Water Cooling Liquid

Y

Yeungster

New member
Although the newbie watercooling sticky is fantastic, I still don't know which liquid to use in my water-cooling set up.

I was originally planning on going for de-ionised or mineral water (90%) & coolant mix (10%), but have been told that it's not that good.

They also said that I will need to make sure that my components don't contain aluminium otherwise it'll react with it.

The main components I have ordered are:

Swiftech MCP655 Pump

Thermochill PA120.3 Rad

D-Tek FuZion CPU block

Do any of these contact aluminium?
 
I have a swiftech MCP600 and D-TECH Fuzion, and I run HydrX coolant in mine... never had a problem. If you don't care for UV just simple de-ionised water and radiator coolant will be fine. If you want UV, then get some Pentosin, FluidXP (if money isn't an object) or Swifty HydrX.

As far as reacting with Aluminium is concerned I wouldn't be concerned. Most fittings are nickel plated and the blocks like your Fuzion contain simple copper with a delrin (plastic) top. Just keep all your fittings (barbs, 'T's etc same) Anyway, the active ingredient in most coolants is Ethyl Glycol which is used everyday within the motoring industry for cooling engine blocks and heads. The majority of which now are made of aluminium. If there were a problem, you'd know about it, but then again some anti-freeze products have been known to cause pitting in aluminium, but they require specific conditions to do so.
 
That's great news! I don't want UV so de-ionised water and coolant mix is the ideal option for me, as I've got that sitting around.

Is there any reason why you went for the Swifty HydrX over everything else?
 
I was running the Swiftech Storm G4 Rev 2 which is an impingement style cpu block. Most UV dyes will cause the impingement jets to clog, and as a result reduce the blocks performance. Swiftech recommended HydrX for the Storm, so I used it and never had a problem with blocked jets.
 
Makes me wonder whether coolant will clog things up too. Guess I'll just keep an eye on the liquid, and if it starts to change in anyway, give the system a clean out. Every 3-6 months sound normal?
 
yeah mate 3-6 months would be fine. Prolly every 6 months, or if you notice a degradation in cooling performance (rise in temps) give it all a good flush with de-ionised water. Although I have seen people flushing their loops out after 2 years with minimal algal growth.
 
name='PV5150' said:
I have a swiftech MCP600 and D-TECH Fuzion, and I run HydrX coolant in mine... never had a problem. If you don't care for UV just simple de-ionised water and radiator coolant will be fine. If you want UV, then get some Pentosin, FluidXP (if money isn't an object) or Swifty HydrX.

As far as reacting with Aluminium is concerned I wouldn't be concerned. Most fittings are nickel plated and the blocks like your Fuzion contain simple copper with a delrin (plastic) top. Just keep all your fittings (barbs, 'T's etc same) Anyway, the active ingredient in most coolants is Ethyl Glycol which is used everyday within the motoring industry for cooling engine blocks and heads. The majority of which now are made of aluminium. If there were a problem, you'd know about it, but then again some anti-freeze products have been known to cause pitting in aluminium, but they require specific conditions to do so.
Click to expand...

FluidXp is not so good at removing heat, this is wht the ppl at XS says, n i have had seen some ppl having problems with this fluid,

i would say some Pentosin with Distilled water will be good to go, in a ratio of 1:10.
 
yeah mate 3-6 months would be fine. Prolly every 6 months, or if you notice a degradation in cooling performance (rise in temps) give it all a good flush with de-ionised water. Although I have seen people flushing their loops out after 2 years with minimal algal growth :D
 
name='ANP !!!' said:
FluidXp is not so good at removing heat, this is wht the ppl at XS says, n i have had seen some ppl having problems with this fluid,

i would say some Pentosin with Distilled water will be good to go, in a ratio of 1:10.
Click to expand...
Yep, I agree and hence the reason I put in XMS's review of FluidXP :rolleyes: - "It cools as good as water". The user asked what coolants could be used, and I gave him that :)
 
I don't suppose there's been a comparison somewhere between different automotive coolants is there?

Thing is I have a lot of bog standard coolant in the garage, that I was originially going to use. Thing is, it's also got antifreeze in it
 
A "coolant mix"/additive such as Zerex or Pentosin offers several benefits, including convenience, but I wouldn't recommend using them unless you really have to. It is pretty toxic after all.

The components you listed will only have brass and copper exposed to water plus the nickel-plated brass barbs that PV mentioned. The nickel plating might tarnish over a long period but I don't think it's serious enough to warrant adding a corrosion protection additive.

A coolant additive lowers the freezing point and increases the boiling point of water. This is great for cars but if you're not chilling your water (and I hope you certainly won't be letting your water temp get near boiling :)) then all you are doing is hurting the ability to conduct heat away from your blocks. Another good article from OC.com

One other benefit of coolant additives is that they act as a biocide and stop algae and other nasty stuff growing. Instead, you can add 1 or 2 drops of an anti-algae from an aquarium shop or even just keep the pH of the water slightly alkaline as many algae prefer acidic conditions. Remember, copper is also a great algaecide and you have plently of that in your loop anyway ;).

So, 95% distilled (or deionised) water / 5% coolant additive if this is easier for you.

OR

100% distilled (or deionised) water (plus some kind of biocide if you are worried about algae growth). Some people use 100% water and don't get any problems.

Oh, and I would avoid using mineral water or tap water.
 
yeah agreed. Fill a large tank with the stuff and drop a 240v mains hair dryer in there and see how well it resists conductivity. Pu55ies
 
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