2 Questions: 1) Pre-Mix vs Distilled? 2) Laing D5 with 720mm of radiator?

[Jeff G]

Okay, so the first part of pre-mix vs distilled. Thermaltakes water cooling kit specifically says to use pre-mix fluid only instead of plain distilled water. Any reason for this? I've only ever ran distilled in all my loops, mostly because when I first got in to water cooling the dyes breaking down and clogging the system was a big concern. Is distilled really going to cause any issues?

Secondly, is the Laing D5 pump enough to handle a CPU block, GPU block, and a pair of 360mm radiators? I'm looking to make a new setup with a pair of 360mm radiators and I'm hoping to keep it one loop vs two.

 

[Nebulous]

The D5 will handle that loop with ease. I've only used distilled and biocide with my loops. Never an issue.

 

[trents]

I've used Switftech's premix without issues. It has built-in algaie inhibitor ingredients. http://www.swiftech.com/Hydrx-PM.aspx

 

[bigtallanddopey]

Pre mix is easier as you don't have to mess about with biocides and silver coils or whatever. But if you have always used then maybe that is ok.

If they are recommending a pre mix maybe it is down to corrosive properties or more accurately anti corrosive properties. When compared to distilled water.

As for the dies breaking down I have use a white pre mix in my loop for the last 2-3 years. And due to me buying a house and getting married I never changed the coolant in that time. No clogs in the system that I can speak of. Took a fair bit of rinsing to get it all out of the pump and radiators but like I said ran fine and no blockages. If you actually changed it like you are meant to then I would say it would work even better.

 

[Jeff G]

Pre mix is easier as you don't have to mess about with biocides and silver coils or whatever. But if you have always used then maybe that is ok.

If they are recommending a pre mix maybe it is down to corrosive properties or more accurately anti corrosive properties. When compared to distilled water.

As for the dies breaking down I have use a white pre mix in my loop for the last 2-3 years. And due to me buying a house and getting married I never changed the coolant in that time. No clogs in the system that I can speak of. Took a fair bit of rinsing to get it all out of the pump and radiators but like I said ran fine and no blockages. If you actually changed it like you are meant to then I would say it would work even better.

The anti-corrosive properties is what I'm wondering about. I can't imagine a major manufacturer mixing metal types in their mass produced kits that would require an anti-corrosive, but they list using pre-mix only as a 'Caution' right on their page.

And I know they've made huge leaps in the dyed coolants over the years, I just never made the switch. I just use UV tubing to add color instead. My first water loop was probably 10 years ago, and I know some of the major companies had dye issues back then.

 

[bigtallanddopey]

The anti-corrosive properties is what I'm wondering about. I can't imagine a major manufacturer mixing metal types in their mass produced kits that would require an anti-corrosive, but they list using pre-mix only as a 'Caution' right on their page.

And I know they've made huge leaps in the dyed coolants over the years, I just never made the switch. I just use UV tubing to add color instead. My first water loop was probably 10 years ago, and I know some of the major companies had dye issues back then.

To be honest though even the pre mixes are mostly de ionised water. Unless there is a specific property they are referring to that you need you are probably safe to use whatever method you want.

 

[Nebulous]

Some ppl have been lucky when using pre-mixed/dyes in their loops. The net is full of horror stories of that stuff breaking down, clogging up parts and killing pumps. There are also stores of ppl that had good success with it. I, personally, would not use pre-mix/dydes in my loop because I'm one of those ppl that had a bad experience with it. It jellied up, clogged my loop/blocks and almost killed my pump. I will never use that crap again. If I want color I'll use colored tubing and RGB lighting like I'm using now.

If you're going to use pre-mix, then use the recommended stuff TT states on their site for that particular setup.

Good luck.

 

[batboy]

Actually, there's a very good reason why Thermaltake recommends using their pre-mix coolant... they make a lot more money.

I used the pretty coolant too at first. Most of us did back when we didn't know better. The first batch wasn't too bad, I forget the brand name, but they're gone now. The second batch I used was Cooler Master and that stuff was nasty. I was able to clean out the block, because it could be disassembled, but the rad was a lost cause. The silver lining to the cloud was that the rad was old and I was thinking of upgrading anyway.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I went years with distilled and silver coils to premix now because I got sick of cleaning up oxidization on my CPU blocks and some fittings. I've only been using clear premix fluids from Aquacomputer for some time now since making the switch. Still haven't done a tear down yet to check the block but the fluid looks clear from the reservoir.

I should also note, distilled and silver don't jive well with EK's blocks because of the nickle breakdown. EK has warned about this for sometime so I don't think they're trying to just make the extra buck selling their fluids but more inline in hopes their customer's blocks stay intact for a long time.

I also use colored tubing from Primochill and RGBs through out the rig.

 

[knoober]

Its probably a warranty/rma issue.

You: "hi I would like to rma ______ - piece of equipment"

Them: "Sure we would love to help you with that, just a couple questions first.... Did you use our fluid that is recommended in the instructions? No? Then no soup... Er... RMA for you!"

 

[Jeff G]

Its probably a warranty/rma issue.

You hit the nail on the head. I got a reply from Thermaltake late last night. They do not warranty their water cooling parts if you run distilled. They said their pre-mix has "anti-corrosion and scale inhibitors" that prevent long term issues with their cooling parts. Kind of reading between the lines on the email I got and the caution on their site, but it looks like they are okay with customers using other reputable brand pre-mixes as well, just no distilled-only water.

So here's a 1b question - Can you mix the pre-mixes with distilled? I've got some pre-mix fluid that came with a water cooling kit, but nowhere near enough to fill my entire system. I'm wondering if I run like a 50/50 mix of the pre-mix and distilled if it'll give me the 'anti-corrosion' properties without causing any issue mixing with the distilled? I'm just flat out not going to order more pre-mix and run 100% pre-mix right now as my computer has been down for too long already and I finally got enough parts coming in tomorrrow to get it put back together (fingers crossed). I just don't want to place another order right now.

 

[batboy]

So here's a 1b question - Can you mix the pre-mixes with distilled?

Sure, but don't tell the RMA people you diluted it. Thermaltake's coolant is probably about 98% distilled water anyway, so adding a bit more would be no problem. You probably don't want to dilute it too much, of course.

Yeah, companies are getting sneaky about warranties. I just researched and bought waterproofing for the new deck I built. The top selling waterproofing company is also one of the worst. The sell the most because they are cheaper than the competition and have a 10 warranty (which is total BS). There is no waterproofing product on the market that lasts that long. There is so much fine print and conditions that almost nobody ever gets the warranty honored.

 

[JeremyCT]

You can make your own "pre-mix". It's just distilled/de-ionized water with corrosion inhibitors. Others has mentioned this, but what they didn't mention is that those corrosion inhibitors are easy to get. RedLine's "Water Wetter" is one example. Most all of the automotive coolant performance improvers are a surfactant of some kind (which actually helps bleeding a new system) plus corrosion inhibitors. Get a quality one (I happen to use Amsoil's), mix it per instructions with distilled, maybe add some copper sulfate, and you've got your own "pre-mix" for a fraction of the cost and you can make as much or as little as you need. Don't bother with actual automotive coolant, you don't need the glycol.

 

[Droidene]

Soo, i can do this:

Example 1:
Distilled water + anti corrosion w/alga

Example 2:
Distilled water + Aqua computer clearblue (ACfluid protects against corrosion and algae)

Example 3:
Coollaboratory liquid coolant pro - blue
This additive is to be mixed with distilled or demineralized water in the mixing ratio of 1:9


And then you have serveal product that is premixed liquid with difference colour.

I supose these are good rather than adding some colour dye

 

[Conumdrum]

Soo you can do anything you want

If color is important use colored tubing.

In the long run use any of the above three.

Dyes are a fully different animal. Clogs, staining, other fun things.

Go simple, cheap, and long term.

 

[onefstsnake]

Ive always used distilled and a few drops of biocide. To be honest I havent touched my setup in about 3 years other than topping off. Everything is crystal clear.

 

[Droidene]

what about battery water? or it a no no?

 

[Conumdrum]

Battery water is distilled or deionized. Distilled is super cheap from Walmart etc. Dunno where you get "battery water" from. It must be grandpaw's term. And not related to computers, it's a OLDDD term, even older than me (59)

 

[Scout]

I ran distilled and a silver coil in a loop for 4 years without maintenance. When I finally tore it apart it was totally clean. Just my anecdotal experience.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I was fine with distilled and silver but did get oxidization issues that I didn't want to deal with so I made the switch to clear premix (Aquacomputer Ultra), no color, etc. EK advises not to use the distilled and silver combination because it's problematic with their blocks so if you have any EK blocks in said loop, I would take their advise and spend a few extra bucks on their clear fluids so you stay within their warranty.