Deionizing Systems

[DSL417]

I know other threads have discussed this before, but I have to say...what a back saver. We invested in the On the Go Two Stage system (about $425). After finishing today's drive, kept the slides in and scrubbed about two months road grime, plus bugs, off. One side facing the hot sun here in Nashville. Rinsing with the deionized water...wow! Virtually no spots and I didn't have to break my back drying it off. Money well spent!

[hawgguy]

It is great. The resin is expensive though. My local water is rock hard and a full charge of resin barely gets me through a wash. I think my baseline is > 1200 ppm.

[weirba]

Originally Posted by hawgguy

It is great. The resin is expensive though. My local water is rock hard and a full charge of resin barely gets me through a wash. I think my baseline is > 1200 ppm.

Why don't you regenerate the resin? You don't have to replace it.

[roadrunning]

We're in Bulow RV park in Palm Coast Fl and we have the RV Pro 1000 soft water system. Usually we can go for months with out back flushing or regeneration here it's about 1 1/2 weeks. Not surr about the systems your talking about but seems to me you should be able to do the same thing and not have to replace the resin.

[DSL417]

Originally Posted by roadrunning

We're in Bulow RV park in Palm Coast Fl and we have the RV Pro 1000 soft water system. Usually we can go for months with out back flushing or regeneration here it's about 1 1/2 weeks. Not surr about the systems your talking about but seems to me you should be able to do the same thing and not have to replace the resin.

Two different things...regenerating a water softener is easy and can be done many times; however, when you wash the coach it will spot.

The deionizes do not spot. You must replace the resin.

Bob, I got the two stage system...suggests 16-18 coach washes depending on how much water used and the hardness...we'll see.

[rogelling]

The water softener is an exchange resin....it exchanges calcium for sodium. By adding salt you can drive the calcium off the resin and restart the exchange cycle. The resin is not used up and will last many cycles.

The deionizer resin binds the charged ions mostly irreversibly so once the binding sites are occupied you have to replace it.

In practical terms soft water will spot with salt rather than calcium but deionized water leaves nothing behind. You could do same with a still and destill water during the day and moonshine at night😈

[grr2000]

If anyone has good source to buy the resin please share. I built the sprayer and it works great but trying to find resin at a reasonable price. Has anyone tried the resin that Amazon sells for $45 for 5 pounds

[Randyman1]

I just purchased a deionizer system as well after hearing from people on this forum. What a difference it makes like DSL417 said. Paid $449 and for not having to dry the beast it is worth every cent.

[DoggieDaddy]

Originally Posted by grr2000

If anyone has good source to buy the resin please share. I built the sprayer and it works great but trying to find resin at a reasonable price. Has anyone tried the resin that Amazon sells for $45 for 5 pounds

Bulk Reef Supply carries it. It's aquarium grade.(can't drink the water) $54.99 for 7.5 LBS.

Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Supplies - Bulk Reef Supply

[BrianGlenn]

The On the Go deionizer is a two stage process that removes cations and anions (positive, Ca, Na, Mg, etc and negative Cl, CO2, CO3). A water softener only exchanges Ca and Mg cations with Na cations. It does not remove the cations and anions from the discharge stream.

The deionizer resin can be regenerated, but usually with HCl, and NaOH, in separate regen processes - and creating a regen waste that has to be neutralized and disposed, in accordance with local dangerous goods laws. For the lay person, it is easier to change out and dispose of the spent resin.

For myself, I get the local RV mobile wash guy to buy deioinzed water from an industrial supplier, bring that in his portable trailer mounted tank, and wash my unit.....

Brian

[DSL417]

Brian...appreciate that you avoid some of the hassle associated with personal deionizes, but having paid as much as $325 for a wash (Paso Robles),average price of $150. That's $1500 minimum saved (and more like $2500 if I get 15-16 washes as advertised) before I have to regenerate my system. I'll deal with a little hassle to save big bucks. Since 2012, I have spent over $1000 having my coach washed. Or I washed and dried it myself. I'll save the bucks with the On the Go two stage system ... and I'll save my back by not drying by hand.

[BrianGlenn]

Your math is sound; my lack of time (still working) keeps me buying services vs doing it myself. Once retired, I look forward to having the time to buy/operate my own deionizer.

Dow Chemical makes a cation (strongly acidic) and anion (strongly basic) resin, and they can be bought from chemical companies that supply volumes for research/lab purposes. For example - Amberlite IR-120 is cationic, and Amberlite IRA-400 is anionic. Right Price Chemicals came up in one search I did....

You will need to confirm the type of resin in the On The Go two stage system, and buy the equivalent resin from someone like Right Price.

My thoughts,
Brian

[fla tom]

I have been looking into this myself. Does a reverse osmosis system produce deionized water also?

[gizmo123316]

Another question: If you de-ionize RO water, do the beads last longer before you need to change them?