Water deionization

[louielouie]

Anyone still have spotting after using deionized water if their car is out in the sun?

This weekend, I started my wash a bit later in the day but it was completely overcast and low 70s out. After the wash, I went to rinse and the sun came out pretty quickly and it was fairly hot. I ended up having spotting despite trying to dry the car with my Master Blaster as quickly as possible. I haven't had issues with the deionization system setup I have before; is it normal?

[damageprone]

Originally Posted by louielouie

Anyone still have spotting after using deionized water if their car is out in the sun?

This weekend, I started my wash a bit later in the day but it was completely overcast and low 70s out. After the wash, I went to rinse and the sun came out pretty quickly and it was fairly hot. I ended up having spotting despite trying to dry the car with my Master Blaster as quickly as possible. I haven't had issues with the deionization system setup I have before; is it normal?

Does your system or you have a TDS meter to measure the water output? If so, what is the TDS?

Its it possible you're not washing all of the soap off your car? As I had said earlier, I get spotting sometimes when I don't rinse off all the soap off thoroughly.

Eric S did have a good idea to rinse with regular water, then second rinse with DI water. I don't know why I didn't think of this before! Now that I have the Y-fittings, it makes it even easier

[louielouie]

Originally Posted by damageprone

Does your system or you have a TDS meter to measure the water output? If so, what is the TDS?

Its it possible you're not washing all of the soap off your car? As I had said earlier, I get spotting sometimes when I don't rinse off all the soap off thoroughly.

Eric S did have a good idea to rinse with regular water, then second rinse with DI water. I don't know why I didn't think of this before! Now that I have the Y-fittings, it makes it even easier

No meter unfortunately.

Just worried my budget solution isn't really doing the trick. I'll give the dual rinse a try and see what happens.

[damageprone]

Originally Posted by louielouie

No meter unfortunately.

Just worried my budget solution isn't really doing the trick. I'll give the dual rinse a try and see what happens.

You'll want a TDS meter to see what the water quality is, otherwise you're rinsing "blind". Otherwise the only way to know is to see if your car is spotting, like you are now. CR Spotless says that you'll start to see noticeable spots using their system when the TDS reader registers 20 ppm.

I'm guessing the resin you're using is using a "color changing" resin which is supposed to change color when the resin is spent. A TDS meter is always better. But get a good one, I bought a cheap (<$10) one off Amazon back before I had the CR Spotless and it was broken out of the box.

[louielouie]

Originally Posted by damageprone

You'll want a TDS meter to see what the water quality is, otherwise you're rinsing "blind". Otherwise the only way to know is to see if your car is spotting, like you are now. CR Spotless says that you'll start to see noticeable spots using their system when the TDS reader registers 20 ppm.

I'm guessing the resin you're using is using a "color changing" resin which is supposed to change color when the resin is spent. A TDS meter is always better. But get a good one, I bought a cheap (<$10) one off Amazon back before I had the CR Spotless and it was broken out of the box.

Do you have issues with spotting if you're using CR Spotless on a car in direct sunlight?

The reason I don't want to buy one is it's just another item that'll sit in the garage. I guess I'll have to though.

[damageprone]

Originally Posted by louielouie

Do you have issues with spotting if you're using CR Spotless on a car in direct sunlight?

The reason I don't want to buy one is it's just another item that'll sit in the garage. I guess I'll have to though.

One of the main reasons why I got the CR Spotless was because washing a car in the Vegas heat during the summer is a PITA.

In the direct sun or at midnight, it's still 100+ degrees. Even waking up at 6 am it's still 99 degrees. You pretty much have to be Sonic the Hedgehog to dry the car in time to avoid spots (or do rinseless, which I'm seeing the light but not totally convinced yet).

I've rinsed the car in direct sunlight as advertised and there was no spotting, as long as there was no soap residue.

If I were to do it all again though, I would probably not get the CR Spotless, but probably get the DI Rinse system. They claim to yield more DI water, only because I think the tank holds more resin. But they are designed better in that they have a built in bypass (no Y-fitting needed), and they fix the flaw that the CR Spotless has where it will give you a false high PPM reading making you change out the resin prematurely. Some drawbacks are that this system is that it doesn't have a built in TDS meter and it is a little more expensive.

Edit:

I just checked the DI Rinse site. It looks like they have a smaller PRO 50 model which is a little more cost effective, and competitive with the CR Spotless.

[louielouie]

Originally Posted by damageprone

One of the main reasons why I got the CR Spotless was because washing a car in the Vegas heat during the summer is a PITA.

In the direct sun or at midnight, it's still 100+ degrees. Even waking up at 6 am it's still 99 degrees. You pretty much have to be Sonic the Hedgehog to dry the car in time to avoid spots (or do rinseless, which I'm seeing the light but not totally convinced yet).

I've rinsed the car in direct sunlight as advertised and there was no spotting, as long as there was no soap residue.

If I were to do it all again though, I would probably not get the CR Spotless, but probably get the DI Rinse system. They claim to yield more DI water, only because I think the tank holds more resin. But they are designed better in that they have a built in bypass (no Y-fitting needed), and they fix the flaw that the CR Spotless has where it will give you a false high PPM reading making you change out the resin prematurely. Some drawbacks are that this system is that it doesn't have a built in TDS meter and it is a little more expensive.

Edit:

I just checked the DI Rinse site. It looks like they have a smaller PRO 50 model which is a little more cost effective, and competitive with the CR Spotless.

Thanks. I'll try a more thorough rinse this weekend and go from there.

[Ian1973]

Seems like a lot of work. I have hard water. I just wash the car, dry it as normal, then just quickly spray it down with spray wax quickly to deal with water spots. Adds about 6 minutes to the process. Once the rag gets wet enough from the spray wax, I just hit the the windows also.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by AtlantisF80

Sounds great but costs a lot.

That's why you buy off eBay on day when they have 15% to 20% off codes which I what I did.

Also keep an eye out on Craigslist....but remember the filter resin material is about $100+ to replace and most used units need replacing. Thus if someone wants more than $250 for a used unit MSRP mid $400s, pass and buy new from eBay.

Originally Posted by louielouie

I ended up purchasing one of these with the hose adapters and it has been great for the price. I do have a slight water flow issue I should mention but there's a leak I keep forgetting I have to re-teflon tape so that may solve my issue. Just thought I'd share for anyone looking for a cheaper alternative. It's most likely a compromise vs the CR Spotless but for less than a 1/4 of the price, I can't complain.

As reference, I live in Los Angeles and I do have hard water but it probably isn't as bad as it could be. I've done 3 washes with this system (only use it during rinse) and have had no issues aside from the leak I need to fix

The problem with your unit and subsequent posts is that you purchased a cheap deionizer for a fish tank.

1) You cannot get the pressure you need (as you stated) because a fish tank does not need a quick fill.

2) The CR units only take around 2.5 GPM iirc and any more will cause them to not deionize properly.

With the super small filters on the fish tank deionizer no way you can put even 2.5GPM through them. And if you happen to to do so, you will use up the small amount of resin in a few minutes, not over multiple washes.

For reference, at normal pressure, one can typically get 20-30 GPM out of an outside faucet. A deionizer cannot begin to handle that properly.

It's why you need a pressure washer that only uses 2GPM or soon the other end. Not a simple garden hose.

[louielouie]

Originally Posted by IK6SPEED

That's why you buy off eBay on day when they have 15% to 20% off codes which I what I did.

Also keep an eye out on Craigslist....but remember the filter resin material is about $100+ to replace and most used units need replacing. Thus if someone wants more than $250 for a used unit MSRP mid $400s, pass and buy new from eBay.



The problem with your unit and subsequent posts is that you purchased a cheap deionizer for a fish tank.

1) You cannot get the pressure you need (as you stated) because a fish tank does not need a quick fill.

2) The CR units only take around 2.5 GPM iirc and any more will cause them to not deionize properly.

With the super small filters on the fish tank deionizer no way you can put even 2.5GPM through them. And if you happen to to do so, you will use up the small amount of resin in a few minutes, not over multiple washes.

For reference, at normal pressure, one can typically get 20-30 GPM out of an outside faucet. A deionizer cannot begin to handle that properly.

It's why you need a pressure washer that only uses 2GPM or soon the other end. Not a simple garden hose.

re The water flow issue - this was resolved once I tightened the lines. I do have it connected to a pressure washer but the leak was giving me some issues. I have been contemplating buying the SimpleJack or CR Spotless system but that's a lot of coin I'm not ready to shell out yet.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by louielouie

re The water flow issue - this was resolved once I tightened the lines. I do have it connected to a pressure washer but the leak was giving me some issues. I have been contemplating buying the SimpleJack or CR Spotless system but that's a lot of coin I'm not ready to shell out yet.

And as noted, your fish tank cannot deionize that flow rate and that’s why you are having issues. You should not even have to use the masterblaster after a proper working deionized water rinse.

Originally Posted by louielouie

Anyone still have spotting after using deionized water if their car is out in the sun?

This weekend, I started my wash a bit later in the day but it was completely overcast and low 70s out. After the wash, I went to rinse and the sun came out pretty quickly and it was fairly hot. I ended up having spotting despite trying to dry the car with my Master Blaster as quickly as possible. I haven't had issues with the deionization system setup I have before; is it normal?

[jdgamble]

This looks very cool. A couple on the thread have mentioned rinseless. I generally use Wolfgang Uber rinseless (unless my car is seriously filthy, which almost never happens), and I must say, it's the way to go. I was skeptical, but having donw this for over a year now, I think it's probably safer then the alternative. I always presoak panels with QD dilution, then be sure to always have a clean section of towel to wipe, and it comes out perfect every time. It's rare that I actually spray water on my car.