Any recommendation between these two options?

Griots vs CR Spotless.

Any others?

 

Both work reasonably, but ultimately the cost of resin and it's replacements is what most people worry about.

I have not changed the resin on the Griot's DI, but the CR spotless has canister's that can take bulk refills of resin.

A while ago you could purchase DI resin through window washing companies at a significant discount, and fill the canisters dirt cheap.

I live in an area that has very high tds in the water - replacing the cartridge at least twice a year.

bob

 

My CR-20 is great. big discount w Rennlist.
Costco also same price w free extra resin, online.

 

What if you had a soft water tank system for your house and got a plumber to tie into the system and add a hose outlet?

 

Costco online sells the CR Spotless DIC-20 for $369.99 and it includes replacement resin.

 

Softener will not make your water spotless. But if you can hook up a softener to your DI filter of choice, it will make the resin last longer.

 

This makes sense however, water softener water always contain a trace amount of salt in it from the salt used in regeneration. Will the DI able to remove the salt? Since we definitely do not want salt on our car.

Come to think of it, the DI should be able to remove any remaining Na+ ion so it should be "safe". But still want to confirm with any chemist out there.

 

+1 to that comment. I have a soft water hose outlet in my garage I use to wash the cars. It will reduce but not eliminate spotting.

 

I just got my CR Spotless and am wondering if the battery in the water monitor is user replacable?

 

Got some answers back from CR's customer service:

1. The battery is user replacable. Just take the monitor off the velcro and unscrew the 3 screws behind.
2. Softened water is not recommended but it should work fine. He never stated why.

I work give the CR a try this weekend if schedule permits and report back.

 

That's interesting. Everything I have read said that softened water would extend the life of the resin. Maybe using soft water cuts into their resin sales.

 

That's my exact thought. Since the DI is supposed to produce pure water, the trace sodium from the resin of the water softener should be handled quite easily by the DI. And there should be much less Calcium to be dealt with.

 

Finished washing my car before dinner and it is now mostly dry inside the garage. Not a spot on it as far as I can tell. I have the CR Spotless hooked up to the water softener and it worked great. Now, let's see how long will the resin last.

 

Are you saying you simply 'air dried' your car in the garage. No towel wiping?

I've had a CR Spotless for a few years and since my car is black I've never allowed it to 'air dry'. I've allows towel wiped it dry. Water spots on black are really bad. I most likely need to change my resin and try an 'air dry'.

 

yeah
the whole point of the DI is so that you don't have to wipe down the car. IMO, it's the drying part of wash process which is most likely to case swirl marks or scratches.

Where is the cheapest place to get the resins? I need to replace mine and the CR resins are 90 bucks??