Muchoman1 Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 So what actual temp data shows that water is better than coolant in a PC ? If someone can show me a reliable source that shows water beating coolant by at least 4 degrees C then I dont see why not try coolant since I ALREADY HAVE it (so costs do not count this time) . Unlike may of you in America , its not common to have underfloor heating in SA houses so it gets bloody cold here in Winter here and the our outside dog's water bowl even froze the one day . The coolant I thought of using has anti-corrosion agents and a -9C freezing point (I dont think its ever been -9C in our house) Edit : Also , I cant find biocide for pc's available and I wont use aquarium biocide since I dont know if it will corrode and kill coils will be sucked into my pump since I have a pump res combo. Will algae really affect much ? I've been running w/o biocide and Its been running fine you can put killcoils in the tubes themselves, if you dont want it in your res Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkytTe Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 2 months, still no pics Please care about the ones who is aching to see some serious computer hardware Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 You don't need temperature data, you need material properties... Water is superior to anti-freeze mixes from both a specific heat and, hence, a convective heat transfer coefficient. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black64 Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKO Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 What about a corrosion inhibitor? I'm not familiar with pc system cooling systems or coolants but automotive coolants have many properties. They have corrosion inhibitors, anti freeze/anti boil additives, and also reduce cavitation (which is a major killer of diesel engines in particular). On the downside they are also extremely slippery (low viscocity) which means they will find any slightly inferior seal (ie; it leaks easier than plain water). My main concern with running distilled water only in any application is the absence of a corosion deterent. Not sure if it's even an issue within a pc cooling system but electrolosis is also an issue within an automotive cooling system (mainly where multiple types of material are used. Iron, aluminium, copper all in the same loop). The main reason I bring all this up is when you blokes talk about pc stuff I'm fairly certain I have no idea what you're talking about, you have just happened to touch on a subject I am familiar with and I'm trying to sound intelligent. Plus it's something else to consider. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muchoman1 Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 What about a corrosion inhibitor? I'm not familiar with pc system cooling systems or coolants but automotive coolants have many properties. They have corrosion inhibitors, anti freeze/anti boil additives, and also reduce cavitation (which is a major killer of diesel engines in particular). On the downside they are also extremely slippery (low viscocity) which means they will find any slightly inferior seal (ie; it leaks easier than plain water). My main concern with running distilled water only in any application is the absence of a corosion deterent. Not sure if it's even an issue within a pc cooling system but electrolosis is also an issue within an automotive cooling system (mainly where multiple types of material are used. Iron, aluminium, copper all in the same loop). The main reason I bring all this up is when you blokes talk about pc stuff I'm fairly certain I have no idea what you're talking about, you have just happened to touch on a subject I am familiar with and I'm trying to sound intelligent. Plus it's something else to consider. corrosion can happen with cheaper blocks and rads, but more expensive stuff is usually safe. as for electrolosis, a good loop wont mix copper with iron or aluminium, but it is something to watch out for in cheaper parts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muchoman1 Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 THIS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyt Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 You don't need temperature data, you need material properties... Water is superior to anti-freeze mixes from both a specific heat and, hence, a convective heat transfer coefficient. Have I been talking about getting car anti-freeze to run in my loop ? NO I just used the analogy of if a car ran using water. Is water superior to the normal coolant built for use in PC's ? If water was , that would mean lower temps than coolant in a PC . That is the data I want to see, to prove it is superior . I could say "Coolant is superior by over 40 degrees !!!" but how would I prove it ? Therefore , how would one prove that water lowers the temp more than coolant ? Nobody can show it does by provided temp data Oh and I'll take some pics when my new rad arrives and is fitted Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krieg1337 Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Coolant and distilled water are about the same when you look at temperatures in loops. BUT, coolants leave residue and can clog your blocks decreasing the flow/peformance. Coolants are useless unless you need it to keep the water from freezing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Have I been talking about getting car anti-freeze to run in my loop ? NO I just used the analogy of if a car ran using water. Is water superior to the normal coolant built for use in PC's ? If water was , that would mean lower temps than coolant in a PC . That is the data I want to see, to prove it is superior . I could say "Coolant is superior by over 40 degrees !!!" but how would I prove it ? Therefore , how would one prove that water lowers the temp more than coolant ? Nobody can show it does by provided temp data Oh and I'll take some pics when my new rad arrives and is fitted Look...Water is superior from a heat transfer standpoint. PERIOD. Adding any "additive" is to change OTHER properties of its use. Lowering the freeze point is a non-issue based on house temperature alone. You'll rupture your pipes in your house before you'll bust your cooling loop. Now, if you plan on opening your windows and running frigid ambient temperatures, antifreeze may be necessary. Does the additive concentration have an effect on the thermal performance of a PC water cooling application? Always! Will you notice it? Maybe, maybe not. A splash in a large loop is probably indiscernable. 50/50 mixes would definitely be noticeable. Part of this is how dependent your cooling system is on the convective media properties. From a systems point of view, your heat transfer rate is proportional to your temperature difference, meaning performance is very VERY tightly tied to your ambient temperatures. You can't violate thermodynamic law in order to put your hot temperature (CPU) below your cold temperature (ambient) without the addition of external work / energy (phase change system, peltier, etc). High performance PC watercooling applications will asymptotically approach this temperature value (ambient temperatures)...it's just MUCH more difficult to improve the performance of a system if you're already working with a tiny temperature difference. I'm not telling you what to put into your loop. I couldn't particularly care to state an opinion about that. I'm simply saying without you understanding the proper principles (thermodynamics, heat transfer, engineering / design tradeoffs), your logic is flawed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 (edited) I'm not telling you what to put into your loop. I couldn't particularly care to state an opinion about that. I'm simply saying without you understanding the proper principles (thermodynamics, heat transfer, engineering / design tradeoffs), your logic is flawed. This. Water is superior from a chemical standpoint...and that's all that really matters. Anything you add to it will lower its specific heat. That, and if you have your house below 0 degrees C you'll have bigger problems than your computer freezing up (assuming you leave it off when it's that cold). If you're anywhere NEAR boiling you're doing something very wrong as well (I mean, think about it, if you've got 100 C water then your CPU is at least 5-10 degrees over that even if you were idling. Do you really want to run your CPU at 100 C? Do you think your pump, tubing, etc will withstand that???). To me, gunk in my blocks, higher temps, and higher cost just don't seem worth it for the splash of color or whatever you're going for. If you're running a mixed-metal loop there are better ways to fight the corrosion. Edited October 16, 2011 by Waco Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJCRO Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 Have I been talking about getting car anti-freeze to run in my loop ? NO I just used the analogy of if a car ran using water. Is water superior to the normal coolant built for use in PC's ? If water was , that would mean lower temps than coolant in a PC . That is the data I want to see, to prove it is superior . I could say "Coolant is superior by over 40 degrees !!!" but how would I prove it ? Therefore , how would one prove that water lowers the temp more than coolant ? Nobody can show it does by provided temp data Oh and I'll take some pics when my new rad arrives and is fitted Take some pics now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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