Deionized Water system which?

[RiverDave]

So I have a couple of buddies that have DI systems in their garages. And seeing how much easier this has made clean up on their lives, I have decided I really want one. That said let me preface this with I know jack shit about DI water systems. From what I can tell it looks like basically he more you pay the more water you get before you have to refill the resin cartridges?

What is he different between a mixed bed system and a dual bed system?

If you were buying off the internet what's the best deal out there? This will be used for washing cars / SXS / boats etc often.

Looking forward to everyone's input.

 

[RiverDave]

Call PB&J Water in Havasu they can answer your questions and lnstall that type of system you are looking for , phone number 928 706 0546

The ones I'm looking at you just hook it up to a garden hose and wheel it in place. Didn't seem like there was any install?

 

[comfortably numb]

This one looks like something I'd buy.

http://www.autogeek.net/cr-spotless-water-systems.html

 

[RiverDave]

This one looks like something I'd buy.

http://www.autogeek.net/cr-spotless-water-systems.html

The DIC 20 is what I was looking at on amazon. It's 30.00 cheaper and I can have it in two days with prime.

 

[DLC]

The DIC 20 is what I was looking at on amazon. It's 30.00 cheaper and I can have it in two days with prime.

I was thinking about pking one up also, so much easier to clean up all the stuff.

For me it's worth a little bit to call the same company and get what ya need and not re invent the wheel every time ya need new media or have a problem.

I was looking at Griots system

https://www.griotsgarage.com/produc...MIpsTFu56N1gIVj19-Ch02HQxVEAQYAiABEgIo1vD_BwE

They have a test meter for, $20 bucks, that can tell you what your TDS is. Total Dissolved Soultions- the minerals you are actually filtering out of your water, this is important to know as to how big a system you need
Meter is here

https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/tds+meter.do?sortby=ourPicks&refType=1

Keep us posted !!

Maybe set up a package deal if we can get a few more on board to buy in....

 

[boatdoc55]

Are these things the same kind of deal the RVer's use to take the hardness out of the water?? I thought those you cleaned the media with a pound of salt, flush and it was ready to go again.

 

[RiverDave]

Are these things the same kind of deal the RVer's use to take the hardness out of the water?? I thought those you cleaned the media with a pound of salt, flush and it was ready to go again.

That's a soft water system I believe is what you are talking about. Deionized water actually removes the minerals out of the water so when your car / boat whatever dries there is no water spots.

 

[RitcheyRch]

I too have been looking at the CR Spotless DIC 20 for use when washing the cars. Would be nice to be able to rinse the vehicles and not worry as much about water spots.

This one looks like something I'd buy.

http://www.autogeek.net/cr-spotless-water-systems.html

The DIC 20 is what I was looking at on amazon. It's 30.00 cheaper and I can have it in two days with prime.

 

[SJP]

This is the system I have been using for the last 5 years. It has been flawless. It is a commercial system and works extremely well.

https://www.gewater.com/products/service-deionization-sdi

The other links in this thread were not out then and for the money I would give them a try first.

 

[LuauLounge]

Check Costco online for the DIC-20

https://www.costco.com/CR-SPOTLESS-...With-bonus-Refill-Resin.product.11751987.html

 

[jscarab]

I have the CR spotless dic-20....works well...as advertised....problem is our water has such high Tds to start with that the resin doesn't last as long as expected. Only use it as a final rinse. Kinda a pain changing resin. I'm a member of the resin "club" they offer...makes it a little cheaper....

 

[RitcheyRch]

That's exactly what I would do with the system.

I have the CR spotless dic-20....works well...as advertised....problem is our water has such high Tds to start with that the resin doesn't last as long as expected. Only use it as a final rinse. Kinda a pain changing resin. I'm a member of the resin "club" they offer...makes it a little cheaper....

 

[BSP14]

Check Costco online for the DIC-20

https://www.costco.com/CR-SPOTLESS-...With-bonus-Refill-Resin.product.11751987.html

I have had this system for 4-5 years, and it has been great in combination with a pressure washer (to keep the gpm down). It has an inline meter to check the quality of the discharge water. I use it for rinse water, washing 2-3 cars and a full size truck a few times a month with north San Diego county water. I typically replace the filter resin every 8-10 months depending on use.

Not sure how it will do with Havasu water, but with the meter, and by keeping track of the rinse quality, you'll know quickly.

 

[comfortably numb]

My question is do you use tap water to wash with or use the DIC-20 water in the wash bucket?

 

[BSP14]

My question is do you use tap water to wash with or use the DIC-20 water in the wash bucket?

I made a manifold that allows the selection of tap or filtered to the pressure washer. Straight tap for initial soak and washing, then filtered for rinsing, all through the PW. Bucket with soap and tap water for hand washing. I spray the wash pads off each time before putting them back in the suds to cut down on dirt in the wash bucket too.

Pressure washer keeps the GPM down to under 4, preserving the filters for a longer period of time.

 

[Shortdeck]

If the waters TDS is what matters for a deionized water, Havasu's average last month was above 700.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Just a little tip for any filtration used off a hose connection, put a RV style water filter inline in the hose before the filtration and it'll reduce the contaminants by a good bit before it goes into the $$$ filters.

 

[Gregor]

So I have a couple of buddies that have DI systems in their garages. And seeing how much easier this has made clean up on their lives, I have decided I really want one. That said let me preface this with I know jack shit about DI water systems. From what I can tell it looks like basically he more you pay the more water you get before you have to refill the resin cartridges?

What is he different between a mixed bed system and a dual bed system?

If you were buying off the internet what's the best deal out there? This will be used for washing cars / SXS / boats etc often.

Looking forward to everyone's input.

I use the "Invisible Chamois" by myqualitywater.com. The big bottle for home which is 30+" tall and the small bottle at 20" tall for the motorhome that I can store in the storage departments. I also use the WORX WG628 Cordless Power Washer with the system. You need to go to the hardware store and buy a few parts to get the two systems to marry with each other (not hard) but the two together work great. I use it on the Motorhome, the boat, the cars and even the windows at home. I haven't used the DIC version talked about on this thread so no comparisons offered.

 

[RiverDave]

Check Costco online for the DIC-20

https://www.costco.com/CR-SPOTLESS-...With-bonus-Refill-Resin.product.11751987.html

It's 360.00 on Amazon as opposed to 420.00



Any thoughts on dual bed vs mixed bed? Anybody even know what that is?


I'm seeing most of these units from 200 - 500.00 and they say like 300 gallons of use. Then I see one for 600.00 that says it will do 4,000 gallons.. WTF? Seems like it would be worth the extra 180, to just never have to fuck with it again for the next 5 or so years? Especially since the refill resins on the others like like 90.00?

RD

 

[comfortably numb]

It's 360.00 on Amazon as opposed to 420.00



Any thoughts on dual bed vs mixed bed? Anybody even know what that is?


I'm seeing most of these units from 200 - 500.00 and they say like 300 gallons of use. Then I see one for 600.00 that says it will do 4,000 gallons.. WTF? Seems like it would be worth the extra 180, to just never have to fuck with it again for the next 5 or so years? Especially since the refill resins on the others like like 90.00?

RD

Just had to open that can of worms. From an easy sale of $360.00 to $600.00. Let us know how the $600.00 one is working out for you. Lol

 

[paradise]

Just run RO water and then run it through your resin filter, only a few $k

http://www.purewaterproducts.com/watts-r12-whole-house-ro#optional

 

[RiverDave]

Just run RO water and then run it through your resin filter, only a few $k

http://www.purewaterproducts.com/watts-r12-whole-house-ro#optional

I just want to wash my cars and boats here.. I don't want to spend several thousand bucks on this.





4000 gallon D.I. system 600.00

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016V14IK...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1504643056&sr=8-1


I can't remember where I found the specs on this one, but I think it said it does 360 gallons of water?

https://www.amazon.com/CR-Spotless-...rd_wg=90K7n&psc=1&refRID=0H63BX32G01VV6AW1MKG

RD

 

[RiverDave]

Any input on this??

 

[comfortably numb]

Or this one? But that DI system looks pretty nice and it's one tank. Pick up a dolly & chian at Harbor Frieght and its a done deal.

https://www.amazon.com/Go-Spotless-Portable-Dual-Deionizer/dp/B00KVPO21C


https://www.westmarine.com/buy/on-t...-water-de-ionizer-dual-bed-standard--12926481

 

[LuauLounge]

Any input on this??

Take another look at the Costco one, comes with a resin refill

 

[RiverDave]

Take another look at the Costco one, comes with a resin refill

4,000 vs 400? Even with the refill that's whatever that's good for vs 4,000?

 

[Ouderkirk]

So I have a couple of buddies that have DI systems in their garages. And seeing how much easier this has made clean up on their lives, I have decided I really want one. That said let me preface this with I know jack shit about DI water systems. From what I can tell it looks like basically he more you pay the more water you get before you have to refill the resin cartridges?

What is he different between a mixed bed system and a dual bed system?

If you were buying off the internet what's the best deal out there? This will be used for washing cars / SXS / boats etc often.

Looking forward to everyone's input.

The two questions are GPH, and how polished do you want the water?

5 Meg-Ohm DI water is about $6.00 per gallon to make in a recirculating system and is the high end of polished water.

For washing cars and the like, maybe a water-softener might be more suitable if your water is as hard as it is here. I can't see spending money on a DI water system unless you need to clean things on an industrial scale at the level of making computer chips.

 

[DLC]

If the waters TDS is what matters for a deionized water, Havasu's average last month was above 700.

Hi Shortdeck

Wow 700 that is kinda high!

According the the link I posted on pg 1 the griots system uses app 13 lbs of media also has a built in valve to go from filter to non filter, if you go off there web site stats are ....
If the TDS is 400 then you will app 175+/- gallons of water with a flow rate of 4 gallons a minute

I got the info here
https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/tds+meter.do?sortby=ourPicks&refType=1

How many pounds of media does the DIC20 system use? I haven't found any tech info on there system

I was also looking for a cheapy RV filter like what Flying Leavy said but I haven't found any that give stats about TDS filtering

 

[SJP]

The two questions are GPH, and how polished do you want the water?

5 Meg-Ohm DI water is about $6.00 per gallon to make in a recirculating system and is the high end of polished water.

For washing cars and the like, maybe a water-softener might be more suitable if your water is as hard as it is here. I can't see spending money on a DI water system unless you need to clean things on an industrial scale at the level of making computer chips.

The water is nothing on par with the water in upstate. There are way more spotting and content in the water and without the humidity literally the water dries as fast as you apply it. I could not keep up with a Shammy towel on a boat in summertime in dessert.

 

[stokerwhore]

4,000 vs 400? Even with the refill that's whatever that's good for vs 4,000?

i haven't looked but i have a feeling that 4000 refers to a maintaining a certain resistivity in a closed system like in a tank rather than just a one time deal like being blown out of a hose.
maybe not a cause for worry but here's a thought: when water has all it's minerals removed in looks for more to absorb. so with plastic parts that are submerged in di water for a good amount of time they become extremely brittle and break. as in disintegrate. some types of plastics are more susceptible than others.

 

[Ouderkirk]

The water is nothing on par with the water in upstate. There are way more spotting and content in the water and without the humidity literally the water dries as fast as you apply it. I could not keep up with a Shammy towel on a boat in summertime in dessert.

The water here is rock hard with calcium and other dissolved minerals. It spots pretty bad and I put in a whole house water-softener and it made things much better for washing cars, clothes, and everything else. THe washing machine works great, the dishwasher is spot free, and the cost of operation is cheap relative to a DI setup. The spotting is almost nil, but I use this squeegee contraption that I bought some years ago called the California Water Blade.

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Wat...664304&sr=8-1&keywords=california+water+blade

works good.

Unless your water is really bad, I would go with a softener.

 

[boatdoc55]

Hey Dave, I see a couple people on here saying go with the soft water deal. I have one here in the garage if you would like to try it. I had one in my RV days staying down at Mayflower and it worked great. I washed my truck with it all the time at the park. The one in the garage belongs to a friend and he wants to get rid of it as he no longer RVs either. If you try it and like it it's cheap to you.

 

[RiverDave]

I have a really nice water softener here in the garage that George put in for me a year ago. It definitely made a difference in the house / showers / dishwasher etc.. The way a water softener works vs a DI system is different though and it's not going to yield the results I want for washing cars (spot free rinse / no drying etc..).

So SJP has one of these DI systems in his garage that he uses, and Bullhead Bully also has one in his garage. I'm not sure how SJP uses his because I haven't been present, but BB just lightly gets the boat wet (in the garage) and just kind of dries it off and it looks perfect. Doesn't matter if you miss a few spots because the DI water leaves no residue anyways.

I'm kind of looking for a setup that I can pressure wash my ranger / boat / cars etc.. in the driveway and just pull them in the garage for light clean up afterwards. That said I'd probably go through more water than BB uses. I talked to PB&J (local purified water specialists), the suggested that we tap off my RO system that I have in the bar in my garage, feed it to the DI setup and go to a Tank that I could use for washing the cars etc. Their point was feeding the DI system RO water would make the DI filters last 100 times longer than dealing with the hard water we have out here.

For myself I really don't want a water tank, and I don't want to give up anymore room in my garage or have a tank sitting on the side of my house.

I described what I was looking for, PB&J said they are going to bring over two decent sized DI filters and install them at the house in a week and a half (Jeff is out of town right now). He basically said lets run it as an experiment and see how long they last with the hard water and my usage. I'll start a new thread with the install, and I'll keep track of usage and monitor the water contaminate levels and we will see! Pretty excited to finally get one of these at the house!

RD

 

[comfortably numb]

Cool, can you leave a hose and spray nozzel outside and we'll give our input also?

 

[RiverDave]

Cool, can you leave a hose and spray nozzel outside and we'll give our input also?

LOL... I'm not looking to open a detail shop at the house here. That said if you want to try it out, the point of the experiment is to measure usage vs filter life so come on by..

RD

 

[comfortably numb]

Are you going to bother using a pressure gauge on the tanks for now and add one later if all works good?

 

[comfortably numb]

My question is do you use tap water to wash with or use the DIC-20 water in the wash bucket?

This is what I was thinking, using R/O or soft water in to the tanks or at least into the wash bucket.
Be interesting to see how this project turns out.

 

[YOLO]

I have the CR Spotless DIC-20 model. Our water is hard as shit (700 tds ish) where I live so resin changes are fairly regular. I can do about 10 car washes before the need for a resin change. I use a pressure washer (1.8 GPM) to rinse off, foam gun, and then final rinse my cars and boat. Doing the math it would probably be cheaper to just go down to the carwash but I like doing things on my own time at my own house and my 3 yr old love to help me and lots of help she is. Kind of a point of pride thing for me. It was the most reasonably priced, simple, and serviceable system I could find in my minimal research. Amazing how clean the cars come out!

 

[RitcheyRch]

Holy crap. I have no idea how hard our water is in Santa Clarita but it eats the copper piping and they recommend the use of PEX. When I was getting kidney stones on a regular basis many years ago my doctor was worried that I was drinking the tap water. He said if the water can eat copper piping imagine what it does to your internal plumbing.

We wash our two commuter cars every week so we would go through quite a bit of resin if our water is that hard. Might need to buy or borrow a tester to solve my curiousity.

I have the CR Spotless DIC-20 model. Our water is hard as shit (700 tds ish) where I live so resin changes are fairly regular. I can do about 10 car washes before the need for a resin change. I use a pressure washer (1.8 GPM) to rinse off, foam gun, and then final rinse my cars and boat. Doing the math it would probably be cheaper to just go down to the carwash but I like doing things on my own time at my own house and my 3 yr old love to help me and lots of help she is. Kind of a point of pride thing for me. It was the most reasonably priced, simple, and serviceable system I could find in my minimal research. Amazing how clean the cars come out!

 

[LuauLounge]

Not to threadjack, put take a look at this. I had my black car done at a detail shop and then started doing it a home using the same stuff.
Waterless car wash.

[video=youtube;T-ShtSvQaSA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ShtSvQaSA[/video]

 

[RitcheyRch]

We use Optimum No Rinse (ONR) but only use it when the car really isn't that dirty. If the car is as dirty as that video I would break out the house and foam gun. I would never use ONR on that dirty of a car.

Not to threadjack, put take a look at this. I had my black car done at a detail shop and then started doing it a home using the same stuff.
Waterless car wash.

[video=youtube;T-ShtSvQaSA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ShtSvQaSA[/video]

 

[RiverDave]

Are you going to bother using a pressure gauge on the tanks for now and add one later if all works good?

Not sure about a pressure gauge as that would end up being the same line pressure as the house invariably? I was thinking about a flow meter (if I can find one) to measure through put (gallons) and then a tester to measure TDS, and see where the drop off is.

Not to threadjack, put take a look at this. I had my black car done at a detail shop and then started doing it a home using the same stuff.
Waterless car wash.

[video=youtube;T-ShtSvQaSA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ShtSvQaSA[/video]

I have a million spray cleaners and spray waxes already from the boating world. I think that guy is fucking crazy to being doing that on that black Audi like that. You won't see it in the video, but I have very little doubt he's gonna end up with paint swirls if he keeps doing it that dirty. Hose it off first, and then come back with the spray.

RD

 

[buck35]

What are you trying to remove from the water? If calcium, then a softener will do it . Either way, a good pre filter will extend the life of whatever system you go with and save you bucks in the long run.

 

[pronstar]

What are you trying to remove from the water? If calcium, then a softener will do it . Either way, a good pre filter will extend the life of whatever system you go with and save you bucks in the long run.

Pretty sure he wants to remove "anything that will leave a water spot" [emoji106]

 

[lIQUIDATEDdAMAGES]

I've got one of the single resin beds that I rent and keep at the boat slip. I think they say you get about 400 gallons before you need to replace but I have had it for probably 6 months and just replaced it the third time because of this thread. I use a shitload of water washing the boat (30' with tuna tower etc) and I've run way more than 400 through it without seeing a huge drop off. You can't let it dry on windows etc without minor spots once you are way over recommended usage but it's still way better than regular water.

I think I pay 20 a month to rent and 50 for refills

 

[Ouderkirk]

I have a really nice water softener here in the garage that George put in for me a year ago. It definitely made a difference in the house / showers / dishwasher etc.. The way a water softener works vs a DI system is different though and it's not going to yield the results I want for washing cars (spot free rinse / no drying etc..).

So SJP has one of these DI systems in his garage that he uses, and Bullhead Bully also has one in his garage. I'm not sure how SJP uses his because I haven't been present, but BB just lightly gets the boat wet (in the garage) and just kind of dries it off and it looks perfect. Doesn't matter if you miss a few spots because the DI water leaves no residue anyways.

I'm kind of looking for a setup that I can pressure wash my ranger / boat / cars etc.. in the driveway and just pull them in the garage for light clean up afterwards. That said I'd probably go through more water than BB uses. I talked to PB&J (local purified water specialists), the suggested that we tap off my RO system that I have in the bar in my garage, feed it to the DI setup and go to a Tank that I could use for washing the cars etc. Their point was feeding the DI system RO water would make the DI filters last 100 times longer than dealing with the hard water we have out here.

For myself I really don't want a water tank, and I don't want to give up anymore room in my garage or have a tank sitting on the side of my house.

I described what I was looking for, PB&J said they are going to bring over two decent sized DI filters and install them at the house in a week and a half (Jeff is out of town right now). He basically said lets run it as an experiment and see how long they last with the hard water and my usage. I'll start a new thread with the install, and I'll keep track of usage and monitor the water contaminate levels and we will see! Pretty excited to finally get one of these at the house!

RD

I am definitely interested to see how this works out for you. I never really considered a DI water setup in the garage but it would be nice. The expense for 5 meg DI was pretty steep @ $6/gal but that level of polish may not be necessary for general cleaning.

 

[RitcheyRch]

I too am interested and have been looking at the various systems on-line. I haven't bought anything or settled on any particular system. Hoping that RD gets a system and will base my decision of his results.

I am definitely interested to see how this works out for you. I never really considered a DI water setup in the garage but it would be nice. The expense for 5 meg DI was pretty steep @ $6/gal but that level of polish may not be necessary for general cleaning.

 

[SJP]

RD - I will be out in a couple weeks and you and your film crew can do a demo . - USC has a couple of home games at the Colesium I am going to with my Dad. I use the unit everytime I am out to wash truck, boat, RZR, basically everything after each use or weekend to keep them pristine. On the big boats I would do this in between professional details (kind of like cleaning the house before the cleaning ladies come) . Not sure if I mentioned this in this thread but basically these are the units they use on new/user car lots everywhere.

A couple of notes:

1. Soap - I use the soap from GE - they pretty much give it to you - high quality. It is awesome - and made with DI water. Use a soap with an impure base is like pissing in the wind from the beginning.

2. Especially on the RZR and Jeep - things coming in really dirty - obviously you need to remove the dust and dirt from the target. On the black plastics I soap and then spray off. No stress. The spray gun (unit is electric) is the exact right amount of power for what I am trying to do. You will not damage any paint with it like a pressure washer potentially but it will assist in removing dirt etc from target. Others have made comments in past that no matter what you will need to dry because water will pick up dust in air on beads. I am not washing in a wind storm but have found this theory to be unfounded.

3. Seems pretty obvious but do not hit ground and splash up spots onto quarter panel. Neighbor told me that - evidently he had that issue... - moving on

4. I am sure you and others have expierenced this where we live. Things dry sooo quick in the heat of summer - using a DI unit allows me to wash any point of day in driveway. When I build my next garage I would like to get a setup like BB so I can do this under roof. I just do not have the space or drain setup currently.

5. Media - so my 2 bottles - this large welding rig maybe 50 gallon each of media last me about a season. I use the same in the winter. I always have a spare set in garage. All bottle sets are leased for like $12 a month and I think it costs like $130 for an exchange. The closest they dealiver to Havasu the last time I checked is some golf course in Laughlin - but the route may have expanded by now. My media gets deliver to my shop in OC. I purchased the unit new like 5/6 years ago for like 3k but they lease them. It has been bullet proof system. Made for a yard guy to go out on a lot and spray down cars / abuse and walk away - do all over again the next day.

6. So cost per wash - really to have a mobile guy come up and do this every week. I just can't even imagine. Some guys in my neighborhood do it but I they are at another level. I literally have a full blown wash down in my driveway so it is worth it for me. I think the key is the media and obviously quality of the water out put. So if you are spending $400 - $500 and getting only 10-15 washes and the quality drops or media blows out where does that leave you? Wrenching on your DI system.

RD not going to lie to - first season I got it I was like this is a very expensive tool but now I do not think I could do without it. Whatever system you put in is better than your current. I would also start testing the foam guns like YOLO was mentioning - I heard these save time as well.

 

[WhatExit?]

I'm still interested in DI system for washing stuff...

My neighbor starts with a hose wet down and soap in a bucket then uses his pressure sprayer hooked up to his CR Spotless DIC-20 Deionized Water System to minimize the use of DI water.

He said he bought his at Costco but I don't see them on their website now. This one's available at Amazon but it's $360.00

https://www.amazon.com/CR-Spotless-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DET83FRWNBB5H9AYZAD6

 

[LHC30]

I have the Spotless twin container from Costco and it works great!