Hey oct1949, the water spots are gone! As hard as those water spots proved to be as well as a major PITA to remove them, that white distilled vinegar took them all right off. It not only took them off but it did it with ease and I actually used very little of it. Like I said, probably less than a shot glass full. I have been using the same tap city water for over a year now so the only thing I can think of is that it was the new brand of soap I used or the city had some kind of major malfunction at the water plant here in town. I'm a clean freak when it comes to my vehicles and I bet I have used just about every product out there at one time or another for cleaning and detailing bikes and cars and this worked better than anything I have ever used in the past. I would highly recommend the use of this white vinegar to anyone who has or might have in the future when it comes to water spots and removing them. I even used it on the tins as well, not just all of my chrome. I LOVE learning and this was an excellent lesson for an "old timer" to learn. This is also a great example of what this site is all about. I have seen new people join this site and ask a question that has been asked 1000 times and then some people take jabs at them for asking. I personally think that everyone on this site that has knowledge about any question that is asked by a new person to the site should be supportive of them, not make fun of them. That though is just my own personal thoughts and feelings on the subject. I know when someone asks a question then is made fun of for asking, it pushes them away and then the only thing they learn is to not ask anymore questions. That, as we all know or should know, can prove to be fatal for a new rider. I have a Son who is learning to ride on the street on my bike. If anything ever happened to me I would like to think people on a site like this would take him under their wings, would step up and teach and help him, answer any question he might have, help him in anyway you can to keep him safe. I know I would do the same for anyone who asked a question, no matter how mundane it may be to me.

 

Tony.... I picked up on this problem last year, We have a local window cleaner who cleans the windows with what he termed ''Pure water'', which is filtered and deionised water, he cleans the windows with a pole and a washer on the end of it that is pumped with the pure water, the theory is that because the water is pure it leaves no streaks.
Anyways it got me thinking, so I looked into buying the filtration system to purify the water to clean my bike, problem is you dont need much water to do the bike and the system is about Ł100, I mentioned it to a friend of mine who keeps Marine fish, and he said that he bought his filtered and purified water from the Aquatics shop for Ł1 for 5gallons, I went along to the shop, and sure enough its the same water filtration system, so I bought a clean 5 gallon drum and got some.
I cleaned the bike in the normal way with a kind of cleaner/degreaser that I use called Mucoff and a fine brush to agitate the dirt and then rinsed the bike of with the clean water pumped from a Garden spray bottle, a sort of 1 gallon tank with a lance attached and you pump up the pressure from the top.
Result, I was a little sceptical but it really worked, and for very little outlay.

 

Thanks lawnmowerman, you just made me realize something else that I never thought of. I use Dio water at work all the time. I run tests with it that would otherwise be impossible to run with tap or well water because of all the minerals and suspended solid particles that is in it.

 

Try it, but if you want do do some research , Goggle stuff like, cleaning windows with pure water, I seem to remember reading about people cleaning their cars with it, its not just deionised though, its also flitered through 4 or 5 different processes,, I'm sure you have aquatic shops over there that sell water, everyone over here buys their marine water that way.....Let me know how you get on!

 

You can buy a gallon of distilled water from Walmart for less than 1 dollar.

 

Bone doc. there is a difference between distilled water and deionized water. Also, the deionized water I can get from work does go through the process to make it clean and deionized. It's like I said, we have to use it at work to run certain tests. It has to be 100% pure AND deionized. Distilled water removes all the minerals, Deionized water separates or removes the positively and negatively charged ions in the water. That is why you may hear that Dio water is the best water you can use, for instance, like in a car battery. The water brings no "ions" with it to contaminate the battery.

 

Hey Tony,

I am very familiar with the difference between distilled and deionized water. I worked in a chemistry lab during my undergrad days.

I have to disagree with you.

Without getting into the semantics, distilled and deionized water are essentially interchangeable for everyday use (the average Joe), even in batteries, radiators, steam irons, etc. There would be very little difference between the two but, for sure, either of the two would be better than tap water. I beileve what you said, "That is why you may hear that Dio water is the best water you can use, for instance, like in a car battery", is old thinking. The thought now is that either distilled OR deionized water can be used in batteries or radiators. One is not necessarily better than the other.

Getting into the details, the most common process to deionize water is to use column(s) of an ion exchange resin. As a consequence, there may still be nonionic contaminants remaining in the water. Some of those contaminants may not be ionic but may have polar properties where one portion of the molecule has a more positive or negative charge than another. It is these contaminants that can still have a negative (corrosive) effect in batteries or radiators. Those effects are not just from ions. Certainly unwanted ions in a battery will affect the electrical properties of the battery.

Distillation, in theory, should remove all ions (except H+ and OH-) and nonionic molecules. In my opinion, distilled water is "purer" than deionized water. In your situation, which sounds like a chemistry lab, unwanted ions can interfere with the chemical processes, therefore, the water needs to be as clean and deionized as possible. You stated "we have to use it at work to run certain tests. It has to be 100% pure AND deionized." The best way to obtain that kind of water is to distill it first and then deionize it.

The problem is distillation requires a great deal of energy input ($) to convert liquid water to steam. It is not as cost effective to distill versus deionization if you require a large volume of the purest water. Also, the average individual (you and me) doesn't have the PRACTICAL means to distill water. I know I can boil water on the stove all day long but that is too expensive. It is, though, very easy to deionize water. Ion exchange resin systems are readily available.

Now, in regards to your post about water spots, deionized water would be more likely to contain nonionic molecules that can deposit on surfaces than distilled water would. In reality, it would be such a small concentration that there would likely be very little difference. For you, since you work in a lab, you have ready access to this water and you can get it without cost (hopefully). For me, it is easier to purchase.

So, in my opinion, for everyday uses, deionized and distilled water are essentially the same.

By the way, I am glad you are back riding again. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your bike after all the mods are complete.

 

Thanks for the well wishes Bone Doc. As for the water thing? I better talk to the Chemist when I go back to work and let her know that what they are using for the GC's and the HPLC's is wrong and not working like they think it is and messing up our columns in said equipment. I do work in the lab and have for better than 25 years now but I am a technician, not a chemist so I am sure your knowledge goes much deeper than mine. I'm basically just a lab Monkey, they give me a piece of equipment and an S.O.P. on how to operate it and to produce and get numbers to report to the unit. I know the basics, how to calibrate them and get numbers. Thats the extent of my vast(less) knowledge of all that stuff. I will shoot you a few pics your way when I get it done. Right now I am about 5 months behind schedule! I am going to wait until I go back to work to put it back in the shop, I won't miss it as much then as I would now while I am still off.

 

How about the reverse osmosis water that many grocery stores sell now (about 30 cents a gallon if you bring your own container)? Does that process remove the minerals pretty well?

 

Whoa Tony! I never said the water you are using for the gas and liquid chromatographs was wrong. My comments were simply comparing distilled and deionized water. As a matter of fact, in the chemistry lab I worked in, we mixed all the chemicals and reagents using deionized water. I'm sure the chemists know what they are doing and what they are using.

There are different types of reverse osmosis systems depending on the membranes (filters) used and the extent of filtration but, for the most part, the end result is the same. To answer your question; yes, reverse osmosis systems will remove ions, minerals and large molecules as well as biologics (bacteria and viruses) quite well. Thirty cents a gallon for good drinking water is not a bad deal.