Help for hard water

[RubyCamaro]

Okay, our water has always been terrible for making water spots but it must be getting worse. I know a lot of it is lime (limestone) and some iron (from our infamous red clay dirt); not sure what else. No matter how fast you go or how you wash, water spots are just awful. Is there any kind of a filtration system you can hook up to your water hose to take some of that crap out? I tried searching on ebay but clearly I am not entering the right search words to pull it up if such a thing exists and if it doesn't someone needs to invent one!

[Nor Cal ZL1]

Here you go Ruby check this system out.

http://www.autogeek.net/deluxe-filter-system.html

You can also add rinseless wash solution to your soap bucket to aid as a water softener.

http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-no-rinse.html

Hope these links help.

Norcal

[RubyCamaro]

Thanks. Dang, that water filtration system looks complicated.

[motorhead]

Originally Posted by Nor Cal ZL1

Here you go Ruby check this system out.

http://www.autogeek.net/deluxe-filter-system.html

You can also add rinseless wash solution to your soap bucket to aid as a water softener.

http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-no-rinse.html

Hope these links help.

Norcal

This is nothing more than a salt water softer filter with a whole house sediment pre-filter. Softening the water doesn't mean you will get rid of water spots. What matters is the total dissolved solids in the water. To get rid of spots you need to get rid of the TDS in the water which can be expensive for a residential situation. Softening just replaces one mineral for another which is sodium. There are advantages to softening though. You'll use less soap and will clean better. The water will sheet off the car better which will effectively reduce spotting. If you really want your water problems fixed, you need to have a pro test your water and get the right system to treat your particular problem. There is no one size fix all when it comes to water conditioning. The best thing you can do for now it to not wash your car when the panels are warm or in the direct sunlight, rinse the car using the sheeting method, use a good wax that doesn't bead, and then dry your car still wet using a high quality detail spray like Adams.

Good luck!

[Nor Cal ZL1]

Originally Posted by motorhead

This is nothing more than a salt water softer filter with a whole house sediment pre-filter. Softening the water doesn't mean you will get rid of water spots. What matters is the total dissolved solids in the water. To get rid of spots you need to get rid of the TDS in the water which can be expensive for a residential situation. Softening just replaces one mineral for another which is sodium. There are advantages to softening though. You'll use less soap and will clean better. The water will sheet off the car better which will effectively reduce spotting. If you really want your water problems fixed, you need to have a pro test your water and get the right system to treat your particular problem. There is no one size fix all when it comes to water conditioning. The best thing you can do for now it to not wash your car when the panels are warm or in the direct sunlight, rinse the car using the sheeting method, use a good wax that doesn't bead, and then dry your car still wet using a high quality detail spray like Adams.

Good luck!

I know about water conditioning as a heavy industrial HVAC tech, so I do agree if the water has a high TDS content, the best resolve is to have the water tested as mentioned. That is an excellent point.

As an alternative you can just go water less and use de-mineralized water as your water for the concentrate mix. I use water less wash about 90% of the time and it works great. I use this kit and only use the hose for rinse less washes to fill two buckets. I love this water less wash, super fast, excellent results.

http://www.autogeek.net/waterless-car-wash-kit1.html

[motorhead]

Originally Posted by Nor Cal ZL1

I know about water conditioning as a heavy industrial HVAC tech, so I do agree if the water has a high TDS content, the best resolve is to have the water tested as mentioned. That is an excellent point.

As an alternative you can just go water less and use de-mineralized water as your water for the concentrate mix. I use water less wash about 90% of the time and it works great. I use this kit and only use the hose for rinse less washes to fill two buckets. I love this water less wash, super fast, excellent results.

http://www.autogeek.net/waterless-car-wash-kit1.html

We are speaking the same language as I own an HVACR company.

Cool!

[b4cz28]

Hague water max is what you need. I own a plumbing and water treatment company!

[Nor Cal ZL1]

Originally Posted by motorhead

We are speaking the same language as I own an HVACR company.

Cool!

Cool, here in Cali we are fighting low water tables so the TDS levels are up pretty high. We are mostly fighting conductivity on electronic pulsed Dolphin water treat systems for cooling towers. As conductivity increasing is a side effect of mineral content we are struggling with scale on non chemical applications. Our chemical guy is also going crazy trying to keep the steam water conditioned so that scale does not develop in our Boilers. These days our make up water conductivity levels are above our blow down set points, so non chemical cooling towers are actually using more water than normal.

This is another reason I have converted to water less washes as our city water here is at 600us on the meter, I have to test the TDS some time.

[Nor Cal ZL1]

Originally Posted by b4cz28

Hague water max is what you need. I own a plumbing and water treatment company!

Interesting, no salt. We have some pulsed humidifiers that use a bead media to soften the water that works pretty well. No scale what so ever. The media does need to be changed out when the water quality exceeded 6 ppm. Is this the same kind of media?

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

The CR Spotless Deionization system is probably the mainstay water filtration system manufactured solely to wash cars with spot free water. Here's a link to the medium output version: http://www.autogeek.net/cr-spotless-...FQUGaQodNxYPvw

It's good for around 100 gallons, which is around two month's of weekly washes; more if you conserve it and only use it as a last step rinse, less if you waste a lot of water. They have a higher output version, but it's more expensive. If your water is as bad as you say it is, the resin will wear out quicker as well, meaning you'll need to replace it more frequently.

One way to avoid water spots without breaking the bank on filtration systems is to only wash your car when the sun isn't out and when the ambient temperature is lower. You'll have all the time in the world to dry to a spot free finish if you wash your car in late noon / early evening or in the early morning. That's how I avoid water spots, and my water is abysmal like yours.

[hazy]

another thing that I've found REALLY helps with the spotting is to wash early in the a.m while still in the shade.

Hot paint will dry up your soapy water mix, or even your rinse water, and spot before you can touch it with a towel....at least that's been my experience with a black car in this TX heat...

[tmaleck]

Originally Posted by nUcLeArEnVoY

The CR Spotless Deionization system is probably the mainstay water filtration system manufactured solely to wash cars with spot free water. Here's a link to the medium output version: http://www.autogeek.net/cr-spotless-...FQUGaQodNxYPvw

It's good for around 100 gallons, which is around two month's of weekly washes; more if you conserve it and only use it as a last step rinse, less if you waste a lot of water. They have a higher output version, but it's more expensive. If your water is as bad as you say it is, the resin will wear out quicker as well, meaning you'll need to replace it more frequently.

One way to avoid water spots without breaking the bank on filtration systems is to only wash your car when the sun isn't out and when the ambient temperature is lower. You'll have all the time in the world to dry to a spot free finish if you wash your car in late noon / early evening or in the early morning. That's how I avoid water spots, and my water is abysmal like yours.

If you don't need the fancy cart, this looks like a good option. Total spend could be under $100 and the resin cartridges can be regenerated. They have a variety of filters for a very reasonable price. Now I have a car I like to keep clean, I'll put together my own DIY system for less than half of the AG price.
http://www.purewaterproducts.com/garden-hose-filters

Tim

[RubyCamaro]

Thanks guys. All good info.

[Adam's Polishes]

Adam's Shampoo is PH balanced so while you are washing it is way safer to leave all the soap on the entire car before rinsing. After the car is all washed, rinse the car off. Before drying, spray Adams Detail Spray on the entire car then proceed to dry.... this too will help with water spotting.
As far as the water spots that you all ready have, they will polish out with our Paint Correcting Polish & Orange Gen5 pad.
PM me if you have any questions!

http://adamspolishes.com/video?video_id=22

http://adamspolishes.com/video?video_id=15