriate, etc).

After reading and re-reading the process, it really does look easy.

Accumulator · 11-08-09, 08:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

..After reading and re-reading the process, it really does look easy.

Says you

But seriously, I'll be looking forward to your write-up and I'd be happy to eat my words if this is a feasible idea after all.

I gotta order some more resin or do *something* pretty soon anyhow...

Kean · 11-08-09, 11:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

I get home from work late tomorrow night. Monday I'm planning on doing a complete pictorial of the recharging process from start to finish, including every item used (and where to buy it, pics, part numbers where appropriate, etc).

....thanks SuperBee. I am in the same boat as all of you (I have the DIC-20 purchased from Costco). I just refilled it a couple of washes ago and have been scouring the internet for cheaper replacement resin. I too missed that source for $95 (thanks jb1!).

What about disposal of the hazardous checmicals once the recharging process is complete? That is one of my biggest worries and why I had similar concerns as Accumulator did about the hassle.

On a side note, I have been capturing my DI water as I depressurize the filters for storage. I can get about 32oz or so that I simply fill empty 1 gallon bottles with. I use this water to mix with some of my products I keep in spray bottles, etc.

SuperBee364 · 11-08-09, 11:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kean

....thanks SuperBee. I am in the same boat as all of you (I have the DIC-20 purchased from Costco). I just refilled it a couple of washes ago and have been scouring the internet for cheaper replacement resin. I too missed that source for $95 (thanks jb1!).

What about disposal of the hazardous checmicals once the recharging process is complete? That is one of my biggest worries and why I had similar concerns as Accumulator did about the hassle.

On a side note, I have been capturing my DI water as I depressurize the filters for storage. I can get about 32oz or so that I simply fill empty 1 gallon bottles with. I use this water to mix with some of my products I keep in spray bottles, etc.

The lye and muriatic acid will all be mixed together in a five gallon bucket. They neutralize each other, and I believe it's harmless salt water.

Good idea about capturing the water. I need to start doing that

SuperBee364 · 11-09-09, 05:54

Guys, this is just a no brainer, it's so easy. The hardest part was opening the beer.

I'll post some pictures that might be helpful, but really it's just a matter of understanding the instructions from the guy's website in the first post.

I'm not entirely satisfied with my equipment choices, so I'm not going to post suggestions on what to use quite yet. I need to replace a few components to make this project *really* easy. Even doing it for my first time today, it was certainly worth the hundred bucks it saved me in resin. It cost me 5 dollars in chemicals and five gallons of DI water. Yup, Supe's cheap... and happy.

SuperBee364 · 11-09-09, 06:10

In the pic below, you'll notice that the fluid "gap" is on the top of all the resin. That means there is too much resin for the amount of lye solution. The "gap" needs to be between the two layers of resin.

So the fix is to add more, fresh lye solution until the "gap" moves from on top of the resin to between the resin layers, as shown below.

I wasn't happy with how much water my strainer left in the resin, so I'm keeping the two type of resin separated until I can find a better way to get more water out of it. Here's what I ended up with.

It looks like there's more anion resin than cation, but that's just how the bag is tilted. There's pretty much equal amounts of both. That's enough resin to completely recharge the large CRSpotless system. It took two hours, but I'm sure next time I can cut it down to an hour, tops. I did it in two batches this time. Next time it'll just be one.

jb1 · 11-09-09, 06:49

Supe,
Can't wait for more details. Is it really "that" easy? I'm all about easy. LOL. So won't the true litmus test be when you use the re-charge resin to see if it truly re-charged it?

Is this process supposed to make the resin as new, near new, etc. as far as how much TDS it removes from the resin?

SuperBee364 · 11-09-09, 06:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by jb1

Supe,
Can't wait for more details. Is it really "that" easy? I'm all about easy. LOL. So won't the true litmus test be when you use the re-charge resin to see if it truly re-charged it?

Is this process supposed to make the resin as new, near new, etc. as far as how much TDS it removes from the resin?

I'm gonna load up the filters with it tomorrow to test it, but yeah, it should be *fully* recharged, and capable of de-ionizing the same amount of water as when it was brand new.

jb1 · 11-09-09, 07:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

I'm gonna load up the filters with it tomorrow to test it, but yeah, it should be *fully* recharged, and capable of de-ionizing the same amount of water as when it was brand new.

How awesome is that? Weren't we "told" by someone that we can't re-charge the resin or am I thinking of something else? Thanks for testing this out - your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Kean · 11-09-09, 08:23

.....I appreciate the sharing of information Supe. It looks promising so far. I just changed mine recently and now regret throwing out the used resin.

David Fermani · 11-09-09, 09:02

You guys should check out PurClean's RO system. They make a portable system that is very nice:

New Wave Industries - Maker of PurClean Spot-Free Rinse Car Systems and PurWater Water Recovery Car Systems

SuperBee364 · 11-10-09, 05:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Fermani

You guys should check out PurClean's RO system. They make a portable system that is very nice:

New Wave Industries - Maker of PurClean Spot-Free Rinse Car Systems and PurWater Water Recovery Car Systems

I've been looking at a garage RO unit for years. It looks like David has found the one I'd love to get when I get out of the save-a-hundred-bucks-on-DI-resin mode and get into the blow-a-few-thousand-bucks-on-an-RO-system mode. The only drawback to them is the waste water. I guess as long as it's collected and used for watering the lawn or something. But ya just can't beat real RO water, that's for sure.