Is an anti corrosive needed in a water cooling loop??

[Stemz]

im going to get a water cooling kit but i wanna make sur ei have all the basics down. ive read that you need a anti corrosive for the water. ive been reading around that if the parts are brass its not needed the only problem is idk what kind of metal is being used in the kit. im going to get a kit form xspc any one know if i will need an anti corrosive or will i be ok??

 

[manofchalk]

Nope, you only need an anti-corrosive if your introducing a galvanically dissimilar metal like Aluminium to the loop. Vast majority of water-cooling equipment use Brass, Copper and Nickel which are all close together on the Galvanic Index and pose little risk of corroding with each other.
Acrylic is a type of plastic, so it wont corrode.

Some reading on the subject
http://martinsliquidlab.org/2012/01/24/corrosion-explored/

 

[Stemz]

i was thinking of getting compression fitting i just gotta make sure they are not aluminum then ??

 

[Stemz]

it also mentioned solder on the radiator fins what is that all about?? that article just got me a lil worried lol the only reason i ask is cuz there are a bunch of diff brands i dont want to get abrand that messes up my system or are all parts made with copper brass or nickle?? ive seen fittings that say chrome im assuming its the finish but what kind of metal is underneath??

 

[manofchalk]

Typically fittings are made of Nickel plated Brass, but yeah just make sure they aren't anything too dissimilar.
If the fittings says its Chrome, its more than likely just an external plating for aesthetics, internally it would be a more typical metal.

The way you put together metal is to solder it, and often Tin is used for that. Admittedly there isnt much you can do about that.

 

[Stemz]

yea i just wanna slow the corrosion down its gonna happen no matter what i do hahaha but 4 years from kno will prob upgrade or something as longs as it lasts that long

 

[toolmaker_03]

Well I have used antifreeze for years, and have had no issues with corrosion in any of my systems as a result, but you can do the same with pure water, but if I was building a loop that used pure water, I would look at getting all copper fittings, radiators, and blocks, if I was going to use only pure water(distilled water) as a coolant.