Who has an old WC system with no gunk problems and what are you running?

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0bzeek

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Hey, looking to try to get a firmer grasp on the different points of view in the coolant controversies. If you've got a system you've had around for a while, I'm wondering what are you running? Seems there are a lot of strong supporters of distilled only. Is your system running a distilled/antifreeze mix? Successful ratios? Curious as to what's worked for people and what hasn't worked in this regard.

The other thing is, if you've had serious problems in the past where did you encounter them? Suggestions for people who may be sleuthing the web for answers as to what they should avoid in their build?
 
agreed with posters above. Distilled & sliver. Would add tho that some tubing resists loop gunk build-up better than others. personally i use primochill hose & a couple strips of silver -approx 30cm worth.
 
I've had the same water in my computer for 4+ years and nothing has ever grown. I use distilled water and water wetter.

I have no idea what "silver" even means. Can someone explain it?
 
I've been watercooling for almost 6 years now, and have always used Primochill ICE. I first made the mistake of going with a "uv reactive" coolant which gunked up my crap, but not to the point to where I couldn't clean everything fairly well. I've been using clear ever since and everything has run great.

I flushed/refilled my system after having all that gunk in it 3 times in the first year, after that I've only been flushing every 2 years for peace of mind. Nothing ever grows in my tubes and they are still clear(Masterkleer tubing). My original MCP655 is still going strong. I'm right at the MTBF so we'll see how much longer it lasts. :)

I might go with distilled water eventually, but my system takes less than one container of fluid, so it isn't that expensive for me.
 
2 years so far and my loop is as clean as when I set it up. Pure distilled water and a kill coil... that's it.
 
90% distilled, 10% green antifreeze, cheap PVC tubing from lowes, and 1/2 a year of zero maintenance, although I think I see calcium building up in the Res, not sure if it's calcium or the tubing leaking plasticizer, which is what people call 'gunk'
 
I use distilled water and two silver kill coils.

I also use black Tygon 3400 tubing, reduces light so the algae won't grow.

I have never had a problem with deposits, but I do empty and flush the system once a year.

My second system runs distilled and Swiftech Hydrx......it's basically Xerox antifreeze, it will deposit some particulate in the tubing over time, but no algae.

The primary problem points are the tubing......which will leach plastisizer over time and turn cloudy, plastic reservoirs, same plus algae, and the water blocks themselves in the fine points of the grid. Algae is the worst and difficult to cleanse away....if it's bad enough you need to bleach the components and replace all the tubing.:eek:
 
I run distilled and G11 antifreeze in a 10:1 ratio. Gives you a nice blue color with clear 7/16 masterclear tubing. Had zero gunk in the 4 years my loop has been running. It's been drained 3 times in 4 years, never with any build up.
 
I have 1 loop of antifreeze/water which is gunkless after 2 years. Then a slightly older one filled with feser one, which is also gunkless after 3, even with all the random crap that uses (had a random bottle from some UV lighting experiments, so just used it...the UV reflective stuff in it still works too).

I think it depends more on the loop elements than the liquid. Even with pure distilled/silver if you have the "wrong" things in your tubing/metals you will get crap in there.
 
Bugalaman said:
I've had the same water in my computer for 4+ years and nothing has ever grown. I use distilled water and water wetter.

I have no idea what "silver" even means. Can someone explain it?
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What brand or type of water-wetter? The same kind used in darkrooms ? Photo-flo?
 
x509 said:
What brand or type of water-wetter? The same kind used in darkrooms ? Photo-flo?
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The only kind I know of is made by Redline and used in high performance engine coolant systems. IMO overkill for a PC cooling system.
 
I have an old duron 900Mhz system that has been running since 2003 with no problems. I am running 10 parts distilled water to 1 part regular green antifreeze.
 
criccio said:
The only kind I know of is made by Redline and used in high performance engine coolant systems. IMO overkill for a PC cooling system.
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It is this stuff, made by Red Line

I bought the bottle back in 2005 and only used a few ounces each time I filled it up. The last time I remember filling it up was in 2008. I think bought it because it was the smallest bottle of coolant available. I just wanted something that would stop corrosion, not necessarily to improve performance. Maybe I was just living in different climates than some of you because I have never seen anything grow in my tubes.
 
Things have changed a lot since i started watercooling. My first loop is still going strong with no issues of gunk. I've always used a 70/30 mix of distilled water and glycol (antifreeze). I've also always used a few drops of aquarium biocide. Every 2 years i flush my system and replace the fluids. I rigged up an adapter that connects to my sink and i flush it well. I also replace the tubing every 4 years with cheapo clear tubing from home depot.

I think the key is making sure all of your components are compatable. Account for bio and non bio issues and keep things as simple as possible.
 
Do kill coils really work that well? I saw them but I was skeptical so I bought some PT Nuke as well.
 
Yeah wow, looks like everyone who's just using straight water with a little anti-microbial is smooth sailing. Wish a few more people who had a dye/coolant horror story had shared. Over all seems like a pretty decisive victory for plain water.

criccio said:
Pretty sure you have all the first hand experience you need above. ^
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lol well I guess you're right of course. Durrr.

It's just conceptually strange to think that a little piece of silver is really going to help.
 
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From wikipedia.

Silver ions and silver compounds show a toxic effect on some bacteria, viruses, algae and fungi, typical for heavy metals like lead or mercury, but without the high toxicity to humans normally associated with these other metals. Its germicidal effects kill many microbial organisms in vitro, but testing and standardization of silver products is difficult.
 
Distilled and silver coil here, going on 1.5yrs with no maintenance (aside from water top-offs). Res is still as clear as day 1, but I'm breaking down the loop tonight to transfer to a new case, and I'll make sure to report anything out of the ordinary.
 
Been water cooling since Athlon XP. I've always used the same mix and not once have I ever had any growth or build up issues.

90% distilled
10% anti-freeze (I've used the cheap green shit and dexcool)
a few drops of algeecide
and about 10ml (cap full) of isopropyl alcohol 90%+

Had 1 loop for 4 years, q6600 to e8400 to q9550 without changing the fluid. Once I did a tear down to add other water blocks/rads I checked the inside of the cpu water block, minus some dis-coloration there was no buildup. Cleaned everything with isopropyl alcohol and lots of rinsing with distilled, the same loop with my blocks/rads is going strong 2.5 years later. I plan to do another tear down to change up a few things within the next few months.

One path I went down with the mix above was orange uv die. It didn't cause build up but it stained the shit out of everything it touched....re-used the tubing/res with no issue. Although I've never used die since...go colored tubing if you want colors.
 
Where do you get your distilled water? Coolant manufacturers all seem to have their own brand of "super-ultra-mega-so-fucking-clean-your-eyes-will-catch-fire" sale pitch for their own brand of distilled/filtered Anyone just use regular old supermarket water? How about tap anyone tried that, don't plan on it but just curious for my knowledge and anyone who may happen to end up here.
 
0bzeek said:
Where do you get your distilled water? Coolant manufacturers all seem to have their own brand of "super-ultra-mega-so-fucking-clean-your-eyes-will-catch-fire" sale pitch for their own brand of distilled/filtered Anyone just use regular old supermarket water? How about tap anyone tried that, don't plan on it but just curious for my knowledge and anyone who may happen to end up here.
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Rite-aid. Like I said above, over a year with just a kill-coil and its still as perfect as when it went in.
 
It's from reading a bunch of replies on this forum, I have been running just distilled and that's it. All of the tubing is black so hopefully I won't have an algae problem.
 
Prior to this thread I planned on using red dye. no more. Plain water wins hands down it seems.
 
I use CuSO4 (the stuff in PTnuke) because I have multiple loops to deal with and it's cheaper to buy a bag of CuSO4 than multiple kill coils.

I think I spent ~$8. Paying $5 for a 10ml bottle of 4% cupric sulfate solution seems silly.
 
0bzeek said:
Where do you get your distilled water? Coolant manufacturers all seem to have their own brand of "super-ultra-mega-so-fucking-clean-your-eyes-will-catch-fire" sale pitch for their own brand of distilled/filtered Anyone just use regular old supermarket water? How about tap anyone tried that, don't plan on it but just curious for my knowledge and anyone who may happen to end up here.
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I just grab a gallon of distilled zerphyhills from my local supermarket. It's like $2.
 
I ran Fesser one blue and distilled water for about 2 years with no drain and had zero gunk problems. Just drained it and added a second rad and the only thing that had a little gunk was the top of my res had a tiny bit of dried up algae where it was exposed to dry air.
 
Where did you pick this up?
DeathFromBelow said:
I use CuSO4 (the stuff in PTnuke) because I have multiple loops to deal with and it's cheaper to buy a bag of CuSO4 than multiple kill coils.

I think I spent ~$8. Paying $5 for a 10ml bottle of 4% cupric sulfate solution seems silly.
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Some guy from South America couldn't afford a silver kill coil so he bought a silver Jesus from a local market and it worked :)
 
Fesser 1 and no issues, pumps are fine, no clouding no growth, little to no evaporation and it is non conductive.
 
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