Deionized or Distilled?
Recommended additive? Will coolant do?
What's the coolant/water mix ratio?
How long til you need to change the liquid?
Watercooling Liquid - More Questions
Watercooling Liquid - More Questions
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distilled water... some people say 50/50 antifreeze i think thats overkill myself since there isn't gonnabe any super extreme heat or cold... 20/80 ratio should be mroe than enough and not sure about the last part but i'd say it probably shouldn't need changed since the system is closed and shouldn't be contaminated with anything.
Don't use antifreeze at all. This is the biggest mistake most people do. Antifreeze decreases the heat transfer and heat retention. Use something like Water Wetter, which increases heat transfer, plus lubricates the bearings and what not in your pump.
This page also shows why using anti-freeze is a bad idea. Pure water alone has almost 2.5 times the thermal conductivity of glycol based products, that's why it's used as a mix. Water Wetter also decreases the surface tension of water, which increases how much 'new' water flows threw the water block and radiator.
But I commented on this in another thread, and so will cut and paste from it
.... You should worry that adding antifreeze makes the water less effective, even tho it will hold more heat (a 70/30 mix of coolant/water will raise the boiling temperature to 113 C / 235 F instead of the normal 100 C / 212 F of water alone) it also makes the transferrance of heat more difficult. Car's can use it because they have temperatures of over 4500 F and so the slight loss in the conduction of the water doesnt matter.
So if you use antifreeze, try keeping it at 15% or less to keep the effectiveness of the system. An even better solution is to use a Radiator/Cooling System conditioner which contains Isopropyl Alcohol and other lighter petroleum products instead of the antifreeze's ethylene glycol. This is what I use, as it contains what you want (corrosion proofing and pump lubrication) without the additional properties of antirfreeze, which you don't really need seeing as your system shouldnt ever get that hot or that cold.
Typically you need 1oz of radiator conditioner to 1 gallon of water.
This page also shows why using anti-freeze is a bad idea. Pure water alone has almost 2.5 times the thermal conductivity of glycol based products, that's why it's used as a mix. Water Wetter also decreases the surface tension of water, which increases how much 'new' water flows threw the water block and radiator.
But I commented on this in another thread, and so will cut and paste from it
.... You should worry that adding antifreeze makes the water less effective, even tho it will hold more heat (a 70/30 mix of coolant/water will raise the boiling temperature to 113 C / 235 F instead of the normal 100 C / 212 F of water alone) it also makes the transferrance of heat more difficult. Car's can use it because they have temperatures of over 4500 F and so the slight loss in the conduction of the water doesnt matter.
So if you use antifreeze, try keeping it at 15% or less to keep the effectiveness of the system. An even better solution is to use a Radiator/Cooling System conditioner which contains Isopropyl Alcohol and other lighter petroleum products instead of the antifreeze's ethylene glycol. This is what I use, as it contains what you want (corrosion proofing and pump lubrication) without the additional properties of antirfreeze, which you don't really need seeing as your system shouldnt ever get that hot or that cold.
Typically you need 1oz of radiator conditioner to 1 gallon of water.
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NascarFool
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- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2000 1:21 pm
Don't use antifreeze at all. This is the biggest mistake most people do. Antifreeze decreases the heat transfer and heat retention.
I say BS. I use 85% distilled water and 15% PRESTONE Anti Freeze. Current Koolance probe temp is 66ºF no load. (84ºF in the bios) Been running it for four months or more without any problems. My hoses are still clear as they were on day one. No sediment in the res either.
No way. 4500ºF ? ? No way in hell. Your car would melt down.Car's can use it because they have temperatures of over 4500 F and so the slight loss in the conduction of the water doesnt matter.
4500F you crazy! LOL that car would engine would be a pile of molten metal if it got that hot... The gas combusting due to the ignition of it usually runs 800-900F if my memory servs me correctly but the actual block never gets a chance to get that hot thanks to the liquid cooling thats 99% of the engines have their constantly sucking in cool air along with the coolant thats circulates around most cars run between 165F and 210F depending on the temp of the thermostat that is installed in it. Average most on the road probably hvae a 185F thermostat in it... It is true anti freeze does take away some of the heating and cooling capabilities of plain old water but it isn't enough to really worry about. I still think a 50/50 mixture for a pc cooling system is assanine though but thats just me... I mean c'mon your temps probably never reach of 100F and i doubt they ever get below room tempurature and anti freeze is thicker than water so its going to be harder to move... no wonder why all these crazy people need 150cfm pumps lol
I have been watercooling for a couple of years now. I used water wetter and distilled and got bio growth, sludge etc. I do not use ethylene glycol, but do use a non-toxic anti freeze that is sold for winterizing drinking water systems in boat and RV's. I don't use glycol because I have cats and if I had a spill, they would lap it right up and die.
Anyway, nobody who watercools PC's uses anti-freeze because it transfers heat better. They use it because it kills bio and stops corrosion.
Anyway, nobody who watercools PC's uses anti-freeze because it transfers heat better. They use it because it kills bio and stops corrosion.
Ok, if ya wanna use it to kill growth and such, then ok. But it DOES lower the thermal conductivity of the liquid in your system. See the table on that link I posted before where it shows the thermal conductivty. Pure Glycol is slightly better then air. a 50/50 mix is 2/3's as good as air.
And about the temperatures, the combustion chambers CAN and DO reach upwards of 4500F.
Temperatures in the combustion chamber of the engine can reach 4,500 F
(You don't know what it took for me to actually get this to post. It took about 30 minutes, 400 pounds of my fist on the desk and screaming DAMN IT JUST POST ALREADY!, so my original real long answer with pretty pictures and stuff is now gone heh)
And about the temperatures, the combustion chambers CAN and DO reach upwards of 4500F.
Temperatures in the combustion chamber of the engine can reach 4,500 F
(You don't know what it took for me to actually get this to post. It took about 30 minutes, 400 pounds of my fist on the desk and screaming DAMN IT JUST POST ALREADY!, so my original real long answer with pretty pictures and stuff is now gone heh)
I chose distilled because I could get it at the corner drugstore. I suppose deionized would be better.
Tap water would work too.
Because this is a hobby and I can't seem to resist leaving well enough alone, I have spent a lot of time and some money trying to get max performance out of my watercooling system. I have used submersible pumps and inline pumps. I had a 6 inch diameter fan on my radiator that would suck a cat across the room. I have used about 5 different waterblocks, with and without peltiers.... I have learned one thing - you can't do that much to improve a good system and its pretty hard to screw it up. It's not the space shuttle - its a waterblock, some coolant, a pump, a radiator and a fan.
Judg3 is right about the ability of glycol antifreeze to transfer heat. And I would bet $50 that going from pure water to a 50/50 glycol/water mix might make my temps go up about 3-5 degrees max, and probably closer to 3. In the end, the biggest limiting factor is your waterblock and its interface with the CPU. After that, it is probably flow, heat loading by the pump, etc.
If you have a decent block, an adequate radiator (which is pretty hard not to do) and plumbing that minimizes restrictions and backpressure, you probably won't do much better or worse no matter what else you do.
Tap water would work too.
Because this is a hobby and I can't seem to resist leaving well enough alone, I have spent a lot of time and some money trying to get max performance out of my watercooling system. I have used submersible pumps and inline pumps. I had a 6 inch diameter fan on my radiator that would suck a cat across the room. I have used about 5 different waterblocks, with and without peltiers.... I have learned one thing - you can't do that much to improve a good system and its pretty hard to screw it up. It's not the space shuttle - its a waterblock, some coolant, a pump, a radiator and a fan.
Judg3 is right about the ability of glycol antifreeze to transfer heat. And I would bet $50 that going from pure water to a 50/50 glycol/water mix might make my temps go up about 3-5 degrees max, and probably closer to 3. In the end, the biggest limiting factor is your waterblock and its interface with the CPU. After that, it is probably flow, heat loading by the pump, etc.
If you have a decent block, an adequate radiator (which is pretty hard not to do) and plumbing that minimizes restrictions and backpressure, you probably won't do much better or worse no matter what else you do.
well... when i eventually get into water cooling im gonna try and find some of the "oil" that is used to cool transformers and give that a try. But at this rate im never goin to have a use for water cooling since i am air cooling now and my temps stay at 90. And yes its quiet.
[align=center]A self-aware artificial intelligence would suffer from a divide by zero error if it were programmed to be Amish[/align]
just got my exos in today - will post results soon
as for the coolant.. it seems the exos kit includes one packet of their own additive... dunno what it is... but i think i'll use that for now... mebbe when i drain the system in a year, i'll use some Zerex coolant (i've heard it's the best out there and perfect for watercooling)
as for the water, i can easily obtain both deionized or distilled... i've been told that deionized would be better overall due to its near inert properties... less chance of corrosion and growth... we'll see how it goes
as for the coolant.. it seems the exos kit includes one packet of their own additive... dunno what it is... but i think i'll use that for now... mebbe when i drain the system in a year, i'll use some Zerex coolant (i've heard it's the best out there and perfect for watercooling)
as for the water, i can easily obtain both deionized or distilled... i've been told that deionized would be better overall due to its near inert properties... less chance of corrosion and growth... we'll see how it goes
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Hrmm. I saw a site that submerged their PC in Transformer oil that they were sent, but I searched google for about 15 minutes and can't find it. If I remeber right, they where able to overclock the PC to insane amounts and the oil never got much over room temperature.Originally posted by Pugsley
well... when i eventually get into water cooling im gonna try and find some of the "oil" that is used to cool transformers and give that a try. But at this rate im never goin to have a use for water cooling since i am air cooling now and my temps stay at 90. And yes its quiet.
If I find it, I'll let you know, I'm still looking