• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Best Watercooling Mixture?

O

ownerizer

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 30, 2003
Messages
396
I've got some water, green dot Anti Freeze, and some 70% Isopropyl Alcohol. Can I make a solution that would cool better than water with these resources? Has someone tried it?
 
Don't add Anti-Freeze to your setup, it is very viscous (therefore it will impede flowrate) and is not as effective at carrying heat as water. As for Isopropanol (Isopropyl Alcohol), I don't know if isopropanol would have any impact on heat disspative properties but I do know that 70% is certainly not the choice to make. In 70% Isopropanol there are a number of other additives such as antibacterial/antimicrobial and germicidal agents (70% isopropanol is designed to be a disinfectant, like what you'd use after you get your ear pierced), I have no idea what these compounds might do to your loop but I assume that over time they would precipitate out of solution and collect in your blocks or rad which you dont want. If however you are insistent on putting isopropanol into your loop I would suggest you go for nothing less then 99% Isopropanol. It can be found in your local drugstore and cost little more then 70% (I paid $2.70cdn for 500mL of it)
 
The best mixture to use it to mix water and methonol alcohol. This can be found in winshield washer mixed w/ water at a 50% mix. Methonol thins the water out to give it a better flow rate while still keeping the same heat transfer as the water. Or just stick to water. Isopropyl has a pretty poor heat transfer ratio and will impeade how well heat is disipated from the heat sink to the water... note: if you want keep the green uv reactive color of the anti-freeze check for a product called Hydrex which is methonol based w/ glycol add for that green or a few site just have a green dye, however when you get it in the mail it will be orange until it is diluted or put under black light.... I first time I got some I just thought it was orange and tried to send it back!! lol
 
Originally posted by HiTech-Hate
If however you are insistent on putting isopropanol into your loop I would suggest you go for nothing less then 99% Isopropanol. It can be found in your local drugstore and cost little more then 70% (I paid $2.70cdn for 500mL of it)
Click to expand...

Just go to an electronics supply store, and buy some. (RS is NOT an electronics supply store, they are a retail store) The exact label should say "Isopropyl Alcohol" and either have the word "anhydrous" or "pure". A bottle will run about $9. That way you know you have a pure substance for your mixes.




EDIT: chopped quote to only the part I was adding to....I'm lazy like that.
 
Actually, anhydrous mixtures aren't pure :). Anhydrous means that an inhibitory chemical has been added so that the compound doesnt absorb moisture from the air and dilute itself (Ethanol on its own can only become 95.7% pure, after which it absorbs water from the atmosphere and dilutes itself back down to 95.7%, adding benzene to ethanol impedes its ability to absorb water, and thus it can be concentrated to ~99% BUT there is still that other molecule in there, just thought you'd find that interesting :)).

In terms of the 'exact name' isopropanol goes by a number of names. Isopropyl Alcohol, Isopropanol, and 2-Propanol are three common names for it ... and in fact the correct IUPAC name is 2-Propanol .. so technically Isopropyl Alcohol is wrong .. but it doesn't matter either way, as long as what you buy has one of those three names you're good, they are three names for the same chemical ....

CH3
|
HC-OH
|
CH3


PS: I'm not trying to be picky heh, just thought you might find it informative.
 
The best mix is water. If you follow the handy links you'll see testing that corroborates the best mix is water.

Someone always chimes in with a load of foolishness about meth/ethanol/antifreeze additives. These impede cooling at room temperature.

Nothing fancy. Water is best.
 
At room temps water with just enough inhibitor to stop any growth/ corrosion is best.
Down around zero then 66% water/ 33% methanol is best.

Luck........:D
 
I agree with NoEcho (for the most part). I just wanted to give my scientific input, cuz im sitting here bored out of my skull at work right now (I work in an organic chem lab =P). There ARE however compounds better suited for disipating heat, but to aquire them you best be prepared to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars per mL and have an established contract with a chemical distribution company (aka these compounds are complex, dangerous, smelly, often have several undersirable properties and side effects), plain old distilled water simplifies the problem a lot :)
 
Wasn't busting on you HiTech. I relish absurd complexities that are advertized as such. It's when peeps dispense such advice as 'mix 1/3rd methanol into your water' or whatever... that I get a bit irked. We've known that water is the best 'practical' thermal conveyance and dissipator for years. Straight water. But every time this question pops up on this forum a bunch of guys chime in with ethanol, methanol, antifreeze - which was disproved years ago.... unless you're waterchilling close to 0. Very few people waterchill though, and that's a separate category.

Funky organic super-juice is cool and I'd be happy to hear more about it.
 
Originally posted by HiTech-Hate
I work in an organic chem lab =P
Click to expand...

No wonder why you had such a detailed explanation...sheesh :)


Yeah, I only added alcohol and iodine to my mix mostly to kill off any nasties in the water.

We all know striaght water is the best mix, but corrosion and algae growth are issues that need to be addressed as well. Geting the ultimate temp is great, but sometimes having a loop you don't have to rip apart to clean on a scheduled basis is better.

Antifreeze does a good job at anti-corrosion and antifungal, but it's so freaking thick...might as well pour a McDonald's milkshake into your loop.....preferably one of those seasonal mint shakes...and get one for yourself while your at it :p
 
As was said before, plain water gives the best performance.

You really need to be careful with what you go mixing with your water if your loop has any plastic parts in it. Alcohol will attack acrylic materials and cause cracking. Some wetting agents will also attack polycarbonate.
 
straight distilled water is best.
for additives I use a little water wetter just for the corrosion inhibitor nothing more. and to kill baddies ive always used betadine....A.K.A. Provodone Iodine....that shit will kill pretty much anything and everything.
 
Distilled water. Mixing is a bunch of shit. It might (if your lucky) drop you 1-2c. I know because I have tried it all.
 
Cool guys; I appreciate all the replys. So I should just go with some bottled water?
 
No, bottled water has minerals in it. Just get distilled water. I think one of those drinking water filters will give you distilled water.
 
No, bottled water has minerals in it. Just get distilled water. I think one of those drinking water filters will give you distilled water.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately it won't. Distilled water means that it has been boiled, and the steam condensed in a 'distillation column' or 'condensure tube' where it rolls down into an empty container, thus the only compound in that container is pure water from the gaseous water ... absolutely no bacteria or minerals.

Like the guy said, distilled water is like $1 a gallon, just go to a grocery store :)
 
What about corrosion provention in an open air situation. I don't want to die from vapors but I need to use something!
 
for additives I use a little water wetter just for the corrosion inhibitor nothing more. and to kill baddies ive always used betadine....A.K.A. Provodone Iodine....that shit will kill pretty much anything and everything.
Click to expand...

I know where to get Water Wetter....where to get Provodone Iodine?
 
as long as your loop has similar metals, and if you do happen to have blocks with both metals (swiftech), that the aluminum tops are anodised. Anodisation helps slow down the corrosive process.
 
Originally posted by dderidex
I know where to get Water Wetter....where to get Provodone Iodine?
Click to expand...


Betadine, you can pick that stuff up at walmart of any drug store...its a basic antiseptic :)
works great on cuts and scrapes...also has a really cool side effect in a water loop...if you get a small crack and the water creeps out slow enough the betadine will actually gum up and clog the leak :) this is only if its exposed to air...it wont do it in the loop......if it wasnt for that side effect I woulda had to buy a new system when the crap poly top on my D-tek TC-4 hairlined itself
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top