Has anyone had any luck with using an in-line water softener or de-ionizer to any satisfaction in helping with the drying after rinse?

 

I have a DI system...and as long as the car isn't black, its pretty good. Haven't found anything that is great for black cars. But over all the DI system is pretty swt.

The initial cost for the system was only 199.00 and service is 85 (or around there). I have my service every three weeks...and at ever service the replace all the dead DI tanks.

Hope that helps.
Raymond

 

Water Filtration:

a) de-ionized (DI) – is water that lacks common Cations (Ones with positive charges, i.e. Na+ , Ca+, CU++ , Fe++ ) and Anions (ones with negative charges i.e. Cl-, Br-), so you are left with OH- and H30+ (effectively H20 and H+) this is achieved by passing the water through an Ion exchange resin. This is usually an organic polymer with a surface that simultaneously traps one type of ion, while releasing another, hence the name ion exchange; de-ionized water can still contain bacteria, endotoxins and organic compounds.

To provide spot-free vehicle washing and to remove hard water minerals, raw water is passed through a pre-cleaner and then through a cartridge that contains mixed bed resins, a Cation (sacrificial anode) and anion resins, the process is that through an exchange of mineral ions for sodium ions, mineral ions are attached to the resins.

Once the resins are depleted, which can be checked with a total dissolved solids (TDS) meter, periodically they require recharging, and the most common material used is a salt bath (the same salt that’s used in a domestic water softener) . One of the advantages of DI water system is mineral free water and little to no wasted water - http://crspotless.com
(See also CR Spotless De-ionized Water Filtration System, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS))

b) Reverse Osmosis (RO) –is produced by forcing the solvent (water) through an ultra fine membrane (filter) under pressure (leaving the ion in the water behind) the water system inlet takes water to a pre-cleaner sediment filter, then it is passed through a membrane, which captures the minerals and has to be flushed constantly to wash the minerals from the membrane, and then on to the water outlet to drain. Chlorine will damage the membranes over time, and will eventually "by-pass" the membrane, producing a mildly acidic solution. It requires up to 10-15 gallons producing 1-gallon of pure water. The RO system is slow and not very energy efficient due to its water requirements as opposed to its output of pure water (i.e. 1500 raw water to produce 100 gallons RO water)

TDS / Conductivity Meter –
http://www.digital-meters.com/TDS_Me...FShREgodDwvNLA