Re-charging your CRSpotless *Resin*

SuperBee364 · 11-05-09, 12:15

CRSpotless resin (mixed bed de-ionizing resin) is expensive. I have spent *many* long hours searching the internet, sending emails, etc. trying to find an affordable source. The best I ever found was 200 bucks for one cubic foot, which is enough to recharge the big CRSpotless system three times.

Depending on how chewy your water is, you can go through media very quickly. Unfortunately, the water where I live is extra crunchy; I get *maybe* 100 gallons out of fresh resin. If you buy a package of resin that is just big enough to refill your CRSpotless system, it'll run you a hundred bucks. So I've been paying about a buck per gallon for DI water. That's just not sustainable long term, even if purchased by the cubic foot.

Fortunately, mixed bed de-ionizing resin can be recharged. It's kinda like how a soft water system recharges it's resin using salt, but the chemicals used for recharging DI resin are much more dangerous: Lye and muriatic acid. But don't let the chemicals involved scare you away from doing it. Check out this site: How to Recharge DI Resin by David Sanders - Reefkeeping.com The guy goes through recharging DI media step by step. He states that he's been recharging the same DI media for over two years and it's still working.

Lye and muriatic acid are both really cheap. It'll only cost a couple bucks worth of chemicals to recharge a hundred bucks worth of resin.

I just refilled my CRSpotless with fresh factory media. I'm going to take a stab at recharging the stuff I just took out. We'll see how it goes...

RaskyR1 · 11-05-09, 12:24

Very Cool!

Thanks for doing the leg work on this one Supe! The cost is the only reason I have not yet purchased the system and this may change my mind now.

SuperBee364 · 11-05-09, 12:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaskyR1

Very Cool!

Thanks for doing the leg work on this one Supe! The cost is the only reason I have not yet purchased the system and this may change my mind now.

Hope it helps, Rasky.

If you get the CRSpotless system from Costco, it includes an extra change of resin, along with the resin that's already in the filter cartridges. So when your resin is exhausted, you can swap in the spare resin, then re-charge the worn out stuff. You'll never have to buy any additional resin. Actually, you might want to buy one small bag, as there is a small amount of resin lost during the recharging.

I'm now using DI water for the entire wash now, instead of just the rinse. Greg Nichols pointed out that CRSpotless water can be kinda tough on the parts in your pressure washer, though, so it might be a good idea to run regular water through your PW after running DI water through it. Why the DI water seems to corrode the parts of a PW worse than tap water is kind of a mystery, though.

RaskyR1 · 11-05-09, 01:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

Hope it helps, Rasky.

If you get the CRSpotless system from Costco, it includes an extra change of resin, along with the resin that's already in the filter cartridges. So when your resin is exhausted, you can swap in the spare resin, then re-charge the worn out stuff. You'll never have to buy any additional resin. Actually, you might want to buy one small bag, as there is a small amount of resin lost during the recharging.

I'm now using DI water for the entire wash now, instead of just the rinse. Greg Nichols pointed out that CRSpotless water can be kinda tough on the parts in your pressure washer, though, so it might be a good idea to run regular water through your PW after running DI water through it. Why the DI water seems to corrode the parts of a PW worse than tap water is kind of a mystery, though.

LOL. I can't just see it now. Me in the garage with a bunch of containers, mixing chemicals, wearing gloves, mask, and protective eye wear, when all of a sudden the DEA pulls up!

SuperBee364 · 11-05-09, 02:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaskyR1

LOL. I can't just see it now. Me in the garage with a bunch of containers, mixing chemicals, wearing gloves, mask, and protective eye wear, when all of a sudden the DEA pulls up!

LMAO!

I have a very old, very nosy neighbor. I think I'll wait until I see him outside working on his yard, and do exactly as you describe above... then wait and see how long it takes for the cops to show up. Prolly be the most excitement the old guy has seen in twenty years... Of course, afterward I'll offer to wash his car for free.

jb1 · 11-05-09, 04:06

Supe,
Be sure and report back on how your recharging process goes. When my current resin runs out, I think I'm going to give this resin a shot and see if it works. Someone else on the forum asked about it and I never heard back and whether he tried it or not. Window Cleaning Shop

My TDS is around 300 going into the CR so it's not as bad as some but still pretty nasty.

Setec Astronomy · 11-05-09, 04:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

Why the DI water seems to corrode the parts of a PW worse than tap water is kind of a mystery, though.

The way it was described to me years ago, is that the water is so pure (free of ions) that it wants to combine with anything it comes in contact with...it's more reactive because none of the water molecules are bound up with anything else. It came up because 316SS needed to be specified for the DI water, when 304 would have been fine if it was tap water.

SuperBee364 · 11-05-09, 05:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by jb1

Supe,
Be sure and report back on how your recharging process goes. When my current resin runs out, I think I'm going to give this resin a shot and see if it works. Someone else on the forum asked about it and I never heard back and whether he tried it or not. Window Cleaning Shop

My TDS is around 300 going into the CR so it's not as bad as some but still pretty nasty.

That link has the very best price I've seen for DI resin. I can't believe i didn't sniff that one out. With shipping, it's 140 bucks for a cubic foot. Not bad at all.
However, if my math is right (which it probably isn't) it's going to cost about 2 dollars worth of muriatic acid and sodium hydroxide to recharge an entire large CRSpotless system worth of resin.

The TDS going into my system is 850.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

The way it was described to me years ago, is that the water is so pure (free of ions) that it wants to combine with anything it comes in contact with...it's more reactive because none of the water molecules are bound up with anything else. It came up because 316SS needed to be specified for the DI water, when 304 would have been fine if it was tap water.

Thanks for that, Setec. Makes sense.

Supposedly, you get just as good of life out of recharged resin as you do factory fresh stuff, and it's good to recharge an almost infinite number of times up to about five years.

Accumulator · 11-06-09, 09:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperBee364

.. if my math is right (which it probably isn't) it's going to cost about 2 dollars worth of muriatic acid and sodium hydroxide to recharge an entire large CRSpotless system worth of resin..

I'll be looking forward to hearing how the recharging goes, but I can't help but think that the time/hassle would outweigh the cost savings, at least for me

HobbesA5 · 11-06-09, 12:30

I'll be looking forward to this as well. I've only recently purchased my CR Spotless, but I find myself trying to be sparing in it's use to conserve my resin. If a cheap recharge was possible I would use it more readily, and for a greater percentage of the wash process.

Accumulator · 11-07-09, 08:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by HobbesA5

.. I find myself trying to be sparing in it's use to conserve my resin..

I'm the same way, generally only using it to mix up stuff like ONR and for the final rinse on the dog-haulers (and occasionally the "good cars").

15951 · 11-07-09, 08:50

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