[SoCalSensation]

Hey guys, new to the boards here, but I know other people on here have to be as picky as I am about my ride. Knowing this, one of my co-workers turned me onto The Clear-Rinse System. I was wondering if anyone else has used it & had the same success as I have.

I'm not trying to spam. I'm just trying to help out people on here by saving them some money (because with our cars, we kinda need it :-)).

Anywho, for $80, I bought their unit & haven't looked back. After every wash & rinse, my 325 looks as incredible as the day I bought her. & being that I don't like anyone else touching my car unless absolutely necessary, then I believe this investment was one of my best.

So anyone else use this system? In case you were wondering, their website is http://clear-rinse.com

Happy trails!

[BigO1120]

SoCal...first of all welcome to the FORUM!!!!!!

Second...I just might try this stuff.

[NaViT]

that actually sounds good

[Gort]

I just got the CR-Spotless water system that is advertised in the back of Bimmer magazine all the time. It is more pricey that the one mentioned here, but it is a high capacity unit that does an incredible job. It's mounted on a two wheel cart and with quick-connects couldn't be faster and easier to use.

[ejazbmw]

i might just have to try this ....currently using mr clean autodry ...its ok and all but its a pian in the a$$

[normtrum]

This is what I use. Sort of in the middle between what gort uses and the original op. It's from Griot's, and it work's great.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....1001&SKU=37244

[milehigh5000]

i gotta stop being lazy by goin to car washes..im def gonna start washin my own car if i can get my hands on this..dryin a car is a pain in the ass

[Gort]

Originally Posted by normtrum

This is what I use. Sort of in the middle between what gort uses and the original op. It's from Griot's, and it work's great.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....1001&SKU=37244

Interesting. I previously used the Mr. Clean unit, then the Griot's unit, before going to the CR Spotless unit. The CR Spotless has two very large cartridges and you can go for some time with before having to change them. The best part is that it has a built in meter that measures the conductivity of the "in" water and the "out" water. When the out water reaches a certain reading, you stop and change it out. It used to make me effing mad when I used the previous units when you thought the resin was still good, but it was really depleted, and bingo - spots. Either that or you had to guess and stop using it when there probably was still some life in it - just to be on the safe side.

[normtrum]

Originally Posted by Gort

Interesting. I previously used the Mr. Clean unit, then the Griot's unit, before going to the CR Spotless unit. The CR Spotless has two very large cartridges and you can go for some time with before having to change them. The best part is that it has a built in meter that measures the conductivity of the "in" water and the "out" water. When the out water reaches a certain reading, you stop and change it out. It used to make me effing mad when I used the previous units when you thought the resin was still good, but it was really depleted, and bingo - spots. Either that or you had to guess and stop using it when there probably was still some life in it - just to be on the safe side.

Ya, I know what you mean. When my Griot's unit is about to go south, the granules inside the clear casing turn purple, which means it's time to buy a new cartridge. The problem is the replacement costs about $100, which is about $20 less than a brand new unit! I haven't gotten to that point yet, but man do I freakin hate water spots!

[SoCalSensation]

Thanks for the welcome BigO!

[BK]

I use the one sold here (and love it), which was recommended by Picus, and only cost me $34 for the cannister plus $16 for the filter: http://www.pwgazette.com/gardenhosefilters.htm

How is the CR filter any different? It looks the same.

[milehigh5000]

Originally Posted by BK

I use the one sold here (and love it), which was recommended by Picus, and only cost me $34 for the cannister plus $16 for the filter: http://www.pwgazette.com/gardenhosefilters.htm

How is the CR filter any different? It looks the same.

price

[lkraven]

Couple of different filters in this thread.

Few basic facts first: the water spots that are left on your car are due to dissolved solids in your city water supply. Usually, people in areas with hard water will have the most problems. What you are dealing with is dissolved calcium in the water-- the water marks that are left behind are calcium carbonate deposits-- lime, basically. Other minerals can also leave deposits and etch your paint, but the white spots are the ones you generally notice. There are a couple of ways to combat this:

In general, this is how they stack up:

1. Sediment filters. Essentially these are micron filters that trap large particles. They are cheap, and do a passable job, though in most cases, dissolved solids are not filtered at all. They will continue to leave spots.

2. Water softeners. Basically, a water softening system ionically replaces calcium in water with a different ion. Usually, this is sodium, which is why most water softeners are "recharged" using salt. Salt (sodium chloride) is dissolved and in a chemical reaction replaces the calcium in calcium carbonate with sodium. The waste water is discharged. This is very effective at getting rid of water spotting, and a soft water rinse is usually pretty effective at getting rid of water spots. However, again, it only has a limited ability to remove other undesirable elements.

3. Reverse Osmosis (RO) RO water is essentially passed through an osmotic membrane, separating the water stream into two channels. One channel is chemically very pure water, the other channel contains all the dissolved solids (including Calcium Carbonate) pulled from the "clean" channel. The dirty channel is usually discharged to the sewer and the clean water is saved in a tank to be consumed or to rinse your car. RO water is very very good at spotless rinsing, but due to the nature of RO systems, the process of accumulating RO water is somewhat slow (very hard to have an on-demand system) and the RO water must be stored in containers. The undersink systems are usually 3 gallons-- which may or may not be enough to rinse your car. RO units also waste a lot of water because they are not very efficient-- the waste water contains all the solids, but depending on the efficiency, it may take an hour to generate 1 gallon of clean water and waste 3 gallons of discharged water.

4. DI-- Deionized water. This is as pure as water gets. Basically, the system splits the water into separately charged acid ions (H) and base ions (HO) and then recombines them to form pure H2O. This water will be chemically devoid of any contaminant. The Mr. Clean system is essentially a miniature DI column. This water will absolutely not leave any spots, and is so pure it is probably hazardous to drink-- the water will actually PULL chemicals and minerals from your body as it passes through, due to osmosis. It won't kill you, but drink enough of it, and it CAN make you pretty sick. You should never use DI water as drinking water unless you reconstitute it with minerals due to its aggressive nature. It is probably the ideal water with which to rinse your car. Unfortunately, without fail, DI columns must be replenished, and the the replenishment can be pretty costly. Like RO systems, the process is somewhat slow, which is why the Mr. Clean system sprays water soooo slowly. DI water, left by itself in a container, will contaminate itself with whatever minerals it can pull off the container. Usually, this isn't a problem for rinsing a car.

DI water is the best, if you can get a DI column or an RO+DI unit (it can cost a couple hundred bucks), you will never have to dry your car again, provided you did a good job of rinsing and washing off all the contaminants and your final rinse must DISPLACE all previous water which was contaminated (with dirt, or lime, or whatever).

Hope that helps.

[lkraven]

Originally Posted by BK

I use the one sold here (and love it), which was recommended by Picus, and only cost me $34 for the cannister plus $16 for the filter: http://www.pwgazette.com/gardenhosefilters.htm

How is the CR filter any different? It looks the same.

Very different. The CR system is a geniune DI column-- the water will be much purer. The gardenhosefilter is a combination sediment filter + carbon filter. It will remove chlorine, chloramines, and most organic solids. The water from this filter is essentially what you get from a Pur faucet filter-- it is fit to drink, but it still has lots of dissolved solids in it. It will REDUCE spotting, but I find it impossible to believe that a carbon filter will completely remove water hardness-- it is simply not designed to do that.

Also, as carbon filters age, they start LEECHING chemicals back into the water-- once the carbon is dirtier than the water passing through it, it has a tendency to release trapped contaminants.

Between the two, no contest, the CR system is far superior.

It is more than just price.

[E90330iS]

Cool, kind of expensive though..

[lkraven]

Just saw that the garden hose filter site also sells a water softening cartridge. Same caveats apply-- it will remove calcium carbonate and replace it with sodium bicarb or potassium bicarb, depending on the replenishment media-- but it is still inferior to a DI water source.

Still, it may be all you need and want, and it certainly is cheaper and easier to recharge than a true DI system.

[BK]

Originally Posted by lkraven

Very different. The CR system is a geniune DI column-- the water will be much purer. The gardenhosefilter is a combination sediment filter + carbon filter. It will remove chlorine, chloramines, and most organic solids. The water from this filter is essentially what you get from a Pur faucet filter-- it is fit to drink, but it still has lots of dissolved solids in it. It will REDUCE spotting, but I find it impossible to believe that a carbon filter will completely remove water hardness-- it is simply not designed to do that.

Also, as carbon filters age, they start LEECHING chemicals back into the water-- once the carbon is dirtier than the water passing through it, it has a tendency to release trapped contaminants.

Between the two, no contest, the CR system is far superior.

It is more than just price.

This, and your other post, was an outstanding read. Thanks for the info!

EDIT - reading it again, I see you were thinking about the carbon filter, but then also posted a follow-up referring to the water softening filter. That's the one I use, and I notice a difference in "sudsing" of the car wash soap (more suds now), and also spotting is reduced. We have very hard water. I did a water test when we moved in, and the hardness was essentially off the chart of the scale provided with the test. Some day, I intend to look into a DI system for the car -- your explanation was really intriguing.

BTW - you seem pretty knowledgeable about this stuff. OT, but what would you recommend for a whole house system? Our water is so hard, I'm sure it's tough on the appliances and plumbing.

[Ruff Rider]

I hook up my hose to a soft water faucet in my house to wash my car. I have never done this before and all I can say is WOW. My car is spot free and the suds now are so much better. I use less soap and it make more suds. If you have a way to hook up your hose this way try it. Plus I can have very hot water to wash my car.

[lkraven]

Originally Posted by BK

This, and your other post, was an outstanding read. Thanks for the info!

EDIT - reading it again, I see you were thinking about the carbon filter, but then also posted a follow-up referring to the water softening filter. That's the one I use, and I notice a difference in "sudsing" of the car wash soap (more suds now), and also spotting is reduced. We have very hard water. I did a water test when we moved in, and the hardness was essentially off the chart of the scale provided with the test. Some day, I intend to look into a DI system for the car -- your explanation was really intriguing.

BTW - you seem pretty knowledgeable about this stuff. OT, but what would you recommend for a whole house system? Our water is so hard, I'm sure it's tough on the appliances and plumbing.

My background on this comes from years of freshwater planted aquarium keeping-- more difficult in many ways than saltwater reef-keeping. The difference between 10ppm of phosphate in the water and 12ppm can be the difference between a crystal clear tank and one opaque with green algae. Along the way, general hardness, carbonate hardness, organic compounds, chlorine, etc. all enter into the equation, and I have been doing it for more than a dozen years.

Calcium in the water prevents sudsing because the carbonates interfere with the surfactant action of detergents-- that is why you are seeing more sudsing with softer water. However, even though you are seeing REDUCED spotting, soft water has essentially the same TDS (total dissolved solid) content as the water had before it was softened-- you have just replaced the calcium carbonate with something else.

Water softeners are great because they are cheap to run, are easily rechargable (couple bucks for 50lbs of salt) and provide real benefits-- everything FEELS cleaner because it rinses better. Detergents and soaps work better and a soft water shower is very pleasant.

However, because in general, people use SALT as a regenerator (you can use potassium chloride instead, though that comes with other issues) people with high blood pressure should not drink untreated softened water.

Still, a whole-house RO system can be prohibitively expensive.

In general, I would recommend softened water for the house, with an RO system in the kitchen or the fridge for your drinking water.

DI water has no place in the home-- but it has tons of uses in the garage! Especially for rinsing your car. I have used a spectrapure system for years for generating water for the fish tanks-- I end up with pure water that I then regenerate using exactly the trace elements, nutrients, and hardness required for the application.

Most R/O systems are multi-stage-- the R/O system is much more efficient when the water being fed in is purer, so in general, a good system will always have a sediment pre-filter and a carbon filter to remove organics (bad taste) and chlorine (will harm the R/O membrane).

Best bet is to call a reputable company-- spectrapure comes highly recommended-- they will be able to give you more ideas for general purpose.

For a car, or ANY rinsing application, DI is the way to go if you can get it. R/O is second best. The CR system linked in the first post is a true DI system and will yield excellent results as long as the system has the capacity throughput to adequately rinse the car in a short time.

[rpiopio]

Holy Camoli, that's some serious knowledge that lkraven just dropped.

[Gort]

The CR unit I have is the DIC-20 and it easily has the throughput capacity (~4 gpm) to quickly rinse the car. I wash and rinse with tap water, then using quick-connects, switch the hose to the CR DI system to rinse using a fan-spray. It couldn't be any easier. CR sells the ion exchange resin in bulk and it is easy to refill the canisters when they are depleted. The built in meter tells you when the resin beds are exhausted with plenty of warning.

[vkk]

Thanks for the info. I tried this and it works really well -- first time I've had a spot free wash.