Water Additives: Household Stuff to Prevent the Bad Stuff

After filling my loop with tap water, I got some anti-freeze, drained about a 4th of it and refilled the empty space with 1/2 water 1/2 anti-freeze. I also had a bottle of isopropyl alcohol lying around, so I dribbled in a teaspoons worth, thinking that it *might help with algae build-up. In about 4 seconds my loop was filled with tiny bubbles and foam. I'm runnning the loop right now to see if some of it goes away, but I don't think it will. Is it worth draining the whole loop and starting over? There are no airgaps, just some 'foam' on the top of the tubing by some inlets and bends.

Bubbles are fine when you first fill the loop. It will gradually go away. but you should still drain it and use distilled water instead of tap. There are too many minerals and such in tap water that it has a greater chance of corrosion, buildup and algae. my .02

I found that out the hard way. First one I've built. Replaced the cpu block with an apogee and the other one had green junk in it. Yeah it was growing. Now it distilled water/antifreeze only. It stays cooler for two reasons now..

Even with the anti-freeze? And what if algae does build up, is there a way to clean it without taking the block apart? (I assume you can clean it if you take the block apart)

Iodine to kill algae and bacteria. It works wonders.

As for algae infested systems... get new tubing. Wash blocks with vinegar.

You can get anti algae tabs or liquid from a pet store. You need so little of it since it is designed for aquariums that it would last forever.

I would take everything apart and clean the blocks, and get new tubing.

When you set it up again use 10 to 15% antifreeze distilled water and a couple of drops of iodine.

the solution your using right now is heavy on the antifreeze and it is hurting your cooling performance, also like otogrim mentioned tap water has alot impurities which is why distilled water is a better choice.

I see some bad things from the start. For one tap water is a huge no-no, the minerals and impurities will cause corrosion. Anti-Freeze in any quantity will not kill algae, the only reason it is toxic to us is the way our liver processes it or rather mistakenly processes it. Isopropyl alcohol will also turn any nonrated plastics to jello within a few months. I would drain your loop, scrub your blocks out, clean your pump and flush out your lines. Fill your loop with distilled water only, 15% antifreeze and a few Drops of non-alcohol iodine which can be bought at wallyworld for about $4 in the bandade section. The Antifreeze will prevent corrosion however it also helps to have only one type of metal in your system being either aluminum or copper, both will cause a battery effect. The distilled water will provide optimal heat transfer without impurities. Iodine will kill everything organic, even at only a few drops, too much and the iodine will solidify.

While I get those things together and figure out the best way to drain my loop, can I just add some iodine to kill the organic stuff in there, that way I don't have to purge my whole system? I just spent 12 hours getting this thing to work, so I'm trying to avoid having to take apart EVERYTHING.

You don't need to take it all apart again. Just drain it, refill with straight distilled, run it a bit, then drain again and refill with distilled plus antifreeze or racing coolant and your biocide of choice.

If you're not going to do that today, adding a little iodine is a good idea. But flush the system as soon as you can. If you have any acrylic in the system, I'd drain and flush it right away. Isopropyl alchohol will cause acrylic it to craze.

Otter said:

Isopropyl alchohol will cause acrylic it to craze.

Click to expand...

Yikes.