Got my water filter!!!!

[Bob]

Got my water filter last night and I hope to try it out this weekend. I will post my review of it here when I give it a try.
I bought it from here http://www.pwgazette.com/gardenhosefilters.htm
Thanks to PhaRO for showing that link to me.

[PhaRO]

Awesome, I hope it works great as I'll be ordering mine next week if it does :)

[Bob]

Awesome, I hope it works great as I'll be ordering mine next week if it does :)
I hooked it up today but was not happy with my cheesy install so I will try again this weekend. :lol: One thing is for sure the pressure coming out of it is very low. But should work perfect for final rinse!

[PhaRO]

I wondered about the flow rate. Didn't see the specs on it. I had considered if it works to split the line off my pump into two filters.

[Bob]

I wondered about the flow rate. Didn't see the specs on it. I had considered if it works to split the line off my pump into two filters.
I don't know how the water would get through two at the low rate it is just through the one I got. I will review it after I wash the car, I am thinking I use it for filan hose down and that is it.

[Mirrored_Images]

I wondered about the flow rate. Didn't see the specs on it. I had considered if it works to split the line off my pump into two filters.
I don't know how the water would get through two at the low rate it is just through the one I got. I will review it after I wash the car, I am thinking I use it for filan hose down and that is it.

is it possible to use the filter before a Pressure washer to get more GPM out of it? I was too lazy to click on the link to see how it works :)

[PhaRO]

Another idea since I'm mobile is just to filter the water into a smaller second tank while I'm going down the road. Then just wash from that tank.

[OI812]

You will lose pressure through a filter system. The amount of pressure drop will depend on how fine and how many filter are in the system. I wouldn't put a filter before a pressure washer, you wouldn't want to starve a pressure washer pump.

[Mirrored_Images]

good thinking OI812! I didnt think of that!

[OI812]

Better now then after you burn out a pump. :cry:

[Bob]

Well, I used mine today and the pressure is SUPER low. I just used it for final rinse and it seemed to do a good job of not leaving water spots.

[OI812]

I hate to ask Bob, but a good job or a great job. Did you do it in sun or shade? Maybe it's me, but it seems your are disappointed in the product. I think for that spot free finish everyone is seeking, you really need DI or RO water.

[Bob]

I hate to ask Bob, but a good job or a great job. Did you do it in sun or shade? Maybe it's me, but it seems your are disappointed in the product. I think for that spot free finish everyone is seeking, you really need DI or RO water.
I did it in the sun. I am only dissapointed in the lack of pressure. :(

[OI812]

Heck Bob if it gave you a spot free finish in the sun, I would love it. Who cares about the low pressure. The main thing is it is spot free. Your only going to use it for finale rinse correct? Heck I might consider that. Remember the filter won't last forever and give you spot free.

[Bob]

Heck Bob if it gave you a spot free finish in the sun, I would love it. Who cares about the low pressure. The main thing is it is spot free. Your only going to use it for finale rinse correct? Heck I might consider that. Remember the filter won't last forever and give you spot free.
Wait until I use it on a dark colored car just to make sure. ;)

[PhaRO]

Filter you got I believe is the rechargeable one. More I think about it, I think for me I'd just pump the filtered water into a container then from the container to the customers car. Probably filter 10 gallons of water while I vacuum then just move my pump intake to the container. I run off a shurflo 12v pump. I haven't had a pressure washer in almost 10 years. When I change my generator over to a Honda engine model and a small size, I may add a pressure washer back.

[OI812]

Heck Bob if it gave you a spot free finish in the sun, I would love it. Who cares about the low pressure. The main thing is it is spot free. Your only going to use it for finale rinse correct? Heck I might consider that. Remember the filter won't last forever and give you spot free.
Wait until I use it on a dark colored car just to make sure. ;)

Dark colored will be the true test. You know I have a black truck if you want to cross that little lake and come over and try it. :lol:

[Bob]

Heck Bob if it gave you a spot free finish in the sun, I would love it. Who cares about the low pressure. The main thing is it is spot free. Your only going to use it for finale rinse correct? Heck I might consider that. Remember the filter won't last forever and give you spot free.
Wait until I use it on a dark colored car just to make sure. ;)

Dark colored will be the true test. You know I have a black truck if you want to cross that little lake and come over and try it. :lol:
Be right there :P

[OI812]

When? :lol: It's only like 95 degrees, it should be a real good test.

[Bob]

Ok, I used this on the blue ZX2 yesterday in the hot sun. I changed nozzles and got much more pressure from the hose so that was cool. The sun was beating down on the car and it was about 90 degrees out. I am vERY impressed with the filter now! I let the water sit a bit to test it out and there were virtually now ater spots left! There were some very light water spots in a few areas but they were not hard water spots and wiped right off!

[OI812]

Hmmmmmm I see a new toy in my future.

[PhaRO]

I ordered the filter and the PW-SOF cartridge yesterday. I'll add my review once it arrives and I've tested it. Have you used yours anymore? Is your cartridge the same and have you recharged it yet? I need to clean out my water tank this week too. Somehow the debris like leaves and such plus the metal rod I use to hold the hose on the bottom are probably not helping hardness :)

[Bob]

I ordered the filter and the PW-SOF cartridge yesterday. I'll add my review once it arrives and I've tested it. Have you used yours anymore? Is your cartridge the same and have you recharged it yet? I need to clean out my water tank this week too. Somehow the debris like leaves and such plus the metal rod I use to hold the hose on the bottom are probably not helping hardness :)
Mine filter is mounted to the rear of my house reel and is always connected to the reel that I use to wash cars with. :) I used it the other day to clean my sidign and windows on one side of the house and I will have to check and see how the windows look because I have not check them yet. I was actually just going to clean the siding and then got soap all over the windows so I hosed them down. I just used dish soap in m sprayer and the filtered water.
I have not changed or recharged the filter as of yet. I think I might try a few different filters from the hardware and see if I notice a difference.

[PhaRO]

Ok I got my filter in yesterday. I ordered the clear filter unit and the PW-SOF filter. I went outside and hooked it up. Unfortunately I didn't have the right hose pieces to try everything that I wanted. The flow is reduced too much to run it inline on my pump. I use a shurflo (no pressure washer). I haven't checked the flowrate out of the filter but 1-1.5gpm is my guess. I wanted to try it before the pump to see if the pump would pull the water through but that was were I was missing hose pieces. I knew from the start that flow would be a problem and my solution is to just pump the water into a bucket then pump from the bucket to wash. I filled my wash bucket and my water bucket. Next I moved my intake hose into the bucket so I could filter out any water in the hose or pump. I washed my wifes car, sun was down enough that I was in the shade and temp was about 90. I washed the car and rinsed it well. The car was last cleaned a few days ago so it wasn't really dirty. I let it dry and could see spots early on. I decided against letting it dry all the way and got out the mf towels. Thinking maybe I didn't rinse well enough I washed the sides again and this time just using the water rinsed the top. Again spots. Pissed I went inside to email the company and make sure I didn't goof something up. The response I got is below.


"The cartridge is brown, so it sounds as if you have the right one. Actually, the cartridge itself is a semi-clear plastic, but the material inside, standard water softening resin, is a brownish color, so it appears to be brown. I don't think you did anything wrong. We aren't great experts at car washing, and I'm sure there a several causes for spots on carts. Hardness is one of them. The cartridge removes about 600 grains of hardness before it needs regeneration (it will treat about 90 gallons of our local water).
I've never tried it for car washing, but we've had lots of positive comments from car washers. We also had a few negatives, though.
If you think the cartridge might be bad, I'll send you another one at my expense to be sure. Or, if you'd like to return the unit, that's fine. I would suggest you give it one more try before deciding. It could be that it it wasn't rinsed well and it will do better the second time.
Do you know the hardness level of your water, by the way? If the water is naturally soft and it's sodium causing the spots, the cartridge will just make it worse.

The spots are indeed different then normal spots so sodium may be the cause. I checked with my city on the water and the hardness is 4-6 with sodium at 3-13 (average being 8). Today I went off to work and used the filter on the cars I did today. I washed them like I normally would and noticed that it gave me time to get around the vehicle. I didn't feel like I had to dry quickly to prevent spots. It was cooler today (low 90's) but I could swear the water didn't dry as fast as normal. One thing I'm unsure about is if I'd let a car air dry completely, even if it wasn't going to spot. In cooler months it would take longer then I'm at the customers for it to dry. Maybe with a blower it would be a good combination.

At this point I'm undecided. I think it has helped some and hopefully with some tweaking will help a lot. If I knew what I know now, I would have looked for something else. [/b]

[The_ViCE]

How funny it is the exact same thing Autogeek is selling for half the price. ... hm....Interesting...

maybe someone should try this one out.. It looks Awesome but pricey.

http://crspotless.com/index.php?tpl=video