Did you see the other one I posted with the two cartridges?

 

I don't think softened water will cut it. I have a giant water softener for my house. While it definately makes the water softer, if I don't dry my car it still spots. Not as bad as just plain unfiltered water, but it still spots.

DI is really the best way to do it. Unless you're using well water, I wouldn't really worry about the sediment cartridge.

If I was going to spend the money on a CR spotles setup, I would just do the whole RO DI setup with a resovoir in garage. You could make hundreds and hundreds of gallons of 0ppm water for very little money. It will just cost you around 300 dollars up front and you'd need a resoivoir (rubbermaid trash can) as it makes the water very slowly. You could then fill up a bug sprayer (not a used one ) and take that out to the drive way to do the rinse down. They have more complex systems for homes if you want to go that way too. That's how they do RO water for homes. They have large resovoirs mounted in the house somewhere that you draw off when you need pure water.

 

Yes, I was still typing. See my above post

 

you know, i just looked at CR spotless' site for the first time in a while. ironically, i am using the same equipment as them. my distibutor must be using the same supplier. i even have their TDS meter in my fish tank room. considering i am paying retail for my parts right now and looking at their prices, they must all be driving stradales there

 

RO systems aren't really the most efficient way to go. As far as I know, it takes anywhere from 3-4 gallons of normal water to make 1 gallon of RO water. Doesn't make much sense for the home user.

 

Here's an update to the math I did. It was brought to my attention. "Looks good but your math is a little off. The volume of resin they, clear rinse, have is 1/37th of a cubic foot. Cubic inches is figured by PieR2. Their cartridge is 2.5 inches in diameter and 9.5 inches long so that would be 1.25 x 1.25 x 3.14 = 4.90 x 9.5 = 46.55 cubic inches. There are 1728 cubic inches in a cubic foot so they have 1728 / 46.55 = 37.12 or 1/37th or .027 cubic foot of resin. So now do the math 235000/420=559.52 x .027 = 15.10 gallons of DI water. That is if you can get the flow rate down to produce true “DI” water."

 

It's way less expensive to produce a gallon of RODI water than it is to produce a gallon of straight DI water. Even factoring in the wasted water. Making straight DI water is just faster and more convenient, however the trade off is that it's really expensive. You exhaust the DI resin incredibly quick when there is no prefiltering.

For my reef tank, I have a sediment cartridge, a carbon cartridge, a RO unit, and two DI cannisters. I can easily make over a 1000 gallons of 0 ppm water before I have to replace any of the cartridges. Yes, it does waste water to produce it this way. But hey, unless you live in the desert... water is cheap

 

Not untill yesterday! haha

 

Moe, sorry I didn't get back to you, I will call you Monday so hopefeully I can get the stuff over here by next weekend.

I was wondering though a bit off topic, do all the higher end waxes require refrigeration? I don't think its a problem just curious as to how it gets distributed.

Doug

 

All the waxes actually need to get refridgerated; or in a very cool place that isn't prone to temp changes. You take it out of the fridge an hour prior to use. Talk to you tomorrow.

 

My sentiments exactly Iceman. I think too many people take mother nature for granted and all her resources. Yes; water is abundant. But why waste so much to purify with the RO process just because you can. I guess it all comes down to common sense. At the end of the day we're washing cars here and don't want water spots. We're not blending and filtering water to make a drug that saves lives for cancer, diabetes, etc. Things have to put into perspective. I like the CR Spotless because it's convenient, it works, and it's unique on the market. I can care less how much money CR Spotless makes; the question is will it save me time. I value my time greatly. I have a successful business to run, my family is important to me, and I'm trying to give something back to the industry. I commend you deputy for the entrepreneurial sprit and wanting to make your own version of a di system. My advice to you is, if you're serious, than treat it like a business. You must be true to yourself, your clients, respect nature, and make a profit to be around for the future. A lot goes into that little unit that you've been so diligent on pricing out for parts. I believe in CR Spotless as a company and have met its owner. Based on that, I've put my name behind them. As I mentioned, it all come down to valuing your time. Yes you can save a few bucks making your own home-made di system and some extra for some friends. But time is too valuable and so is the opportunity cost. Good luck on your venture.

 

I totally see where you're coming from. But 99 percent of us don't clean cars for living and don't have the need for a commercial version. We have one or two cars that we wash once a week (or in my case a month ). CR's system is very nice. Complete overkill for the hobbyist at home. Like I said, I bought the exact same DI cannister and cartridge they're using for under 100 bucks, and that was straight retail.

As far as the environment, I can only assume the production of the DI resin and the used resin thrown in the garbage isn't too great for the environment either. Six and one half, you know...

I don't know if I'll market it right now. I'm going to test mine out today. I'll report back later. I'm doing this mostly for me right now, but if it works well and there is enough margin, I'll put them out there. It's certainly not rocket science. I put mine together yesterday on the way to work at stoplights. It took me five lights and some teflon tape These things are about as hard to assemble as tying your shoes.

Waiting for my MF towels to get through the laundry. I have this thing about washing them every time. I'm a freak about that.

 

Just so you know. I have a complete RODI that takes hard water with 850-950 ppm which is uber ****ty to 0 ppm. It is a small system with a small 3.5 gal reservoir but I got it to mix cleaning solutions not wash or rinse cars.

I used this system today while washing my Cayman and probably used less than a gallon to mist the car when I was done washing it. That is how little DI water you will need to rinse it effectively if you have a good nozzle and follow up with either a waffle towel or a blower.

The only thing that will make my car any better is a better finish polish and wax other wise it is minty. I would think that 8 out of 10 would be thrilled with how it looks.

 

I used my DI unit today. I will more teflon tape for sure

I actually used it to fill my wash bucket with the soap. As I expected, it was much easier to pull the dirt off the car. My car was really dirty. I hadn't washed it in a month and I've driven it in the rain a couple times. It did take less effort to clean the car. I use RODI water on clothing stains and it works great for that too.

I ran it down to about 20ppm. That was about as low a flow as I wanted to use. I finished about three hours ago and the car is still wet. That's FL humidity for you. Guess I'll have to check it in the morning. So far the glass looks spotless.

As 05997S said, it doesn't take much to rinse it. I do an initial rinse with tap water (which mine is about 150ppm) and then I lightly drizzle it with DI water. So far so good.

I'll report back in the morning when it's hopefully dry

 

Hey MOe, not surprisngly I got next to no suds in the DI water (Dog I assume you experienced the same) do you think just using DI water with some jet dri is enough for a wash? My cars get dusty but not grungy dirty. Curious.

Also, my rocket scientist son who is 16 is working with some 3M products to try and build a good glass cleaner and a detail spray. If he works it out you guys will be the first to know. Our first run at the detail spray is already promising.