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Why are dyes bad for your system????

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Yeh - Water Wetter tends to leave a film on everything which shows up on translucent components - possibly due to the silicone oils that are supposedly in its mixture. Also it smells pretty bad when it has been in your loop for a while...!

Dissimilar metals are always an issue for us. While we can certainly take steps to minimise the problem, it will always be an issue to some degree. Take for instance a typical copper rad. While the internals are primarily copper - The solder which seals the rad components contains lead and tin....so already we have introduced different metals in our system.
 
ATMINSIDE said:
This is why
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/745573-Colored-stains-in-Water-cooling-setup
Click to expand...

This one looked to be a combination of things, plasticizer and two different colored liquids used, how well was the rinsing of the first colored water before he put in the next, that looks like a like purple gunk, who knows what kind of reaction between the colors an anything else in the loop.

Itachiii said:
or this.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...Confirmed-Feser-1-Blue-Premix-GTZ-do-NOT-want

There are numerous examples on the net. As ED said u can't answer why it's happening unless if you're some really experienced chemist that would have to break down the chemical formula of the dye and analyze with which of the parts of your loop it's reacting that way. No one knows if it's the tubing plasticize leaching or if it's the blocks or or or... It would take a lot of research to find out.
Click to expand...

I think of Dyes' like plastic for the most part, if you add heat to them they melt, run a cpu under load for a month at 60c 24/7 and you are gonna have problems, I mean if you look at the pics he provided, it looks like the dye baked on the cpu block. That other corrosion would be interesting, but this was also 6 years ago, I'm sure there might have been something changed in the Dyes' used (maybe). Don't get me wrong, I'm not on the side that dyes are good, but I'm also not on the side they are bad either. As stated by Jakusonfire stated, if your prepared for the possibilities or problems and maintenance required to keep it running smoothly it might not be a deadly thing for your loop (I'm too lazy to anything other than check occasionally if the pH is ok).

Anyone that is better at putting "Stickies" together taking info down so we can add the Cons (not gonna talk about pros, its aesthetics only anyways) to using colored water/Dyes' in your loop. I mean that was the original intention of this thread, glad it hasn't gotten too far off track, and everyone is keeping a level head when discussing thoughts & experiences on this subject.
 
from what I've read lately, it seems that there is far fewer issues with dye and hard tubing, seems there isnt plasticizer leeching off the hard tube, and leading to the clogging up of blocks.
 
I believe it's a combination of less plasticizer leeching and people being more careful, maintaining their loop more often.
 
I'm not gonna say that it's not without it's concerns, but I'd still be wary of dyes in a cooling loop. I have gotten in touch with a Dye manufacturer here in the US and they seem to offer a product that might be pretty close to what would be acceptable in cooling loops, when I get home and have a week or so, I will play with it some, they offer only 4 colors though, so it will be fun mixing and matching to get the color you want.

This is the flyer of the product I will be testing:

BLUEDYE.png

Comes in green red and bright yellow also, getting a sample kit to see how it is to work with. One thing to note in an email they sent me was that it should separate from sitting for periods of time. This might be something that works for me.

Edit: So it's kind of a consensus that the leeching of the plasticizer was the killer for dyes? When testing this, what criteria would you need to consider it safe for loops, 2 years no-stop usage? or would letting the PC run for a solid month folding be sufficient? I take it you would want pictures of all the part before use of the Dye, and after a set period of use.

Test platform will be my CHV-Z which will have a 8320 dual R9-290X's and VRM cooler for said mobo. I have all the blocks and two alphacool 480 UT60 rads, a MCP35x dual top pump and a Bitspower res. Using some hardline tubing in a couple of places but the res will be blood red primochill LRT tubing, I should get some clear for testing I guess. I also have a high flow aquacomputer flow meter. Unfortunately I'm at work so it will be a month (hopefully less) before I get home to test all this out. What other info would you like for this test?
 
Last edited:
This discussion about dyes has been going for 15 years since I started watercooling lol.. If the dyes were really hindering cooling of a system don't you think that cars would be having the same issues ? Their coolant is dyed as well... You guys are really overthinking this
 
dyckah said:
from what I've read lately, it seems that there is far fewer issues with dye and hard tubing, seems there isnt plasticizer leeching off the hard tube, and leading to the clogging up of blocks.
Click to expand...

That's why I went PEX. No plasticizer.
I'll bet that I could put dye in my loop and be issue free for quite sometime.
 
It would be an interesting test to see the same dye in a like loop sans tubing, acrylic and some primo chill lrt. See what happens. I'd venture a guess that some would perform different between the two.
 
EarthDog said:
It would be an interesting test to see the same dye in a like loop sans tubing, acrylic and some primo chill lrt. See what happens. I'd venture a guess that some would perform different between the two.
Click to expand...

Name some, and I'll run it.
 
Cnaydmancangt said:
This discussion about dyes has been going for 15 years since I started watercooling lol.. If the dyes were really hindering cooling of a system don't you think that cars would be having the same issues ? Their coolant is dyed as well... You guys are really overthinking this
Click to expand...

and car engines do not have microfins that the water is being forced through
they pickup much tinier particles than anything that could clog a car engine lol
though, ever hear of having to flush out heater cores?
yeah $hit settles in them and plugs them up
 
Cnaydmancangt said:
This discussion about dyes has been going for 15 years since I started watercooling lol.. If the dyes were really hindering cooling of a system don't you think that cars would be having the same issues ? Their coolant is dyed as well... You guys are really overthinking this
Click to expand...

You realize that car coolant isn't actually dyed, right?
The red and green color comes from different chemicals, not dye.
 
ATMINSIDE said:
You realize that car coolant isn't actually dyed, right?
The red and green color comes from different chemicals, not dye.
Click to expand...

u realize the coolant is actually dyed, right?
ethylene glycol is clear as is propylene glycol they dont magic green. :)

an.gif
 
wagex said:
u realize the coolant is actually dyed, right?
ethylene glycol is clear as is propylene glycol they dont magic green. :)

View attachment 164094
Click to expand...

My understanding was that the different corrosion inhibitors caused the green color.
I'm well aware that the glycol compounds themselves are clear.
 
Anyone have a suggestion on a dye they'd like to see me run?

@ t1nm4n
hehehe I figured my case would be unique. No plasticizer in PEX so we can truly see if the dyes themselves are to blame, or what I think it is, the plasticizer.
 
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