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coolants, your thoughts?

X

.xXLucidXx.

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 14, 2004
Messages
148
well i skipped my morning class today and was sitting around the house today thinking about coolants right now i use a combination of some thermaltake coolant and water because there wasnt enough to fill my whole system. however i was thinking of other coolants and im curious what you guys use? and what coolants could be safe.

first what about anti freeze? i know its alot ticker but how are the thermal properties compared to water and other coolants and is it safe for the blocks and pump?

we also ran alot of machinery around where i live with all the coal minig going on and theres tons of hydrollic fluid and im wondering how thermally conductive it would be? if anyone has been around any hydrollic machines you know the pistons get RED HOT

or are the coolants specificly for water cooling the best at keeping your temps low or are they just there for us to spend our money on?

and lastly, good ole water?
if you happen to get thirsty while gaming you could always take a sip

so lets hear what you guys have to say
 
I use distilled water with some iodine in it. My loop's all copper, so I don't have any need to use corrosion inhibiters or anything. I guess it would be safer to use some of that non-conductive stuff...but I'm pretty confident in my leak testing.
 
Stay away from hydraulic fluid... I doubt it has good thermal properties, and I'm guessing that it's similar to brake fluid in the sense that it will eat through stuff quite easily. I use a mixture of distilled water and antifreeze, probably 10% or so antifreeze.
 
yeah i just water and a little bit of radiator fluid from a car to preven things from growing in there... I think other fluids are used in hydraulics and such because they have a higher boiling point but not necessarily better heat absorption. Water would boil off in some applications and they would be left with no lube or cooling if all the water boiled off so they use hydraulic fluid etc...
 
I use Pentosin G12 and distilled water .. i think in my whole loop I only have 2 tsp or maybe a littler more of G12 ..

Funny thing is .. I bought 4 1.5L bottles of Pentosin through ebay and now I have more than I need for a life time.
 
lol - I have ample Pentosin amouts also... it's very good stuff. I am thinking about using it in my car! heh...
 
At work we have a 150-gallon reservoir of dilluted treated (lubricated, anti-corrosive, anti-fungal) propylene glycol for the roof A/C units. You mix it at one unit propylene glycol to two units distilled water. We just have drums of the full strength stuff. It has great thermal and compressional (compressional--is that even a word? It's reacts predictably and with little density change at pressure) properties and you probably know someone with access to it.

Plus it's essentially harmless. The same quantities of coffee will have an equal health effect if ingested. (Not the same, just about as bad.)

Not that I am a water-cooler, but I'm getting ready for it, and have done what seems like many hours of research.
 
I want to see hydraulic fluid in the loop. :rolleyes:

Plain old distilled H20 + some kind of anti-corrosive additive will be just right.
 
In my opinion based on more than 5 years of water cooling


Keep in mind the main fact. Nothing you can get your hands on at any reasonable price, or even high prices, performs better than pure water. Anything thing else should be added to solve a particular problem.

In an all copper setup (or all aluminum for that matter) using steam distilled water available at the grocery store for less than a buck a gallon should be all you need. If all parts are clean and you do not introduce "beasties" by washing stuff etc. in tap water nothing should grow and with no dissimular metals you do not need corrosion protection. All pumps in popular use are designed to be lubricated by the water and any thing added for pump lubrication is dubious at best. As far as antifreezes are concerned based on above they are a total waste unless your pc water loop actually has a prospect of freezing, highly unlikely. If you have a window in the case and it receives direct sunlight a couple of drops of "growth" inhibitor wont kill you nor will a teaspoon of water wetter as well. I have had no use for either in over 5 years of water cooled operations. On the other hand special "mixes" or other stuff will probally only make a couple of degrees difference in performance and if it makes you feel good go for it. Your loop design and tubing size and in particular your radiator/fan and its airflow will be the major factors.
 
I would like my water to still be clear, or mabye a light hint of blue. The water wetter I see is red. Are their any other non corossive additives that will not change the color of your water? I think i'm just going to stick with regular distilled water and one additive for now, I feel like I have to be a chemist and a biologist to get this right :(
 
No you don't

All you need is regular distilled water and an anti freeze coolant. That's it.

You also most probably don't need more than a bit of coolant enough to keep your system clear. Water wetter isn't good ... get something like Zerex Super Racing coolant or Pentosin.
 
How about a replacement for water. Such as FluidXP, or MCT-5, Thermaltake BigWater coolant, etc.

If I were to do water cooling it would have to be without water. I only have access to reverse osmosis purified water. No distilled water at all, so I would need to use one of these liquids as my coolant.

Have any of you guys used any of these types of liquids, or can you suggest one as being better than another? I was looking at FluidXP (good grief it costs a lot) and one of the things I liked, it says 3 years before it needs replacing. So basically I fill the system, get it running and I'll upgrade my computer long before it needs changing, so I could change it then! :D
 
I've heard good and bad things about everything. I have heard FluidXP corrodes, but who can you trust?
What would is the benefit of just plain antifreeze if your system is never going to freeze anyway?
 
I could order distilled water but 2 gallons of distilled water would be $15 to get it shipped from my freight forwarder to me, and that's not counting the shipping and handling to my freight forwared, or the import duty on the water, and all shipping and freight charges.

Feh. Living in The Bahamas has distinct disadvantages at times.
 
Troz said:
I could order distilled water but 2 gallons of distilled water would be $15 to get it shipped from my freight forwarder to me, and that's not counting the shipping and handling to my freight forwared, or the import duty on the water, and all shipping and freight charges.

Feh. Living in The Bahamas has distinct disadvantages at times.
Click to expand...
o_O They don't carry it at the grocery store? I *know* there are grocery stores in the bahamas, and up here in the states it's $0.79 a gallon :\
 
What would is the benefit of just plain antifreeze if your system is never going to freeze anyway?
Click to expand...
Antifreeze has a lower thermal resistance and shouldn't have any surface tension. It's just designed to perform better than water, at essentially all temperatures. Usually when you see it at a parts store it's called "Antifreeze/ Coolant" because of it's cooling properties as well.
 
Axman said:
Antifreeze has a lower thermal resistance and shouldn't have any surface tension. It's just designed to perform better than water, at essentially all temperatures. Usually when you see it at a parts store it's called "Antifreeze/ Coolant" because of it's cooling properties as well.
Click to expand...

So do you have any thermal conductivity, thermal capacity, viscosity, and density values to prove this?
Antifreeze is used in cars because it lowers the freezing point of water (hence the name). Another typical benefit is that it usually has corrosion inhibitors added to keep your engine/radiator from rotting. The first factor doesn't apply to above-ambient watercooling, but the anticorrosion is a plus.
 
interesting
i wonder what the most thermaly conductive fluid is and if it could be used in a watercooling loop
 
Axman said:
Antifreeze has a lower thermal resistance and shouldn't have any surface tension. It's just designed to perform better than water, at essentially all temperatures. Usually when you see it at a parts store it's called "Antifreeze/ Coolant" because of it's cooling properties as well.
Click to expand...

This isn't true. Anti-freeze doesn't perform better than water, it performs worse. Straight distilled water removes heat better than anti-freeze. The reason why antifreeze is used is because it raises the boiling point and lowers the freezing point, lubricates water pumps, and helps prevent corrosion.

Majority of people water cooling don't have to worry about their system boiling or freezing, so the only reason to use anti-freeze in a water loop is to help lubricate and help prevent corrosion. If you're using all copper or all aluminum or non-ionic metals in your loop, corrosion shouldn't be a problem.
 
penguin said:
o_O They don't carry it at the grocery store? I *know* there are grocery stores in the bahamas, and up here in the states it's $0.79 a gallon :\
Click to expand...

Yup, got grocery stores, but they only stock R-O purified water. In fact it is made here in The Bahamas. No need to import bottled water if they can get it locally, saves then a ton of money on freight charges.
 
Dang, I hadn't thought of that, thanks! They should use distilled water as the liquid for suspensions they mix there.

If that's the case I just gotta save up the cash to actually get the stuff to try my hand at water cooling. (Broke now, just spent a ton on a new tower)

Thanks again!
 
Is there realy a "crash and burn" reason against plain old tap? Id bet there isn't enough minerals in the water to realy deposit anything.

Id say use whatever you can find cheap, just put in some inhibitors to prevent any of the usual issues.
 
Here are some quick numbers:
Prop.G 50% solution -- Water
Density kg/m3
977 -- 1000
Viscosity cP @ 70 degrees Farenheit
.7 -- 1
Thermal Conductivity W/m-K
0.34 -- 0.60
Specific heat J/kg-K (average at a liquid)
3497 -- 4186

I'm surprised to see how much higher the thermal conductivity of water is over propylene glycol. Might be wrong about this one. Still, the lower viscosity and specific heat might make up for it. I'm still going over the MSDSs, so who knows.
 
Axman said:
Here are some quick numbers:
Prop.G 50% solution -- Water
Density kg/m3
977 -- 1000
Viscosity cP @ 70 degrees Farenheit
.7 -- 1
Thermal Conductivity W/m-K
0.34 -- 0.60
Specific heat J/kg-K (average at a liquid)
3497 -- 4186

I'm surprised to see how much higher the thermal conductivity of water is over propylene glycol. Might be wrong about this one. Still, the lower viscosity and specific heat might make up for it. I'm still going over the MSDSs, so who knows.
Click to expand...


Hm, I'm also surprised that the viscosity of water is higher, where'd you find that? Care to plug those into some basic (laminar) convective heat transfer calculations, or are you going to make me pull out the old heat tranfer book ;)
 
I've got 2 blocks with copper bases and alloy tops so I run 25% "green" anti-freeze to 75% distilled water and while I know that thermally it's not the ideal solution (5 points for the double entendre) for optimum cooling it still gets the job done and keeps me from losing sleep worrying about my blocks eating themselves.
 
Top Nurse said:
I want to see hydraulic fluid in the loop. :rolleyes:

Plain old distilled H20 + some kind of anti-corrosive additive will be just right.
Click to expand...
yup yup....
i might add that if there is alu in the loop use like 75%water, 25%anti-corrosive additive ...if not 90-10....
 
thelostrican said:
yup yup....
i might add that if there is alu in the loop use like 75%water, 25%anti-corrosive additive ...if not 90-10....
Click to expand...

All you need is enought coolant to satisfy the water's need for ions. You do not need more than that. Alu or whatever else corrodes due to the fact that they oxidize when they come in contact with water and loze ions to the distilled water.

Making the water toxic enough so algae can't grow is also important.
 
mohammedtaha said:
All you need is enought coolant to satisfy the water's need for ions. You do not need more than that. Alu or whatever else corrodes due to the fact that they oxidize when they come in contact with water and loze ions to the distilled water..
Click to expand...

Actually, corrosion will occur due to galvanic coupling, if there is a galvanic couple (ie, aluminum and another metal with a conductive solution inbetween). Water is merely the path through which ions will flow.
 
I've seen what happens to a bi-metallic waterblock with a 90% distilled water to 10% antifreeze ratio mixture and it's not pretty at all. I think I'll stick to 75%+25%

[Edit] This block belongs to a friend of a friend and he'd been running it for about 6mo.s with a 90/10 mixture...

Picture015.jpg


That's why I go with a bigger amount of anti-freeze than he does.[/Edit]
 
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