Spotless water....CR type system or water distiller?

You're not kidding - I bought a new garage door in the beginning of November, and almost didn't get an insulated one.



Today, the temperature here dropped severely between yesterday and this morning - when I opened the door (non-attached, non-heated garage) - I was greated by a warm garage. It managed to retain the heat! Well worth the extra $100 on the door.
 
Todd> The foam comes in 4X8 sheets and had to be cut to get it to fit in the doors, On mine I had cut the middle three door peices it was 17in tall an in the top and bottom ones it was like 20in tall. I cut them big and squiezed them in the panels. But I had bought some adheasive to stick them to the door, but didnt use it:) O ya the sheets I used where 1 1/2in thick:)



Sorry I didnt answer faster, I didnt see the post:)
 
You can also use air conditioning duct board found at home depo. It weights more and being made out of insulation its harder to work with. But IMHO is better then the foam. When my A/C guy was installing the A/C for my garage he reccomended it, cause I was just going to buy new doors. So instead of 1500 it cost me 150.
 
Thanks for the tip. Do any of you have the garage doors that come insulated already. How do you all like them? Which ones do you recommend? Thanks in advance. Laters





Don
 
Hey Don I just had a Richard_Wilcox door installed last summer.

Insulated door, good weather stripping. Great door so far, stops the wind and rain very well. Had to go to the garage because I couln't remember the manf. As I was reading the label about the finish that it was baked on and if you wanted to paint it another colour to scrub it with comet to remove the gloss and wax. Hmmm I started to think about applying a layer of Z. Anyone else wax thier doors?
 
I had an addition put in with the metal, foam filled insulated door, WITH all the weatherstriping. What a difference. I had the main 2 car garage replaced and even though it's "technically" un heated there's never any freezing in there anymore. If the temp got down into single digits and such the stuff wouldn't melt off the cars. Now it melts well.



Technically unheated, very well insulated, for a garage, and the house on one side and my heated workshop on the other.



KlK
 
What do you guys think? With the high cost of a CR unit that has to have the resin replaced/recharged often would it not make more sense to buy a water distiller instead? I seen someone on another forum with one in his garage and it really got me thinking about picking up a water distiller instead....


Rasky
 
I've been interested in this as well. I tried the Griot's filter that attaches to your hose and it literally lasted for 3 washes. At $130 up front, and "refills" at $120, that is simply a crazy amount of money to spend for washes. Since then, I've been really hesitant to try anything else since that's quite a bit of $ "down the drain" (quite literally). The water here in AZ is horrible for sure, but 3 washes was insane.
 
Wow, 3 washes only! Sorry to hear this Brad, for that amount it should have lasted longer IMO. I been always going with the flooding method and using my leaf blower. I do have a freind who has the CR Spotless and it last's much more then 3 washes and he loves it but the resin replacements are in the high side he told me. He got it at Costro Warehouse and now has it for 2 yrs. Hope this thread get's more response's to this.
 
I've looked at that one from Costco, and have been tempted, but the high cost of replacement resin (if I remember correctly, it's around $150), and my previous experience w/the Griot's unit, has kept me from taking the plunge. I have heard nothing but great things about the Costco unit, even from people in Phoenix who own it, but they use if for personal use only.
 
I've found new water distillers from around $499 on up. You really only need to use the distilled water for the final rinse so you really don't need more than a few gallons per wash. These DW units will produce about 8 gallons a day which should be more than enough. You'd simply need some tank to hold the water with a pump and your good to go.

Here is the pic of "Bubbabuff's" setup I saw over on AG.
attachment.php
 
I have had a CR Spotless DIC-20 for about three years that I bought from Costco. I wash a Grand Cherokee, a Dodge Dakota and Benz SLK about once a month each, and have yet to replace the resin. The cars come out 100% spotless, even the dark tinted windows. Also, keep in mind that rinsing with distilled water means that you never touch the car during a drying step. This prevents or eliminates 99+% of swirls marks and scratches and cuts your wash time in half. Once you do a decent paint correction, it will easily last for a year with occasional wax/sealant applications.

To maximize the lifetime of the resin, I only use the deionized (DI) water for the final rinse. I have a flat nozzle connected to the CR Spotless and jet the final rinse like I'm painting the vehicle - top to bottom. Another key to maximizing the resin life is that I have a whole house water softener. I have well water that is extremely high in calcium and magnesium. The water softener removes these ions and replaces them with sodium. The CR Spotless then removes the sodium.

Two other points:

1. The folks at CR Spotless are FANTASTIC when it comes to customer service. I needed a replacement part and they sent it free of charge and even shipped it next-day air!!:notworthy:
2. The best price that I've ever seen for the unit is from Costco. It's a bit pricey, but once you use it, you will never go back to drying any other way. Look at it as an investment like your polisher.
 
i also had the griots system and was very dissatisfied on how quick it was of no use. its advertised to last 80 washes but i certainly didn't get that amount. i'm looking for another system thats worth its wieght. i'll have to check into the costco system.
 
theisab said:
I have had a CR Spotless DIC-20 for about three years that I bought from Costco. I wash a Grand Cherokee, a Dodge Dakota and Benz SLK about once a month each, and have yet to replace the resin. The cars come out 100% spotless, even the dark tinted windows. Also, keep in mind that rinsing with distilled water means that you never touch the car during a drying step. This prevents or eliminates 99+% of swirls marks and scratches and cuts your wash time in half. Once you do a decent paint correction, it will easily last for a year with occasional wax/sealant applications.

To maximize the lifetime of the resin, I only use the deionized (DI) water for the final rinse. I have a flat nozzle connected to the CR Spotless and jet the final rinse like I'm painting the vehicle - top to bottom. Another key to maximizing the resin life is that I have a whole house water softener. I have well water that is extremely high in calcium and magnesium. The water softener removes these ions and replaces them with sodium. The CR Spotless then removes the sodium.

Two other points:

1. The folks at CR Spotless are FANTASTIC when it comes to customer service. I needed a replacement part and they sent it free of charge and even shipped it next-day air!!:notworthy:
2. The best price that I've ever seen for the unit is from Costco. It's a bit pricey, but once you use it, you will never go back to drying any other way. Look at it as an investment like your polisher.
Click to expand...



Great review and thanks for the information. After getting done on my last car, I'm thinking it might be nice to get a CR type system as some clients (ones that live further out from the city in general) typically have well water that is incredibly hard. I have no problem doing more traditional washes on the majority of the population's cars, but if you're limited to water with a high amount of minerals in it - it makes things much more difficult than it should be.
 
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