Bought Some Watercooling...what Else Do I Need?

[airman]

Here's what i bought.

 

DD TDX for 939 boards.

DD D5 12v Pump

Black Ice Pro II (2x120mm)

Fillport

T-Line for fillport

10 clamps

10 feet of clearflex tubing

 

i didn't get any water additives/dye as there are oh so many to choose from. as for the uv dye, i want orange. i can't find specifically orange, but they say that red uv dye looks more orange than anything.

 

but as far as water additives go, what's the best way to go about it?

 

 

other than additives...am i going to need anything else? what's so special about distilled water? i know that on paper distilled water is not conductive, atleast from what i've heard, but common sense would mean that as soon as it touches anything it's going to become conductive. does it help against algae growth or anything?

 

thanks guys

-mike

[road-runner]

I think the distilled water does not have all the minerals, chlorine etc. in it. Helps to keep from causing build up, calcium, etc. Danger Den used to sell and may still do a antifreeze that was for racing cars I think it was, I just went to the auto parts and bought the same kind. Here you go they have 2 brands you should be able to get at the auto parts. Also that Anti Algae stuff you can get at a pet store that sells fish.

http://www.dangerdenstore.com/home.php?cat=11

 

Edited November 27, 2006 by road-runner

[airman]

okay yeah that makes sense. i know you can use antifreeze but what ratio should one use? i read a thread somewhere of a guy that used just antifreze and water (80% water) and no other additives and it got all gunked up and he had to replace a couple of parts including his pump...i don't know how that would have happened but whatevs.

 

so as far as needing anything else besides additives/distilled water...?

[Bleeble]

*shrug* I just used MCT-5. No mixing needed. You've got your non-conductive, anti-algea cooling liquid in a container ready to go.

 

And if you doubt that it's non-conductive, look for a couple reviews on Madshrimps.

[ccokeman]

That stuff is nice for a while, heard a few people complaining of it putting some kind of coating on the inside of thier blocks causing temps to rise.

[hardnrg]

i use deionised water (it is sold for refilling batteries in car shops) and valvoline zerex super coolant which i use about 5-8% in the mix and it works REALLY well...

 

consistent performance for almost a year now

 

you might need a small holesaw for the fillport if you don't already have a set...

 

you can certainly get orange uv dye...

 

i found it at all these places in the uk

http://www.componentsuk.co.uk/catalog/prod...products_id=234

http://www.watercoolingshop.com/catalog/pr...products_id=433

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product.php?pro...=0&view=rel

http://www.coolercases.co.uk/wc_additives.htm

[Verran]

I bought a water additive that was supposed to have a green dye in it, but I wasn't impressed with the dye (even with 4x12" CCFLs, 2x4" CCFLs, and a bunch of LEDs, all UV). So I added my own dye to the mix.

 

I just bought a 6 pack of green and yellow highlighter markers, cut them open and squeezed the dye out. I tried just "soaking" the foam/ink thing to get the dye out, but that did not work nearly as well. The highlighter dye worked great though, as you can see from my sig image. I was a little concerned about what the dye might do to my parts, but after a year of watching it, the temps have stayed very consistant.

 

I used regular distilled water from a grocery store, with about a 5% mix of anti-algae coolant mix, plus the highlighter dye. I'm really happy with it.

 

If you want orange, you might want to look into using that dexacool stuff as your coolant additive, since it's orange. The only problem with that stuff is that I have yet to find it in a small container, which means you might have to buy the big car-sized container for about $10, even though you'll only use a small amount. You can get it at pretty much any car parts store though.