filtered water? help

Tex Star Detail

Tex Star Detail

Formerly TexasTB
I am ready to buy NOW. I am sick and tired of water spots. I hate them, and they hate me. Today was NO warmer that 50* outside, washing an SUV.......Washed the truck, rinsed, and started to dry... By the time I got around to the other side, it was dried and nasty. Spots on the windows and the paint looked like it had a marble effect on the paint. I know ALL of the soap residue is off the paint, because I went around the truck twice with the pressure washer...

It drives me nuts and I EASILY spend an extra 30 minutes on a vehicle dealing with the problem.

DI? RO? FILTER? WHAT?????????

I called Culligan about DI water, and they want to fill my 65 gallon tank for $60 bucks.....NO... I asked about Renting/Leasing DI tanks, and he said he would have to get back to me... I call a week later, and he said he would call me back......then I call again, and he has to call me back...

I don't run more than 2000 gallons a month through the tank, so, I NEED ADVICE..... WHAT TO BUY? Would using a drying agent help, or should I buy something for the hard water?
 
I believe you can add vinegar to the water to help with the water spots. might just bucket rinse with this, not sure on the dosage. this may not be practical for you volume of cars though.
Hopefully someone more qualified can help you with this, ive had the same problem before too, quite aggravating
 
TexasTB said:
I am ready to buy NOW. I am sick and tired of water spots. I hate them, and they hate me. Today was NO warmer that 50* outside, washing an SUV.......Washed the truck, rinsed, and started to dry... By the time I got around to the other side, it was dried and nasty. Spots on the windows and the paint looked like it had a marble effect on the paint. I know ALL of the soap residue is off the paint, because I went around the truck twice with the pressure washer...

It drives me nuts and I EASILY spend an extra 30 minutes on a vehicle dealing with the problem.

DI? RO? FILTER? WHAT?????????

I called Culligan about DI water, and they want to fill my 65 gallon tank for $60 bucks.....NO... I asked about Renting/Leasing DI tanks, and he said he would have to get back to me... I call a week later, and he said he would call me back......then I call again, and he has to call me back...

I don't run more than 2000 gallons a month through the tank, so, I NEED ADVICE..... WHAT TO BUY? Would using a drying agent help, or should I buy something for the hard water?
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I have often considered using a drying agent so I am curious if anyone here uses one.

When you are doing that much volume, I would go with DI water. I used to rinse lot cars for a dealership we serviced. We used DI water and it worked very well. I don't remember how much water the tanks I used treated, but it was fairly inexpensive.

I do remember checking Culligan and they were ridiculously high compared to the company I went with. That company is no good to you though because they are only based in Florida. My advice is to check with multiple companies, the prices varied quite a bit with me here.


Troy

As a side note, I have found that a 2 person operation really helps get the car dried before spotting becomes an issue. Thus the reason I don't use DI water anymore. I am lucky enough to have very good tap water to use though.
 
TexasTB said:
I called Culligan about DI water, and they want to fill my 65 gallon tank for $60 bucks
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I don't know how many cars you plan to attack in a days time, but depending on the gpm of your pressure washer, you might not carry enough water to handle many wash accounts like the real estate one you have.

Have you got an idea of how many cars you can do with that tank? My guess would be at most 5. Time to get a bigger trailer. :D


Troy
 
I can do 3-4 cars with the tank full, sometimes though, if it is bad, I will have to go refill. Haven't had to yet, but we'll see..
 
Pockets@PoorboysWorld said:
When I walk around boat docks there is alot of inline filters that have like a "spot free filter" that could be an option I dont have a clue on how much they are but it might be something to look at.
Google Image Result for http://www.spotfreeh2o.com/images/sfmain_03.jpg
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This isn't a toy like you see on the shelf at Wal*Mart.
I have no idea how well it works, but they seem to be pretty high capacity and priced accordingly. 1000 gallon for $400 (On sale?).
If they work, it would probably be a good investment. If they don't, $400 is quite a bit of money to throw away.
Just a thought. Could you rig up a filter that you only used when rinsing? It would be a lot cheaper to filter just that water rather than all the water you use for a complete detail.

Charles
 
you could put quick connects on each end and just hook it up when you are rinsing that would cut down on filter use.
 
CharlesW said:
Just a thought. Could you rig up a filter that you only used when rinsing? It would be a lot cheaper to filter just that water rather than all the water you use for a complete detail.
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That might work in some situations, but the Texas sun might be a deterrent. I know that I have to be really careful here in the Summer or I'll get water spots while I'm washing. It would probably be worth it to just have an in line filter for all of his water.
 
Yea, the Texas sun is ruthless and unforgiving down here. When using QEW, I would wash down a panel and dry, but by the time I started drying, it was drying on its own and spotting.....
 
Good points about the sun drying the wash water.
Being a hobby detailer, I don't have to wash in the direct sun.
In the summer, my driveway is shaded in the early morning before 6:30 and again after about 7 in the evening.
If for some reason I decide I have to wash during a sunny time, I try to wash the entire vehicle in the driveway and keep all the panels wet until I finish. Then I drive it into the garage to dry. My system probably isn't going to work too well for a mobil pro. :)

Charles
 
You also might want to try a few different free rinsing quality soaps first and use a flooding technique in rinsing before investing in a filter which might not solve your quick drying problem;) :)
 
Poorboy said:
You also might want to try a few different free rinsing quality soaps first and use a flooding technique in rinsing before investing in a filter which might not solve your quick drying problem;) :)
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Flooding technique won't work for us PW users, especially if Chris is already limited on his water supply. :gotcha:

Do you know of any quality car wash soaps Poorboy? :crazy2:
 
DI works, and with your amout of usage it should be reasonable. Shop around!

Also, you can set it up so you can use it on final rinse only.
 
Coastal Eddie said:
DI works, and with your amout of usage it should be reasonable. Shop around!

Also, you can set it up so you can use it on final rinse only.
Click to expand...
Don't a lot of cities have DI water distributors where you can go fill up your tank?

Charles
 
Culligan wants 60 bucks to fill a 65 gallon tank. WAY too much for me.
I need tanks if I go with DI... If I fill up, say, 25 days a month, that will run me 1200 in water...lol
I think that is a bit too much for washing cars...lol.

Yes, Steve, what soaps do you recommend? I have a few from my distributor, and they are all the same pretty much. Tried NXT, same results....
 
Might wanna try using less soap, working faster, adding a little megs #34 or Mark V's Showroon Shine along with your soap (about a shot glass full/wash bucket), working faster, start washing on the shady side first, working faster, start your drying on the sunny side, working faster, getting a helper and of course did I mention working faster?

As for the DI -- look for a place that either rents "Mixed Bed DeIonization" tanks, or provides a tank exchange service. I'm not sure where in Tehas ya are, but this might be a good starting place...

Water Deionization Equipment on ThomasNet.com

Hope this helps :)
 
CharlesW said:
Don't a lot of cities have DI water distributors where you can go fill up your tank?

Charles
Click to expand...

They might now Charles but not when I was using it alot. I rented the mixed bed tanks from Culligan.
 
Troy@DetailCity said:
Flooding technique won't work for us PW users, especially if Chris is already limited on his water supply. :gotcha:

Do you know of any quality car wash soaps Poorboy? :crazy2:
Click to expand...

What you can't disconnect the PW for a final rinse:confused: ...I don't think he's doing fleets at the moment:) Sure I could recommend one or two:notme::notme::notme:

He could also spray a QD on after rinsing that could add more lubrication and slow down the drying process..;)
 
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