Scoob
New member
Hey all,
After an interesting conversation with a mate about his loop, I though I'd post here and get some opinions.
His Solution: Halfords pre-mixed Anti-freeze - he swears by it. Yet...
We pulled his loop apart last year, replacing his GTX 480's (x2) with GTX 680's (x3) while draining I noticed a crap load of gunk in the loop, either floating around in chunks or clogging up his blocks. Loop had been up for no more than a year at this point. Needed a lot of cleaning to sort out. He bought a couple of filters to place at certain points to catch any future crap, as well as a flow meter so he could tell if there are any restrictions. He finally filled the loop with fresh Halfords pre-mix anti-freeze.
Fast forward to today and, after a minor leak, he decided to check out the loop. Both filters were badly clogged up, one worse than the other, but the main loop seemed clear thankfully, though blocks were not individually checked this time. He does not test Ph.
He's very happy with the filters and plans to use Halfords pre-mixed anti-freeze again. I think this is a bit daft! My concern is that the restricted flow where the filters were clogged led to very high pressures post-pump causing, or at least contributing to, the leak.
My Solution: EK's own clear pre-mix.
I pulled my loop apart last year, replacing my GTX 570's (x2) with GTX 680's (x2) while draining I noticed nothing but perfectly clear and Ph neutral (tested) coolant. Dismantling and inspecting the blocks saw them all perfectly clean. This loop had been up for about 9 months at this time. After re-assembling, I filled the loop with the same coolant I'd drained, as it'd tested fine as Ph neutral.
Fast forward to today, I visually inspected my loop - no obvious crud in the pipes, flow rates still seem great - indeed I actually popped my pump down from 5 to 3 a little while ago and temps remained unchanged. Sure, I've not pulled it apart, but the coolant still seems to be working well. I did a Ph check and it tests just fine.
So, my friend seems to think I'm wasting my time using "posh" EZ pre-mix coolant and his solution is best. Can't see it personally.
I feel that, if we use the right stuff, our loops should be largely maintenance free & organic growth in the loop shouldn't be an issue. Mine has proven great so far and inspection in the past has shown it to be both clean, and retaining a healthy neutral Ph value.
PC does get used a lot if that has any affect, so the coolant is warmed and pumped around several times a week for a few hours.
So, what experiences, good and bad, have you had with your loops and coolant choices?
Cheers,
Scoob.
After an interesting conversation with a mate about his loop, I though I'd post here and get some opinions.
His Solution: Halfords pre-mixed Anti-freeze - he swears by it. Yet...
We pulled his loop apart last year, replacing his GTX 480's (x2) with GTX 680's (x3) while draining I noticed a crap load of gunk in the loop, either floating around in chunks or clogging up his blocks. Loop had been up for no more than a year at this point. Needed a lot of cleaning to sort out. He bought a couple of filters to place at certain points to catch any future crap, as well as a flow meter so he could tell if there are any restrictions. He finally filled the loop with fresh Halfords pre-mix anti-freeze.
Fast forward to today and, after a minor leak, he decided to check out the loop. Both filters were badly clogged up, one worse than the other, but the main loop seemed clear thankfully, though blocks were not individually checked this time. He does not test Ph.
He's very happy with the filters and plans to use Halfords pre-mixed anti-freeze again. I think this is a bit daft! My concern is that the restricted flow where the filters were clogged led to very high pressures post-pump causing, or at least contributing to, the leak.
My Solution: EK's own clear pre-mix.
I pulled my loop apart last year, replacing my GTX 570's (x2) with GTX 680's (x2) while draining I noticed nothing but perfectly clear and Ph neutral (tested) coolant. Dismantling and inspecting the blocks saw them all perfectly clean. This loop had been up for about 9 months at this time. After re-assembling, I filled the loop with the same coolant I'd drained, as it'd tested fine as Ph neutral.
Fast forward to today, I visually inspected my loop - no obvious crud in the pipes, flow rates still seem great - indeed I actually popped my pump down from 5 to 3 a little while ago and temps remained unchanged. Sure, I've not pulled it apart, but the coolant still seems to be working well. I did a Ph check and it tests just fine.
So, my friend seems to think I'm wasting my time using "posh" EZ pre-mix coolant and his solution is best. Can't see it personally.
I feel that, if we use the right stuff, our loops should be largely maintenance free & organic growth in the loop shouldn't be an issue. Mine has proven great so far and inspection in the past has shown it to be both clean, and retaining a healthy neutral Ph value.
PC does get used a lot if that has any affect, so the coolant is warmed and pumped around several times a week for a few hours.
So, what experiences, good and bad, have you had with your loops and coolant choices?
Cheers,
Scoob.