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Quick Coolant Question

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twiggy159

Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Saint Louis, MO
So I was hooking up my 45 Rotary Barbs to my reservoir when I accidentally hit my little bucket of drained coolant and spilled it all over my carpet. I went up to the local grocery store and picked up some distilled water and put that into the loop along with the rest of my coolant that was still in the radiator, CPU, pump, and tubing. Is it alright to run it like this without adding PT Nuke or what you guys recommend? I was using PC ICE as my coolant and it's probably about a 50/50 mix of the PC ICE and distilled water. I'm just making sure I don't get any buildup inside the loop. I know you guys are probably going to tell me to go Distilled + PT Nuke anyways which I most likely will next time I drain (Or spill :)) my loop. Just let me know what you think of the 50/50 combination. Thanks!

And pics of my new setup will be coming soon!
 
"No, it’s not a special computer geek mouthwash! PC ICE is a revolutionary development in liquid cooling from PrimoChill. Designed to improve the performance of today’s most advanced PC water cooling systems, PC ICE overcomes the shortcomings of competitive fluids available on the market today. PrimoChill’s testing has revealed that PC ICE shows a maximum gain in thermal efficiency of 5C° and a minimum average of 2C° in proportional testing against standard fluid. Although the improvement is not extensive, the fluid’s capacity to decelerate the difference of temperature from idle to load environments increases the systems maximum stability, thus improving over clocking capability.

PC ICE is specially formulated with lubricating properties to increase pump life and contains corrosive inhibiting ingredients to cut down on internal build up and galvanic corrosion. PC ICE is safe on all plastic, rubber and miscellaneous gasket materials as well as Non-Toxic, biodegradable and environmentally safe. PC ICE is formulated for high flow pumps and is not prone to mechanical sheering. PC ICE has a 3 year shelf life, is non-conductive and has a freeze point below -60F°. So while your breath could use a little freshening, you should stick to Tic-Tacs (trust me your friends will thank you). For cooling your PC however, PC ICE is the coolant of choice!"-http://www.xoxide.com/primoice-nonconductive-fluid-clear.html

Nowhere in that did I see that it contained Biocide. Better safe than sorry.
 
Alright well will I be okay for about 3 weeks because I'm a little short of money. I used to run pure PC ICE before a year back and it was no problem at all as far as buildup.
 
You should be fine, I've done that before. A refill with distilled, PT Nuke and silver coil will only cost about $10-$15. The next one you will only need to buy distilled $1-$2, silver coil and a bottle of PT Nuke will last you a long time.
 
Silver is fine but the loop needs to be running for quite some time b4 it will have any effect. All you need is Distilled and LTR tubing. If your not one to drain your loop often the silver will be benificial but if your draining your loop often then your wasting your money unless you like the look.
 
Silver is fine but the loop needs to be running for quite some time b4 it will have any effect. All you need is Distilled and LTR tubing. If your not one to drain your loop often the silver will be benificial but if your draining your loop often then your wasting your money unless you like the look.

3-4 weeks, as I recall, is what silver needs to be effective in a new loop.

I'm with everyone else... You'll be ok for the short-term. If at all possible, though, I'd add a few drops of PT Nuke to the loop as soon as you get the bottle. You should probably plan for a decent tear-down sooner rather than later as well.

Do the internals of the PC get much in the way of sunlight? Sunlight can help encourage growth. If it's a windowed case, and you're worried, put something over the window to darken up the internals.
 
3-4 weeks, as I recall, is what silver needs to be effective in a new loop.

I'm with everyone else... You'll be ok for the short-term. If at all possible, though, I'd add a few drops of PT Nuke to the loop as soon as you get the bottle. You should probably plan for a decent tear-down sooner rather than later as well.

Do the internals of the PC get much in the way of sunlight? Sunlight can help encourage growth. If it's a windowed case, and you're worried, put something over the window to darken up the internals.

No my window on my case faces away from my windows and never gets any sunlight in it. What does the silver coil do? I'm not familiar with that one.
 
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No my window on my cast faces away from my windows and never gets any sunlight in it. What does the silver coil do? I'm not familiar with that one.

Same sort of thing as the biocide... Ions from the silver (whether it be a silver coil or silver barbs) will slowly leech into the water on the loop, and will then kill any critters. Biocide is much faster and cheaper while silver's advantage is that it's passive and looks cool. :)

I've seen that it'll take years (I think 30-40?) before you start seeing any appreciable difference in the size of the silver coil/barbs due to ions leeching into the water.

Silver doesn't really react with copper, so there's no corrosion to worry about.
 
Same sort of thing as the biocide... Ions from the silver (whether it be a silver coil or silver barbs) will slowly leech into the water on the loop, and will then kill any critters. Biocide is much faster and cheaper while silver's advantage is that it's passive and looks cool. :)

I've seen that it'll take years (I think 30-40?) before you start seeing any appreciable difference in the size of the silver coil/barbs due to ions leeching into the water.

Silver doesn't really react with copper, so there's no corrosion to worry about.

Oh I see. But PT Nuke will work fine on it's own correct? And where would you ever put a silver coil, in the reservoir?I could see it getting snagged in the outlet hole and causing a little drag or clogging, but I'm not sure.
 
Oh I see. But PT Nuke will work fine on it's own correct? And where would you ever put a silver coil, in the reservoir?I could see it getting snagged in the outlet hole and causing a little drag or clogging, but I'm not sure.

Yep, it'll work fine on its own. Silver barbs are for looks, silver barbs and coils are passive, and pt nuke is cheap. :)

The silver coil just goes in one of your tubes. It doesn't really matter where, I don't think. I imagine it probably causes a tiny bit of drag, but you'd never notice it.
 
Yep, it'll work fine on its own. Silver barbs are for looks, silver barbs and coils are passive, and pt nuke is cheap. :)

The silver coil just goes in one of your tubes. It doesn't really matter where, I don't think. I imagine it probably causes a tiny bit of drag, but you'd never notice it.

Ah yeah I think I'll just stick to the PT Nuke. How many drops should I drop into the loop? I have this reservoir. It took about two and a half reservoirs filled to the brim until it was able to fully run.
 
The active ingredient in PT Nuke is "Copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate 4.1%"

copper sulfate pentahydrate is just the naturally occurring version of copper (II) Sulfate.

Copper (II) sulfate has many uses. Farmers used to use it to treat their own fence posts, it is used in some swimming pool systems as an anti algae, it can be used to clean up algae infested ponds or farmers dugouts, and it is commonly used to clean RV septic systems, and for killing tree roots that have grown through pipes.

You can find it at any agricultural store (though usually in large quantities) or at most hardware stores for the last two uses I listed.

Another option is Iodine. It has many medical uses including use as an antiseptic. It is not widely used anymore, as it is too effective and can cause some damage to living tissue. You can still buy it at most pharmacies, but they will need to record your name as a purchaser because of FDA regulations. some versions of Iodine/Iodide are used in industrial closed loop cooling applications.

Another option is antifreeze (ethylene glycol). mix it with distilled water (25-50% antifreeze).

If you have any acrylic in your system, do not use anything with alcohol in it. both methanol and ethanol can cause acrylic to become brittle. This does not happen with other plastics such as delrin, acetal, or nylon.

I see that petras also sells a biocide based on "Benzalkonium chloride 1.65%"
Personally I know nothing about this chemical, but I'm sure you could google some local sources for it.
 
The active ingredient in PT Nuke is "Copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate 4.1%"

copper sulfate pentahydrate is just the naturally occurring version of copper (II) Sulfate.

Copper (II) sulfate has many uses. Farmers used to use it to treat their own fence posts, it is used in some swimming pool systems as an anti algae, it can be used to clean up algae infested ponds or farmers dugouts, and it is commonly used to clean RV septic systems, and for killing tree roots that have grown through pipes.

You can find it at any agricultural store (though usually in large quantities) or at most hardware stores for the last two uses I listed.

Another option is Iodine. It has many medical uses including use as an antiseptic. It is not widely used anymore, as it is too effective and can cause some damage to living tissue. You can still buy it at most pharmacies, but they will need to record your name as a purchaser because of FDA regulations. some versions of Iodine/Iodide are used in industrial closed loop cooling applications.

Another option is antifreeze (ethylene glycol). mix it with distilled water (25-50% antifreeze).

If you have any acrylic in your system, do not use anything with alcohol in it. both methanol and ethanol can cause acrylic to become brittle. This does not happen with other plastics such as delrin, acetal, or nylon.

I see that petras also sells a biocide based on "Benzalkonium chloride 1.65%"
Personally I know nothing about this chemical, but I'm sure you could google some local sources for it.

Wow thanks for that info. Very informative.

"Use: Add 4 drops per 1L of coolant for approx. 2ppm" -http://www.petrastechshop.com/peptpcobi1.html

So 2ppm is the right amount you want in your system?
 
PT PHN Nuke is the newest version of Petra's biocide. Either one works very well.

The bottle has a label. PT Nuke and PT PHN nuke have different amounts.

Which ever you get, either is fine. READ THE LABEL.

I overdid PT nuke and I had a bit extra oxidation. Stained the bock a bit more than normal on my 1 year tear down. Oxidation isn't bad, but more than needed is bad. I remember a nice detailed post from another forum where the guy put the whole bottle in, LOL!!!!!!

For the record. PT Nuke is a bit better in loops where peeps use additives. It used to be very common because of aluminum parts etc.

Petra (Alex in RL) came up with a better formulation with PT PHN Nuke. For distilled only loops. Better.

But either works like a million $$$. Don't overdo it. Read the ............... on the friggin bottle.:clap:
 
The bottle has a label. PT Nuke and PT PHN nuke have different amounts.

Which ever you get, either is fine. READ THE LABEL.

I overdid PT nuke and I had a bit extra oxidation. Stained the bock a bit more than normal on my 1 year tear down. Oxidation isn't bad, but more than needed is bad. I remember a nice detailed post from another forum where the guy put the whole bottle in, LOL!!!!!!

For the record. PT Nuke is a bit better in loops where peeps use additives. It used to be very common because of aluminum parts etc.

Petra (Alex in RL) came up with a better formulation with PT PHN Nuke. For distilled only loops. Better.

But either works like a million $$$. Don't overdo it. Read the ............... on the friggin bottle.:clap:

Speaking of aluminum, does PT Nuke help against corrosion if you have aluminum mixed in with copper in a loop? I know PC ICE has galvanic corrosion and was wondering if you needed something along with PT Nuke to prevent that. I was thinking about adding that 200mm Radiator for the Antec 1200 eventually, and it is made of aluminum.
 
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