Dex-Cool and white gunk?

[johan851]

I keep getting white gunk staining the inside of my clearflex. The only additive I'm using is about 10% Havoline 5-year Extended Life Extreme Edition Platinum Silver Super Lazer with 3mb of L2...k, maybe I should look on the can. My bad...it's just Havoline Extended Life 5-year antifreeze. My setup got pretty gunked up in just a couple months of using it. Upon draining the system, the fluid is still as clear as always.

Has anyone had any problems with Dex-cool type antifreeze and gunk? If not that, it could be some kind of resident evil (gunk) in my radiator.

[Jibby]

I use dex-cool antifreeze with 0 gunk and 0 problems. It's really great stuff.

[johan851]

You know, I've really liked it too. The more I think about it, the more I look to the evil organism(s) in my radiator...

[Soja]

Is it somewhat greasy and easy to scrape off the walls of your tubing?

[johan851]

Yup, sure is. It comes off after pushing some paper towel and dish detergent through the tube a couple times.

[jimstandard]

you could probably use the squeegies they make for paintball guns to clean out your tubing pretty well but you may have to mod it some http://www.vspaintball.com/squeege.htm

[johan851]

It comes off after pushing some paper towel and dish detergent through the tube a couple times.
Anyone else know where it might be coming from?

[Soja]

It might be some sort of growth. Someone in this procooling thread (http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6485&perpage=25&highlight=white%20spots&pagenumber=1) had the same prob. I've gotten it before, the sol mix cleaned my tubes pretty well. I'm going to do a total flush to reuse some of my tubing my new setup. I'm not sure what I'll be using but the sanitizer airspirit talks about looks good. I'm also considering some humidifier bacteriostat, erythromycin tablets or a teaspoon like someone suggested of betadine?

[chkptcharlie]

actually, i have a 97 camaro... it was one of the few cars that has to use dex cool.

dex cool has a tendancy to gunk up in certain conditions(look up dex cool, and you'll probably find quite a few). DONT mix dex with a non dex antifreeze, that will cause goo to form.

http://www.theherd.com/articles/dex_cool.html <that has some info on dex cool, but if you want to find much more informative information on why you may be having problems, look in some form of GMperformance site's forums i.e. lt1.com ls1.com camarov6.com.
they should have adequate information on what seems to cause gunk to appear in your system.
Personally, i wouldnt run dex in a system for my computer because of price.

[johan851]

Alright, thanks for the info. I'll try a little bit of bleach, maybe. I'll also look into some bacteria killer things...although you'd think that nothing would survive antifreeze.

[Pyros]

I use Dexcool in mine and it does the same thing. Its a white, milky looking film on the tubing. I remember reading somewhere in the forum where it was supposed to be caused by a additive in the Dexcool that helps lubricate and protect your radiator and engine. (remember its made for cars)

Dont know if its true or not, but it doesnt seem to hurt my performance so I dont worry about it.

[UberBlue]

Originally posted by johan851
Alright, thanks for the info. I'll try a little bit of bleach, maybe. I'll also look into some bacteria killer things...although you'd think that nothing would survive antifreeze.

DO NOT USE BLEACH!

The reason bleach is an effective biocide is because it's an oxidizer. Oxidizer = corrosion.

[johan851]

AHHH!!! Alright, thanks. No bleach then. :) Is alcohol or some kind of algicide better?

The thing is, I would think Clearflex would be resistant to that kind of lubricant...let me check my antifreeze bottle again.

Ingredients: Ethylene Glycol and CPS# 227994. After looking at a lot of spec sheets, there is some lubricant in the CPS# 227994...but it looks like it's mostly ethylene glycol. It also causes birth defects...um...yeah. Alright, could quite possibly be the lubricant. Thanks!

[Pyros]

Just think of it as giving your waterlines that 'frosted look' .:D

[boosted]

mineral spirts work nicely.
complete drain, and half fill with the spirits, let run for a while, and it will remove/break down anything in your system chemical wise.
You just have to use alky to clean the spirts out...

[jimstandard]

dont use betadine that will stain your tubing worse than the white gunk

[MoreGooder]

Originally posted by jimstandard
you could probably use the squeegies they make for paintball guns to clean out your tubing pretty well but you may have to mod it some http://www.vspaintball.com/squeege.htm


jimstandard,

Excellent find!!!! I was thinking about using some sort of pipe cleaner, but couldn't find anything large enough. I used Water Wetter for a few months and already have a film. (Now using blue antifreeze for VW's plus some UV dye). I like my new fluid but I want to clean the water wetter residue out.

Thanks for the creative approach!
MoreGooder

[jimstandard]

no problem moregooder

[Soja]

Originally posted by johan851
Alright, thanks for the info. I'll try a little bit of bleach, maybe. I'll also look into some bacteria killer things...although you'd think that nothing would survive antifreeze.

I've seen this come up a lot over at proforums. Antifreeze is not a good biocide. Check out this (http://www.procooling.com/articles/html/chems_of_oc_n_and_super_coolin1.php) article.

[MoreGooder]

If you read that article carefully the author says that he doesn't have information that AF is a good or bad biocide:

"Antifreeze (Ethylene Glycol or Propylene Glycol)
I do not know if antifreeze has any benefit in controlling biological growths."


One could try an experiment using some storn drain water + AF to see if it starts getting stinky in a short while. It's a basic experiment, but it would be more telling than simply surmising.

I tend to agree that not much is going to live in an environment with AF in it, especially if it's changed every 3 - 6 months.

MoreGooder

[FizzledFiend]

Soja that was an excellent read! I am heading to wards a complete replacement of all of my blocks and heater core because of some incompatabilities with some chemicals I used in my system...as a former auto mechanic i fiquird i had a good plan...nope not good for PC...I think pressures come into play with some of the more exotic chemicals i used :(

[johan851]

Very good read Soja. I'll make sure to use some humidifier biocide or alcohol in my next mixture.

[chkptcharlie]

just remember evaporating alchy will drop water temps ;)

h2o2(hydrogen peroxide) is also good for killing off unwanted bacteria.

I really dont belive the white gunk in your system is a living culture though...more a stain or a mineral deposit.

but then again it never hurts to flush your system to be 100% sure.

[johan851]

Peroxide can cause some bad corrosion problems though, so I'd like to stay away. I think I'll use Methyl Alcohol - that's all that the blue windshield wiper fluid is. There shouldn't be a problem with evaporation, as it's a closed loop setup. It at least won't be too bad. :)

[nodark]

I thought alcohol was bad for the rubber parts?

[chkptcharlie]

i guess it depends on what kinda gaskets you have as to if it's bad for them or not.

and if alchy evaporation = water temperature drop, isnt that a good thing???
perhaps it would be interesting to test that idea in an evaporative cooler.

[johan851]

But you need to be careful...alcohol evaporation = deadly fumes.

[boosted]

well, I do know that the yellow/green AF WILL kill anything biological.
I use it to kill mosquito eggs/larvae in standing water all the time. It only takes, 5-10 minutes to kill everything in the bottom of a 80 Gal trash can...

And you can also surmise... Have you ever had any troubles with algea growing in your cars system?

[johan851]

Well, the car's system is going to run hot enough to kill everything. I would assume that the water in my PC's system is just a nice, biologically comfortable "warm." :)

Also, there's a fairly low antifreeze concentration, and some bacteria are probably a little hardier than mosquitos...although I see your point.

Well, I'll try with Methyl Alcohol, and if that doesn't do anything, then I'll have at least nailed down a variable or two. :)

[Korndog]

even in low concentrations, antifreeze/coolant, should easily kill bacteria. I've been using the same antifreeze/coolant though 6 different upgrades in my computer, which is from my first w/c system (1.3ghz P4 in 2000AD) so a little over 3 years and theres is nothing wrong with it to this day.
if you have enough to prevent corrosion, then it should be enough to kill anything in there (that can fit in there) or maybe not (probably enough to kill a human)

[johan851]

What antifreeze do you use, and in what concentration? I'm only using 10% Dex-Cool.

[chkptcharlie]

dex-cool reccomends either a half water half antifreeze or a 40 water 60 antifreeze mix

[johan851]

Yes, in a car. I'm not going to use nearly that much in my cooling setup...to much of a performance hit. I'm also using all copper, so corrosion isn't too bad in the first place. Just want a little extra protection.

[ninety6]

Originally posted by chkptcharlie
dex-cool reccomends either a half water half antifreeze or a 40 water 60 antifreeze mix

:D

Most watercooled rigs doesn't get as HOT or below freezing point as cars.

96

[LtBlue14]

i'm using Prestone dexcool in about a 20% concentration, no problems (gah, unlike water wetter)