Hate Hard Water Spots? You Need a No Spots PRO Water Deionizer

Lve in a region where hard water spots threaten your Corvette’s perfect paint? No Spots PRO lets you do the unthinkable — air dry your car in the sun. (Don’t actually do this, but you can.)

What We Love. The No Spots PRO system is an excellent product overall. Easy to set up and use. It functions exactly as promised, neutralizing sediments in your water giving you more time to properly dry your vehicle, even in direct sunlight.

What We’d Change. Honestly, other than pricing, the No Spots PRO water deionizing system works exactly as described, although the water doesn’t smell great and we’d love to see metal fittings rather than plastic. Still, the only real question is whether or not your water is so hard that the system becomes too expensive to maintain.

Features

In the world of enthusiast auto detailing, there’s nothing more frustrating finding water spots. You spend an hour or two on your car, but maybe you missed an area. Or maybe the sun came around your house while you were drying. Or maybe water dripped out from some impossible crevice.

Such is the struggle for car detailers who live in places where hard water floweth from the tap.

Thankfully, there a few solutions. You can rinse your vehicle(s) with distilled water or certain types of filtered water available at any grocery store. Or you can pick up a water deionizing system like the No Spots PRO we’re reviewing today.

What is a water deionizer and how does it work? I’ll let the professionals explain:

The No Spots PRO uses ion resins and processes to remove hardness from water by removing calcium and magnesium ions (the stuff that causes water spots on your vehicle) an ion-exchange column. The magnesium and calcium ions migrate out of solution to the active sites on the resin. Cations are replaced with hydrogen ions using cation-exchange resins; anions are replaced with hydroxyls using anion-exchange resins. The hydrogen ions and hydroxyls recombine, producing water molecules. Thus, no ions (water spot causing) remain in the produced water.

What’s in the Box?

• No Spots PRO Spot Free Rinse Ion-Exchange Unit
• Bypass Valve Assembly
• 2-90-Degree Bypass Valve Fittings
• 2-PVC Garden Hose x ½ NPT Pipe Adapters
• 4’ Braided Stainless Steel Inlet Hose
• Teflon Tape
• Electronic TDS Meter
• Instructions
• 5-Year Limited Warranty
• 100% Money-Back Guarantee

Setup

Setting up the No Spots PRO is very simple. If you’ve changed a showerhead or attached a garden hose to a reel, you should be good to go. Just follow the instructions to attach the nozzles to the top of the No Spots PRO tank. Screw in the plastic fittings with the supplied plumber’s tape. Connect the supplied hose to your water source. Run your own hose to your vehicle or something like a pressure washer.

Before using the No Spots PRO to rinse a vehicle, you need to flush at least five gallons of water through the system. And, you can adjust the red valve handles on the tank’s top to bypass the No Spots PRO or to use it.

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Results: Does No Spots PRO Work as Advertised?

Very much so, although there are a couple of potential caveats.

Let’s start with the positives. Initial testing saw my water, with its approximately 300 ppm of sediments, drop only to 87 ppm. But after running another 20ish gallons through, we saw that number fall into the high 20s and low 30s ppm. Is that as good as distilled water? No. But for our incredibly hard Southern California water, it’s a dramatic improvement. If you live somewhere with water in the 100-200 ppm range, I suspect No Spots PRO will drop your number perfectly to zero. And last longer. (More on this in a bit.)

To test the No Spots PRO system, I did the one thing you should NEVER do when washing cars. I washed two in the full, mid-day sunlight. No shade. Hot paint. Worst time possible.

My first test vehicle was a dark red metallic Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. It had been sitting outside for a week and was pretty dusty. After a wash with soap (using standard water) followed by a No Spots PRO rinse, I jumped on the highway for a high-speed air dry.

This wagon attracts water spots more than any car I’ve ever owned, so I was SHOCKED when I arrived at my destination and it looked almost perfect. A few minor spots, but impossibly clean compared to what would’ve happened without No Spots PRO.

I followed the Roadmaster experiment by washing a friend’s C6 Corvette. Again, in broad daylight. Full soap cannon wash and scrub followed by a No Spots PRO rinse. Silver being a very forgiving paint color made this one look even better, which we let air dry in the street. There were more noticeable spots on the matte black vinyl stripes, but again, you shouldn’t wash those in the sun. Overall, despite our pressure test, the C6 looked very good.

In the months that followed, I’ve used No Spots PRO countless numbers of times with less stressful washing conditions. Shade. After sunset. Etc. And what this product gives you, in my personal experience, is the time to dry your car the way you wan.

Even if you have to wash said car in the sun.

You have time to use an air dryer without worrying about spots forming (or it itself causing spots). You can wipe a car down with towels. No rush. No worry. All the time you need. And, should you want to drive-dry your car, you can do that too.

Pair the No Spots PRO with something like a ceramic coating and forget about it. The whole process is even easier with even better results.

In terms of negatives, I experienced two things I disliked about the product and one question, which we’ll explore in the next section. First, I wish No Spots PRO included metal fittings for hose attachments. Despite using the supplied plumber’s tape, the input side of my tank suffers from a dripping leak and I’m unable to remove the plastic fitting to reattach it without the risk of breaking it. (To be fair, this is partially my fault.)

As it turns out, however, the Federal Government doesn’t allow No Spots PRO to “sell brass fittings in a potable water supply as they might contain lead. Otherwise, they would be there.” What a shame.

Also, deionized water doesn’t smell very good, so some folks may find the rinsing experience unpleasant.

Value

Lastly, I’d like to talk about value. The No Spots PRO water deionizer system isn’t cheap. Almost $400 to buy it. And just under $100 for every time you refill it. And, where I live in Southern California, water purifiers for RVs don’t cut it. If you want to avoid spots, you NEED a water deionizer or some type of pure water.

The question, therefore, for buying this system is not, do you need this? It’s can you obtain rinsing-water at a lower price per gallon?

Here’s how No Spots PRO estimates and describes its yield for various types of hard water on their website:

No Spots PRO Input TDS Level = Yield (# Gal)
50 ppm = 800 gallons – Mildly Hard Water
100 ppm = 400 gallons – Hard Water
200 ppm = 200 gallons – Very Hard Water
400 ppm = 100 gallons – What, are you pouring concrete?

No Spots PRO says it takes “approximately 3-5 gals to rinse a car and 10-20 gals to rinse an RV. Aircraft and boats are size-dependent.” So you can do the math on that. With the best water, you can rinse around 160 vehicles, which is quite a lot. With the hardest water, you’re only looking at around 20 rinses.

In my case, I’m at around 300 ppm, so I should be able to get about 150 gallons per tank. Also worth noting, in my area, I can purchase distilled water from the grocery store for $1/gallon. So the question, then, is, which is cheaper? So let’s break it down by costs for my example. (Again, it’s a $397 initial investment and $99 for resin replacement.)

300 ppm = 150 gallons per refill

• $397 for 300 gallons
• $496 for 450 gallons
• $595 for 600 gallons
• $694 for 750 gallons

$1/gallon for distilled water

• $397 for 397 gallons
• $496 for 496 gallons
• $595 for 595 gallons
• $694 for 694 gallons

As you can see, in my area, the break-even point is around 600 gallons. Before that, it’s easier and cheaper to pick up a few bottles of water at the store or try to buy it elsewhere in bulk. After the fourth refill, the No Spots PRO becomes more affordable, although never quite a bargain.

So the question for you, dear reader, is how often do you need to wash your vehicle(s) and how bad is your water in your area?

Final Thoughts

No Spots PRO works as advertised. It’s easy to assemble, although I wish the government would allow metal fittings. It’s definitely not cheap, particularly if you live in an area with very hard water. So the product’s value may differ accordingly.

Still, the results speak for themselves. No Spots PRO gives you time to treat your car right, or an extra cushion when you can’t wash it in the perfect conditions. I’m a big fan of the product and HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to all detailing enthusiasts and passionate car owners who loathe water spots.

Click HERE to purchase!
(NOTE: CorvetteForum has ZERO financial affiliation with No Spots PRO.)

Photographs by Michael S. Palmer

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