El Puto

what's the best way to get rid of water spots? I washed and waxed it this weekend and noticed water spots. I must have really hard water because it was cold, and not in direct sun.

steve8

Depends on what you mean by water spots?
One way to avoid them is to use a nozzle-less rinse when washing for the final rinse, leaf blower for 95% of the water, and my favorite use of Z6 is to do a light spritz with a quality towel for the rest = no spots.

TOGWT

Removal of water spots - There are two categories of water spot-
a) Stage One Corrosion [: defined as a surface with light to moderate corrosion damage to the paint surface]

b) Stage Two Corrosion[: etched; definition when the dirt/corrosion deposits are no longer on the surface but have started to break down the molecular structure, leaving an etched or white haze on the surface after the stain has been removed, with moderate to serious paint damage

See Removal of water spots - http://www.detailuniversity.com/foru...ter-spots.html

JoshVette

this is a good way to avoid them, but won't get rid of them once damaged.

Depending on how bad as TOGT said, some require light polishing with the PC and some heavier will require the use of a rotary, possibly even wetsanding believe it or not.

steve8

I meant to add something like this to my above post and just skipped over it?
I'd try a PC with some ZPC, or Menzerna IP if needed. A rotary/wet sanding I would leave to someone who definitely knows what they are doing.

Dan1

CR Spotless.

JoshVette

Care to expand on that?

What's CR Spotless??

papafrancisco

I have etched spots myself but I believe it is from neglect over time and improper washing/drying. However I am baffled that water spots could develop so quickly after washing and drying. Out of curiosity how was the car dryed after washing? Where did the spots show up?

mrosa65

CR Spotless is a DeIonized water system. Removes minerals from the water. If you do a search on Yahoo for CR Spotless you'll see their website.

I own a CR system and it's great to keep from introducing new water spots, but won't remove existing ones as already mentioned.

JoshVette

What if you use this CR system in the sunlight? will it still etch or no?

mrosa65

It's designed so that you can wash the car in sunlight and it shouldn't etch. Now with that being said, in area's with very hard water (Florida for example) you'll use the DI resin faster. Think of the resin as a bag on a vacuum cleaner. The more dirt in the bag, the less the vacuum can suck up. There's a digital meter on the CR systems that measure TDS (total desolved solids) in the water. Anything below 20 it won't leave spots on the surface if you air dry your car in the sunlight. The higher the number, the more minerals are going to be on your finish.

It also monitors the incoming TDS from your house water. Mine is typically in the high 600's to low 700's. I've seen it higher throughout the year. In other parts of the country where the water is "softer", your cartridges will last much longer. You can stop by most pool/spa stores and get the hardness "dip strips" if you're curious to the hardness of your water. I had posted a link last year to a site that gives average hardness for each state. I'll see if I can find it.

You still have to be careful of soap drying on your car in direct sunlight though. If I wash, I try to do it in the early morning hours before 9 am. That way I can just use my foam gun on the entire car, go over it with my eurow mitt, then rinse it off with the DI water. I use the leaf blower out of habit, but the car comes out looking great.

JoshVette

Wow, great info as always. I typically clay every car I've detailed, but this sounds like a great marketing tool for me.....if people understand this sort of thing.

Thanks, Josh

mrosa65

Glad I could help Josh. For volume resin since you work on so many cars, you may check some of the local water treatment companies in your phone book. I seem to remember another forum member who rented and large DI tank. They refilled the resin monthly and it treated a few thousand gallons of water, not the hundreds of gallons that the CR system does.

Might save you a lot of money that way.