best coolant

[garett]

in toms latest water cooling article, it mentioned that distilled water is probably the best coolant.

i was thinking about using anti-freeze. would there be any disadvantages to that?

 

[Mnx4]

yes there would be. Distilled water is good because it is pretty inert, more so than regualar water, because regualr water has ions in it (like magnesium, chlorine) which could eventually cause corrosion...Also, using pure antifreeze would corrode everything in the cooling system, because it too is highly corrosive. I hope someone can help me here, but i think you can add something to the antifreeze to make it less corrosive. Btw, the antifreeze should be added to distilled water to actually make the transfer of heat better. Also, there is a product called water wetter which raises the heat transfer capacity of water. I haven't used the stuff, but it doesn't look all that bad to try. Also, distilled water is the best stuff to use because it has a high heat capacity, which means it takes a lot of energy to make it hot. There is only one other naturally occuring substance (translation: cheap to buy) that has a higher heat capacity than water and thats ammonia, which should not be used because a) it smells and b) its a gas. Stick with distilled water, at least as a base substance.

dislaimer: im new to this stuff so if im wrong, just correct me.
Mnx4

Putting the laughter back in to Slaughter.

 

[Boondock_Saint]

Distilled water = Won't short out your system if a leak occurs. It is electrically non-conductive.

:tongue: Have you ever tried cooking an egg on your HSF? Tasty. :tongue:

 

[knowan]

Pure automotive antifreeze is actually an insulator. It does not conduct heat very well at all. In fact adding it to water actually DECREASES the heat transference capacity of the water.

Not so for Water Wetter(tm) which has most of the same properties as antifreeze, but will INCREASE the heat transferance capacity of water (by reducing the surface cohesion of the water). I don't know what pure Water Wetter will work like, but I'm assuming that it needs water mixed with it in order to work.

The main reason for using antifreeze/Water Wetter in water cooling systems is to avoid ion transference between the different metals in your waterblock/Radiator. For instance if you have a copper waterblock and an aluminum rad, the copper ions and aluminum ions will transfer between the two and reduce the efficiency of your heat transference. (It works kinda like electro-plating). This would take a long time to occur, but water blocks should last you for years through many upgrades so it does have a long time to build up.

Finally, the only reason why you should use distilled water is to avoid calcium and lime buildups. Impurities in the water such as calcuim and magnesium can deposit on your waterblock and decrease it's efficiency. If you have hard water then you know what I mean. If your water isn't hard they you don't have to worry.

Distilled water has a higher thermal transference than "impure" water, but not enough to notice (unless your water is really impure or "hard").

Distilled water is also electrically non-conductive, but as soon as it hits the metal in your water block it starts picking up metal ions and "un-distills" itself. If you spring a leak after your system has been running a few weeks it will short out your mobo (assuming your mobo was powered on while wet). Also if you do spring a leak chances are that there's enough dust/etc on your mobo to "un-distill" the water and ZAP. It taked very little impurities to make water conductive.

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Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

 

[garett]

what would be a good mixture ratio for distilled water/water wetter?