How necessary are Anti-Corrosion agents with mixed metals?

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Ellis_D

Ellis_D

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Jul 20, 2014
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My loop uses a combination of Copper, Brass, Nickel, and Silver (kill coil). I want to use Distilled water for maximum cooling performance but I'm also concerned about harmful interactions between metals. I know mixing Copper and Aluminum is dangerous but I don't know what to think regarding mixing in Nickel and Silver.
 
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rubix_1011
Distilled water provides the best heat transfer. When you start adding solutes to the water, the thermal efficiency drops.

Dyes are fine. It will likely stain tubing, but you are tossing it out eventually anyway. I've never seen dye stain blocks. Coolants can particulate out at high, sustained temps (24/7 Folding, etc) and clog pin matrices in some blocks. Just FYI...this includes some Mayhems.

Brass, copper and nickel are typical watercooling component metals; avoid aluminum. If you have to run aluminum where it comes in contact with water, you'll likely want a coolant that provides anti-corrosive properties, or glycol solutions that are similar to automotive coolants, but less concentrated.
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TheFluffyDog

TheFluffyDog

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Oct 22, 2013
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why not use a different coolant with faster thermal transfer rates? water is good because of capacity, but it doesnt pull heat as fast, so as long as your loop has enough performance to remove then heat from the coolant, the heat capacity of the distilled water will not be beneficial. distilled water has performance benefits when your pump and rads cant remove heat fast enough, this allows the water to hold more of the heat itself inbetween heavy load periods and thus can remove the heat at a later time without dramatically raising the temperature of the loop.
 
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maddogfargo

maddogfargo

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Nov 28, 2006
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Copper + Aluminum is the combo you want to avoid. These 2 metals LOVE to trade ions.

You will still have some ion transfer in the loop you described above, even with distilled water. The metals you are using will have a low corrosion rate. An anti-corrosive will just slow it down. It may allow you to change the coolant after 2 years instead of 1.
 
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Ellis_D

Ellis_D

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Jul 20, 2014
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Or why not go completely copper, or completely aluminum, or completely gold? Obviously using the same metal throughout would be the only sure-fire way to avoid corrosion issues but I'm asking about anti-corrosion measures for mixed metal loops.
 
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S

Saberus

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Aug 23, 2013
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If you're going to have that many metals, anti-corrosion is likely a must. Dissimilar metals can cause galvanic corrosion, if anything ionic gets into the distilled water, as you'll basically create a weak battery.

Another thing to consider is the clearances you have with all the metals. All those metals expand and contract at different rates and temperatures, and that could weaken joints and cause a failure.

I'd consolidate and go with one metal only, and use an anti-microbial agent in the water. Maybe colloidal silver, but I would dig into whether your tubing would galvanize with silver.
 
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Jake Fister

Jake Fister

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Jun 4, 2014
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I don't think thermal expansion would be an issue since you aren't bolting your cold plates together. The difference in temps is so low that it wouldn't really matter anyway. Again, Mayhems makes a good all-around coolant.
 
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Ellis_D

Ellis_D

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Jul 20, 2014
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Do you have an recommendations on a good coolant? I'm currently flushing my system with distilled water and Primochill Sysprep/leak testing it so I have about 6 hours to be convinced not to go with distilled water.
 
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rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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Jan 12, 2007
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Distilled water provides the best heat transfer. When you start adding solutes to the water, the thermal efficiency drops.

Dyes are fine. It will likely stain tubing, but you are tossing it out eventually anyway. I've never seen dye stain blocks. Coolants can particulate out at high, sustained temps (24/7 Folding, etc) and clog pin matrices in some blocks. Just FYI...this includes some Mayhems.

Brass, copper and nickel are typical watercooling component metals; avoid aluminum. If you have to run aluminum where it comes in contact with water, you'll likely want a coolant that provides anti-corrosive properties, or glycol solutions that are similar to automotive coolants, but less concentrated.
 
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