anyone ever try one of these?

[smokemeister25]

Costco - CR SPOTLESS De-Ionizing Spotless Water System

 

i was wondering if anybody ever tried on of these type units? i think they look a little expensive but if you happen to have hard water they could be helpful. i'm wondering if theres a filter setup that could be plumped into the water inlet of my pressure washer that would do the job? you can buy kitchen or house water filters that would work but i don't know if you can get them that would do what we would want? i want softer water but my car doesn't car if it tastes good and that's what most inexpensive water filter would do, make the water taste better

[70'sChevyGirl]

Never tried them.

 

I have good water.

[Chris@Adams]

No, sorry no help!

[mc2hill]

One of the members made one recently - Adam's Polishes - Premium Car Care Products, and member Chobbs (who lives in the desert) uses one as well - http://www.adamsforums.com/forums/new-member-check/10518-2.htm. Plus a few more threads - http://www.adamsforums.com/forums/wash-dry-clay-bar/3867.htm and http://www.adamsforums.com/forums/general-detailing-discussion-questions/5757.htm.

[THE Mook]

What type of results are you currently getting after wash? Are you using the Adam's Car Shampoo (which is PH neutral) or another brand?

 

I noticed way back when, with the hard water I have at home, that when I made the conversion over to Adam's Car Shampoo, a lot of my problems went away.

 

Mook

[mcss383]

I don't have hard water per se, but I bought the small setup and noticed MORE spots with the salt insert than before so I just removed that and used the filter by itself.

 

If you have hard water I have heard good things, but I didn't have good results and it definitely was not a spotless rinse where you didn't have to dry.

[stibuki]

Bradley,

 

The system you were using was more of a water softener and not a de-ionizing one. Depending on the deposits in your water this may or may not help. De-ionizing systems use a resin cartridge not salt. I have been using de-ionized water to wash my cars for about 10 years with excellent results. CR spotless makes an excellent system and COSCO has the best price by far considering the included cartridge refills. That being said I have bought or used most of the systems out there including the home build ones. CR is my go to unit. Proper wash method along with a no touch dry has significantly cut down on my wash induced paint defects.

 

Here is some additional info.

 

Does “Soft” Water Assure a Spot-Free Car Wash?

“Hardness” in water refers to its calcium and magnesium content. “Softening” in the conventional sense means removing these minerals by exchanging sodium or potassium for them. When spotting occurs after a car is washed, “hardness” is usually blamed for the spots. This leads to the assumption that “softening” the water will produce a spot-free wash. Not necessarily so. Hardness represents only a part of the mineral content of water — the calcium and magnesium ions. Total mineral content, referred to in water treatment as TDS, or “Total Dissolved Solids,” is the real predictor of water’s spotting potential. The higher the TDS, the more spotting you’ll experience.

 

Softening, contrary to popular belief, doesn’t take minerals out of the water. Rather, it exchanges sodium for the hardness minerals, calcium and magnesium, in more or less equal proportions. The TDS of softened water is essentially the same as that of hard water. Softened water has less calcium but more sodium. Softening is an advantage to the car washer since the minerals in the softened water are easier to get rid of and don’t form the scaling associated with hardness, but high TDS water, softened or not, will produce spotting. With softened high TDS water you'll still have spots. They’ll just be easier to wipe off.

 

Car washing spots occur because the water evaporates and any minerals in the water are left behind as residue. The best car wash water, of course, is low TDS water. Removing all of the mineral content of water, however, is not practical in most cases. The process of deionization removes all the minerals and will certainly produce a spot-free wash, but it’s impractical because of the expense for the home user. The same is true of distillation. Many professional car wash locations feature a ”spot free rinse“ with reverse osmosis water. Reverse osmosis reduces the TDS of water by about 95% and does assure a spot-free rinse with most waters.. That’s something to think about if you're a hard-core car washer.

One thing that softened water does help with in the car wash is soap consumption. If using less soap and reducing the work of wiping away spots are important, washing your car with softened water is probably worthwhile.

If you don't know the hardness or TDS level of your water, you can usually find out by calling your local water supplier.

 

Just call me the water boy...lol Thats some quality H2O!

[eric@thompsonracing.us]

I agree with Rich! I have a CR Spotless from Cosco and it works really well. Only thing is the refills are expensive. You SHOULD use the CR for the entire wash process, but I have cut my use down to only the final rinse. If I have room, I'll bring it to the clinic on the 15th.

[stibuki]

I only use mine for a final rinse in-line with my power washer. I make sure to hit all the nooks and crannies to flush out the non-DI water from washing. There are much cheaper recharge materials available. Just goggle it but remember not all mixed bed resins are created equal! Also flow must be kept under 2.0 GPM or you will rip through resin and the cartridge won't have time to filter properly. Again the cosco price is very hard to beat with the extra resin and QD's thrown in. It's been discontinued in store for quite some time so it must be ordered online. If you can still find one in-store it will be priced at close out $200-$229. Make a call to your local store before you pull the trigger as they can also check surrounding stores, worth a try!

[green6767]

I don't use the Spotless system, but I use the technology. Here's the thread I had a while back regarding the one I made.

 

Deionizer

 

To answer your question though if it works and is it worth it? To me....yes and yes. Not having to hand dry my huge truck is such a blessing and I tend to wash my truck at least twice as much now (in turn I purchase about twice as much Adam's shampoo...haha). That ok with me though.

 

Which reminds me. I documented and photographed all my steps for resin regeneration. I need to put that together here and post it. Would save you guys a bunch of money on resin if you're using deionizers, which is the number one reason why people choose not to use them I would imagine.

[Moz]

I don't use the Spotless system, but I use the technology. Here's the thread I had a while back regarding the one I made.

 

Deionizer

 

To answer your question though if it works and is it worth it? To me....yes and yes. Not having to hand dry my huge truck is such a blessing and I tend to wash my truck at least twice as much now (in turn I purchase about twice as much Adam's shampoo...haha). That ok with me though.

 

Which reminds me. I documented and photographed all my steps for resin regeneration. I need to put that together here and post it. Would save you guys a bunch of money on resin if you're using deionizers, which is the number one reason why people choose not to use them I would imagine.

 

I think there a few Adams members here that would greatly appreciate your write-up green6767,Thank You!

I currently have the DI-20 CR unit (300gallon) and the resin is crazy expensive @ $100 a refill.