I have been accused of taking things to the extreme in several areas dealing with care of our C5's including maintenance and cleaning so this should not surprise anyone.

We're entering our third summer here in SoCal and are loving it but the crappy mineral-laden water has given me fits whenever I wash the cars - especially the black C5. The water spots are the worst I've ever seen so I finally gave in and ordered a CRSpotless deionizer filtration system. (http://www.crspotless.com/)

Of course, being me, I couldn't just order a system and start using it. I decided I wanted to custom mount it and install a diverter valve to make it convenient to switch back and forth between unfiltered and deionized water so I sketched out the circuit and then collected the items I'd need to finish it up. Here's what I ended up with.

I had some Gladiator mounting material left over from the cabinets so I made a bracket for the filter assembly. I can lift it off the bracket very easily if I need to work on it.


I also bought two extra filters to make it easier to switch in new media when it's time. You can buy the media seperately in bags for less and replace it in the inner canisters yourself. I thought an extra set of canisters would make it more convenient to have a set ready to swap in.


The hoses go through the wall to the diverter valve box on the other side.


An electronic monitoring system lets you know when it's time to change the filters. Each filter charge gives you 300 gallons of deionized water - which is substantial since you only use the filtered water on the final rinse.


I modified an 8" x 8" x 4" electrical junction box to house the valve assembly and mounted it near the spigot.


This is the normal, unfiltered valve setting.


The filtered valve setting. I included an anti-backflow valve inline with the unfiltered line to keep unfiltered water from flowing to the output side of the filters.


I tested the system functionality and it works great. I haven't had time to try it on the C5 yet but I've used deionized water before and it works great. Drying the car is optional - just rinse and walk away. I'll give it a try next weekend. I also need to tidy up the hoses with straps and fill the outer wall holes with silicone.

 

Very nice setup! I've got the same kind of water here. Unless I get it dry fast, I've got to scrub water spots off. That is impressive! I used to travel through Lake Elsinore every month and I always stopped by the ballpark in the summer to catch a game. They had a single A club and were called the Storm. That ball park was brand new then. In fact, the first time there I told the guy in the ticket window how beautiful the ball park was. He told me to come on in, and then he gave me a tour of the stadium. It turned out he was the owner! I love minor league baseball.

 

I live in a subdivision at the top of the mountain near there and built a deck in the back. We can see the ball park lit up at night standing on the deck looking down in that direction.

 

Wouldn't expect anything else but perfection from you Mr. OCD or Mr. Patches.

 

yes, those work quite well. I used mine the first couple years, then haven't used it since. I reverted to the old method of quickly removing the water with a chamois after reducing the amount on the car with a California WaterBlade. I may just sell the CR Spotless...I will say this....it can't be beat when you wash 2 cars at once...now that's when it saves you from wearing out running all around trying to catch the droplets before they dry on the cars and leave white marks. Best place to buy the refills is Costco online. And, keep a log of each carwash so you get actual numbers out of your system....I got around 20 carwashes with mine before the meter showed a few PPMs. You can still go past that for quite a while before your DI water is no better than from the tap.

 

Very nice setup you have to ensure the water spots are kept to a bare minimum.

 

Very nice!

 

I do the same thing, (Blade and Chamois) now that we moved to the PNW the water is much softer.

Still, very cool setup Patches!!!

 

Does that vacuum you have work worth a crap? I had one in our old house and it was absolutely awful, maybe I just got a bad one? lol

 

Works great - I love it. Had it for several years and two garages now.

 

I have the same vacuum, it works great. It isn't wet/dry, but that's not a problem, I never have any water issues to vacuum. It's got a nice 30' hose to which gets everywhere I need it.

 

Wouldn't expect any less from you. Just one step closer to the ultimate garage!

Please post pics when you put it to the test.

 

Yes, I actually enjoy the 'blade/chamois' experience more...I get some good exercise too hurrying around the car; then there is the slow 'cool down' searching for those few drops that I missed. It's like a visit to the gym. The CR Spotless is good for washing windows now. I generate a couple gallons of DI water, put it in a dedicated pump up sprayer, and use that for the final rinse of the windows....works great...no squeegee needed.

 

I've been diligent in trying the "keep-the-car-wet" method to prevent the water spots while I chamois it but the severity of the problem makes it a no-win situation - especially for someone like me that ranks fairly high on the OCD scale. No matter how fast I dry it, it's a lost cause, so this will hopefull mitigate that issue. Realistically, I need to hit the black C5 with Menzerna and the RO again to reverse the damage to the clear since I last did it then I can start the DI rinse cycle.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1570732923-post1.html

Hope I can get it close to that again.

 

Patches, great set up!

 

Verdict: Works great!

As I mentioned, I am OCD to "a certain extent" but I decided to run a quick test when I washed my dd Mini Cooper today - it's black and white with black roof, mirrors and stripes. I waited until the sun was out in all it's glory around 11 AM and washed the car as I usually do on the weekend.

I could see the water leaving it's usual heavy spotting all over the black sections while I was washing it. Then I used the deionized water to do the final rinse and decide to slowly dry the passenger side of the car to see if a slow dry would still leave spots. I allowed the driver half of the car to air-dry on its own in the full-on baking sun. It was around noon by then and very, very hot. My OCD brain kept wanting to run over and wipe down the driver side - usually, even a couple of minutes of air-dry leaves huge, ugly spots that are nearly impossible to get out without re-washing the car and quickly drying it - but I stuck it out and watched the drying process.

Amazingly, there was virtually no difference in the two sides when both were completely dry. In fact, they looked better than ever with most of the previous spotting gone on this first go-round. Normally, there is spotting that won't come off easily no matter how quickly I dry it. I tried the Mr. Clean system years ago and it worked but I had my doubts this nasty water could be so thoroughly filtered by a small passive system like this.

What a relief! Now I'm not dreading doing the black C5 next time that needs a wash.

 

Wow, great job and wonderful write up- thanks !

 

That's a really nice setup, but I have to wonder, wouldn't using a waterless washing method have been easier? The only water that touches my car is rain water. No worries about spots from washing it.

 

Have you tried the leaf blower method?
I've thought about it but haven't tried.
I've been using a guzzler - spray on a quick detailer and gently wipe.
Works so-so.

 

I pull the top off the shopvac and use it for a blower.