De-Ionized systems. Yay or nay... & or Reverse Osmosis?

[Spice&Wood83]

De-Ionized Systems. ( I`m sure this has been done to death )

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I`m sure there are tons of posts about this but Id like to get some more current feedback.

Heard about these many years ago. Watched some videos and sound fantastic.
Do any of you or know of anyone who has and uses one?
Whats your/their thoughts.

We have hard water here in WI.
So when my husband washes his limited to earl AM`s, overcast days or PM`s.

Does a De-Ionized System really do what it says?
Would he be able to wash in the sun w/o fear of drying the car off fast enough to prevent spotting.

I`m thinking of getting him one as a gift in the future. But trying to do as much research as possible.
Make the purchase ( investment ) 1 x time and be happy.

It would need to be portable. Something that`s easy in and easy out of garage.

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I also read somewhere using a Reverse Osmis system along with the De-Ionized system is ideal.
Has anyone else heard this? Is it really that important?

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Both systems would need to hook up to a garden house or directly to the spicket outside.

Budget $500 Maybe $600 if there was a product that was just amazing. But trying to keep it under $500

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Happy Memorial days fellows.

[EXPDetailing]

I just found a set-up that eliminates water spots, costs about $25, and will filter about 100 gallons. It involves a plastic in-line water filter, used in RV`s, which can be hooked-up to a garden hose, and your water can be filtered at the spigot before it gets to the sprayer nozzle. They are about $15-$20, and get the $4 flexible hose protector (search "flexible hose protector"), which eliminates hose crimping, but is used to keep the plastic filter from cracking off the spigot. You attach the flexible hose protector to the spigot, then the in-line filter (search "in-line water filter"), then attach your hose. I hear a filter is good for about 100 gallons of water. I`ve never tried this set-up. I just heard about it and am going to try it because I get super frustrated with water spotting.

If this sounds confusing, or needs clarification, please let me know and I will try to explain.

[bob m]

I just found a set-up that eliminates water spots, costs about $25, and will filter about 100 gallons. It involves a plastic in-line water filter, used in RV`s, which can be hooked-up to a garden hose, and your water can be filtered at the spigot before it gets to the sprayer nozzle. They are about $15-$20, and get the $4 flexible hose protector (search "flexible hose protector"), which eliminates hose crimping, but is used to keep the plastic filter from cracking off the spigot. You attach the flexible hose protector to the spigot, then the in-line filter (search "in-line water filter"), then attach your hose. I hear a filter is good for about 100 gallons of water. I`ve never tried this set-up. I just heard about it and am going to try it because I get super frustrated with water spotting.

If this sounds confusing, or needs clarification, please let me know and I will try to explain.

I`m not sure how many gallons of water I go through when washing my cars, but I`m betting it`s quite a few gallons. Maybe someone more conservative with washing/rinsing would fare better with what you are recommending.

[Spice&Wood83]

I just found a set-up that eliminates water spots, costs about $25, and will filter about 100 gallons. It involves a plastic in-line water filter, used in RV`s, which can be hooked-up to a garden hose, and your water can be filtered at the spigot before it gets to the sprayer nozzle. They are about $15-$20, and get the $4 flexible hose protector (search "flexible hose protector"), which eliminates hose crimping, but is used to keep the plastic filter from cracking off the spigot. You attach the flexible hose protector to the spigot, then the in-line filter (search "in-line water filter"), then attach your hose. I hear a filter is good for about 100 gallons of water. I`ve never tried this set-up. I just heard about it and am going to try it because I get super frustrated with water spotting.



If this sounds confusing, or needs clarification, please let me know and I will try to explain.

*** Sounds to good to be true. Can anyone chime in on this.
Has anyone used it?

How well does it eliminate the minerals that cause water spots when washing in the sun.

I still plan to dry my car off. But it would be nice to be able to wash in direct sunlight and not have to worry about spotting before the area get dried.

--- Please elaborate

[Swanicyouth]

I have a CR Spotless. Yes it does work well.

However, I don’t use it anymore. I’ve found ways to incorporate waterless / rinse-less wash products so it’s not necessary.

It’s another step. Another thing to drag out. Another thing to hook up. Another thing to buy resin for. These days I’m about getting top results with the least steps possible.

Using DI water stop to start washing a car is expensive & unrealistic. It’s easy, quicker, & cheaper IMHO to just adapt your methods

[Accumulator]

Our municipal water is pretty good to begin with, but I still always:

-Filter it with a series of two filters (20 and 10 micron)
-Condition it with both a Birm Filter and a water softener, which greatly reduces, but does not eliminate, the spotting issue (the spots from softened water aren`t a big problem for me as they usually wipe off with a little QD/RW)
-Run it through a CRS unit to product Dionized Water ("DI") if I want to effect spot-free rinsing

(Non-Detailing related, we also have RO systems for drinking water in both the house and shop. The RO systems produce a *LOT* of waste water and work very slowly.)

The CRS works for me and, although I seldom use, it I`m glad I have it and I do recommend it. I keep it on the side of the wash bay, hooked up to its (shutoff equipped) supply line all the time and with quick-connect fittings it`s easy to hook up a hose to its output fitting when needed. But there are a few caveats:

-The life of the media will depend on the quality of the water going in and how much DI water you use
-If the whole wash/rinse is done with DI water it`ll go through the media fast
-The media is somewhat pricey even when purchased in bulk and replacing it is a bit of a chore
-If any "regular" water remains after the DI is used, that regular water can still cause spotting
-The CRS requires a nozzle/etc. with a modest flow rate (no problem with a pressure washer, but chose a regular hose nozzle carefully)
-The CRS requires a modest input pressure not exceeding 40psi (I use a regulator designed for RVs)

Note that I never work outdoors and cannot comment on how well anything would work in direct sunlight.

[EXPDetailing]

*** Sounds to good to be true. Can anyone chime in on this.
Has anyone used it?

How well does it eliminate the minerals that cause water spots when washing in the sun.

I still plan to dry my car off. But it would be nice to be able to wash in direct sunlight and not have to worry about spotting before the area get dried.

--- Please elaborate

I don`t know if I can provide links to amazon to show the two inexpensive components, but I am going to order the items because people say that these filters do work. The question is how well do they work, and for how long? Someone mentioned about 100 gallons, then performance starts to drop off. However, you could wash without the filter, then attach the filter during the final rinse. Another solution is to use your garden hose, then pour distilled water as a final rinse. But, there are other methods, and I would like to know more about other people`s methods. Swanicyouth mentioned his method, but I would like to know more about it. I assume it might be connected to waterless/rinseless washes, but I have stayed away from those because I have a larger vehicle, and I don`t wash it nearly as often as I should and I like the idea of free flowing water rinsing my vehicle thoroughly.
What can one do to prevent water spots while washing in the sun while using hard water? Are there any spray products? It seems like there would be a product whose sole purpose would be to help prevent water spots after rinsing. Someone, please insert the name of that product to show me I am behind the times!

[Accumulator]

EXPDetailing- I`d be astounded if that kind of in-line filter worked effectively for 100 gallons worth of water, but hey, I`ve been surprised before! While I`d expect its efficacy and the life of its media to be a variable, situational, kind of thing at best, maybe it *is* as good as the ad-copy implies.

If you do get it, I hope you`ll not only evaluate how well it works, but also find some way of determining how many gallons it can effectively treat (under your condtions). And then post back with your findings It`d be great to have some objective info on how well those units work.

[EXPDetailing]

EXPDetailing- I`d be astounded if that kind of in-line filter worked effectively for 100 gallons worth of water, but hey, I`ve been surprised before! While I`d expect its efficacy and the life of its media to be a variable, situational, kind of thing at best, maybe it *is* as good as the ad-copy implies.

If you do get it, I hope you`ll not only evaluate how well it works, but also find some way of determining how many gallons it can effectively treat (under your condtions). And then post back with your findings It`d be great to have some objective info on how well those units work.

I just ordered the products. I will get to washing and post my initial results, and keep the forum updated about details on filter life longevity, and such as the weeks progress.
BTW, I did buy an Eagle One product that is a rinsing agent to help with water spots that I just tried the other day, and it worked very well. It was a sprayer that attached to the hose and mixed itself with the rinse water. I used 1/3 of the product to rinse. IIRC, it was $8? Not too economical, but worth it if you NEED it because it did work as advertised. Um, for being an Autopian for so long, I feel kind of a certain way for not being more versed on how to prevent water spotting in the sun. There are a lot of products for sale here and I couldn`t tell you which ones help prevent water spotting after a rinse.
In terms of liquid products, what can a person use after a rinse to prevent spotting?

[Accumulator]

I just ordered the products. I will get to washing and post my initial results, and keep the forum updated about details on filter life longevity, and such as the weeks progress...

Great! With any luck it`ll work out great for you and we nay-sayers will learn something new

..BTW, I did buy an Eagle One product that is a rinsing agent to help with water spots that I just tried the other day, and it worked very well...
In terms of liquid products, what can a person use after a rinse to prevent spotting?

Maybe that Eagle One product is it! (Even though it`s part *of* the rinse, not subsequent to it.)

The now-MIA ScottWax did/does the vast majority of his work outdoors, and in a very hot, sunny area. So I`[d think that it must be possible, I just don`t know the "how?" of it.

[audicoupej]

I use the CRSpotless. This year I upgraded it so it should produce more gallons of DI water for me. I will talk about that later. I have had it around 4 years now. I use it differently than most. My well water is extremely hard, it spots awful so I use the DI water for the entire wash cycle, besides filling the buckets. I still keep the car wet while washing in the sun just out of habit but it definitely works. I have no choice but to wash in the sun sometimes so it is a necessity for me. If I don`t use it I will have horrible water spots no matter how well I keep the vehicle wet while washing. Using the larger CRspotless I would have to change the cartridges about once a season here in upstate NY. That is washing personal cars and cars I`m detailing for. So it is used for at least one car a weekend.

A few things as mentioned already:

If you only use it only to rinse then the trapped hard water can still leak/blow out and cause spotting.
I use mine with an electric pressure washer that has an output within the rated max output for the CRSpotless.
If you use it to rinse and let air dry you can get spots if the vehicle is sitting outside and anything is blowing around in the air, dust, pollen, grass, etc. They should remove easy enough but it will still be spotted. I don`t use mine this way so it`s not a concern of mine.
Resin can get expensive. For me it`s the cost of being able to wash when I want.
I normally use mine with an inline filter for a spa that is supposed to help with hard water. The filters are cheap (comparatively) and I figure they help prolong my resin life. I purchase them from spadepot. It`s called PreFresh Fill Filter

I love mine, I couldn`t wash without it. It`s not hard to set up. I have my CRSpotless pre-connected to my pressure washer so I just hook the hose up to the inlet side and I`m ready to go. I`ve actually turned a few of my clients with hard water on to them and they also love them. If I still had municipal water I never had issues so I wouldn`t bother with this but now that I am on well water this is what I must do.

How I upgraded mine: Convert your CR Spotless machine to be be more efficient

So far the upgrade works as advertised. But I just started using it. The bag of resin appears to be enough to fill my canisters twice so I should get at least two seasons out of it. We will see. I plan to use it to clean my exterior windows this year.

[audicoupej]

As mentioned already, doing a rinse-less or waterless wash is also a great way to help with this problem. Most of the car I get I cannot do this on, because I need to rinse the fabric fender liners, mud, undercarriage etc on clients cars. If it was just on a personal vehicle then I could get away with R/W washing since they are cared for more often.

[EXPDetailing]

The filter arrived yesterday, and I did a hasty rinseless wash, so that I could rinse the car down and let it air dry to observe water spots. The roof was dirty, I didn`t clean it (the package arrived late in the evening), I misted the paint with spray & wipe, left the glass dirty (I don`t know why I did this), then rinselessed washed the paint, and then rinsed the car down with the filter attached to the hose. After drying, the water spots were reduced by about 75%. I felt the spots would be lessened if the roof & glass was cleaned prior to rinsing.
I only attached the filter just for the rinse. So, about 60 seconds worth of water.

[Accumulator]

Yikes, having always bought resin in bulk and on sale, I didn`t realize it was so pricey in those little bags! Anyhow...

audicoupej- I hope the conversion continues to work for you and that you post back about it. Refilling those inner cartridges is indeed a PIA, moreso than I`d expected.

(Luckily for me, by the time my treated water makes it to the CRS it`s pretty good, so my resin lasts for a long, LONG, time.)

EXPDetailing- I hope that leaving some areas unwashed doesn`t bite you somehow! I gather the glass cleaned up OK..

[titsataki]

another thread about this
De-Ionized Water

i have posted what i have and still use it.
remember I am not a pro just a slightly obsessed autopian

Regards

Nick