? about alcohol

[thegame]

anyways im soon going to be getting everything and i was wondering what % of alcohol to water i need to use? and what type of alcohol? if im right its isophopyl right? and if so i get that at like wal-mart's med section or is there a diff type?

[gone_fishin]

And people wonder why them clear tops crack.

No need for spirits when distilled water is the best.

[thegame]

i know i need to use distiled water lol. the alcohol is to help fight build ups and so on.

[TheGhengisKhan]

alcohol will not disolve in water... it will just float ontop of it unless either you have a res with alot of turbulance, and the intake close enough to the top of the water to suck the alcohol into the loop, or you have a completely closed loop (not even a T-line) If there are any hard plastics in your water loop at all (pump, T-line, res, fittings, poly-top block) it will crack the plastic.

Do not use alcohol in your water-cooling system. Use Water-Wetter, or some additive like that.

[greenman100]

Originally posted by TheGhengisKhan
alcohol will not disolve in water... it will just float ontop of it unless either you have a res with alot of turbulance, and the intake close enough to the top of the water to suck the alcohol into the loop, or you have a completely closed loop (not even a T-line) If there are any hard plastics in your water loop at all (pump, T-line, res, fittings, poly-top block) it will crack the plastic.

Do not use alcohol in your water-cooling system. Use Water-Wetter, or some additive like that.

ok no

water is a polar molecule, meaning that the electron densities are not balanced across the molecule, and one side is more "positive" than the other. Therefore, it is called polar.

alcohol is by nature also a polar molecule, because it contains the -OH group on the end. Oxygen is very electronegative, with respect to hydrogen, so the OH group is said to be polar

you sir, are thinking of hydrocarbons, like oil, gasoline, etc. hydrocarbons are not polar, as the carbon and hydrogen atoms are relatively close in electronegativity.

alcohol will mix with water *quite* well. I will be happy to provide a picture of this if you do not believe me.

to the original poster: methanol is the best for our purposes because it has the best thermal characterisitics of all alcohols, with ethyl (grain) alcohol second, and isopropyl third. about 10% methanol should work, but it is rumored to eat away at plastic tubing, so be careful. Personally, I am just running straight distilled, and I will be adding some antifreeze. As long as you have a sealed system and flush yearly, you'll be fine without alcohol.

[@/2ct!<]

Arent most antifreezes alcohol based?

[lemon]

Originally posted by greenman100
alcohol will mix with water *quite* well. I will be happy to provide a picture of this if you do not believe me.
Yup I agree with you;) I have done this experiment before, during secondary school :D
EDIT: The fact is, water don't completely mix with water. sorry!

[lemon]

Brake fluid Dot3 and Dot4 (non silicone based) also mix with water quite well :D

[ponkan pinoy]

Iodine crystals are supposed to work pretty well too. The type that they use for making water safe to drink? Not sure where to get those exactly, but I'd guess a travel/outdoor shop....

[lemon]

Will iodine helps in water cooling?

[lemon]

Man, I just know that, water not completely mix with alcohol!! sorry for my last reply that agree water can mix with alcohol quite well.
http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sb-ALS-alcohol-and-water.html

[greenman100]

Originally posted by lemon

EDIT: The fact is, water don't completely mix with water. sorry!

ok what are you saying.

your link shows alcohol and water do not mix on a molecular level, but rather, clusters of each mix.

this is fairly irrelevant to watercooling

the fact is, alcohol will not "sit on top of" water.

you cannot see a density change between the two.

[penquissciguy]

Well, you don't have to shake a beer before you drink it, do you? :)

In other words, alcohol will mix with water quite well. Alcohol, however, will attack plastic over time. I agree with the thought that this is a contributing factor to all the plexi tops on waterblocks splitting as well. To answer the question above, most antifreezes use ethylene glycol to cause the antfreeze effect.

Ken