# Coolant suggestions?



## AddSub (Sep 28, 2007)

I'm about to purge my coolant after about seven months of operation. I had a 80% water & 20% anti-freeze mix. Interestingly enough I noticed about 25% to 30% of coolant is gone after all this time. I have no leaks anywhere and I'm sure any leaks would manifest themselves in more _interesting_ ways by now. Anywho, anyone have any suggestions for coolant? (Please, no BS-ing, like beer, urine, etc)


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## keakar (Sep 28, 2007)

it may have just been bubbles worked there way out of the system. water evaporates naturally so thats a probability of where it went, also hot water evaporates faster due to the heat.

i say just get some of that premixed antifreeze or mix 50/50%

a 50/50 mix is what they found worked best for temperature transfer in cars so it should be at least that strength.


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## SK-1 (Sep 28, 2007)

keakar said:


> it may have just been bubbles worked there way out of the system. water evaporates naturally so thats a probability of where it went, also hot water evaporates faster due to the heat.
> 
> i say just get some of that premixed antifreeze or mix 50/50%
> 
> a 50/50 mix is what they found worked best for temperature transfer in cars so it should be at least that strength.



Evaporation in a closed system??


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## panchoman (Sep 28, 2007)

fluidxp+ ultra all the way baby! its non conduvtive but uv reactive 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6...Midnight_Blue.html?tl=g30c103s184&id=ofvYTx5P


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## d44ve (Sep 28, 2007)

Fluid XP is good... but still conductive. I dont care what they say, it is.... you have to be careful with it. As of yet, I have not found any truly non conductive coolent and trust me, I have tried many.


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## panchoman (Sep 28, 2007)

d44ve said:


> Fluid XP is good... but still conductive. I dont care what they say, it is.... you have to be careful with it. As of yet, I have not found any truly non conductive coolent and trust me, I have tried many.



http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5...id_32_oz_-_Invisible_Blue.html?tl=g30c103s184

they bath the system in primochill and it still works... non conductive is easy, just take a thin oil and its non conductive. people use tanks for their system and they fill it with cooking oil, its not a bad means of cooling.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

SK-1 said:


> Evaporation in a closed system??



forgive my lack of knowledge about water systems but i was under the impression the system was vented to release any trapped air from the system. i wasnt aware this was done manually and the system is kept sealed at all times.


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## DaMulta (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5...id_32_oz_-_Invisible_Blue.html?tl=g30c103s184
> 
> they bath the system in primochill and it still works... non conductive is easy, just take a thin oil and its non conductive. people use tanks for their system and they fill it with cooking oil, its not a bad means of cooling.



That's what I'm using...seems good


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## d44ve (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5...id_32_oz_-_Invisible_Blue.html?tl=g30c103s184
> 
> they bath the system in primochill and it still works... non conductive is easy, just take a thin oil and its non conductive. people use tanks for their system and they fill it with cooking oil, its not a bad means of cooling.





How many tests have you done with it personally?

I have used both Primochill and FluidXP and they BOTH are conductive.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

d44ve said:


> How many tests have you done with it personally?
> 
> I have used both Primochill and FluidXP and they BOTH are conductive.



so what do you say to the video?


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5...id_32_oz_-_Invisible_Blue.html?tl=g30c103s184
> 
> they bath the system in primochill and it still works... non conductive is easy, just take a thin oil and its non conductive. people use tanks for their system and they fill it with cooking oil, its not a bad means of cooling.



anytime you use a thicker liquid you need to remember it will be harder on your pump so always look for thinner fluids when making your choices. just FYI thicker fluids = reduced pump life over time.


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## d44ve (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> so what do you say to the video?





The song sucked


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

http://reviews.pimprig.com/cooling/primochill_pc_ice_coolant.php?page=2

salt mixed with pc ice is slightly conductive, but with with pure primochill, the conductivity is lower then distilled water, its so low that it wont really screw up your system.  as shown on that video.


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## d44ve (Sep 29, 2007)

and I really dont care what the company says. They will put out whatever they can.... 

I know from personal experiance that it is not.

Would you like to make a crappy video with an old PIII for you ?


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## pt (Sep 29, 2007)

feser one 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd7_A9v4K00


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> so what do you say to the video?



wasnt that a pentium 2 system they were using?

whats that say about them even trusting a 2005 computer when they made the 2005 video? 
they must not even trust it to even make a comercial, they gotta use a junk board to test it?


if i saw anyone else, just an objective person besides them doing it in their comercial i might believe it.

if it worked like they said why isnt it a bigger product we should all know about?

i mean if it really is non conductive then a computer completely immersed in this liquid has no more hotspots or cooling issues. bamm the best thing since sliced bread.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

people on other forums have tested it and got it to be less conductive then distilled water. basically you get any sort of dust or anything in a non conductive fluid, its going to be slightly ocnductive, as long as you dont get the very slightly conductive stuff all over your psu or something extremely sensitive like that, you're fine. people have had it spill all over their grafix cards and still have the card working.


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## d44ve (Sep 29, 2007)

keakar said:


> wasnt that a pentium 2 system they were using?
> 
> whats that say about them even trusting a 2005 computer when they made the 2005 video?
> they must not even trust it to even make a comercial, they gotta use a just board to test it?
> ...





thank you... at least not everyone believes that commercials have to tell the truth.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

if it worked like they said why isnt it a bigger product we should all know about?

i mean if it really is non conductive then a computer completely immersed in this liquid has no more hotspots or cooling issues. bamm the best thing since sliced bread.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

keakar said:


> if it worked like they said why isnt it a bigger product we should all know about?
> 
> i mean if it really is non conductive then a computer completely immersed in this liquid has no more hotspots or cooling issues. bamm the best thing since sliced bread.



people immerse their systems in oil and its not a bad method of cooling..


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## d44ve (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> people immerse their systems in oil and its not a bad method of cooling..




correct, thats oil.... big differance. If this worked as advertised people would be using this instead.

Think about it, oil is not very fun to clean up


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## Chewy (Sep 29, 2007)

I would think oil would degrade the thermal paste overtime.. (get in between the hsf) but Im prob not really right lol.. guess you would ned all passive coolers to oil cool your system... its a good idea, just not fun when you want to change a graphics card lol.. I would seal my sata ports elc  ones my dvd rom and hd's were pluged into.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

Chewy said:


> I would think oil would degrade the thermal paste overtime.. (get in between the hsf) but Im prob not really right lol.. guess you would ned all passive coolers to oil cool your system... its a good idea, just not fun when you want to change a graphics card lol.. I would seal my sata ports elc  ones my dvd rom and hd's were pluged into.



slow rpm ports work.. http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/strip_out_the_fans/


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> slow rpm ports work.. http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/strip_out_the_fans/



as you can see, the psu is kept outside because the oil, even being a non conductive substance such as nonconductive coolants will and can get contaminated easily by things such as dust and the dust will add to the conductivity of the fluid, something really sensitive such as the psu was kept seperate.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> people immerse their systems in oil and its not a bad method of cooling..



why dont we see any?

there is no more efficient medium to transfer heat than a fluid immersion system, a solid fluid immersion cooled computer would be able to set world records due to the lack of heat and such a system would be as popular as core 2 duos are but i dont see any???

i believe they are stretching the truth here and they may be resistant to conducting electricity but they are not completely non conductive.

all that being said, any fluid resistant to conductivity is better than one that is not so if it cools good i think it is the best choice "if" and "only if" it is resistant to conducting electricity. it can help with leaks and such to reduce the damage.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

Chewy said:


> I would think oil would degrade the thermal paste overtime.. (get in between the hsf) but Im prob not really right lol..



actually you wouldnt need the thermal paste because the fluid would do that


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## DaMulta (Sep 29, 2007)




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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

fluid immersion doesn't work because the slightest of contamination would be the fluid conductive. as with the oil immersed system, the very sensitive psu has to stay out because the oil would e slightly conductive due to the dust and other contaminations within it that make it slightly conductive. however the conductivity is not as strong as to fry your components.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

this comes from your linked article and explains why this method has problems:



Strip Out The Fans, Add 8 Gallons of Cooking Oil
Frank Völkel
January 9, 2006 06:00

The Important Step Of Sealing The CPU Base


The CPU base must be sealed tight against seeping oil - otherwise there will be problems. To achieve this, the retention module is glued to the heat sink and the motherboard and then additionally made impermeable with silicone. However, this can easily be removed in case you want to change the CPU.
Our initial attempts had shown that the poured oil sporadically led to crashes. The cause was also quickly found: The processor base together with the CPU and the heat sink had to be made impermeable to the liquid. Quite a bit of labor and time are necessary for this, since just like for the case, we first had to use special glue and then silicone. After successful sealing, the system works without a hitch.



We have the following explanation for this phenomenon: On the motherboard in the area of the CPU base, the oil is responsible for increasing the capacitive resistance between the individual wiring. In short, the oil acts as a dielectric material. Since very high frequencies occur on the motherboard, the capacitive resistance goes down. Accordingly, this then influences (or tampers with) the digital signals, particularly in the area of the CPU base. After all, 939 pins are located there in a very tight space.


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## DaMulta (Sep 29, 2007)

The PSU in the tank above has been running for 3 years now.

Lets put it this way ATi_Guy put together his machine(Non of the put stuff in the CPU socket BS)and droped it in the tank with the PSU.

The system has been running for 3 years now. No problems.


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## Wile E (Sep 29, 2007)

d44ve said:


> Fluid XP is good... but still conductive. I dont care what they say, it is.... you have to be careful with it. As of yet, I have not found any truly non conductive coolent and trust me, I have tried many.


Agreed 100%.

And to anyone that thinks Fluid XP is completely non-conductive, I think my Mean Well psu and HD2900XT both beg to differ. It's less conductive, but no where near non-conductive.

I had to tear both items apart, and repeatedly clean them with contact cleaner to get them to work again. Took a couple of days to get them 100% working again.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> fluid immersion doesn't work because the slightest of contamination would be the fluid conductive. as with the oil immersed system, the very sensitive psu has to stay out because the oil would e slightly conductive due to the dust and other contaminations within it that make it slightly conductive. however the conductivity is not as strong as to fry your components.



with all due respect, this is horse hockey lol.

the clip above taken from that article says why that type system wont work. it is signal interference at the cpu.

as for the psu it is nothing but a mobo in its own box and can go under the oil just the same. the reason it doesnt is it is one giant heating element and would quickly begin to boil the oil. dust is tiny particles of dirt and it is not conductive on any planet.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

but i bet that if ati guy was to test his oil, he'd find it slightly conductive just because of the dust and other particles in there, though te conductivity would be enough to fry components, the same goes for fluip xp and other non conductives fluids.


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## DaMulta (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> but i bet that if ati guy was to test his oil, he'd find it slightly conductive just because of the dust and other particles in there, though te conductivity would be enough to fry components, the same goes for fluip xp and other non conductives fluids.



If it was conducive now... why is it still working?


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

DaMulta said:


> If it was conducive now... why is it still working?



its not as conductive to cause problems. its like getting as5 over your mobo, its capactive, but its not strong enough to screw it up. it'll conduct but enough. like jc316 tried to use as5 for the e4300 mod, it was conductive but not conductive enough to make the mod work.


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## Wile E (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> fluid immersion doesn't work because the slightest of contamination would be the fluid conductive. as with the oil immersed system, the very sensitive psu has to stay out because the oil would e slightly conductive due to the dust and other contaminations within it that make it slightly conductive. however the conductivity is not as strong as to fry your components.


While you are correct that over time, contaminates cause conductivity, it takes a bit more to cause harm than you are thinking. Like a LOT of contamination.


EDIT: Which makes you wonder about some stuff. Pure water is non-conductive, but pour water from a tap onto your mobo, and prepare for a fireworks show. Makes you wonder just how much stuff is in tap water.


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## DaMulta (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> its not as conductive to cause problems. its like getting as5 over your mobo, its capactive, but its not strong enough to screw it up. it'll conduct but enough. like jc316 tried to use as5 for the e4300 mod, it was conductive but not conductive enough to make the mod work.



I have fried things with AS5


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

http://www.overclockers.com/articles1028/ gives a good breakdown of how fluipxp compares to other methods of cooling. as i've said all along, its slightly conductive, but not enough to cause major problems if its leaked


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

also i think the dyes make it more conductive.


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## Wile E (Sep 29, 2007)

DaMulta said:


> I have fried things with AS5


Really? I never managed it. Caused issues for me before tho. But cleaning it off solved the problem.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

http://reviews.pcapex.com/cooling/fluidxp_ultra_-_non-conductive_coolant.php?page=print


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## DaMulta (Sep 29, 2007)

Wile E said:


> Really? I never managed it. Caused issues for me before tho. But cleaning it off solved the problem.



Fried a x1600 with some.
I tried cleaning it off, and sticking it in the dishwasher.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

DaMulta said:


> Fried a x1600 with some.
> I tried cleaning it off, and sticking it in the dishwasher.


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## Wile E (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> http://reviews.pcapex.com/cooling/fluidxp_ultra_-_non-conductive_coolant.php?page=print



To be honest, I don't care what that guy's multimeter said. My own experience with Fluid XP tells me it's conductive to some degree. Especially considering my components quit working until all traces of it were removed.


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## Chewy (Sep 29, 2007)

ok so when this fluid xp/ non conductive stuff hits your component with some dust/dirt on it.. it becomes conductive there for is not non-conductive anymore!


 edit: not saying it was originally 100% non cunductive to begin with but I just though of this with my tired mind lol.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

it wont work because the fluid will be capactive, you'll need to clean it off just like as if you got as5 on your mobo. its not conductive enough to fry components, its just capacitive.


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## Wile E (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> it wont work because the fluid will be capactive, you'll need to clean it off just like as if you got as5 on your mobo. its not conductive enough to fry components, its just capacitive.


And in order for it too store a charge, it first has to conduct it. Capacitive means it's conductive, but conductive doesn't necessarily mean it's capacitive.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

Wile E said:


> And in order for it too store a charge, it first has to conduct it. Capacitive means it's conductive, but conductive doesn't necessarily mean it's capacitive.



isn't being capacitive mean that you have low conductivity?


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## Wile E (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> isn't being capacitive mean that you have low conductivity?


No, being capacitive has no effect on the amount of conductivity. All capacitive means is that it stores a small electrical charge. In order to store a charge, it must first conduct it, but the amount it is able to conduct varies by the item/material.


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## sneekypeet (Sep 29, 2007)

hey I got some PC ICE sittin here that was extra from filling my rig....Isnt there a way I could test its conductivity with my DMM?

If so let me know the best setting for it to test and I'll give you a picture of the findings!!!!


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

Wile E said:


> No, being capacitive has no effect on the amount of conductivity. All capacitive means is that it stores a small electrical charge. In order to store a charge, it must first conduct it, but the amount it is able to conduct varies by the item/material.



well we can say that most nonconductive fluids will act as capactive because they are slightly conductive but they wont damage your components.


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## sneekypeet (Sep 29, 2007)

I'll be back in 15-20 mins runnin to wallyworld for TW08 ...let me know what you all think about testing it!


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## Wile E (Sep 29, 2007)

sneekypeet said:


> hey I got some PC ICE sittin here that was extra from filling my rig....Isnt there a way I could test its conductivity with my DMM?
> 
> If so let me know the best setting for it to test and I'll give you a picture of the findings!!!!


All you have to do is set it to read resistance(ohms). I would set it to the .1 or .01 scale, if yours has it.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

Wile E said:


> All you have to do is set it to read resistance(ohms). I would set it to the .1 or .01 scale, if yours has it.



i cant afford a wc system lol, forget the coolant, i think someguy tested xp to be like .698 ohms or something.


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## Wile E (Sep 29, 2007)

Nix, that. I was thinking backwards for a moment. You want to set it to the highest scale. More resistance = less conductivity. .698 Ohms is like wire. lol. Think you misread that pancho.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

Wile E said:


> Nix, that. I was thinking backwards for a moment. You want to set it to the highest scale. More resistance = less conductivity. .698 Ohms is like wire. lol. Think you misread that pancho.



yeah i think i did, wait i think it was .698 was for distilled water and like 2.9 something for flupxp, idk lol,


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## sneekypeet (Sep 29, 2007)

Well I found something extremely wierd about testing PC ICE. I set DMM to Ohms and touched both points together and DMM went from base reading of 1.000 to .000 which to me means no resistance as it should be. Then I inserted the points into the PC ICE and this is what I forund....it actualy doesnt read at all. I got the initial reading of 1.000 base line(with points submerged) no matter what the DMM was set to. I went through all selections and the only difference was the location of the decimal point. Now if i touch points while submerged I get the .000 reading as well, but pull them apart and DMM goes directly back to Default 1.000 .

Not really sure what to deduce from this at all!!!!!?????


Also just FYI...scale consists of  20M , 2M , 200K , 20K , 2K , 200.  All were tested and got the same results!  I think the reading should have been taken @ 20K which reads 0.00 or @ 2K which reads .000

Also results were tested on a SPERRY DM350-A  digital multimeter


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## AddSub (Sep 29, 2007)

Well, I was at a local MicroCenter last night and they had several coolants on the shelf (2 to be exact). Some Thermaltake UV fluid for like $15(US) and it says on the bottle it must be used with Tt kits only. (Sound like bs to me) Not sure what the other one was (no manufacturer label), but it was a massive bottle (jug really) and pretty expensive. What would be the downside of using distilled water only? 

Keakar, I researched some (Google) and found that most car antifreeze products have plenty of weird chemicals that might be harmful for the pump, tubing, or blocks. (water wetter, etc)

Off topic: Now that I think about it more, I did add/fill-up my system several times over the last seven months of its operation. Every 2 months or so. My coolant seems to evaporate slowly. Since this is my first water setup I figured it was normal. I mean, I couldn't find any leaks or moisture anywhere. In fact my coolant is probably mostly distilled water by now, which I've been adding as the coolant was evaporating. After seven months it can be seen by the color of it too. It used to be red, few months later it was pink, now it’s almost clear. Any ideas?


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

distilled water should only evaporate when its at like 100C. though a regular coolant would be safer in the case that theres a small leak or something cause its not conductive enough to screw up your system and it has a higher evoparting temp then water..


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## intel igent (Sep 29, 2007)

i use a 80/10/10 mix of distilled water, antifreeze and bleach. (<in that order)

been running in my loop for 2+ yrs.

will be taking it apart this upcoming week or the following to make some additions/mods will let you know what the insides look like.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

intel igent said:


> i use a 80/10/10 mix of distilled water, antifreeze and bleach.
> 
> been running in my loop for 2+ yrs.
> 
> will be taking it apart this upcoming week or the following to make some additions/mods will let you know what the insides look like.



bleach  while it protects your system from algae, will it cause corrosion and affect your tubing and stuff?


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

sneekypeet said:


> Well I found something extremely wierd about testing PC ICE. I set DMM to Ohms and touched both points together and DMM went from base reading of 1.000 to .000 which to me means no resistance as it should be. Then I inserted the points into the PC ICE and this is what I forund....it actualy doesnt read at all. I got the initial reading of 1.000 base line(with points submerged) no matter what the DMM was set to. I went through all selections and the only difference was the location of the decimal point. Now if i touch points while submerged I get the .000 reading as well, but pull them apart and DMM goes directly back to Default 1.000 .
> 
> Not really sure what to deduce from this at all!!!!!?????
> 
> ...



the higher the ohms the higher the resistance so if you read no continuity at the highest resistance ohm reading then it should be completely non-conductive. 

what you say then does confirm it is what it says in the video, it should be the product of choice. anyone still doubting it should test it with their own meter to confirm this. 

i am still puzzled why, since this product has been around for a few years, why isnt it a bigger more well known brand? what is the secret to its limited popularity? is it just repackaged crisco oil with color added?

the biggest problem with using oils for your fluid is that viscosity (thickness) changes a lot from one oil to the next. this difference in thickness allows the opportunity for pumps to get overloaded due to thicker liquid being pumped by it than it was intended to use. this doesnt show up right away because all pumps are sturdy but takes its toll over time and causes premature pump failures which often go unrealised and it is assumed it was just a bad or cheap pump when it actually was overworked into failure. a simple test is to first run the pump using water only and check its amp draw with a very accurate amp meter, then replace the water with the fluid or oil you plan on using. if it increased the amps on the pump but if it does then you need to compare fluids to find the one that increased the amp draw the least this will give you the longest lifespan out of any pump you decide use.

as long as the fluid you use is not more than 5% higher amp draw over water then you should not reduce pump life in any real sense. just remember pump failure can be related to the fluid choice.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

lol keaker, i think we're over the conductivity part of it. as we've established, most fluids are usually contaminated and will be slightly capactive if spilled on components. while the theory of the fluids is suppossed to be non conductive, the fluids are very well contaminated before you put em into the loop, infact adding the uv dye bomb will increase your conductivity right there.

anyway, that topic is closed, lets see what the guy has to say.


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## AddSub (Sep 29, 2007)

Guys, I don't care about conductivity. Any ideas?


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

i like the fluidxp, its very thin like water, it looks excellent and its got higher evaporting and freezing points then regular mixtures and its got all the additives included in the bottle.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

AddSub said:


> Guys, I don't care about conductivity. Any ideas?



you mean you want your thread back?   


sorry we stole it from you lol.  

so you just want to know the best fluid hmmmm

sending pm


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## AddSub (Sep 29, 2007)

Yeah. Textbook example of thread hijacking. I go out for a few hours, come back, and the thread has 60+ replies, except most of them have nothing to do with what I posted.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

AddSub said:


> Yeah. Textbook example of thread hijacking. I go out for a few hours, come back, and the thread has 60+ replies, except most of them have nothing to do with what I posted.



yeah lol, so anyway, i suggest fluidxp.


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## AddSub (Sep 29, 2007)

Let me repost what I posted above:

Well, I was at a local MicroCenter last night and they had several coolants on the shelf (2 to be exact). Some Thermaltake UV fluid for like $15(US) and it says on the bottle it must be used with Tt kits only. (Sound like bs to me) Not sure what the other one was (no manufacturer label), but it was a massive bottle (jug really) and pretty expensive. What would be the downside of using distilled water only? 

Keakar, I researched some (Google) and found that most car antifreeze products have plenty of weird chemicals that might be harmful for the pump, tubing, or blocks. (water wetter, etc)

Off topic: Now that I think about it more, I did add/fill-up my system several times over the last seven months of its operation. Every 2 months or so. My coolant seems to evaporate slowly. Since this is my first water setup I figured it was normal. I mean, I couldn't find any leaks or moisture anywhere. In fact my coolant is probably mostly distilled water by now, which I've been adding as the coolant was evaporating. After seven months it can be seen by the color of it too. It used to be red, few months later it was pink, now it’s almost clear. Any ideas?


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

AddSub said:


> Let me repost what I posted above:
> 
> Well, I was at a local MicroCenter last night and they had several coolants on the shelf (2 to be exact). Some Thermaltake UV fluid for like $15(US) and it says on the bottle it must be used with Tt kits only. (Sound like bs to me) Not sure what the other one was (no manufacturer label), but it was a massive bottle (jug really) and pretty expensive. What would be the downside of using distilled water only?
> 
> ...



so the color fading is the antifreeze fading? hmmmmm... i got nothing. ask damulta or something that has a good wcing system.


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

sneekypeet said:


> Well I found something extremely wierd about testing PC ICE. I set DMM to Ohms and touched both points together and DMM went from base reading of 1.000 to .000 which to me means no resistance as it should be. Then I inserted the points into the PC ICE and this is what I forund....it actualy doesnt read at all. I got the initial reading of 1.000 base line(with points submerged) no matter what the DMM was set to. I went through all selections and the only difference was the location of the decimal point. Now if i touch points while submerged I get the .000 reading as well, but pull them apart and DMM goes directly back to Default 1.000 .
> 
> Not really sure what to deduce from this at all!!!!!?????
> 
> ...



so basically you found pc ice to be nonconductive?


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## intel igent (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> bleach  while it protects your system from algae, will it cause corrosion and affect your tubing and stuff?



like i said my loop has been up and running for 2+ yrs running pretty much 24/7 (rarely turn it off) with the same homebrewed coolant, ive only topped up once and it was just to fill my t-line back up! my temps are still pretty much the same (+/-5c) my tubing is primoflex uv blue so the color hasnt changed and the tubing is still structurally sound. its not like im running straight bleach so there really isnt any negative side effects that ive seen.

to the OP: i thought that marketing was a "mo-fo" seems to have worked for you.

if you take your time and dbl chk everything you could leak test/bleed all at once. i did, havent looked back


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

AddSub said:


> Keakar, I researched some (Google) and found that most car antifreeze products have plenty of weird chemicals that might be harmful for the pump, tubing, or blocks. (water wetter, etc)



ok, but the car has the same kinds of tubing pump seals gaskets and metals and shouldnt be corrosive to anything in your system. its just plastic copper and aluminum which is used in cars too. those weird chemicals are what helps to stop corrosion from starting in cars. you should only use what you are confident in no matter what anyone else says. 




AddSub said:


> It used to be red, few months later it was pink, now it’s almost clear. Any ideas?



i see a problem with the red color in that the color red is not easy to see and may be part of why you cant see the leak. try a nice UV florescent green color so a black light will clearly show where the leak is and after the leak is fixed you can go to the color you like.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

panchoman said:


> so basically you found pc ice to be nonconductive?



yep, as far as what he says it tested, it is completely non-conductive.

it will still interfere with signal trafic (crosstalk) so it will make data transfer screwy and computer wont work right until its cleaned up but it does prevent shorting things out if you get a leak. so the bottom line is it is great insurance against a leak. very much better choice than water.


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## keakar (Sep 29, 2007)

keakar said:


> What would be the downside of using distilled water only?



if there was a leak big enough for water to get shorted out it can damage things badly. i recommend looking into a non conductive type of fluid so if you got a leak you wouldnt ruin your computer


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## panchoman (Sep 29, 2007)

keakar said:


> if there was a leak big enough for water to get shorted out it can damage things badly. i recommend looking into a non conductive type of fluid so if you got a leak you wouldnt ruin your computer



yeah, why dont you take the wc system out of the computer and test for leaks. it could be like a pump internal leak or something you know.


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## Wile E (Sep 30, 2007)

I say go home brew. If you build and test your loop properly, Leaks aren't an issue, unless you're flinging your rig around everywhere, or constantly transporting it somewhere. I used a 90/10 mix of distilled water/standard auto coolant. Tried FluidXP the last time around, and it wasn't worth the money, imho.


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## sneekypeet (Sep 30, 2007)

GO WITH BEER!!!


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## AddSub (Sep 30, 2007)

I don't know yet. I might stop by the local MicroCenter again tomorrow if I find the time. I'm pretty sure they had more alternatives on the shelf. If that doesn’t work out I was thinking of filling it up with just distilled water. (It's pretty much distilled water right now anyway.)


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## intel igent (Sep 30, 2007)

AddSub said:


> I don't know yet. I might stop by the local MicroCenter again tomorrow if I find the time. I'm pretty sure they had more alternatives on the shelf. If that doesn’t work out I was thinking of filling it up with just distilled water. (It's pretty much distilled water right now anyway.)



its totally safe to use straight distilled AS LONG as youre not mixing metals.

i would however reccomend using something in there to kill bacteria (for me a little bleach/antifreeze) so you dont have to do so much maintenance.

as a plus straight watter will net the best results


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