Coolant separating

[reaper7534!]

Hello,

Ran pastel blue for about 2 years with no issues whatsoever, however when I moved to pastel purple it was fine for a couple days then I noticed colors starting to change in my reservoir.

Before adding the new coolant, I flushed with hot distilled water, figured I didn't need to use blitz since I was staying within the same line of coolants.

I am only noticing this in the reservoir and temps seem unaffected. It is a XSPC Photon 270 and I know it circulates a little differently than standard units so thought that may be a issue, but wasn't sure since the blue never had a issue.

Would appreciate any direction.

 

[FrgMstr]

Take that foo foo colored shit out of your system? There is nothing to gain by putting "extra stuff" in your coolant loop. And it seems by the looks of it, not all of it is built the same.

 

[FrgMstr]

I like it for the performance

Never knew these gave better performance.

Meaning " not built the same " , are you referring to the pastel coolants being hit or miss ( or coolants in general ) or something else ?

Referring to the fact that we are really not sure what additives are being used from day to day. Was this coolant from the same mfg, or a different one from the first you had?

I have watched Elmy clean the gunk out of his a couple times recently when he used the pearlescent fluids. Unless you want a mess to clean up possibly often, I just do not see the benefit of gong this route.

 

[cyberguyz]

I agree have to with Kyle here. There's not much difference between the pastel and pearl coolant additives. Seriously that pastel/pearl crap is not helping your performance and really only good for short term use if you are showing off your system. It's certainly not good for long term use. The fact that it is separating should tell you that it is not particularly good quality stuff. Good quality dyes are not such a problem and also give really kickass looking loops when combined with some uv lighting.

Taking a look at your loop though I see both your intake and return are going to the bottom of the res where the pump margin is rather than having the return come in near the top of the res. I would guess that there would not be an awful lot of turbulence through your whole res with that setup and might accelerate this separation where the liquid at the top of the res is not being driven down to the pump intake. Just something to think about.

 

[Rvenger]

I see the issue, that reservoir has a ton of restriction and you have 90 degree fittings right out of the pump. (I had one) and once you seal the thread at the top you kind of lose circulation towards the top. You should let the air back in by removing the top thread and putting the pump at full speed., try to stir the top a little with a coffee stir stick or something and let the unit burp a little more.

 

[FrgMstr]

And that is another thing, while these systems look great with the hard tubing, teh 90 fittings really take their toll on flow rate. Nice easy bends are much easier on the flow.

 

[Rvenger]

The photon res was actually terrible and once I changed it I noticed a dramatic difference. I tried to use the least amount of angle fittings as possible on mine.

 

[FrgMstr]

The photon res was actually terrible and once I changed it I noticed a dramatic difference.

I have three of those here that I use daily. What is terrible about those and what changed that gave you a dramatic difference exactly?

 

[Rvenger]

I have no problem switching a different brand or even going distilled and adding some dye and inhibitors, just trying to understand what happened. With the photon, you have no choice but to have your inlet and outlet on the bottom, the top is a fill only solution. Are there any other pump/ res combos I could use that are a self contained unit ? Again, the blue never had a issue and I ran that almost 2 years.

I'll remove the cap and let some air in and also increase speed. Unfortunately, with the design you can stir the inside of the res, there is some acrylic in there that prevents that.



My first custom loop, so I'm learning as I go. My previous were AIO

As the other member said, I think my issue is inlet/ outlet not allowing me to pull the liquid from the top and causing it to become stagnant.

That's right, I had one heck of a time pouring because they have that sifting cap or what ever inside the res.

 

[FrgMstr]

Coolant temps were through the roof. Switched to an EK pump mount and separate phobya rad and it increased circulation by quite a bit.

I am no expert in water cooling though. I can do it but I end up just going back to an AIO when it is time for maintenance LOL

I have flow meters on mine and get 4.6LPM on my TR blocks and 4.3 on my AM4 and 115X blocks. Excellent units... All three. Two were from XSPC, I bought the third because those work so well.

 

[cyberguyz]

I have no problem switching a different brand or even going distilled and adding some dye and inhibitors, just trying to understand what happened. With the photon, you have no choice but to have your inlet and outlet on the bottom, the top is a fill only solution. Are there any other pump/ res combos I could use that are a self contained unit ? Again, the blue never had a issue and I ran that almost 2 years.

...

As the other member said, I think my issue is inlet/ outlet not allowing me to pull the liquid from the top and causing it to become stagnant.

While I am not sure it is a solution for you since you already have an expensive Photon pump/res combo, I have one of these on the way from Barrow:

The top has both a fill port and a return port (see that short tube in the top?) while the pump pulls coolant from the bottom. That kind of setup will keep your coolant constantly mixing in the res. These integrate with in both D5 and DDC flavors (I have the DDC one). The lighting is not as nice as the photon res which has that translucent tube down the middle, but it is a hella lot cheaper to buy - esp if you are buying it without the pump (mine was $77 CAN -- about $50 US with a Liang 3.25 knockoff pump included). It has an RGB led embedded in the pump top but you have to buy the controller separately.

 

[hititnquitit]

im currently running a xspc 170 photon res/pump. the water basically goes directly from the inlet to the outlet with very little to no mixing with the fluid in the res. it is a pita to bleed if you run a powerful pump or worse, dual pumps(dual d5s for me). which explains the fluid separating in Reapers pic. i imagine his being a 270 makes it even worse. theres no easy fix other than to rig up a t-line coming out from the fill port. or...get a new res. which is what ive done. i went with the barrowch boxfish. mostly because its different haha but it allows for several different choices of inlet and outlet. ill be running mine into the res from the upper left inlet and out of the bottom most right port to allow the water to mix properly before going back out. i dont think it will help temps being that the water is going to hit its equilibrium one way or the other. it may help temps some when the rig is initially fired up.
http://www.barrowch.com/product/product-15-471.html
you may be able to alleviate the separation by thoroughly cleaning your blocks and rad. there may have been leftover fluid in your loop that mixed with the new and caused the separation. most likely your either going to have to get rid of the colored fluid or get a new res.

 

[THRESHIN]

As many have suggested, clean out your loop and go with distilled and a high quality dye if you feel the need. Until you get into exotic things like liquified gasses, nothing cools better than water. This is why its used in so many applications. Your car, for example. The antifreeze actually hinders cooling but is necessary to prevent corrosion and freezing.

I don't think it matters why this happened at this point. Clean it out and move on with life.