A idea that is based on Phy Sci.......

In my Phy Sci class in collage we were talking about thermodynamics. in the class we had talked about how salt water can get colder than ice because the salt keeps the water from go to ice now i know that the salt is a very high corosive and it isnt the smartest idea in the world but what if you can use this for cooling systems ??? if it was possable then it would be a cheaper form of protection from bacteria and others but the neg would be the build up and others as well but this was a idea to run by for thinking or even expermenting on

You could put a resevoir for your watercooling into a larger tank full of salt water. The grocery store near me has a large salt water tank with a wine rack in it that you can put your wine into while you shop and it will chill fast in the tank than in your fridge it says.

I believe salt water is also conductive. (im not sure though)

salt water can get colder than regular water without freezing, but it's thermal properties aren't as good.

in our loops the water is usually ~5c over ambient temperature, so there's no need for the low freezing point of salt water

senater: all water is conductive...

ya that is right that salt water is very conductive but i just was wanting to start a thread that is for brain storming on diffrent ideas for cooling and salt water is one that is older than time that maybe brought back for the idea of cooling

crimedog said:

senater: all water is conductive...

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Incorrect. Pure water is not a conductor; the impurities normally found in tap water is what causes conductance. Just fyi

very true Albuquerque good observation

looking threw the forms i came across a thread that told of a man that made a frig out of a clay pot and sand what if you took that idea but you filled the pot up with sand and wet it down with water then you ran copper pipe in coils in side the sand would the evaporation from the sand pot idea cool the water that is runing in the pipes ??

And that is why god made antifreeze and wiper fluid

Evaporative cooling...

Sounds like a bong cooler (search)

There are no advantages from using salt water ... infact i would strongly advise against this since salt water is HIGHLY conductive and corrosive. I am a chemical engineer and trust me distilled water is probably the most effictive substance to use for water cooling, as some have mentioned dH2O is a bad conductor and not very corrosive which are too thing you look for a cooling fluid. What makes water so good for water cooling is the water has an unusually high heat capacity. For those who dont know heat capacity is the energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram by one degree celcius. There might be other substances that might have better properties but you must also consider price and accesability.

If you use distilled water it would be a good idea to change the water once a while.... for my cooling rig i change it about once every 3 month or so because the water can pickup metal ions from the water block and resevoir if its metal.

Distilled water is so good tha I once I had a leak onto my video card while running and nothing happened.


*Edit

Salt water does have lower freezing point but if your water is getting that cold I dont see why 5-10deg colder might be needed ... besides at those temperatures condensation might become a nasty little problem.

Freezing point depression isn't just limited to salt water. Most solutions will have some freezing point depression. Try searching for colligative properties in google - it was mentioned before, but this is the same idea as antifreeze, but ethylene glycol lowers the freezing point a lot more than salt.

yeah I played with that in science class too, basicly it loweres the freezing point and causes a reaction (endothermic? dont remember if its that or exothermic) I think it causes all the 'cold' energy to be released

Jon

I heard lemonade was the magic cooler. The acid tends to slowly wear down your system though, add a little sugar and the problem goes away.

Your all wrong....Use a little Beer and you will be set. Cools better than anything . And if you are thirsty, you can bong beers off your pump and res... Or if you are scared of bubbles, you can just go with a little Vodka. Kiss bactiria good bye because nothing can live in it ..... Sorry I could not resist


EDIT-
**Caution**
Do not put alcohol into your system. It could cause cracking on polycarbonate tops and res. I am not responsible for leaks or cracks occuring from listening to me. I am also not responsible for death of CPU that could occur from drinking all liquid out of system. Listen to the Devil at your own risk. And as always, YMMV.

i never said to use the salt water it was just a suggestion that could be explored on you know i just like to push science as far as you can cant help it love the class

DeViL_909 said:

Your all wrong....Use a little Beer and you will be set. Cools better than anything . And if you are thirsty, you can bong beers off your pump and res... Or if you are scared of bubbles, you can just go with a little Vodka. Kiss bactiria good bye because nothing can live in it ..... Sorry I could not resist


EDIT-
**Caution**
Do not put alcohol into your system. It could cause cracking on polycarbonate tops and res. I am not responsible for leaks or cracks occuring from listening to me. I am also not responsible for death of CPU that could occur from drinking all liquid out of system. Listen to the Devil at your own risk. And as always, YMMV.

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Well, i think i remember a thread about a guy who ****ed into his res...

Wait... Alcohol in watercooling is bad? I coulda sworn there was a thread analyzing the differences between coolants, and one of them that worked well was a water/methanol mix...

PhoenixMDM said:

Wait... Alcohol in watercooling is bad? I coulda sworn there was a thread analyzing the differences between coolants, and one of them that worked well was a water/methanol mix...

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Yeah, I remember that too and I think the conclusion was that a solution of %66 distilled water and %33 methanol was the best thing to use as a coolant. I think that windhsield wiper fluid was also recommended as it contains methanol.

You might be confusing methanol with ethanol though. I have seen several threads where people argue about how ethanol works in a WC setup (there were some threads where people actually did put Vodka in their setups) but I don't think any of these threads came to the conclusion that ethanol was actually superior to other solutions.

you have to remember when using alcohols is that they are volatile ... so you might want to check your fluid level once a while ...


also acetone has a greater heat capacity than methanol and ethanol but acetone can be a bit harmful and its highly volatile .. ill look through some of my books to see how acetones behaves with metals .. i dont think its corrosive to copper or aluminum