CR Spotless Water System DIC-20

[coolidge]

I just ordered this spotless water system for washing my X5, anyone else tried this product? I'll be using a pressure washer to restrict the flow e.g. not push water through the filters faster than it can remove the minerals. Really looking forward to trying this out as our city water leaves a LOT of water spots, even towel drying on cool overcast days its a real pain to avoid getting spots.

https://www.amazon.com/CR-Spotless-W.../dp/B000KFWVN4

[Neuera09]

I went to Home Depot and got this. I spent less than $40. I use it with my Karcher power washer. Works like a charm... You shouldn't have any issues with that monstrosity of a water filter. Lol.

[Chem14]

I have the single canister version. Works great. Purchased for my wife's car which is black. A plus for my graphite metallic.

[Baunton]

Originally Posted by Neuera09

I went to Home Depot and got this. I spent less than $40. I use it with my Karcher power washer. Works like a charm... You shouldn't have any issues with that monstrosity of a water filter. Lol.

Neuera09 Hi. Can you please advise the name of the product you bought and how it works in practice? I've got a Karcher and live in a hard water area so would be good to hook something like this up.

Thanks.

[Neuera09]

Could not find the name of the product but here is a link to a similar item from lowes.com. http://www.lowes.com/pd/Whirlpool-Op...ousing/1201339 or something like this if you really have hard water ... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Whole-H...IAAOxy63FSrHoz

Basically, my set up it this ...

Water source to a garden hose to the filtration unit to the Karcher electric pressure washer.

[six]

Originally Posted by Baunton

Neuera09 Hi. Can you please advise the name of the product you bought and how it works in practice? I've got a Karcher and live in a hard water area so would be good to hook something like this up.

Thanks.

I have one of these... http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/race-glaz...views-tab#tabs

I live in a very hard water area but a rinse off with water filtered by this removes the need to dry. It's worth getting a TDS meter so you can decide when to replace the resin. I change mine at about 10ppm. Above this you will start to see spots of minerals after drying.

[Baunton]

Originally Posted by six

I have one of these... http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/race-glaz...views-tab#tabs

I live in a very hard water area but a rinse off with water filtered by this removes the need to dry. It's worth getting a TDS meter so you can decide when to replace the resin. I change mine at about 10ppm. Above this you will start to see spots of minerals after drying.

Just the job! Thanks.

[Neuera09]

Originally Posted by six

I have one of these... http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/race-glaz...views-tab#tabs

I live in a very hard water area but a rinse off with water filtered by this removes the need to dry. It's worth getting a TDS meter so you can decide when to replace the resin. I change mine at about 10ppm. Above this you will start to see spots of minerals after drying.

Looks just like my indoor water filtration system made by Aquasana. Thanks.

[P1]

The CR Spotless is amazing, and I've used it. It's nice to wash a car in the full sun, rinse it off and not have to dry it.

[coolidge]

Originally Posted by P1et

The CR Spotless is amazing, and I've used it. It's nice to wash a car in the full sun, rinse it off and not have to dry it.

Thanks, really looking forward to trying this unit on my X5. Next up will be the 20+ windows on my house!

[newtlicious]

I would like to clear up some things since I come from an EXTREMELY hard water area (1400+ ppm tap). I had to become an expert or suffer the wrath of New Mexico municipal water. First we should establish that a water filter and a water deionizer are very different and perform different functions. The filter devices shown here are almost completely ineffective at removing the dissolved minerals that cause hard water. You may see a reduction in TDS due to the carbon filter removing some chlorine and the sediment filter removing larger particles but in terms of changing the mineral content, they do very little. Please don't use the terms "filter" and "deionizer" interchangeably. One should also not confuse softening water with filtering or deionizing it. These are very different processes and "soft" water can absolutely spot, but I digress...

There are two common ways to actually remove mineral ions. The first is reverse osmosis (RO) which uses a membrane with holes small enough to actually trap and remove individual mineral ions. The second is a resin bed de ionizer (DI) such as the CRSpotless system. Both have their pros and cons.

Water deionizers like the CR spotless use an ion exchange resin system that bonds to and effectively removes mineral ions from the incoming water but the resin has a finite life. The CR does NOT filter water. Once the resin saturates you will need to replace it. This can be very costly over time. The upshot is that there is no waste water from the system. One gallon of tap water in equals one gallon of DI water out and you can produce it at roughly .5 gpm. If your tap water is garbage you will be replacing a lot of resin at a lot of $$.

Reverse osmosis systems pass the incoming water under pressure through a membrane with holes small enough to trap mineral ions. These ions would eventually plug up the membrane so the membrane has to be continually flushed to remove the ions. This water is essentially wasted at a ratio of up to 3:1 depending on your water quality. That is to say that 3 gallons will be flushed down the drain for every one gallon of RO water produced. RO water is not the same as DI water because it will still have some impurities and may cause spotting.

In New Mexico our tap water was 1400-1600ppm depending on the day of the week. With my CRSpotless I would get roughly 50 gallons of spotless (000ppm) water before a $100 resin refill was necessary. This was obviously unsustainable and unnecessary when you realize that a 2 bucket wash uses 10 gallons right off the bat, not including the pre and post rinse so I started using a 5 stage, twin membrane RO system to pre filter the tap water before going into my DI. In NM, the system worked like this:

Tap water into the pre filter 1500 ppm -> Tap water out of the 3 stage pre filter 800ppm goes into the RO -> Tap water out of the two RO membranes 70ppm goes into the DI -> Water out of the DI system 000ppm

Where I live now, in VA we have much better water and it is almost "spotless" straight out of the RO. My DI barely has to do anything!

Tap water into the pre filter 180 ppm -> Tap water out of the 3 stage pre filter 80ppm goes into the RO -> Tap water out of the two RO membranes 25ppm goes into the DI -> Water out of the DI system 000ppm

This extended my resin life from 2 weeks to 8 months, even in New Mexico. I expect roughly 2 years resin life here in VA. The only downside is the extremely slow rate of production. You can only produce roughly 1 gallon per hour. Solution? Pressurized storage! I have a 35 gallon, composite tank that catches the DI water and stores it for my washing and rinsing.

For those of you with truly hard water, don't be fooled into thinking that these in line paper and carbon filters are doing too much. If your water is super hard you should definitely consider pre treatment with a RO system...

Hope that helps a bit,
- Patrick

[wifesbimmer]

I would suggest that if one is going to spend that much on the filters, look into installing a water softener for the house. I have a water softener that I bought from Home Depot 4 years ago for less than $500 and $50 to install. It leaves no spots or streaks not only for your cars but on everything you wash. Plus, it's good for your skin.

[coolidge]

I don't understand the math you guys are using on cost of this system e.g. that its too expensive. It cost me no less than $20 at the car wash plus a $5 tip, then I have to go home and finish washing and rinsing it. So resin smesin bah!

[coolidge]

Originally Posted by wifesbimmer

I would suggest that if one is going to spend that much on the filters, look into installing a water softener for the house. I have a water softener that I bought from Home Depot 4 years ago for less than $500 and $50 to install. It leaves no spots or streaks not only for your cars but on everything you wash. Plus, it's good for your skin.

I just looked at this at Home Depot, their best performance still leaves 10 ppm vs zero for this system. Some guys replace the resin in this system at 10 ppm e.g. its worn out. Now to protect appliances, washing, sinks, baths etc. I can see the value there I guess.

Ahem I may have also, cough drilled out the government low flow shower head restrictors with a cordless drill.

[artem123]

Originally Posted by coolidge

I don't understand the math you guys are using on cost of this system e.g. that its too expensive. It cost me no less than $20 at the car wash plus a $5 tip, then I have to go home and finish washing and rinsing it. So resin smesin bah!

All what car wash cost me is a price for my favorite beverage. I enjoy both, handwashing my car(s) and consuming Weihenstephaner))))

[wifesbimmer]

Originally Posted by coolidge

I just looked at this at Home Depot, their best performance still leaves 10 ppm vs zero for this system. Some guys replace the resin in this system at 10 ppm e.g. its worn out. Now to protect appliances, washing, sinks, baths etc. I can see the value there I guess.

Ahem I may have also, cough drilled out the government low flow shower head restrictors with a cordless drill.

It is not the most perfect system but still helps significantly.

[newtlicious]

Water softening and water filtration are two different processes as well. Ion exchange softeners, such as the ones that you have to put salt into, just exchange salt for other minerals. If your water is 400ppm going in it will be 400ppm coming out except that it's sodium and chlorine instead of magnesium and calcium in the water. Washing your car with salt water is no bueno. I tried this in New Mexico as well. The only way to do it right is a DI or a RODI setup...

- Patrick

[coolidge]

Touchdown, ordered Monday the 8th arrived today Fedex ground the free shipping option. The box was heavy, it said 50lbs glad I opted for the wheeled cart. Shipped in a very heavy duty box. Well I guess I'm washing the X5 this weekend, too hot right now to even assemble it at 96 degrees out ugh!

[Alan l.]

Please post up your review and pics once you've tested it out.

Are you just going to wash with normal water and use this as a final rinse?

[coolidge]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

Are you just going to wash with normal water and use this as a final rinse?

With our mineral infested water not a chance I will wash and rinse with this gadget. I think I will test it on just a rear door though, let it dry, if no spots then I'll go to town on the rest of the vehicle.

I'm hoping this works well, with my bad back and hip towel drying is quite painful and will lay me up in bed for a day or two. It will be awesome if I can just spray it down and let it air dry. Thank Christ I'm having back surgery in a few weeks.

[coolidge]

Fully assembled and X5 washing about to begin, here is the first round of information...

I recommend quick disconnect fittings on the unit. I purchased mine at my local Wilco farm store. Here's why, the white plastic fittings that screw into the filters, covered in Teflon tape will turn too easy to be screwing hoses on/off you will end up having to wrestle a wrench and pliers. Plus I want to be able to break down this unit quickly for draining and storage.

The instructions say its easiest to screw in these big heavy filters with the stand sitting vertically vs laying the stand down. I disagree, it was too awkward with the stand on the floor, even with the stand on the workbench holding the filter up with one hand, trying to turn it with the other it was not going. I laid the stand down on its back on my workbench, with the stand handle up against the wall so the stand couldn't move, then with two hands on the filter was able to easily screw them on.



So pressure washer or not...manufacture recommends one. My gas pressure washer is rated 2.5 gallons a minute, the manufacturer says 2.5 gallons per minute max for this filter so that's fine. But my gas pressure washer is LOUD as hell, have to prime it, starting/stopping/starting, plus its overkill just for washing the X5 it doesn't have heavy caked on grime. The pressure washer was going to take the relaxing out of washing the X5.

So instead here is my favorite nozzle (the one that comes with the filter looks to be pretty cheap made in CHINA). I turned the nozzle flow valve to the lowest setting then timed filling up a gallon jug, it took 30 seconds on the nose to almost fill it so about 2 gallons per minute perfect.



This is what 2 gallons per minute looks like, plenty enough to wash and rinse the X5. I could even lower the pressure further to extend the life of the filter resin.

The manufacture says you will get 300 to 1200 gallons out of the resin depending on how crappy your water is. Using the lower number 300 gallons at 2 gallons per minute that's 2.5 hours of spraying.

The manufacture says you only need 1/4 turn of your faucet for the unit, they are about spot on there I tested it. With my nozzle adjusted to 2 gallons per minute I turned my faucet down until I could detect a drop in the pressure, it was 1/4 turn plus a smidgen to off. Knowing this I can now just adjust flow at my faucet allowing me to use any of the nozzle settings.

[coolidge]

Final report...here you see how dirty she was dang



Here's my test window, I cleaned the glass with glass cleaner then blasted it with the water hose and let it air dry.



There's still a few water drops evaporating but 90% of the drops have dried and left no spots.



All clean and drenched with beads of water, per the instructions I rinsed and walked away.



Dried spot free except for a few soap spots which wipe right off.