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Best Coolant additive

B

Buford

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 16, 2004
Messages
130
Forgive my new guy question. Danger Den has several anti-freeze type additives, including FluidXP, wetter water, Zerex and MCT-40. Does anyone have good or bad experiences with any of these products they would like to share?

I don't know where to start with all the choices.
 
Distilled water with Redline Water wetter is about the best you can do for performance, price and protection of corrosion. Fluid XP and all the other fluids like that are much more expensive and will actually offer you less cooling performance. The only advantge they have is if you should spring a leak (and you shouldnt if you use the right parts put it together correctly and maintain it correctly) it supposedly is nonconductive. Ive read some revviews on Fluid XP and its been proven that its not 100% non-conductive. In fact they recomend about the same process to clean up as you would if you had a leak with water. The Zerex is a antifreeze and you will find that antifreezes will not do anything to help your lower your temps but yet will do the opposite and prolly make it run hotter. So I recomend good ole distilled H2o and Water Wetter. But here are some links to maybe help

http://www.overclockers.com/articles993/
http://www.overclockers.com/tips1153/

check out some other forums and sites as well do a google search.
 
Water Wetter is NOT recommended because it leaves behind a thin film. I use Swiftech's HydrX myself...
 
Personally I like the Zerex racing super coolant. It is designed to be mixed 90/10 with water to make the actual coolant with full corrosion protection where anti-freeze needs 50/50 for the same. Most other things are meant as additives to a 50/50 anti freeze. Swiftechs HydrX would be another good choice since it is made specificly for water cooling (I dont like the green color tho). I have heard Water Wetter has a pretty strong odor along with a couple other drawbacks (which I dont remember).

It would be nice if there were some good testing done to see which would be best for our purposes, but I havnt seen any yet.
 
I've een using Zerex for almost 2 years and as many water changings. It's the only thing I've used that doesn't leave deposits.
 
dzitzner said:
Personally I like the Zerex racing super coolant. It is designed to be mixed 90/10 with water to make the actual coolant with full corrosion protection where anti-freeze needs 50/50 for the same. Most other things are meant as additives to a 50/50 anti freeze. Swiftechs HydrX would be another good choice since it is made specificly for water cooling (I dont like the green color tho). I have heard Water Wetter has a pretty strong odor along with a couple other drawbacks (which I dont remember).

It would be nice if there were some good testing done to see which would be best for our purposes, but I havnt seen any yet.
Click to expand...

Water Wetter had no odor any worse then the Zerex coolant or any antifreeze and once you get the stuff in the system you wont ever smell it. As far as any other draw backs havent heard any. As far as quanity needed to use you only need abou 2 to 3 % of the total water volume to be effective, any more is to much. I did post some links above to Overclcokers.com and they did a really good test of allsorts of stuff. Its a 2 part deal read the 1st link and then the 2nd. Another kinda product like (but different) Water Wetter is Royal Purple's Purple Ice. Just like anything there is in the hobby/proffession everyone will have an opinon and it will prolly not be the same as the next guys. But thats what makes it all different. I like what I run and its doin the job for me. for others its something different.
 
water wetter and because I'm cheap..... blue food coloring yay
 
I bought fluid xp and it was utter crap!!! I had to drain my system after only 5 months of usage only to discover that the fluid caused my block and radiator to corrode. It ruined my blocks aluminum barbs but thanks to polarflo they sent me another since i couldnt get the barbs off to be replaced. Dont get fluid xp... its pricey and it started clouding up and depositing white junk all over my tubes after one month. Im using hydrx now and im very happy. You can also find it at swiftech for $1.85 a bottle! Pair that with a $0.98 gallon of distilled water and your good to go! thats less than 3 bucks to fill your loop up vs the 35+ bucks for that junk. Also, i didnt have one of my hoses down tight enough and the hydrx got on my video card... i noticed some artifacts during gaming and saw a small puddle building on top of the card :eek: (thank goodness for hydrx being UV reactive!!) Anyways, i wiped it off with a dry paper towel and turned my computer back on. It was just fine and dandy after that. So make the right choice! go hydrx or something similar :D
 
Just a note of thanks, the links and experiences are very helpful reading.
 
anti freeze seems to be working fine for me, though it's only been a week or so.
 
DryFire said:
anti freeze seems to be working fine for me, though it's only been a week or so.
Click to expand...


Any certain brands better than others?
 
I use it...it works good. You dont need a lot. Just be sure to use distilled water....Not Deionized, not Spring, not Tap, not lake nor river nor stream water....distilled water..NOT EVEN RAINWATER. And then add water wetter to make your water wetter!
 
I like Water Wetter also. $6 bucks for 12 ounces, which will last you a VERY long time if used in the proper ratio. Corrosion inhibitor, surfactant and algicide all in one.

P.S. I have a bad feeling I botched up a few spellings up there..... :D
 
Water Wetter is becoming increasingly hard to find for me at least. I can only order it online if I wanted it ($7.99 + $7 shipping = $15). Instead I went with the HydrX for $2.99 per 2oz bottle.

If you can get Water Wetter, go for it.
 
nodle said:
Any certain brands better than others?
Click to expand...

perhaps but i doubt the built in sensors on your computer could detect the difference. I just went into the garage and picked one of the anti freeze bottles at random. I think i used some orange dexcool stuff for GM cars or something like that.
 
So you can just buy some antifreeze like at Walmart and it will work fine with distilled water?
 
Yeah i wouldn't be too worried. I'd say a good number of people buy the antifreeze simply for color. Now something like the racing super coolant would probably have better corosion protection and you wouldn't need to add more as fast as with regular antifreeze but i think that's pretty much it (If that's even right).
 
Is there a standard guide somewhere with the optimal mixtures ranging from product to product out there?

thx

SS
 
SignalSoldier said:
Is there a standard guide somewhere with the optimal mixtures ranging from product to product out there?

thx

SS
Click to expand...

Because of the way our systems are and being closed loop as well as low capacity and low temp vs automotive type uses everywhere ive read or been told by the manufactures be it DangerDen Swifttech Aquacopmuter ect as well as some other H2o enthusiast is that you only need about 2% to 5% additive to total volume of cooling system fluid capacity. To much and it could very well have adverse affects: foam mup, do the opposite for cooling, ect...
 
One thing to keep in mind with automotive antifreeze is the mix ratio. These products are manufactured with cars in mind, not pc's. Auto antifreeze requires a 50/50 mix with water to achieve their rated corrosion resistance, which is way too much for water cooling pc's. Using only 10% like many people do lessens the effectiveness of the product.

Overclockers.com has an excellent article about what liquids and how much to use in water cooling.

My money is with Water Wetter. ;)
 
Ive used Water wetter, purple ice, and hydrx. The worst by far was the purple ice. My loop corroded in 2 weeks. I ended up just throwing all my stuff away and started fresh. The water wetter did its job and kept my stuff corrosion free for 2 years. Im now using Hydrx and its been 3 weeks so far and no corrosion. So id say stick with water wetter or hydrx. Maybe a little mixture of both.
 
Running Silkolene in mine at the moment. Havn't owned it long enough to give a firm impression, but it only has to be added 1% to total volume to get the PH right, and no useless glycol like antifreeze has. It smell for all the world like concentrate antifreeze.

The good: tiny amount goes a long way.
The bad: Stains everything it touches and smells bad, as most car crap does.
 
Mysogonist said:
I use it...it works good. You dont need a lot. Just be sure to use distilled water....Not Deionized, not Spring, not Tap, not lake nor river nor stream water....distilled water..NOT EVEN RAINWATER. And then add water wetter to make your water wetter!
Click to expand...

If I can't find distilled water, can I just boil and recondense some tap water? Is it the same thing?
 
That shouldnt be a problem, every supermarket sells distilled water, drug stores too.
 
kbong said:
If I can't find distilled water, can I just boil and recondense some tap water? Is it the same thing?
Click to expand...

Nope,
mineral deposits will still be the water. Any grocery or HW store should have it....people use it for ironing n' stuff. Like $.99 for 2 gallons.
 
It should be known that de-ionized fluid has a natural tendency to re-ionize itself. In other words if you submerge two dissimilar metals in a solution that has been de-ionized, galvanic corrosion will quickly take place.

For those of you who are using all copper water blocks with aluminum radiators or even aluminum barb fittings will experience this very phenomenon.

I have been using Fluid XP for 4 months now and it is as clear as water. Yes the cooling performance is slightly lower (1-2deg C) compared with natural water, but this is a PC, not a car! If you do somehow get a leak, water block, hose whatever, there is a chance that after you dry everything off it might be okay, but more often then not you’ll be replacing shorted parts because of irreversible damage.

To use Fluid XP or any liquid that has low siemens or has been de-ionized be sure all you components are all the same material. Koolance makes a great wb since they coat all their blocks with gold plating, a very anti-corrosive metal. You should have no problem running Fluid XP or any other liquid for that matter if your system is set up this way.

If you feel comfortable running high siemen fluid in your system that’s fine, but that’s a risk you’ll be taking. Then again I’m so paranoid I have to monitor pump flow just in case the pump dies so the system can shut down automatically. :p

http://www.geocities.com/gmcfan_99//MyPC.html
 
HybridHB said:
Ive used Water wetter, purple ice, and hydrx. The worst by far was the purple ice. My loop corroded in 2 weeks. I ended up just throwing all my stuff away and started fresh. The water wetter did its job and kept my stuff corrosion free for 2 years. Im now using Hydrx and its been 3 weeks so far and no corrosion. So id say stick with water wetter or hydrx. Maybe a little mixture of both.
Click to expand...


I was thinking about the hydrx stuff also, its got everything that I want built into it...
 
Id say go for it, so far its doing what its suppoed to be doing. My loop has copper, brass, and aluminum and nothing is corroded at all.
 
Just wanted to add to the fray that I add a couple of drops of anti-algae solution and it eliminates the growing gunk. The stuff I use is a green color that I get at Pep-Boys and is primarily used in racing engines to cool them down. I'l swing by there this week and get another bottle. Can't figure out what I did with the other bottle as I figured the bottle was going to last at least 10 years! :D

Edit: The name HyPro seems to ring a bell.
 
Interesting folks.....nobody has commented on the DD's MCT-40 whichis supposedly better than FluidXP. Any comments?
 
After a while if its good you will hear people swear by it, if it doesnt hold up you will hear people curse its name. So far I dont think its been around long enough to know.
 
I'm about to try a mixture of [Innovatek protect+Hydrx+Distilled Water].

I just couldn't find anyone to praise or condemn DD's MCT-40. And I've heard a lot of bad stories about Fluid XP+. It's not my job to be a BETA tester for some of these upcoming water alternative products.

From all the info I've read hydrx & Innovatek Pro are excellent products.

I hope they play well together in my H2O system. ;)
 
you people dont need to be adding a little bit of every single additive out there. Just make sure you have an algaecide and an anti-corrosion agent (many additives do both). As long as you use the right amount and follow given instructions, the only thing you can do is hurt the system by mixing 2,3, or more different additives. Hydrx alone will be fine, no need to mix it with the innovatek stuff.
 
That may be true in many cases Erasmus354, but Innovatek doesn't have an anti-algae ingredient. And since I have plenty of the Innovatek fluid [thanks to a friend] I need to add a good anti-algae product to the mix. Hence the Hydrx [cheapest anti-algae formular I could find].
 
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