Jump to content
Customer Service 866.965.0400
  • 0

Homemade Water Deionizer

green6767

Asked by green6767,

 Share

Question

green6767

green6767

Posted
Posted (edited)

So I've been working on this for about 2 months now. Its been a challenge finding all the right parts. I wasn't happy with how pricey the CR Spotless system is and the low flow rate, followed by the high cost of THEIR resin refills.

 

I wanted a system that lasted longer with resin refills and had a higher flow rate and didn't want to pay upwards of $400 to $500 for a CR Spotless. If I was going to spend that kind of money, I wanted the ultimate water deionizer!!

 

So I made my own. I was able to purchase 90% of these parts through my field of work. I got a smoking deal on a couple of these tanks. Normally they're a couple hundred bucks a piece. Its capable of just over 5 GPM flow rate. The tank holds about 1.3 cubic feet of mixed bed (cation/anion mixed) resin. Intake comes directly from my water source from the house. The outtake goes to my pressure washer.

 

You can see from the pics that TDS reading (Total Dissolved Solids) is really quite high. This means I have very hard water. I would have to rush when washing or water spots would appear every time. Even when I thought I had gone fast enough previously, the water spots were always there in some places. Quite annoying really. Needed to put an end to it!

 

The reading on the outtake is 000, meaning no dissolved solids in my water and NO WATER SPOTS. I washed my truck tonight and let it sit (no drying towels touched this truck tonight) to see if this technology really indeed works.....to my amazement....not a single spot. I just used the Blaster Sidekick to get all the water out of the cracks as usual. I took my time with all stages of the pre-rinse, wash, and rinse. I also used the system with my foam canon and HOLY COW does that water make a big difference producing foam!!! Hard water and "soap" don't mix well!

 

I don't need to plug any products or promote any company here. Just my own work, time, and money put into this. So when I say it works......it works!!!

 

Truly a wash and walk away technology!

 

 

IMG_0718.jpg

 

IMG_0719.jpg

 

Incoming water

IMG_0721.jpg

 

Outgoing water

IMG_0722.jpg

 

Truck freshly washed and SPOT FREE!!!!!

IMG_0723.jpg

Edited by green6767
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0
green6767

green6767

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I don't understand any of that, but it sounds cool! :lolsmack:

 

I edited it a bit. Basically.....I rinsed the truck after my wash and I let it air dry. NO SPOTS!!!

 

Why? Because there aren't any ions/minerals left in the water. The cation (positively charged) and anion (negatively charged) resin in the tank attract their polar opposite charged particles in the water and "grab" them, keeping the minerals/ions in the tank that came from the "hard water" and only letting pure DEIONIZED water though and out your hose.

 

So when the water dries it completely evaporates leaving no mineral residue. Which is what a "water spot" consists of.

 

Works great for spraying house windows too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
green6767

green6767

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
wow that is sick looks like you put tons of work into that!!!!

 

If I were you I would look into getting that mass produced

 

Systems like these already exist. They cost a ton though.

 

On The Go Deionizer

 

If you scroll down and look at the business model, thats kind of what I made. Theirs doesn't include an inline TDS meter. They give you a cheap handheld one to measure the out coming water whenever you think you need to. Theirs doesn't include resin either.

 

Consider in resin, shipping, and adding an inline TDS meter with conversion fittings and you're looking at $1,000.

 

I made mine for less than half that. I combined what I liked from On The Go and what I liked from the CR Spotless system. I added my own tweaks and outsourced my own parts. I did buy two tanks. I might experiment with a dual tank system. Complete overkill, but why not. Haha. I should be able to get 1500 gallons out of my system before the resin needs to be refilled.

 

I also have a way to recharge the resin to be reused. Much cheaper than replacing it.

Edited by green6767
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
green6767

green6767

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

What it cost me probably would be lower than what it would cost somebody else. I was able to get the tanks, resin, meter, and even most the fittings through my work. I work for Baker Hughes. I work a lot with the hydraulic fracking industry in the oil fields. Pretty much just added most of the parts onto my latest lab supplies order. (To be deducted from my paycheck of course). Most if not all the fittings can be found at a hardware store. The meters are sold on Ebay. The tanks can be had, just google "mineral tanks". The resin is tricky though. There are so many different grades and the trick is to find it in bulk. Thats if they'll even sell it to you and if so, at what price. Some companies will claim "nuclear grade mixed bed resin" when it really isn't. I'll see if I can't find some good links!

Edited by green6767
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Perez

Perez

Posted
Posted

build one put it in a box and name a price..that would be much easier...lol

i have also seen the window cleaner people use them. i just cant believe that you don't have to dry its cool as hell

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
green6767

green6767

Posted
  • Author
Posted
i just cant believe that you don't have to dry its cool as hell

 

I was the exact same way. Anything that I ever heard was regarding the CR Spotless system. I was thinking to myself that people are plugging their system and not wanting to admit they just spent $400 to $500 on something that doesn't work as well as they'd hoped. They weren't lying...lol.

 

I have no doubt the CR Spotless system works just as well. The technology and the infrastructure of the system is the same so I'd assume they product the same results.

 

Just one of those things you need to see for yourself to truly get the full effect. Spot free rinse was a mystical, unicorn-like creature to me until yesterday when I found one! LOL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Chobbs

Chobbs

Posted
Posted

I have the cr spotless system. I love it! I bought it at cosco for much cheaper than the website.

 

Resin is expensive though, how to you recharge your resin???? Does it save money?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
green6767

green6767

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

It's way cheaper Chobbs. If you can get your hands on some muriatic acid and hydrochlroride I could walk you through it. It's a process but you could easily recharge your cr system resin for waaay cheaper. Also.....if you'd rather just buy it don't buy their resin refills. So overpriced and honestly that's how they're making a lot of their profit. (kudos to them though) Keep your old canister and I can provide you a good source for bulk resin. I can fill my huge tank for less than the biggest refill of the cr system costs.

Edited by green6767
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
green6767

green6767

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'll make the write-up on how to recharge, where to get the supplies, SAFETY PRECAUTIONS, and so on. Muriatic acid isn't extremely dangerous, but it is toxic and it can blind and burn you. Same goes with the hydrochloride. Obviously, the stronger the acid the worse it can hurt you. Same goes with extremely basic solutions (in which you'll e dealing with during the process). Basic solutions have a tendency to quickly absorb water from anything it comes into contact with. It can wreak havoc on skin and eye tissue.

 

I'm going to take some time writing this process up. It requires having some common sense with chemical and processes that can possibly be harmful if not done correctly. This is also why none of these companies advertise recharging your resins at home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 0
Faze

Faze

Posted
Posted (edited)

A while ago I was talking to a local chemist family friend to see about producing one.

 

Their use to making them in larger scale like 100,000 sqft buildings n such... Neat lil systems... San Antonio has really really hard water.

Edited by Faze
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to question listing
×
×
  • Create New...