Coolant question?

[unknownuser200]

Im Hearing distilled water is better then using high end coolant. Is there any truth to that? if soo how often do you change it, saying you have nickel plated blocks

[Psywar]

This is true: Distilled water or water in general is going to have a lower freezing point then anything else out there. It also gets cooler faster.

Water is dense it can draw away a lot of heat with its high specific heat and do it rapidly.

 

Honestly the best cooling you could get for the water cooling system is something that has been out since I started looking at these forums.

Distilled Water + Water Wetter.

 

I would however if I was to do this myself, put in a few additives: Anti-Corrosion and some Anti-Fungal so it doesn't happen to somehow build up a mold/algae or something in the water container.

 

Using a Coolant for a car like Dex-Cool or something, if you mix it too strong I am pretty sure it will eat away at your nylon tubing.

 

As for the changing out of the water. I am not sure. I would maybe if the water started looking cloudy. Or if you started noticing high Temps.

[cirro]

i have had my w/c setup for over two years on my gaming rig

 

distilled water & no additives whatsoever = just fine

the only thing i have noticed is after a while, is too much water doesn't allow the heat to escape.

 

thats the only tip i've gotten that i haven't been able to read somewhere on this forum!

 

try it with just some distilled water, if your worried about fungus humungus you can always add some in later

 

in the end i don't believe any additive really gives that dramatic of a difference VS distilled water ,its kinda not worth it.

 

however though i would recommend one of those anti-algae products, wether it be a additive or a metal spiral

it cant hurt.

i don't imagine it would be fun cleaning fungus outta your pump!

[unknownuser200]

I may stick with coolant instead.. sure it will run a few degrees hotter but id rather that then a higher maintenance lol... still would like to know how often u change even coolant as this is only my second water cooled setup

[ccokeman]

I have 3 systems running water cooled and soon to be 4. I have used Fluid XP successfully as well as distilled with a slug of silver in the reservoir and distilled with Zerex Racing antifreeze and the water/Silver and Distilled/Zerex have been the cooler running coolants. however the Fluid XP looks good and has not gone off color and still delivers excellent temperatures. i have Fluid XP Blood red coolant in the wifes rig i7 920 and GTX 260 both water cooled with the temps in the mid 50'sC under load with a MCR220 rad.

[redj41]

While distilled water will remove a little more heat, a liquid cooling system in a PC isn't going to see much difference as long as your pump keeps things moving. I work primarily with heat transfer systems for a living, albiet on a much larger level than a PC (nuclear power plant). In either case, the principles of heat transfer and fluid flow are the same regardless of what the application is.

 

Most pc coolants are distilled water and glycol mixes (like antifreeze for a car), which will actually freeze at a lower point than water (contrary to what psywar said). Glycol is a kind of alcohol, and alcohol freezes at lower temperatures than water (which is why cooling vodka in the freezer works so well. I am going to start expirementing with an isopropyl based cooling system once I can afford it). Many PC coolants also already have anti microbial agents to prevent fungus and algae buildup inside your system. Also, most pc coolants are designed to be non conductive, so you run less risk damaging something in the event of a leak (distilled water is also non conductive, as long as it remains pure). Many PC coolants are also designed to prevent galvanic corrosion of metal parts and help lubricate pumps. I know primochill sells a line called PC Pure, which is advertised to be glycol free. I have no idea what it's made from or if anyone else makes something like it.

 

Distilled water has a higher heat capacity (the amount of energy it takes to raise an amount of a substance 1C, to keep it simple) than glycol does, which means it will remove more heat. A glycol/water mix will have a specific heat capacity in between distilled water and pure glycol. I have no idea what the specific heat capacities of any pc coolant are.

 

Distilled water will begin to gather impurities just like anything else you run in your system, unless you take extreme care to keep your system clean. If you are going to switch to distilled water, using some kind of cleansing agent in it is a good idea. Running just distilled water also increases your chances for galvanic corrosion (as impurities develop in the water), especially if you have different kinds of metal in your system (aluminum and copper water blocks, for example). Nickle plated copper blocks will not be a concern, as long as all your blocks are copper or nickle plated copper. I can tell you for a fact any cooling system will eventually make distilled water impure, if anything simply through erosion.

 

If you are using something to drop your coolant to near freezing (water freezing) temperatures using a glycol based pc coolant or mixing antifreeze with distilled water (which will basically make it glycol based pc coolant) is a good idea as well.

 

Water wetter helps a cooling system work better by preventing small bubbles from forming on the surface of heat transfer in a cooling system (in a PC system, the waterblock). When a coolant passes over a heat transfer surface, if the surface is hot enough it will start to boil the coolant that is immediately in contact with it, small bubbles will form, and these bubbles will lower the total heat transferred by the coolant. Water wetter will help prevent the bubbles. If your waterblock is reaching temperatures near boiling on the coolant side, you have more to worry about than what kind of coolant you are using. Water wetter is meant more for vehicle systems where temperatures are regularly over 200 degrees farenheit. The downside to water wetter is that it contains Tolytriazole PolySiloxane Polymer, which is a silicone ploymer that will bond with rubbers, plastics, and just about everything else. Over long term use water wetter will start to cause clogs and discoloration because of this. This will happen faster in a small cooling system (like a PC, with relatively small tubing and components) versus a larger system (like a car, where tubing is 2-3" and components are much larger).

In conclusion, PC coolants are more expensive than distilled water, but have lower freezing points and usually already contain anti fungal and anti microbial agents (not to mention color choices). I will argue that you are paying extra for having an all in one fluid that is ready to use right out of the bottle. Distilled water is less expensive on it's own, but if you add in the price of anti fungal and anti microbial agents, and possibly anti freeze, you will come out about the same either way.

 

I've been using primochill coolant (because it was cheaper than fesser and came in the color I wanted). Before that I was using thermaltake coolant (because it was available at frys electronics). Both brands have yielded the same performance, as monitored by everest ultimate and temperature sensors affixed to waterblocks. I've compared the ingrediants of these two, and they are almost identical. I would imagine the big difference between brands of coolant are colors available, percentage of distilled water to glycol (or other antifreeze), and chemical composition of anti fungal and anti microbial agents. If you want to stick with coolant, I would find one that looks cool and isn't a bank breaker.

 

Hope this helps.

[Coors]

Just use distilled water and some Nuke -PHN. If you're concerned about corrosion then add some Pentosin.

 

Premixed coolants are a ripoff imo....you're just paying them to mix it for you. Then paying more to have it shipped. You can get a gallon of distilled for like 99 cents at a grocery store or pay $15-25 + shipping for a premixed...easy decision for me anyways.

 

Also all those premixeds will try to advertise how they are nonconductive and are safer then distilled....false. Like Red mentioned distilled is also nonconductive. But in either case it won't matter as all it takes is a little bit of dust on your hardware if there happens to be a spill and it could fry your hardware with distilled or a premixed coolant. And be honest...most people don't keep the inside of their case 100% dust free all the time. I bet most people don't even clean out their cases more then every 3 months or so if even that. Heres a vid I like to show to people that believe the hype: