Sure improved this old man's life! Bought the TDS meter and de-ionizer together, a bit pricy but then Griots warranties his stuff and they handle problems directly. That's worth something to me.
Found out my water tests at 243 - 250 ppm tds. According to Griots I should get around 300 gallons of de-ionized water. My first concern was my house having 95 psi of water pressure. That didn't bother the de-ionizer one bit, zero leaks anywhere. The de-ionizer brought the tds to 0.
Washing: this thing rocks! Washing with demineralized water is different than with 240 ppm gunked up water. Untreated water lays flat whereas the clean water actually hangs off roof racks similar to dew. Water beads seem different.
My washing technique is different from the recommendations of: set machine for untreated water, wash and rinse then re-rinse with de-mineralized water. Things dry off too fast here with 5 - 10% humidity and switching from untreated to treated water in a 50 foot hose seemed like it could be wasteful. So I did one panel at a time de-ionized all the way, it's really quite easy to be frugal with the water. After going around the car I finished by blowing away what water didn't dry. Zero water spots!
Today I bought a Camco RV water filter which will prefilter the de-ionizers incoming water of fluoride, chlorine and other stuff before it gets to the de-ionizing media, hopefully extending its life. I also bought the Camco RV pressure regulator which should hold the water pressure at 40- 45. We'll see how that works but for now clean cars in half the time.
I know there are people that will say all this is too expensive but desert conditions mean you have to dry the car at the speed of light to avoid water spots and I don't have any speed of light left in me. I washed an Expedition and extended cab pickup today and wasn't bushed in the least. If I wind up buying 2 rounds of media every year but I'm no longer a dead from car washing, so be it.
So, are there any other bitogers doing the de-mineralized wash thing?
Found out my water tests at 243 - 250 ppm tds. According to Griots I should get around 300 gallons of de-ionized water. My first concern was my house having 95 psi of water pressure. That didn't bother the de-ionizer one bit, zero leaks anywhere. The de-ionizer brought the tds to 0.
Washing: this thing rocks! Washing with demineralized water is different than with 240 ppm gunked up water. Untreated water lays flat whereas the clean water actually hangs off roof racks similar to dew. Water beads seem different.
My washing technique is different from the recommendations of: set machine for untreated water, wash and rinse then re-rinse with de-mineralized water. Things dry off too fast here with 5 - 10% humidity and switching from untreated to treated water in a 50 foot hose seemed like it could be wasteful. So I did one panel at a time de-ionized all the way, it's really quite easy to be frugal with the water. After going around the car I finished by blowing away what water didn't dry. Zero water spots!
Today I bought a Camco RV water filter which will prefilter the de-ionizers incoming water of fluoride, chlorine and other stuff before it gets to the de-ionizing media, hopefully extending its life. I also bought the Camco RV pressure regulator which should hold the water pressure at 40- 45. We'll see how that works but for now clean cars in half the time.
I know there are people that will say all this is too expensive but desert conditions mean you have to dry the car at the speed of light to avoid water spots and I don't have any speed of light left in me. I washed an Expedition and extended cab pickup today and wasn't bushed in the least. If I wind up buying 2 rounds of media every year but I'm no longer a dead from car washing, so be it.
So, are there any other bitogers doing the de-mineralized wash thing?