[SuperCross]

hi ive heard alot of different things about all the types of coolant and i have no idea what i should use. i've heard strait distilled is the best but then people use additives. by the way what is water wetter?

[||Console||]

You only need coolant if you have different metals in your loop . Even then it is only like 10% that ppl use . I used BMW blue anti freeze my self .

[EmAn]

i believe a 90/10 distilled water/antifreeze works the best low on corrosion and pretty good cooling

ive heard good things about the bmw blue antifreeze and the toyota red antifreeze

and water wetter is coolant for motorcycles, atv's, go-karts, and small engines that require coolant (i would reccommend STAY AWAY!!!)

[SuperCross]

ok ive got a jug of disstiled water alredy. what type is cheapest?

[Moto7451]

Distilled usually costs no more than 99¢ per gallon unless you're going for a "fancy" brand.

Water wetter will work in our systems but it doesn't offer any real advantage. It's an additive thats designed to prevent hot spots in the cylinder head. Those hot spots can cause pre-ignition (and possibly detonation) on high end performance engines. On your street car or PC... not really an issue. On its plus side, it doesn't include any antifreeze and will prevent oxidation.

[Otter]

Yes, distilled water is the best coolant. The additives are to prevent corrosion and bacterial growth. The ideal is to run the highest percentage of water you can without maintenance hassles.

I've never tried it, but people say that Water Wetter has a very strong and unpleasant odor. If you want to go this route, I suggest you try one of the other racing coolants. If you just want to reduce surface tension, try a few drops of Jet-Dry.

Whatever you use to prevent corrosion (if anything) be sure to poison any bacteria, fungi, or algae that might have found their way into your loop. Iodine should take care of the bacteria and fungi, and aquarium algaecide should do for the algae.

[Mycobacteria]

I say just try double distilled water alone for a little while.... if you find its not good enough for you then start playing with the additives.

[voigts]

Originally Posted by Mycobacteria

I say just try double distilled water alone for a little while.... if you find its not good enough for you then start playing with the additives.

The only qualm I would have about doing that is that it wouldn't take much for the whole loop to have algae in it and not really notice it until it gets bad.

[Mycobacteria]

From my experience, I use only distilled water, and havent had any problems although I admit I do have silver tubes.

If things do go wrong and you see growth, you should drain it and start over anyway regardless weather you used chemicals or not... so its not a big loss.

[Otter]

Yes, but if you use biocides, it's a lot less likely there will be any growth, eh?

Given that you're a microbiologist and hence know how to keep things clean and that you're using opaque antimicrobial tubing, I'm not surprised you don't have anything growing in your loop, Myco. With few nutrients to begin with and no photosynthesis, there's just not much for anything to live on. But clear tubing is a completely different situation.

[QuietIce]

I agree - a little iodine and algaecide go a long way for insurance and has no measurable impact on cooling.

And with the anti-freeze keep in mind the 90/10 mix usually refers to a pre-mixed anti-freeze, which is already half distilled water. If you get/have the "old-fashioned", unmixed anti-freeze you only want a 95/5 mix.

Originally Posted by Otter

If you just want to reduce surface tension, try a few drops of Jet-Dry.

Hmmm, THAT's a good idea ...

[jackrungh]

Mind elaborating a bit on the jet-dry use otter? Handy in a really restrictive loop I suppose, but my guess is that it cant really do that much.

[Big Mike]

Having used water wetter both in my loop and in cars, I can tell you it certainly does NOT have a strong or unpleasant odor. I can't vouch for its effacy in a computer (ive only run my loop distilled/water wetter) but it most definately works quite well in cars.

[Otter]

Originally Posted by jackrungh

Mind elaborating a bit on the jet-dry use otter? Handy in a really restrictive loop I suppose, but my guess is that it cant really do that much.

The idea is to reduce the surface tension of the coolant so that it contacts the metal surfaces more completely. This is one of the functions of racing coolant additives, but no, it doesn't do that much. It might get the air out of the corners of your rad a little faster, though.

[res0r9lm]

I make up by the gallon 15/85 anti-freeze/distilled water and 2 capfuls of waterwetter. waterwetter does kind of smell a little strong in it's pure form but once mixed no smell. I can't say if it helps or not but doesn't hurt. I think 10/90 mixture is fine but I prefer 15/85 just to be safe. I have had same coolant for over a year and no silvery lines as some people are mentioning

[Mycobacteria]

Just TRY the water only approach....

I would think an iodine solution would have a "shelf life".... as time goes on the effectvness of the iodine will be lost.

Surface tension can be reduced with Tween 80. The chemical is used in buffers, for the lysis of cells.

[GTFouts]

I just read a Tom's Hardware article where they used DD's products. They strongly suggested using Fluid XP+ EXTreme "only", because of its outstanding cooling ability and anti corrosion/algae properties. Sounds good but man is that stuff expensive!! $35.00 a quart.
So far I have been using dis water and Hydrex additive. Been running long time now with no problems except for the whitening of the tygon tubing. I think the Hydrex is the cause of that tho.
Dis water is cheap, easy to find. Can't really go wrong with it IMHO.

[Otter]

Originally Posted by Mycobacteria

I would think an iodine solution would have a "shelf life".... as time goes on the effectvness of the iodine will be lost.

The shelf life is probably longer than most of us go without flushing the coolant, but light might be a problem. IIRC, iodine tinctures must be protected from light to preserve their potency. OTOH, as long as the system is sealed and everything in it is dead, it doesn't matter if the Iodine isn't working anymore. It might be a good idea to add a few drops of iodine when adding coolant, though.

[sil40sx]

my friend using koolance LIQ-700BU-B coolant, is it fine to put some additives like swiftech "hydrx". if so, how many drops? 90/10 or 85/15 koolance/hydrx. is koolance is better than distilled? he really need help. tnx