Budget/DIY Spotless Washing System

B

BalanBro

New member
Hey guys. I`ve been a long time member but haven`t posted here before. I thought I`d share a great DIY spotless washing system that I`ve been using for the past 6 years or so with great results. The only prerequisite is a pressure washer and some space to keep a water storage tank at an elevated position.

I assume we all know that water spots are a result of TDS (total desolved solids). Therefore, to stop spotting, you need to remove solids. The system I use is a sediment, carbon, reverse osmosis and DI resin filter system designed to purify water for use in salt water fish tanks. I have the unit below, but any similar system should suffice:

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/4-stage-value-plus-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html

The nice things about this system is that the filters themselves are cheap to maintain, and the progressive filtration preserves the more expensive downstream media. The biggest benefit IMHO is the RO filter, which by itself can reduce TDS by 95% or so by itself. What this means is that your expensive resin will last a really long time. In some cases, the RO alone will bring TDS down to single digit level, which is likely sufficient for a spotless wash by itself. Keep in mind that you do need a drain for the waste water that is generated.

Now the biggest challenge with an RO based system is flow volume. That`s where a tank come into play. In my case, I just used a garbage can with a lid from Home Depot, a bulkhead fitting and a brass hose bib to turn the trash can into a purified water tank. The water itself is fed to the tank using a float valve like the one below. It will keep your tank topped up without overflowing so it`s always ready to go:

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/ro-float-valve.html

Now I keep this "water tank" somewhat elevated, with the hose bib at the bottom so I have a decent gravity feed to my pressure washer. I use a Karcher electric, but any decent washer should be able to turn the light flow to usable water pressure for a wash.

As I said, I`ve been using this system for years as it is simple and inexpensive provided you have pressure washer. Thought I`d share this for the DIY`ers out there.

Happy washing!
 
BalanBro- Welcome to Autopia!

Hey, that`s a good setup you put together! I was wondering about the RO unit, but OK, preserving the resin does explain that and I guess it`s a matter of the (untreated) water`s quality.

Heh heh, I *do* wonder how much waste water it goes through though! With our current water bill we`re kinda stingy about what we use RO water for :D
 
Thank you, much appreciated. The waste water is a very legitimate trade-off. The use of a pressure washer does somewhat mitigate that by reduced water consumption as compared to a traditional garden hose. And since waste water is only produced when refilling the tank, it`s not terrible for the average homeowner. It`s impractical if you were running a business or had to maintain a fleet of vehicles.

Also, although I haven`t tried it, it`s very possible that the DI resin isn`t even needed for most people. I have a pre and post resin TDS meter, and I`m down at about 8ppm TDS before the DI stage, and undetectable levels post. I believe even 8ppm would be sufficient for a spotless wash. In any case, I love being able to just leave the wet car alone when done. Saves time, my back (lol) and having to touch the paint again for drying purposes.
 
BalaBro- Yeah, I could do fine with just RO, but that`s *my* water.

I wouldn`t want to *need* to use the pressure washer for everything, often preferring Volume over Pressure, but again, that`s just me and how I`m doing my vehicles. The pw sure *does* cut down on the water use.

If I`m doing a "real wash" as opposed to a rinse-off, I find that I do have to do a lot of Touch Drying, even with a "spot-free rinse", apparently because no matter how much I rinse rinse rinse there`s still some contaminated/untreated water in the tight spots that`ll drip out. And yeah, heh heh..I *DO* spend a looong time blowing it dry and I don`t mean just half an hour! My vehicles just retain a whole lot of water, but at least it never causes any corrosion/etc. issues.
 
kajunman said:
I am thinking about purchasing this: https://rvtransformers.com/rv-products-and-accessories/Pro-50-Plus-p105868562 It does not use a cartridge, just uses raw resin. This one does an estimated 1000 gallons in one resin refill. They make a larger one and a smaller one. I would get the larger one, but I need one I can move around when it has water and resin in it. They also make a conversion for a well known unit.
Click to expand...

Those look nice. Is there a bypass built into the unit?
 
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