ravensharpless

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So i have been slowly gathering watercooling parts over the past few months and i did a bunch of research all over but i was aparently going to the wrong places because i never saw anyone say that premix coolant was bad. So i bought some Promochill pc pure but i haven't used it yet because now i see that the dye will most likely clog up my system and do bad things. I have already bought a bottle of it as well and some 1/2id 5/8od tygon tubing and 2 anti kink coils as well as the compression fittings. So my question is would it be worth it to go and buy new tubing and stuff to use with distilled water or should i chance it and use the premix coolant?
 
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I've used Primochill Ice (non-conductive) coolant myself. It does stain the inside of water block so I observed when I happened to open my CPU water block. Any other dyes or color additives can also cause this. I attributed this to the chemical reaction between the dye & the metal component of the water block. Besides the stain, I didn't see any sludge build up. Depending on where you buy the coolant, it comes with a color additive of your choice that you can mix with the coolant upon opening & using it (I bought mine at frozencpu.com). If you're worried of the dye will cause clog then don't use the dye & just use the coolant. Pre-mixed coolant are specially formulated to cool your components (with added lubricant, anti corrosion, antimicrobial, etc.). I think it's better than using distilled water.
 
If you're worried of the dye will cause clog then don't use the dye & just use the coolant. Pre-mixed coolant are specially formulated to cool your components (with added lubricant, anti corrosion, antimicrobial, etc.). I think it's better than using distilled water.

A lot of that isn't necessary and can actually reduce the heat conduction of the coolant (very little of the additives are metal...).

If you really want colored coolant, Rubix (one of the gurus around these parts) has mentioned using a small amount of food coloring on several occasions. Might be worth looking into.
 

nolij

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Coolants are no better than distilled. water. 80% or more of the contents of the coolant is distilled water. You can add pt nuke to distilled water or use kill coils. i run distilled with kill coils and im happy. ive used primochill ice and it did leave stains, some gunk, and really wasnt any better. And yes food color is the way to add color to your loop. those dyes can also gunk up in the loop. Dont let the coolant companies fill your head with all the hype that they will do much better than water. Distilled water moves more heat that any of those coolants.
 
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As long as it's not the Norprene type of tubing, you'll be fine. I happened to purchased Norprene first prior to using Feser tube (black). I decided to use Norprene hence it does have an industrial look in it (I don't like the tube to look so flashy). Norprene has a better fitting due to it being so soft but the biggest problem is that it's prone to kinking.

Your build is not overly expensive. It's not like you can't change things piece by piece. Though you're only using a single pump, it's also not like it's not strong enough to move fluids around. You're using a 1/2 ID tube. That's big enough for fluids to pass through. If something gets clogged there then it's the inside of the liquid cooling blocks & not the tubes. By the time it gets clogged (you can always open the blocks & clean it), you're ready to change your PC coz it's quite old. :D

Your worry is unjustified. Don't worry too much. Don't alway listen to what this so called experts in the internet tell you & give you this scientific solutions. Ask a friend or those close to you that tried liquid cooling their PCs.

I learned my lesson before at overclock.net asking some info on Norprene tubing. This so called experts sounds like they've used Norprene & give you different charts of it. I ended up throwing $25 in the garbage plus waiting for several days for my Feser tube order to arrive.
 

rubix_1011

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Don't alway listen to what this so called experts in the internet tell you & give you this scientific solutions. Ask a friend or those close to you that tried liquid cooling their PCs.

I have a different approach to this. I have a few friends who have tried watercooling (Thermaltake Bigwater kits, against my recommendations) and they failed miserably. Their experience has a couple of downfalls- 1) they paid a decent amount for the gear they received, but it was poor quality, leaked and pumps failed 2) these experiences have since led them to completely avoid watercooling and mention that it's a worthless, expensive failure waiting to happen when that isn't true. Asking them for advice on watercooling would provide me either negatively-biased experiences as well as lack of knowledge of where to start (I still can't convince them they were wrong in choosing TT Bigwater kits and they chose to not listen...they are of firm belief all watercooling is what they experienced...when it's far from it)

Unless you have a friend that is knowledgeable with watercooling, asking a buddy who has 'tried it' isn't your best place to start. You also need to be somewhat subjective with information you find on watercooling threads- forums don't discern an expert from a complete idiot, so you want to always double and triple check any claims or information that seem like they don't add up.

I'm still not sure what happened with your choice in tubing, but it didn't seem like it was that bad...or am I missing part of the story?
 
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Most of this pc modding sites in the net have open forum with different so called experts (some kids who sounded like they went to school & got masters degrees on the subject :D). Always trust your instinct. It's best to read about each particular components than always trusting this so called experts.
 

rubix_1011

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Moderator
I agree, but some of that is advertisement or support by people who are directly related to the production or support of a product. I'm not saying that it's 100% true on every forum, nor is it 100% negative, but it's just how marketing works. You are better off on a forum that has a lot of reputable users that have quality, relevant information and knowledge discussions. If you are able to hang out on different forums, you can easily gain some knowledge on bias and content knowledge.
 

We aren't necessarily the best of the best in the world, but to a great degree we know what we are talking about. Additionally, we believe in helping people learn what they want to know and helping them figure out what's best for them on their own (with guidance of course).

I started my build on Overclockers.com and they almost refused to answer my questions and explain things to me. I quickly left that forum and came back here for help. Here, you'd be hard-pressed to find an experienced user who wouldn't explain something you wanted to know about - a majority of our members (especially the experienced ones) are here to contribute, otherwise why are they here?

Many of us also make it a point to provide links to reviews of products and concepts (we were discussing push vs. pull on another thread, and there were plenty of links being thrown around there), and at the very least explain in detail what we do/don't like about a product and explain the pros/cons to it (like the Thermaltake Big Water kits).

Most of this pc modding sites in the net have open forum with different so called experts (some kids who sounded like they went to school & got masters degrees on the subject :D).
Just because we're on a tech forum doesn't mean we don't understand what's going on. Several users around here have industry or educational experience in thermodynamics/thermalhydraulics, chemistry, etc. VERY related fields.



At the end of the day, we're here to help teach. We're not telling you how you should spend your money, but we are making recommendations based on what we know/research/use and what is best for you.

You don't have to believe everything we say, but in my honest opinion you're a bit worse off without it. Very few forums provide this level of support that we do here at Tom's.



I'd skip tygon and go with Primochill LRT. I've used Feser, Tygon and Primo...currently running Primochill LRT and it's the best- cheap, flexible and comes in a lot of colors.
Back on subject, I'd have to agree here. Been running Primochill LRT 1/2" ID 3/4" OD for the last 5-6 months and it's great. Very solid, but bends well without kinks (I've only kinked it once, but it was in an extremely tight space).


Unless you have a friend that is knowledgeable with watercooling, asking a buddy who has 'tried it' isn't your best place to start. You also need to be somewhat subjective with information you find on watercooling threads- forums don't discern an expert from a complete idiot, so you want to always double and triple check any claims or information that seem like they don't add up.
It's also hard to ask a friend when you are that friend that people ask ;)
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
I'm going to agree with everything boiler mentions here...it's pretty encompassing...yes there are forums with many more experienced and technical users, but you often find people that just don't want to help you.

It's also hard to ask a friend when you are that friend that people ask

This is kind of what I was trying to say, but you said it better. :)
 

ravensharpless

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Feb 19, 2010
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I dicited to test it because i didn't think i had enough coolant in the first place and i think that may be true. It is at the moment running and getting the bubles out and the res is almost down to half and i'm out. I know how long to have the tubes and stuff now so ill probly drain it and order the new tubes soon. I thank you all for your help guys. I'v been to alot of forums and you guys hav'e helped me the most. And one last thing, is there a certain way i should clean the parts?
 
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That Primochill coolant is good to use bro just like the other coolants. I don't think it makes any difference not using it & using other brands or distilled water with food dye for that matter. You got all the additives there that makes it a coolant so use it.
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
Not a fan of coolant or premixes in any shape or form. You'll get better performance out of plain, distilled water. There are some links in the WC sticky that cover different fluids and additives as to their performance comparisons. Regardless of what any manufacturer puts on their bottle labels, it isn't going to outperform plain water, unless it comes from NASA and costs $300/liter.
 


If you're sticking with the coolant, add distilled, not just regular bottled water. Other water has a bunch of junk in it that you don't want inside your loop (your loop doesn't have teeth, so it doesn't need fluoride ;)).


That Primochill coolant is good to use bro just like the other coolants. I don't think it makes any difference not using it & using other brands or distilled water with food dye for that matter. You got all the additives there that makes it a coolant so use it.

The thing is that truly good coolants (i.e. "pure" water) don't have as many additives. The best coolant is pure water with a very small addition of anti-microbial additive (PT Nuke or silver killcoil), because there is less stuff in the coolant that prevents the water from absorbing heat from the blocks.
If you plan out your entire build properly, don't take shortcuts or unnecessarily cheap-out, you won't have problems in the loop.

Even Primochill says that their coolant isn't as good as water, and "testing" is generally not a true real-world application/scenario: "Testing has revealed that PC ICE is capable of staying within 2C* of standard water"
http://www.xoxide.com/primoice-nonconductive-fluid-clear.html

Are there mixed metals in your loop (aluminum and copper/nickel)? If not, you don't need a corrosion inhibitor.
Do you want color? Try a few drops of food coloring and/or colored tubing rather than a dye that will stain.


So i decided to go with what i have because it would be wayyy cheaper because the shipping over at frozencpu is crazy
Did you try Amazon? You can usually get a 10 ft. roll of Primochill LRT for $16 and free shipping (US at least). Don't know what size tubing you're running.