Spotless Car Wash Deionized Water System | DI Rinse DI Pro 100

in

I finally did it. I bought a water filtration system to get spotless car washes. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll run through it real quick. When we use tap water to wash our cars or really anything else, water spots can develop. This happens because the tap water has minerals in it and if it is left to dry, the water may disappear but the minerals are left behind. I personally cannot stand this. I spend a lot of time taking care of my cars but water spotting is just something that I could not get around. So, I finally just bit the bullet and invested in a water filtration system that would remove the minerals from my tap water and leave me with a spotless car. Well, at least moving forward because the system won’t help with the water spots that are already there.

The system that I went with is the DI Pro 100. If you look at this product up by name, you’ll see that there are a few different companies that sell what seems to look like the same item. The particular system that’s shown in this video is manufactured by RV-Mods and is 100% made in the USA. Other companies buy it from one main manufacturer wholesale, slap a different sticker on, and resell. I can’t speak for any other DI Pro system’s performance, only what I purchased from RV-Mods.

The DI Pro 100 is advertised as being able to filter up to 4,000 gallons of water and costs $585. This was a huge selling point for me. If you’ve been in the market for a deionized spotless car wash system, you’ve no doubt come across the CR Spotless system. This is likely the most popular or, at least, the most widely known system. At $399 it only filters approximately 300 gallons of water. So for $186 more, you can get over 13X the filtering ability. If you can afford the upfront cost, the DI Pro is a no brainer.

So, here is the unit itself. At the top, we have the head unit and bypass valve assembly. Moving down is the 8”x35” tank that holds the 1 cu ft of DI resin.

The system itself is fairly simple. We attach a hose from the tap to the “In” port of the bypass valve and another hose to the “Out” port and that’s where we’ll be getting the filtered water. This process is made a little bit easier as the system comes with quick connectors. As tap water enters the tank, it gets filtered by the resin and deionized water comes out. The great thing about this system is that the bypass valve has controls to allow us to use tap water or filtered water. Some other systems only allow for filtered water once it’s hooked up. With the DI Pro, we’re able to close the valve and use tap water for the main wash. Then, open it up and use filtered water for the rinse. This means that we’re able to really stretch out the resin’s lifespan.

So, is something like this for you? I can't answer that but let me explain to you how I justified the purchase for myself. Getting into a system like this is a bit difficult because there isn’t a lot of information out there on it when it comes to the details. The various manufacturers may say that their system will filter X gallons of water but that does not mean that that’s the amount of filtered water that you’ll get. This was the factor that made me hold off on buying a deionized water system prior to this. How do I know if it’s even going to be worth buying? What if I buy into the system and have to replace the resin after a few washes or after a month? It’s all up in the air.

A major factor in determining how much life you’ll get out of any filtration system is the water that you currently use and what the total dissolved solids (TDS) content that it has. In short, TDS tells you the amount of minerals that are in the water and it is commonly calculated in parts per million (ppm). After some research, I found a web page published by CR Spotless that had some good information. I’ll link the page in the description below but the important thing is that this page gives us the formula to calculate the amount of filtered water that we can expect to get from any system given that we know our water’s TDS prior to filtering and the volume of resin that the system uses. This formula is 235,000 ÷ TDS x Volume of resin = Gallons of “Spot-free Water”. The volume of resin is based around 1 cu ft and is easy to find as many manufacturers list it in the specs. The particular system shown in this video uses 1 whole cubic foot of resin so it’s a given and is nullified in the equation. The only thing that I really need to find was the TDS of my water prior to filtering. To figure this out, I ordered a cheap TDS meter from Amazon and tested my water. After testing my water every day for a week, the meter told me that my water was sitting at 59-91 PPM. This is great news as from my research, this is relatively low. The CR Spotless page actually lists a few different city’s past TDS. San Diego had 400 ppm. Another city in Orange County had 40 ppm. Grand Rapids, Michigan 170 ppm. In any case, TDS ranges quite a bit around the world but luckily for me, I had a pretty good start especially considering that the DI Pro is rated based on incoming water of 110 ppm TDS. To get back to the formula, 235,000 divided by my lowest TDS of 59 would result in roughly 3,983 gallons of filter water. Pretty close to the manufacturer's listed 4000 gallons, which is great! At it’s highest, 235,000 divided by 91, I would get about 2,582 gallons of filtered water. In either case, that’s a whole lot of filtered water.

Considering that I only use this system for a final rinse, I’ll be able to get many washes out of the resin that comes with the original purchase. By my highly overestimated guess of 20 gallons of water used per week and 1040 gallons per year, I’ll be able to get about 2.5 to 4 years’ worth of use. This of course is just a very rough estimate but you get the possibility of the insane value.

If you’re going to try and do these calculations for yourself, there are a few things that I want to point out. First, my testing showed that not all tap water on my property is the same. For whatever reason, the water from the tap that I use to wash cars is purer than anywhere else on the property. So, if you’re going to test your water, test the tap that you’re going to be using the system with to get the most accurate calculations. It should also be noted that the TDS is not going to always be the same. It changes throughout the year based on various conditions so this means that you’ll be getting more or less filtered water depending on the time of the year. Realistically, I got a different TDS measurement on every test within a few seconds. So, it’s more important to understand your range of TDS rather than a specific number. Also, the equation previously shown from CR Spotless is not going to be 100% accurate. Not all manufacturers use this to calculate their filtered water output so the equation should only be used to help, not to be a definitive answer.

But it is still very useful because once you understand the amount of filtered water that you can potentially get from a system, you can then make a much more educated buying decision because remember, this is not something that you buy once and forget about. The resin used to filter the water is a consumable and will have to be replaced periodically. This system uses one cubic foot of resin at a time and that costs $225. To me, $225 for 2.5 to 4 years of use is not all that bad. It’s something that I’m willing to pay for. Now, if you test your water and it’s really high, to the point that you'll potentially only get a few months of use, then I would suggest looking for a different solution because the cost is really going to add up over time.

And that’s about it. I hope that this writeup has been helpful for anyone looking to get into a deionized water filtration system. If you have any questions, leave it down in the comments below and I’ll do my best to help you out. Make sure to also subscribe to my YouTube as I’ll be making update videos in the future as I get more time in with this system.

UPDATE

After less than 100 gallons of use, my water's TDS is sitting at 3 and producing water spots. The manufacturer recommends changing the resin when the TDS is around 50 because water spots shouldn't be a problem until then. However, the problem with TDS is that it doesn't tell us what minerals are present. A TDS of 1 can still produce water spots if the minerals left behind are those that produce water spots. After weeks of contacting the manufacturer of this tank, it doesn't seem like we're going to reach a resolution. I have to say that for the price and to get less than 100 gallons of filtered water, I can no longer recommend this system from RV-Mods.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Things you may need for this system:

Water Quality / TDS Tester: https://amzn.to/3fmcWea

Hand truck to move the unit: https://amzn.to/2XgrqWJ

Bungee cords to strap the unit to hand truck: https://amzn.to/39LEjgA

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing" https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG

Olsa Tools Split Beam Torque Wrench

in ,

I’d like to share with you guys a new tool that I recently acquired and I think some of you will be interested in. This is the 1/2” Split Beam Torque Wrench from Olsa Tools.

If you don’t do a lot of research on torque wrenches, you may have never seen one of this design. To be honest, I’m new to it too as this is my first split beam torque wrench. If you’re like me, you’re likely more familiar with the micrometer click type torque wrenches. Micrometer torque wrenches work by adjusting the tension of the spring in the shaft. Split beam torque wrenches, on the other hand, have a spring that’s always under the same tension and is more dependent on something similar to a lever and catch mechanism. A big advantage of the split beam design is that because the spring is always under the same tension, users don’t have to worry about it deforming and contributing to inaccurate readings as possible with micrometer torque wrenches.

With a micrometer torque wrench, the proper procedure for storage is to release the tension of the spring by lowering the torque setting to it’s minimum. That way the spring doesn’t form to its compressed size while it’s not being used and sitting in storage. With the split beam design, there is no such thing. It can be left at whatever torque setting for however long and the spring will not deform.

Another big advantage of the split beam design is the ease of adjustment. With the micrometer design, you typically twist the handle up and down working your way through the torque range. Depending on the size of the torque range, this can take a bit of twisting to get from one end to the other. With the split beam, you’re able to move through the range almost effortlessly. This Olsa Tools Split Beam Torque Wrench has a working range of 50-250 ft-lb and you can get from one end to the other in a few seconds.

To use this torque wrench, you first flip open the safety lock. From there you turn the knob up and down to get to the desired setting. When you’ve achieved the desired setting, just close the safety lock and you’re good to go. This design is very quick and easy to use.

When in use, this torque wrench will emit an audible click when the desired torque is achieved, like other click type torque wrenches.

After owning this torque wrench for a few weeks, I would say that I like it a lot but I have noticed two drawbacks. First, the torque display window only shows increments of 5. This is fine if everything that you torque down requires a torque setting that ends in 5 or 0 but that isn’t always the case. And because all the numbers and lines are so close to each other, whenever you need one of those in-between numbers, it becomes a guessing game as to where to set the torque wrench at. The second drawback is that this torque wrench only measures when used on forward, clockwise rotating fasteners. There is no reverse. This is something inherently attributed to the split beam design so it’s not a knock on Olsa Tools.

Overall, I would give this tool a thumbs up and a recommendation. It seems to be of high quality and functions really well. Not to mention that Olsa Tools offers a lifetime warranty on this thing so if it were to ever become defective, they’ll take care of it.

If you’re interested in trying this tool out for yourself, check out the links below. If you use the one that leads to Olsa Tools’ official website and use the code HT10, you’ll be able to get 10% off of your order.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Olsa Tools Split Beam Torque Wrench

https://olsatools.com/a/rewards/r/dZjrVdPO

https://rebrand.ly/HaiTran

and use discount code HT10 for 10% off orders

https://amzn.to/32UArsk

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing" https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG

Toyota Supra Tinted with XPEL Prime XR Plus

in

My Supra gets park outside. Now that it’s summer time, it just gets beat down with sunlight. I have a front windshield sunshade and I protect the entire interior with various products but no doubt, the interior is taking some damage. It may look fine now but down the road, there will likely be some fading and possibly other damage. Because of this, I’ve finally decided to tint all the side and rear glass.

To do this, I headed to California Tint of Everett, WA. This shop works with a bunch of super high-end cars so I was comfortable with them working on my car. Another reason why I went with California Tint is that they are authorized installers of XPEL window films. XPEL is widely known in the window film industry and is among the best. They offer 4 different types of window film, the Prime CS, Prime HP, Prime XR and Prime XR Plus. Now, this is not an informational or advertisement video for XPEL so I’ll leave some links down below to where you can find more information about the various films. For the sake of time, I’m just going to categorize the films as standard and ceramic. The standard films reject 99.9% of ultraviolet rays. The ceramic films do this too while also rejecting infrared heat. The Prime XR film rejects up to 88% of infrared heat while Prime XR Plus rejects up to 98%. With each level of quality, the price increases, and in the case of Prime XR Plus, the price jumps quite a bit. I don’t want to give you any price quotes because this differs from shop to shop so it’s best to contact your tint shop for the most accurate pricing.

For this project, I personally knew that I wanted to go with a ceramic film for the heat rejection properties. I just didn’t know if I wanted to pay for Prime XR Plus. But I figured that because the Supra is likely a forever car or at least one that I’ll own for a very long time, I might as well pay for the best upfront and not have to deal with possible headaches in the future. It definitely helps that with XPEL Prime films, you are getting a lifetime warranty that covers defects such as discoloration, fading, bubbling, peeling, cracking, and delamination. Realistically, anything short of abuse will be covered for the life of the vehicle.

If you’re unaware, the Supra comes with some sort of tinted privacy glass from the factory. We tested it at California Tint and it’s rated at 77%. This means that whatever tint that you decide to go with, it will be slightly darker. XPEL offers Prime XR Plus in a few different degrees of tint. With all my cars, I have them tinted at 15% and that’s what I wanted for the Supra. But remember the factory tinted glass makes any tint darker so you have to go with a slightly lighter shade. In this case, I went with 20% tint and after installation, it sits exactly at 15% with the stock privacy glass.

To me, 15% is a good compromise. It’s pretty dark during the day and unless the interior is fully lit up by the sun, you still have to focus and really look in the car to make things out. At night, it is pretty much non-seethrough and looks black from the outside but still very visible from the inside. I thought about going down to 5% for this car because the murdered out windows look really good but it also looks super illegal. Not to mention that 5% tint is really dark and hard to see through from the inside at night.

So here is the final result. In my opinion, the Supra looks so much better with the tint. This is something that I should’ve got done from the beginning but better late than never. The interior will be better protected moving forward, for years to come.

Now if you’re going to get your Supra’s windows tinted there are a few things that I would suggest. The first is to get the installer to apply the tint all the way up to the window’s edges. Some installers like to leave a small gap of untinted space and it always looks really tacky. Second, remove the third brake light and tint the entire rear windshield. Luckily, Ryan the owner of California Tint also owns a Supra and reminded me of this. If you don’t tint under the third brake light, you’ll have a small section of clear glass that will really stand out.

If you’re interested in getting something similar for your vehicle and you’re in the western Washington area, definitely give California Tint a try. They did an amazing job and have really competitive prices even compared to some other shops that I talked to that uses inferior window film.

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing" https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG

Affordable Car Dryer Blower

in

Water spotting is the bain of my auto detailing process. This happens when you use hard water to wash the car and let it dry on the surface. This can be avoided by using filtered water to rinse or properly drying the car. The filtered water approach seems to be the most effective but it is also the most expensive. I’m currently looking for some cheaper alternatives before biting the bullet so I need to find a good way to dry the car. This is typically done by either using a towel or somehow blowing the water off. I personally hate to towel dry cars. To me, it’s tedious and somewhat counterproductive as there is an increased chance of introducing scratches. So, I’m realistically left will blowing the water off of the car. In the past, I would use a leaf blower that I have for the house but it’s too weak and it ends up taking too long to dry an entire car. I thought about buying a more powerful leaf blower but what I really wanted was something dedicated and this led me to research for specific car blow dryers. I felt that these were a better option because the appeal is that they blow warm filtered air. There are a lot of different options and most of them are pretty expensive unless you buy the smaller underpowered units. After going down the rabbit hole, I discovered that there is such a thing as pet dryers used by pet groomers. These are essentially the same thing as a car dryer as they too blow warm filtered air. Most pet dryers will come with some drawbacks if you’re using them for auto detailing but for the price, I was willing to give it a shot.

The unit that I decided to buy is one made by Homend. I chose this one because it is one of the few that offers dual motors which in theory, should offer more blowing power. I personally always use both motors to get the best performance so all the examples that you see in the video above will be with both motors on. This unit is advertised as having 4.2 horsepower with both motors on and it comes with a hose, 3 hose nozzles, two additional filters, and a manual.

I’ve been using this dryer for the past few weeks and I have to say, it does such a good job. It completely changes the game and makes me regret all the time that I spent towel drying. I personally feel that the process goes by much quicker and I’m doing a much more thorough job than I ever did with a towel.

The great thing about using a blower is that you can control the air and point it where you want. You can use it to clear big panels like the hood, roof, and doors and it will be extremely effective at that. A towel can do this too but where the blower really shines is the nook and cranny. With a blower, you can direct the air in between the various gaps of the body panels, the window trims, grills, and everywhere else. This is just something that I could not do with a towel. My Supra has so many places that water can hide that no matter how well I towel dry, it always seemed like more water would periodically drip out from behind the panels. The air, on the other hand, is able to reach all the way back and push everything through. Remember, this unit also blows warm air. This means it is also actively drying the car as it’s blowing the water away. So if there is any straggling water that’s stuck somewhere, it’ll just be dried by the warmth. You don’t have to just focus on blowing it away.

Earlier I mentioned that there were a few drawbacks that come with a pet dryer for auto detailing. The list is small and there are workarounds but these are things to consider. First, most pet dryers are going to come with a shorter hose. This unit comes with a hose that rests at about 3 feet and expands to about 7 feet when in use. I personally found that this was usable on my various cars but if you plan to use the dryer on a taller SUV or truck, then this may be a problem. You’ll have to find a stand to lift the dryer up or just hold it in hand. Second, pet dryers typically have shorter outlet cables. Mine has a 5 1/2 foot cable and this meant that I had to use an extension cord if I was going to get around the entire car. These next two things are particular annoyances of this Homend dryer. First, it has the outlet cable pointing in the same direction as the hose. In use, this is just an annoyance as you’ll have to work around the two cables. Second, the Homend comes with rubber feet. This may work for a pet groomer, but when drying a car, you’re going to have to carry this thing around a few times especially considering the hose length. However, this is an easy fix. The rubber feet can be easily swapped for some caster wheels. Since I already had a dolly around, I decided to just throw it on that and call it a day.

Overall, I would have to say that this is a good investment. If you’re thinking about giving a car dryer a try, I can definitely give a recommendation. If you pick up an adequate unit like the one shown here, you’ll be able to dry a car like never before if you're used to using a towel.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Homend Pet Dryer: https://amzn.to/32tTyt7

Other Car Dryers: https://amzn.to/2DXPabz

Other Pet Dryers: https://amzn.to/32DQoTL

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing" https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG

Ethos Car Care D3FY Defy

in ,

In my original shipment of samples from Ethos Car Care was a mysterious blue bottle. It turns out that this was a bottle of D3FY or Defy. This sample bottle was sent to me prior to the final label design but it is the retail formula.

This product is advertised as an innovative 3-in-1 formula that cleans, conditions, and coats in seconds. I sort of think of it as a quick detailer on steroids because it has cleaning properties while being infused with ceramic technology to leave behind a paint protection coating.

Application of this product is fairly simple. I was advised by the manufacturer to mist the product on and spread with a damp microfiber towel. Then go back and wipe off the excess with a dry microfiber towel.

Defy features Ethos' Insta-Bond Technology which just means that the product instantly bonds with the surface. There is no cure time and the car should be ready to face the elements immediately.

This product can be used in a variety of ways. First, you can simply use it as a cleaner to clean lightly soiled surfaces. Defy is designed to provide enough lubrication to lift contaminants and help to take it off surfaces without scratching or streaking. Second, it can be used as a standalone paint protection coating. After application, Defy will leave behind a layer of protection that should last for months. Third, Defy can be used to maintain a previously applied coating. No matter what paint protection coating you apply, it will eventually wear off. When I see that my vehicle’s main coating is slowing down, I hit it with Defy. You can of course do this with a variety of other products but I choose Defy because of its ease of application and versatility. This product can be applied to any surface whether it’s paint, plastic, glass, chrome, or whatever. I’d rather just use one product and get everything done with one pass rather than going back and forth with different products to hit the various materials. This is where I see the value of Defy. It just makes my life easier when it comes time to maintain my previously applied coatings.

Overall, I think Defy is an interesting product and is worth a try for anyone who’s looking for a waterless cleaner, an easy to apply paint protection coating, or a way to maintain a previously applied coating. This product is very versatile and can be used in many ways.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Ethos Car Care D3FY Defy https://amzn.to/2CgjxcL

All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d

Want to support my work?

Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing" https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing

or

Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran

or

PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran

or

Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG