Water cooling and adding water

[Qua Sar]

Hey i created my WC setup and i'm not sure what to do next i mean i knwo to put the water in through fillport but idk what to put in with the water anti-freeze... stuff you buyh from like xoxide what is the best or what's the difference between them.. i hear distilled water and anti-freeze is good but my mom's weary of toxic stuff... and also i hear i MAY need something else to help stop corrsion too.

 

[TheRyuu]

All your answers are here

(and if there not, just ask)

Edit: and if all the blocks are made of the same material, you won't need an anti-corrosion thing. Then all you might need is something to keep alge from growing.

Or, you could just use Hydrx from swiftech. That should take care of your problems.

 

[TrevorRC]

Few things.
1) Are you using all copper blocks? Or are some of them aluminum/etc?
2) Do you have ANY pets?

Copper itself is an algae inhibitor--if all the blocks are copper, use a 9:1 mix of water/antifreeze.

There are a few threads @ XS about this--some people were finding alternate solutions.
I'd advise you to head over there.
--Trevor

 

[Qua Sar]

i'm using maze4 gpu and apogge cpu block i blieeve their both copper not positive and i hav a cat yes

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: L1nVx
i'm using maze4 gpu and apogge cpu block i blieeve their both copper not positive and i hav a cat yes

An apogge NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...sorry....

 

[Qua Sar]

so i should use................ what for additives in compliance of distilled water

 

[TheRyuu]

I told you to read the link that I posted and that all the answers are there.

Originally Posted by MaxxxRacer
Coolant additives are necessary when watercooling. If you do not do so, alge will start to grow inside of your system and cause possible failures in the pump, or clog up one of your waterblocks. The other issue involved with watercooling system is when you mix metals there is a slight electrical charge in the system that will cause a redox reaction in the system and thus start to corrode the metals. It is a specific type or redox reaction called "galvanic" (hence galvanic corrosion), and the reaction also cuases the water to be acidic like that of a car battery (though to a much lesser extent, and would not be immediatly harmful). Coolant additives are designed to stop this with corrosion inhibitors. Because of these issues it is necessary that you use an additive. The one that I suggest is called Zerez/Valvoline Racing super coolant. It is excellent for its properties for anti corrosion, anti algae, surface tension reducer, and it also has a minimal effect on temperature compared to propylene glycol based antifreezes. (polypropylene glycol is the chemical that stops the water in the radiator from freezing). There are other alternatives to Zerex such as water wetter, Swiftech?s hydrx, and various other ones sold around the internet. You can choose whichever you like, as they will all serve their intended purpose, but I do suggest Zerex. While I do suggest Zerex for those who plan to run mixed metals (Aluminum + Copper), Zerex is hard to obtain and relatively expensive. With that said, for those who do NOT plan to run mixed metals, a good bicode (kills organic life) would be optimu, as no corrosion inhibitor is needed. Biosides can be purchased at your local pet store for 5-15 dollars USD. They are generally labelled as Algae killers. A considerably higher concentration that is suggested by the manufacture is reccomended as there is no ogranic life in the WC'ing loop that needs to be preserved. Generally one capful is needed, with a small booster of a few drops once a mont

Originally Posted by MaxxxRacer
Fact 1:
Ethylene Glycol and Propylene Glycol, are considered to be non toxic when consumed in small to medium dosages, while large amounts can result in nausea, convulsions, slurred speech, disorientation, and heart and kidney problems. VERY large dosages can result in renal failure and death, but such high dosages would only be incurred by intention ingestion of ridiculous amounts of it, such as drinking a gallon of Anti-Freeze. It should be taken into consideration that Ethylene Glycol is suspected to be more poisinous than propylene glycol, but there is no official statement on this. EPA Article on Ethylene Glycol

Fact 2:
Polyethylene Glycol, Polypropylene Glycol, Ethylene Glycol and Propylene Glycol, are considered for most purpose to be essentially the same thing, and who?s chemical properties are nearly identical, as well has having identical effects on humans and cooling systems. In short, Zerex saying it uses Ethylene Glycol instead of Polypropylene glycol really doesn?t matter. They are essentially one in the same.

Fact 3:
The aforementioned Glycols are covalent compounds, with some ionic properties, and when dissolved in water form slightly acidic solutions which conduct electricity (they are weak electrolytes), and in turn promote galvanic corrosion. Radiator fluid manufacturers add certain chemicals to counteract the electrolytic effect of the Glycols, thus stopping galvanic corrosion from occurring, but by themselves will cause corrosion.

Fact 4:
Glycols ONLY purpose in cooling systems is to increase waters boiling point and reduce its freezing point, with the lowest freezing point for Glycols being around -45C where the Glycol has a molar mass 430g/mol.

Fact 5:
Copper, copper sulfate, endothall, simazine, and diquat dibromide are all different active ingredients used Algaecides (products that kill Algae). You will notice that Copper is on the top of that list. That?s right folks. The main cooling component of your watercooling loop will kill most algae all by its lonesome. Some algae are immune to copper, and can be identified by their blue-green color. Also, diquat dibormide is essentially a stable liquid (in aqueous solution) form of bromine gas, which is used to kill various bacteria.

Fact 6:
If you are looking to gain a bit more performance out of your water, nonionic surfactants are the way to go. (Froogle: ?nonionic surfactant? to purchase). Choose nonionic because they will not increase the conductivity of your coolant like ionic surfactants will, thus keeping your electronics as safe as possible in the unlikely case of a spill. Common nonionic surfactants include: alkyl polyglycosides, Alkyl ether sulfate, Amine oxide, and Linear alkylate sulfonate



Conclusion:
In a properly setup PC cooling system which contains no mixed metals, and uses copper/brass as the metal of choice, no coolant additives are required. Pure deionized water or distilled water will be your best choice, with a small amount of nonionic surfactant added for that extra .01C if your interested.

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: L1nVx
Hey i created my WC setup and i'm not sure what to do next i mean i knwo to put the water in through fillport but idk what to put in with the water anti-freeze... stuff you buyh from like xoxide what is the best or what's the difference between them.. i hear distilled water and anti-freeze is good but my mom's weary of toxic stuff... and also i hear i MAY need something else to help stop corrsion too.

The fact that current conventional wisdom says that AF isn't the all that good for water-cooling notwithstanding, any toxic substances that MAY make it into the surroundings do so at such a tiny rate that it won't be a problem in a well-ventilated house. Also, and this is just to interject a bit of logic into the proceedings, unless your loop is leaking all over the place, something you should take great pains to avoid, as long as your pets don't directly ingest AF they'll be fine.

A bit of history about coolant mixtures: Two years ago anyone just jumping in was told that all they needed was AF or Water Wetter mixed with distilled. Well, it turns out that neither liquid actually works well when it comes to the environment found in your average water-cooling loop. Now, in some cases, the same exact people are saying that the perfect mixture is that same 90/10-distilled/AF mixture PLUS a few drops of iodine.

If your getting from the above that there's a LOT of hot-air be generated about what's right and wrong in coolant mixtures you're right. I'd imagine that you're wondering how you can make an informed choice with so many people screaming in your ear about what you should use and where you should go. The solution to this is simple: Don't be afraid to make your own choice. Don't just base your judgements on what a stranger tells you. More often then not, people will simply regurgitate what they've heard, or worse try to get you to do the same things they do, just to validate their choices.

If you're so inclined, take the time to read these:

PC water cooling chemistry Part 1
PC water cooling chemistry Part 2

Both will give you a firm grounding in the basics of what makes a good coolant. My personal opinion? I've tried just about everything, but Hydrx is the best so far. In the 5-months I've been running it no algae or fungus has appeared and my tubing is still clear.

 

[Luckyboy1]

Use distilled water. With as cheap and avalable as it is, can't even see how it can be a question. All of the additives are toxic to one degree or the next and doing without any additives increases corosions problems.

 

[HardWarrior]

The cool thing is that the way things are going on the OEM side we'll probably see more and more credible stabs at premixed solutions. It's only a matter of time before someone comes up with something good that'll last in a loop for far more than 6-months.