Portable water softener/De-Ionizer???

I use and like the CR spotless deionizer.

Th filtration media takes time to absorb the ions in the water, so water pressure is reduced.
However
You are just rinsing the water off of the car, not power blasting the dirt off of the car.

My process is to rinse the car, bucket wash the dirt off, rinse the soapy water off, then DI water rinse.
(no drying necessary)

 

I am looking for one of these, too.

The Mr. Clean suggests that you prewash, then wash with their special soap, and then rinse with the DI water without drying. My friend has one for his Harley bikes and says he gets around 8 to 10 washes on it here in Dallas before replacing the cartridge. Our total hardness here Ca and Mg is about 70 to 80 PPM usually, so some cities may do better if you have softer water.

I don't really think there would be much difference in another make, given the fact that you have to force the water through the filtration device, and you only have so much pressure on the input side depending on your city supply.

 

the best way to do it is call a local water treatment co. like culligan. look in the phone book under water treatment. they will rent you a commercial de-ionizer. they come in different sizes. they allow you to use your hose full blast. when the beads are exhausted you trade it in for a new one. usually ends up costing less too.

 

it does make a big difference. water will only be de-ionized fully if it comes in contact with the beads properly. more beads-more flow. has nothing to do with the input pressure. it's not really a brand thing more of a size thing. commercial units that allow full flow are generally almost 5 feet tall.

 

These Mr. Clean type thingies are different from a Zeolite deionizer with those beads. The beads do not reduce the Total Dissolved Solids content of the water - what they do is to exchange the Calcium and Magnesium (and a few other metallic ions) from the water by exchanging Sodium in their place.
The sodium comes from bags of salt you put in the softener.

So the water still has dissolved solids which could dry on your car.

Reverse Osmosis devices remove practically all the ions present by forcing the water through very tiny apertures - only the H+ and OH- are small enough to get through - so you get something equivalent to distilled water.

 

you are completely wrong. i'm sorry you have confused a water softener with the de-ionizing units i am talking about. none of your statements are correct. de-ionizers, all of them, remove all dissolved solids and put no sodium in the water. i have been using de-ionizers commercially for 20 years. take my advice or don't, whatever. your statements about RO water are also optimistic.

 

So what is the salt for?

 

no salt involved. you are talking about a water softener not a de-ionizer.

 

Talk about taking it with a "grain" of salt...you are, of course, right about the difference. What I was pointing out was that a sodium zeolite exchange system does not remove all the ions, and that it would put a world of hurt on a nice car if that water was left to dry in the sun.

My other point was that given the limits of size (with one of these hand-held types), it may not be realistic to expect very much water flow difference from one brand to another.

Having said that, is there anybody else like me who is just a little uneasy with spraying even perfectly deionized water onto your car and just letting it dry? I can't help but imagine that some kind of airborne or residual surface crud would collect in the water, and migrate out to the edges as it evaporated and ran away?

I guess it is all about a tradeoff between that and the possible abrasion of rubbing a towel or whatever onto your paint surfaces.

 

I use the Mr Clean stuff and it is magic. The filters last for 10 washes.

Griots Garage sells a larger scale system but have no experience with it.

-dsd

 

I don't know why you keep talking about water softeners. is anybody talking about using a water softener to wash their car? i am talking about de-ionization units. as the name says-de-ionization. sodium zeolite is not used in commercial deionizing filters and a properly working DI unit will remove ALL ions.

maybe this will help you understand.

Production of high purity water

Water of highest purity is required for electronics, production of superconductor, and nuclear industry, among others. Such water is produced using ion exchange processes or combinations of membrane and ion exchange methods. Cations are replaced with hydrogen ions using cation exchange resins; anions are replaced with hydroxyls using anion exchange resins. The hydrogen ions and hydroxyls recombine producing water molecules. Thus, no ions remain in the produced water. The purification process is usually performed in several steps with mixed bed ion exchange column at end of the technological chain.

 

People, fellow members, water filtrationists, this discussion about filtration systems , to me, is kind of overkill if we're talking about JUST rinsing a car, even if it is our beloved ferrari(chuckle)!

Im tellin ya, serious water filtration is expensive, and especially so with high pressure!!!! And if you are talking about high volume DI water, man, you're going to pay for it , especially if you call Culligan!!!!!!! I say, use one of those hand held gismos that generate DI water, (and the flow will never be very high pressure), and be happy with that, as , you will get pretty good water (for a car), and it will be a heck of a lot cheaper that calling the damn Culligan man!! I hope you heed my advice, but of course, one doesnt have to, but I am a member, and would not ever steer you guys wrong.

So, without getting technical, stick with the low cost filtration "end of hose" gadgets, and hey, if you really want to hand rub dry your car with a leather chamois, even better, provided NO dirt is left on surface. Otherwise, let it dry, and if the DI water dohicky is still "not spent", and still really producing DI water, it , in theory, will leave no spots. It should be a little purer than rain water, for the record.

 

I use the "Mr Clean" It does take some patience, after i dry it with an electric leaf blower. Neighbors do tend to look at me funny.

 

I use this system. Works outstanding well. No drying and comes out much better than towel drying. Little pricey but so is everything.

http://www.amazon.com/Spotless-Water-Systems-DIC-20-CR/dp/B000KFWT7C

 

that thing is a rip off. a commercial unit costs about $300-350 to recharge and will do 3 times as much water.

 

less than 30 cents a gallon. even if you use 50 gallons per wash, which is a lot, your talking $15 max per wash. not really expensive.

 

That's where I got mine. I'm happy with it.

 

I use this and like it. Pressure is cut a little.

http://www.autogeek.net/clinhofianda.html

 

The deionizer will give you the best quality water.
The cheap filter only removes solid particulates, but will give better pressure.

The deionizer will give good pressure in short bursts.

I use a whole house sediment filter in the house (Home Depot type filter), and hook up the CR Spotless deionizer for the final rinse.