Which coolant to use?

[Oracle]

I have found this forum of immense help but as most seem experienced I found myself trawling the backlogs for more basic info.

My key question relates to which coolant works best. I'm sure everyone has there own formulation so wondered if there was a clear winner.

I'm new to water cooling and have just received the zalman reserator and gpu block setup. By the way I bought from Quietpc from there B Stock list and all the gear is almost brand new, arrived fast, fully packaged and saved me at least a 1/3 off the retail.

I'm currently planning on filling with a mix of 80% distilled water 20% silkolene pro cool with a few drops of anti algae agent (from aquarium suppliers). I found this mix from one of the posts on this forum and the guy was usind the reserator setup and found no problems afetr a few weeks. he mentioned an update after a few months but I couldn't find anything else on it.

I'm also going to flush the system with a 50/50 listerine water mix running for 30 mins to clean out and will boil/cool the distilled water prior to use.

I originally came across this forum searching for insert fluids like PFX-90, Inertx and FluidXP+ but this stuff seems to either only be available from the States (shipping alone is crippling), been removed from the market or I just can't find it anywhere to buy. I'll pay the extra for the safety if I could locate a good recommended fluid.

A friend is going to continue overclocking the system and X800 so we can see what performance gains are achieved.

If you think that you have anything useful to impart to a water noobie then feel free, knowledge is power as they say.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Hi Oracle, welcome to the boards! :)

I'm not an expert on additives and coolants but here goes! Water is generally the best as it has good performance as well as being cheap and easy to get. Distilled and de-ionised (sp?) are used so you dont get any gunk growing in the water. Most water additives are used as corriosion inhibitors to stop mixed metals in a loop from corroding, and again, filling your loop with gunk.

Other additives, such as water wetter, are supposed to change the viscosity of the water, to aid turbulence and aid cooling. I know i havent described that completly correctly so some one please correct me! I think Zerex racing fluid also does the same.

The other options such as flourinert and FluidXP just offer piece of mind that they are far less likely to damage your components if disaster strikes. As you have found out already they tend to be prohibitivly expensive and hard to come by. Nexxo has some and uses it in his loop so he will be able to give you more info.

I dont know if flushing your loop with listerine is entirely nessecary as just a good rinse with water alone would clear it out sufficently but i doubt it would do any harm either. You definetly dont have to boil your distilled water prior to use as its basically had that done to it already. :)

As for the 80% water 20% silkolene pro mix it sounds a little high. I presume the silkolene pro is the same as water wetter? With most additives its only a tiny amount you put in, just a few drops, but if that mix has been tried and tested i must be wrong :p. I personally use AC fluid which has been great for me. Zerex racing is very highly regarded but isnt readily available in the UK but their might be some suppliers now as i seem to remember seeing it in a forum somewhere.

[Darv]

I don't think there's areal need for fancy coolant. As long as you have built the setup correctly it is unlikely to leak so inert coolant isn't very necessary and it's very expensive. If it was cheaper then it would probably be the best thign to use.


My setup is de-ionized water with ~2% ACFluid (Anti Corrosive)

[fillip]

I know loads of people who use de-ionised water and anti-freeze with no problems. You can buy ready mixed anti-freeze too which should be fine, and comes in nice colours. ^_^

[Oracle]

Thanks Da Rude Baboon and Darv, I will try the distilled water and AC fluid hower at the risk of seeming totally ignorant I am assuming you are referring to any generic anti-corrosion fluid however which brand do you recommend.

I have read that there could be problems with certain types of anti-freeze, most of my basic knowledge came from these two links:

http://www.overclockers.com/articles993/

Water coolant Chemistry - part 1

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1153/

Water coolant Chemistry - part 2

These articles at least gave me an idea of mixture types but I am a little concerned now that you highlighted that my original mixture concentration might be a bit high. I'd still like to hear from others in the form on their experience with mixture brands and concentrations.

How frequently do you change the coolant mixture, if this is dependant on usage I would estimate a daily overall usage of about 3-4 hours.

Once again thanks for your valuable feedback.

[fivecheebs]

Welcome to the forums oracle :)

Other additives, such as water wetter, are supposed to change the viscosity of the water, to aid turbulence and aid cooling. I know i havent described that completly correctly so some one please correct me! I think Zerex racing fluid also does the same.

IIRC, and i am no expert either, water wetter, amongst others, will reduce the surface tension of the water, not the viscocity. It has the same effect though.

Fluid XP is avaliable in this country but i wont link to it here. Its about £30quid for half a litre but its not completely non conductive like flourinert. i.e. it would still be bad if it leaked into the PSU for example.

[Starbuck3733T]

Silkolene is the one additive that I have not used. It may, or may not, be subject to turning into white stringy goop inside your loop.

[fivecheebs]

ewww .... i dont want any white stringy stuff inside my loop! :eek: sounds disgusting lol

[Darv]

AC Fluid is Aqua Computer's own anti corrosive fluid.

[Knipex]

Silkolene is the one additive that I have not used. It may, or may not, be subject to turning into white stringy goop inside your loop.
I use silkolene (its just a generic no toxic antifreeze).

A cap full in my mix running for 2 years and no growth no stringy bits and no corrosion.

[Starbuck3733T]

What type of tubing? any deposits on it?

[Knipex]

Standard aquacomputer tubing...

Zero deposits........

[Oracle]

I'm now fixed with 3 litres of Fluid XP+ on the way, Thanks by the way to 'Agent Orange' for the link. I know I've gone for the safe route but I do plan on experimenting with deionised water and AC fluid too as the long term saving makes it a big draw.

I'll post an update on how things work out, it's my first water cooled project so let's see where this takes me.

This maybe a seperate but linked issue so I'll ask anyway. For an overclocked system that's watercooled has anyone experienced other related problems from heat build up in the case? Am I wrong to assume that without a huge fan the periphery components get a bit walmer or is it the reverse that the main 'hot' components are so well reuglated that the case temeperature is actually less than normal. I was almost tempted to install quiet low rpm fans but opted for norms on the basis of test and see. However again I would welcome experiences. And Ram heat spreaders, case candy or real deal? I've seen measurable reductions on some RAM but this wasn't o/clocked.

[Fibbles]

I used to use Water Wetter, but it often coated the tubing, pump and blocks in a light slick film and made the tubing coudy. I've since switched to AC fluid and haven't had any problems. I also use the Aqua Computer tubing in Plug and Cool fittings. Even after 8 months of use, it's not cloudy, nor are any blocks slick.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

I have lian li PC60 and i replaced all the stock 80mm fans with silent ones. Theres still components that generate plenty of heat in there so it needs the airflow. Also in my set up the rads mounted at the top and 120mm fan sucks air from the case and exahausts outside. Not the optimal configuration but it stops it suking lots of dust into the case.

Knipex you sig cracks me up every time! :lol:

[Fibbles]

I have lian li PC60 and i replaced all the stock 80mm fans with silent ones. Theres still components that generate plenty of heat in there so it needs the airflow. Also in my set up the rads mounted at the top and 120mm fan sucks air from the case and exahausts outside. Not the optimal configuration but it stops it suking lots of dust into the case.


I use all silent fans in my PC75 (but they're 28dba ones, so that's not considered "silent" by some). When I had my single 120mm rad, I was sucking air in from the front of the case. When I switched to my dual 120mm rad, I was using the rad at the top to exhaust the hot air from inside the case, and my temps were the same as with the 120mm only. For my next foray, I'm going to reverse the top fans on the dual rad and see how it betters my temps, if any.

I don't have any growths in my water. I only added a few drops of AC fluid too. This water is only about 4 month old now.