CR Spotless users, have you ever not dried off the car after washing it?

[Bobn57]

I looked at this towel on line and it seems nice. How long have you been using it? I saw they have a Glass Genie for $4, have you tried that?

I’ve been using it since March and love it. It’s like a water magnet! I have the larger size that’s listed for suv but it works great on the stang.

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[ay1820]

It is a good start but most of the resin based systems use only the Anion resin which is half of the story when it comes to spot free water. In fact the TDS count can actually climb with those systems. Those systems are after a different goal and for the most part they do what is needed of them. The CRSpotless (et al) uses a mixed bed resin (Anion and Cation) to remove all dissolved solids. A RODI system is the ultimate but you would need a reservoir, pump and time (reverse osmosis is generally pretty slow----rated in gallons per hour).

The rinse cartridge listed above appears to have a mixed bed of resins so it would probably/actually do something compared to the RV filters that are most common. NO filter media will remove dissolved solids. Carbon based filters are more for the organics and the tastes or smells in the water.

Way back in the distant past (almost 30 years ago), I was the lead systems engineer on the design of the prototype water processing system to be used on the space station. I can't say that makes me any kind of expert on ion exchange beds (that was not my role), but I did walk away with at least a cursory understanding of the technology.

Looks like you have a nice wash rig! I kind of got interested here when Jerry Carguy talked about using the disposable in-line units. To be honest, the CR Spotless system is a bit rich for my blood.

 

[stungjoe]

the CR Spotless system is a bit rich for my blood.

I built mine for about half price. I found the cartridge system on marketplace for $40. It even has a spin-down filter but no constant monitoring probes (I just pre-test before each wash with my TDS meter). I bought two of the resin cartridges from CRSpotless for $136 plus the various sundry of plumbing parts for around $50. If you add the pressure washer I'm all-in for a bit more than the CRSpotless system at retail value.

The good thing is, I'm able to wash, foam and rinse with TDS 0 water which is pretty good considering the mineral rich water I have out here in the boonies.

 

[kilobravo]

OP: @Evolvd and @stungjoe both tell the story. No inline filter can remove dissolved solids. Particulate matter, yes but the undissolved material is not the source of water spots.

The CR Spotless rigs can only do so much, probably a couple hundred ppm at best. I have a ten gallon resin tank for the house and it does most of the work with the CR rig batting cleanup. Our local water supply is very hard.

However, as has been stated, if your water supply has high levels of dissolved solids, even with a whole house softening system AND a CR rig, you will undoubtedly still see water spots unless the vehicle is blown dry or hand dried quickly.

 

[ay1820]

OP: @Evolvd and @stungjoe both tell the story. No inline filter can remove dissolved solids. Particulate matter, yes but the undissolved material is not the source of water spots.

The CR Spotless rigs can only do so much, probably a couple hundred ppm at best. I have a ten gallon resin tank for the house and it does most of the work with the CR rig batting cleanup. Our local water supply is very hard.

However, as has been stated, if your water supply has high levels of dissolved solids, even with a whole house softening system AND a CR rig, you will undoubtedly still see water spots unless the vehicle is blown dry or hand dried quickly.

I agree with that. I was just curious about experiences with the inline filters. They are cheap enough that I wouldn't mind spending the money on 1 o 2 for a season. But to be honest, I can usually get my car dried pretty quickly and have not had problems when washing.

What has given me occasional problems is when you get rained on and the sun comes out and bakes the water beads dry before you have a chance to do anything about it. Even then, its not too bad if you can get the car washed (or even quick-detail cleaned) the same day, but there are times when that just isn't possible.

 

[Evolvd]

I agree with that. I was just curious about experiences with the inline filters. They are cheap enough that I wouldn't mind spending the money on 1 o 2 for a season. But to be honest, I can usually get my car dried pretty quickly and have not had problems when washing.

What has given me occasional problems is when you get rained on and the sun comes out and bakes the water beads dry before you have a chance to do anything about it. Even then, its not too bad if you can get the car washed (or even quick-detail cleaned) the same day, but there are times when that just isn't possible.

Dried rain water isn’t nearly as bad since the only contaminants are dust in the air. Ground water is way worse with calcium, iron, and all sorts of other nastiness that can dry into a hard rock and etch your paint.

 

[kilobravo]

Copy all, Al and except for the use of inline filters, I agree. I do have both pre and post filters on the house supply but none of that particulate matter would cause much spotting, maybe some residue from dirty air and rain water. But your home supply should be clean enough not to need filtering for car washing. For drinking, sure, I recommend it.

As for the instances when you get caught in weather and then subsequently baked in the sun, there's very little that can be done to prevent it. PPF or a ceramic coating will prevent etching mostly but that's after the fact.

Personally, even with softened supply, I love the CR Spotless and I did test it on my pickup when I got the rig. Left it in the sun to dry and had very few water spots so clearly, it works. Doing that same thing rinsing only with my softened supply would definitely have left a bunch more spots.

 

[kilobravo]

E: There can be a whole lot more in rain water than dust, especially if you're near heavy industry like we are with oil refineries.

 

[Grimmer]

However, as has been stated, if your water supply has high levels of dissolved solids, even with a whole house softening system AND a CR rig, you will undoubtedly still see water spots unless the vehicle is blown dry or hand dried quickly.

To add onto @kilobravo's comment, if anyone is using an ion exchange resin bed style water softener system that uses salt to regenerate itself, the total dissolved solids in the water are not being reduced. The calcium is just being swapped out for sodium. In those cases the CR system has to remove just as much TDS either way. One "advantage" is that residual sodium TDS should be easier to redissolve and clean from the car than calcium.

I usually just use soft water (my house system is sodium based) in my wash buckets and rinse with the CR system water. In summer I connect the CR to the hose (hard) and in the winter I use the hookups from the vacant laundry room near the garage (sodium softened), but that is just so I can get warm water and don't have to run ice cold water through my equipment.

I have been using locally sourced deionization resins and reload my own cartridges.

 

[Evolvd]

E: There can be a whole lot more in rain water than dust, especially if you're near heavy industry like we are with oil refineries.

We have pine pollen too lol. Yes, your location could definitely affect the air contaminants.

 

[Grimmer]

E: There can be a whole lot more in rain water than dust, especially if you're near heavy industry like we are with oil refineries.

I also have refineries "nearby". After 5 years collecting rain spots I found that a single pass with a DA polisher using Chemical Guys P4 compound cleaned up all the spots that the clay bar had been leaving behind.

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