Definite guidance on Coolant

mikesm · Jul 31, 2003

Hi again - I'm in the process of building my first WC rig, and I am almost all set, but the more I read, the more confused I get about guidance for the coolant.

I'm basically looking for good performance and low maintenance (that is I don't want to have to tear everything apart every 3 months to clean it).

Some say that pure distilled or deionized water is the way to go - best performance.

Others add an antibiotics (!) to the water to prevent algae growth. Doesn't that make the water conductive?

Others say that water wetter is important, because you need it for corroision resistance even though it lowers the thermal transfer performance of the water a bit.

Still others say to go with a commercial antifreeze for that purpose.

Is there a definitive article on coolants that I have missed that tells me what do do based on what I am trying to acheive?

Thanks in advance - I'll be joining the WC world shortly!

Frob

nikhsub1 · Jul 31, 2003

First, use DISTILLED, not de-ionized water. A 5% mixture of anti-freeze will keep the creepy crawlies away, Water Wetter will not. My recommendation to you is this and it is what I use:

1. Distilled water
2. 5 - 10% Anti-Freeze
3. Recommended amout of Water Wetter, Purple Ice or my favorite, Hy-Per Lube

Gautam · Jul 31, 2003

If you're using antifreeze, what is the benefit of distilled water over tap water?

Soja · Jul 31, 2003

Doesn't tap water cause buildup of misc. minerals? I remember a bong setup at [H] running on straight tap that had massive buildup in the wb. The sight of it made me want to puke

nikhsub1 · Jul 31, 2003

Gautam said:
If you're using antifreeze, what is the benefit of distilled water over tap water?

Tap water has TONS of minerals... calcium etc. Over time, this will start to stick to everything. It will also build up and become sand like. The reason to use distilled is it has NO minerals in it at all.

Enyo · Jul 31, 2003

whats wrong with de ionised?

nikhsub1 · Jul 31, 2003

Enyo said:
whats wrong with de ionised?

Since there are no ions in it, it will pull ions out of the metal in the system.

lrlucas · Jul 31, 2003

What about soft water?

nikhsub1 · Jul 31, 2003

lrlucas said:
What about soft water?

distilled is best. Use what you want, but nothing will beat distilled. Even 'soft' water will have some minerals in it.

GWN · Jul 31, 2003

For what it's worth. I used plain old tap water ( filtered) and about 5-7% prestone antifreeze/coolant. I had the setup with the same water running for about 10 months before i changed it and I had zero build up of anything. Anything else is a waste. Water wetter and ll those alike I persoanlly think are a waste of cash! be sure not to use too much coolant or your performance may drop. If you just use around 5 -7 % then you won't see any temp change from straight water. Oh I also had a tad bit of Rit Brightener and whitener to the water so it glows bright blue with a UV light. I swear that stuff rocks! I think it was $2 for the powder.

nikhsub1 · Jul 31, 2003

GWN said:
For what it's worth. I used plain old tap water ( filtered) and about 5-7% prestone antifreeze/coolant. I had the setup with the same water running for about 10 months before i changed it and I had zero build up of anything. Anything else is a waste...

Well distilled water is very cheap, like $1 for a gallon and good insurance that there are NO solids in your water.

rogerdugans · Jul 31, 2003

I view using distilled water about the same as I do using steel worm-drive hose clamps:
Insurance.

While I have in the past used tap water for fairly long periods of time with few or no issues, distilled is CHEAP.

Since all my cooling systems are closed loop I worry little about algae and so forth so I am using Water Wetter as my only additive: yes, there is a very slight performance loss in theory but it is too small a loss to see in temps. When used in the proper concentration.

If you see a difference in temp between with and without Water Wetter-- you used too much

NeoMoses · Jul 31, 2003

Really, is the $1 you spend on a gallon of distilled water going to break your budget? I mean, Jesus God Fellas, you're spending over $100 on a cooling system that puts water right next to your $500+ computer. What difference in your budget is $1 for a gallon of distilled water? Do y'all really think tap water is the same in every city? FYI, it's not. Not even close. Why wouldn't you give yourself every advantage available for a good performing, safe WC setup?



Sorry for the rant, it's just that I get tired of seeing the same arguments again and again.

GWN · Jul 31, 2003

Please tell me what insurance you get with using distilled water???????????????????????????????? it's not cost it's more of why? and the pain in the *** of going out to get it

Edit: I'm not saying don't use it, I would just like to know why people think they are playing it safer and better by using it. You will have no build up of minerals if you use a bit of coolant sooo??

altec · Jul 31, 2003

It is very clear that you will have a build up of minerals unless you use something with no minerals in it. It is a matter of cleaning your waterblock every month or cleaning it every 6 months...which would you prefer? If you want to clean your block and most of you loop every month, then use tap water...be my guest.

NeoMoses · Jul 31, 2003

Tap water can, and often does, deposit its minerals onto the surface of your waterblock, tubing, and radiator, reducing the overall efficiency of your cooling system.

The reason most people use coolant is to inhibit corrosion, keeping the metal in its original position and non-oxidized. Oxidation also reduces the efficiency of your system.

That's why I use distilled water with Dex-Cool in my system. It's clean water that won't leave deposits, and the Dex-Cool keeps the system clean and non-corroded.

Soja · Jul 31, 2003

Doesn't the amount of minerals or types of in tap water vary in the states, or countries even?

rogerdugans · Jul 31, 2003

Soja said:
Doesn't the amount of minerals or types of in tap water vary in the states, or countries even?

Yes, it does vary.

But no matter where you live there ARE minerals in the tap water, and possibly quite a few chemicals that you might prefer to not have.

Even if the water in your town started out as distilled water.....it would be pumped through town/city pipes that will add a certain amount of junk to the water by the time it gets to YOUR house.

There is NO additive that will remove minerals in tap water; boiling tap water may help slightly, but does NOT remove much at all.

You might be able to use tap water in your water cooled computer for the next 10 years non-stop and never have a problem.......but you might not.

Hey: tubing that is stretched over big barbs usually won't leak either, but I still use worm-drive steel hose clamps.

camel · Jul 31, 2003

How about well water??? hehe

its water right?

I use distilled.

James McGee · Jul 31, 2003

Tap

GWN said:
For what it's worth. I used plain old tap water ( filtered) and about 5-7% prestone antifreeze/coolant. I had the setup with the same water running for about 10 months before i changed it and I had zero build up of anything. Anything else is a waste. Water wetter and ll those alike I persoanlly think are a waste of cash! be sure not to use too much coolant or your performance may drop. If you just use around 5 -7 % then you won't see any temp change from straight water. Oh I also had a tad bit of Rit Brightener and whitener to the water so it glows bright blue with a UV light. I swear that stuff rocks! I think it was $2 for the powder.

I'll guarantee if you used water from my tap your whole system would have been clogged after those 10 months. You must have some REALLY pure tap water. All you have to do is freeze some of the tap water around here then put some of the ice in a glass of water and let it melt..... gunk of all kinds is floating around the bottom of the glass....yuck!! what a mess...

Definite guidance on Coolant

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