I've been wanting one of these things for over a year now. When I wash the car (every 2 weeks and occassionally an extra one) I have to start about 8:30 or 9:00 or the sun is going to come over the Cypress trees before I get done with the washing part. Then I have to blow dry the car before I do the wheels so it doesn't spot (too badly). Do a wheel, blow dry around the well, next wheel, blow dry... I've got water spots you can see on the hood (at least I can see them). A little depressing and Richie Carbone doesn't live out here. Well I managed to pay my back taxes (and the friggin penalties -- they actually refunded the late penalty of $254 since I've never been late before) and just now I managed to pay off the credit cards. So then I started thinking... heh, if you're not in debt you're wasting life in the reserve tank. Hahaha, so I ordered a CRSpotless DIC-20! I think Costco has the best deal at $50 to $100 less than anywhere else ($404 to my door including the whopping CA 10% tax). Got home Thur night with about 1.5 hours till dark. Unpacked the thing and assembled it. Not enough time to take pics of the unit and accessories out of the box. 2 Gilmore quick disconnect systems, 1 4' stainless braided hose! Lol, might use that under the hood. I guess it's in case you have a V8 powered pressure washer. 1 sort of cheapo multi-pattern nozzle (says to use the flat or center setting -- maybe that limits the flow?). You're not supposed to use more than 4 gpm or it can't keep up with the de-ionizing (2.5 gpm for the D-10). I have no idea what 4 gpm looks like coming out of the hose? and it seems that you have to go to some space center to buy a flow limiter for a hose bib. The instructions sort of imply that it's not going to be a problem unless you're using a pressure washer with it. I'll have to call them and ask. Using the flat spray it was a lot less than the fire hose nozzle I usually use but sufficient. 1 cheapo Gilmour hose - 50ft?. And a resin refill (that's worth about $90). So I washed the car. Regular water to foam it and then in the soap bucket. Do a section, rinse with the CRSpotless, repeat until done. It was completely dark so the roof and some other places were still wet in the morning. Like where the water pools in the corners on top of the rear bumper. Dropped the kids off at school (almost had to beat one of them 'cause he almost touched the door handle), drove to the dealers to get the tail gate weather strip replaced and inspected it. IT WORKS!! This is the cat's azz! Naturally the dust vacuum installed in the back of the Magnums had pulled some dust onto the pools on the bumper and it dried there but that was just surface dust and not water spots (that are minerals that have eaten/embedded themselves in the paint). Might even wash it again tomorrow in the sun to test that out and see if I can rinse before the soap bakes itself on the car.
Nothing new to report from the first and only so far) usage experience above. The mod has nothing to do with pressure. I did look for a 4 gpm flow regulator. All the OSH/Home Depot places have regulators on the order of 2 o 4 gph... for drip irrigation. Some place closed for the weekend is supposed to have stuff like that (RV Cloud or something like that).
Hey that's pretty cool Dave. The GPH thing is dependent upon pressure. Most inexpensive pressure washers will not flow more the 2.5gph. So from a water hose, 2.5gph at 50psi will come out like a bad case of venereal disease from Thailand. At 1500 to 2500PSI, now we're talking a wash job. So I take it the ability of the filter system can handle 2.5gph right?.
So.... are these like a high end Mr. Clean wash thing... you know, the cheap plastic gun one that you have to replace the soap every wash and the filter every three washes?
No. This one (DIC-20) can handle up to 4gpM. That's 4 gallons per MINUTE. The DIC-10 handles 2.5 gallons per minute. They include one of those run of the mill multi-pattern hose nozzles and the instructions say: I have no clue what 4 gpm looks like. I do know that flat spray through the supplied nozzle is about half of the deluge I can deliver with the super high flow nozzle I use. It's plenty usable but it takes a bit longer. I'm thinking I'm going to get out there with a 5 gallon bucket and a stop watch to get some data points. We have pretty good pressure on our street and my outside hose bibs are before the pressure regulator going into the house.
Cool.... I have a Dic-10 and a Dic-20 working for me... Ron (dic-10... 10 SPM...swallows per minute) and Momo (dic-20.... well, you know...)
Well, yes, sort of. That's one reason not to run more than you need through it. They work by running the water through resin which de-ionizes it and removes minerals/particulates. They have a little meter that measures parts per million and when it gets to 020 ppm it's time to change the resin (~$80). The benefit is that the water will not spot. No need to dry, you can wash in the sun and you don't leave those pesky water spots. You'll notice that once your painter finishes your car.
Update. Used it 3 times now. Tried the filling the bucket and timing it. Used the supplied nozzle on the flat spray setting (that's what I use on the car). Best I can figure, with my water pressure, and the quick disconnects I've got, and the nozzle on flat spray it's putting out about 3.5 gallons a minute. Bit less than I'd like but very usable. I suppose I'll get more washes out of it this way. It comes with that meter that measures parts per million of something. You push the button when you start using it and check it a couple of minutes later (meter shuts off by itself in about 7 minutes to save the battery). When it gets to 020 ppm then it's time to change the resin. So far it's dead on 000. They said how many washes depends on how much stuff is in your water and how much of that water you run through it per wash. (and you should keep it at 4 gpm or less running through there -- nothing to do directly with how long it lasts, just that the resin tanks can only filter at that rate max). So I guess it's just a matter of how long it takes the resin to get saturated with deposits that it's taking out of the water. Haha, now I have quick disconnects on EVERYTHING having to do with my garden hoses, sprayers, and nozzles. It comes with 3? kits of Gilmour quick disconnects -- each one has 2 of the ends that go into nozzles and attachments. Wasn't enough, the male ends are standard size. Backyard Pro ends worked fine too. The Gilmour quick disconnects are nice in that they have a ball valve in them. Now there isn't anywhere you can put your hand where you can't turn off the water, nozzle attached or not Still works awesome. I got all those valves on the bypass I put on the thing too. Feel like a train engineer operating it. Bypass -- Gilmour foamer (Zaino soap) to foam the entire car. Let that sit while getting the soap bucket ready (Zaino and regular water in the bucket). Bypass -- quick disconnect to "fire hose volume" nozzle to rinse the foam. CRSpotless - quick disconnect to the supplied flat spray nozzle for quick rinse to spray off most (all?) of the regular water. Bucket and soap half the roof and windshield rinse other half of the roof and windshield rinse one side down to just below the door handles rinse . etc. The satisifaction out of just using the thing is worth the price of admission. So it used to be that I had to sort of rush through the wash part and get the blow dryer (200 mph, metal impeller, Toro leaf blower) on it before doing the wheels. Now there's no rush and you can continue to take your time, smoke break, beer, pee at any time during the process. Doing the wheels was a bit more work to because you had to blow dry each one (and the overspray on the fender) before moving to the next one. Now is where you notice the big difference. I usually blow dry the car anyway so I can hit it with a quick once over with detail spray. Used to be it wasn't so easy. Now the droplets just about leap off the car by themselves. I guess you get a tiny layer of deposits on the car with regular water even if it doesn't dry on there. Outstanding. You also don't need to worry about those couple of places where the water ends up eventually collecting and driping. Rear bumper in the corners under the tailgate, etc. Also don't have those ugly white mineral deposits on the cowling covering the radiator under the hood. Oddly enough, it seems like de-ionized water takes a lot longer to evaporate by itself. Maybe it's just my imagination. Doesn't matter though because it's not going to spot! Another reason to sort of dry it is that it can be a little dusty here at times and that seems to settle more on a wet car. Most of the time the breeze is blowing to the left towards the friggin neighbors that have a dirt front yard but every now and again... Still, it's not permanent like water spots. Did I say there's tremendous satisfaction to be had just using the thing? I think this rates right up there as a very cool man toy/tool.
It's always nice to purchase something that works as advertised or even exceeds your expectations....Sounds like you're having fun Dave..Enjoy!
