Question Is there a consensus 'best' coolant for a custom loop?

[Imacflier]

Hi, Guys,

Is there a 'best', least troublesome, coolant for an all copper, nickel, petg, and POM custom loop? Preferably premix, with biocide and anti-corrosion?

Oh, and RED!

TIA

Larry

 

[USAFRet]

Specifically and in detail, why a custom loop?

(and "because I want to" is also a valid response)

 

[Imacflier]

Primarily: I am implementing an RTX 3080 Waterforce which makes one mandatory.

Additionally: Because it is quieter than aircoolers of similar cooling capacity, AND I have all the parts, AND, finally, because I had a very bad experience with an AIO leaking.

Larry

 

[faalin]

I did a red loop once before, be warned it will stain your parts. No matter how many times i tried to flush the radiators i could not get the color out, running distilled water it would turn it pink. I ran XSPC ECX Ultra concentrate coolant blood red, note you should drain, clean, and refill the loop every year. Most will just run distilled water with PT Nuke but i would also drop in a silver kill coil as well.

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[Eximo]

I don't think there is much consensus on colored pre-mix coolants. They all have eventually drop out and potential clogging issues. Drop out meaning the pigment eventually settles or gets stuck in blocks and fittings. Clear red coolant usually ends up looking pink. The common solution there is to get transparent red tubes.

Distilled water, kill coil and a biocide additive is all I have ever used. No issues.

 

[Imacflier]

but i would also drop in a silver kill coil as well.

From what I have been reading, silver causes corrosion with any nickel in a loop?

Larry

 

[Imacflier]

The common solution there is to get transparent red tubes.

Now THAT is a very clever idea....now I just have to find actual 5/8 OD/1/2 ID red petg tubing.

Thanks!

Larry

 

[faalin]

I custom water cooled for Pentium 4 up until i bought my 8700k and only used copper blocks, never splurged for nickel blocks.

 

[faalin]

Now THAT is a very clever idea....now I just have to find actual 5/8 OD/1/2 ID red petg tubing.

Thanks!

Larry

or do all your bends, then paint them with a candy apple red paint.

 

[Eximo]

The nickel plating doesn't generally last at the fast moving places and corners anyway. Mostly there to prevent the copper from getting that oxidized look on the outside.

Regardless, there will always be some galvanic corrosion. Even between grades of copper, nickel, and brass. Unless you buy all your parts from a single supplier, at the same time, something is going to corrode. Nickel is there to be somewhat sacrificial.

Appearance vs functionality is the way I look at it.

 

[Imacflier]

or do all your bends, then paint them with a candy apple red paint.

Holy Mackerel! You have found a way to make a custom loop even more of a pain!

Larry

 

[Imacflier]

Eximo

"Appearance vs functionality is the way I look at it"

I think we have a winner (But I am gonna research the galvanic corrosion issue a bit more)

Larry

 

[Eximo]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/utxYBOICeuU/maxresdefault.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Evab4rhd48I/sddefault.jpg

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=ht...bp&s=9b7ad3823a238b3490ea65d5a03aaa94a10c7021

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=ht...bp&s=74144efc8d5d8f81404c1201008f9fd891fab09d

You can search around and find as many stories. EK posts a lot about saying not to use silver with their nickel plated parts, but at the same time they plug their coolants.

Others say that EK uses thin nickel plating, which I think has to be true regardless. Can't be that thick to start with.

But wherever there is a defect in the plating is where corrosion will start. And that is generally going to be around the actual chill plate skiving/machining. And as you can see from the images, corners.

I have some quite old copper blocks, and while they are quite dark on the inside, they are still nice and copper shiny on the outside. Didn't use my Bykski block long enough for anything to happen to it. And the EK is still live. Of course EK is kind of gone now, and Alphacool, my other go to, seems to be perpetually out of stock lately.

 

[Paperdoc]

I trained in Physical Chemistry but I will not go into detail on Electrochemistry. Bottom line is that ANY time you have a system with two metals even slightly different AND with some electrically conductive connection between them, you WILL see Galvanic Cell Corrosion. On any custom loop you are VERY likely to have that electrical connection because most components are fastened to the metal case somehow. The RATE of corrosion and metal loss certainly depends on how much difference there is between the metals (quantified by the Standard Electrode Potential of each metal), so two different "versions" (e.g., alloy mixes) of the "same" metal may have a small difference, but still SOME potential for slow corrosion. That is why using a solution that includes a corrosion inhibitor is better than absolutely clean distilled water. And inhibitors for biological growth are advised because NO system is entirely sterile.

I worked in the pulp and paper industry, where aggressive chemicals are common and so a LOT of equipment and pipes are made of Stainless Steel. BUT sometimes more than one grade of Stainless Steel is used, and too often they items are fastened together with mild steel bolts. Then people are surprised because "everyone KNOWS that Stainless Steel does NOT corrode!" But those bolts do!

 

[Imacflier]

WOW!!!

Thanks, All!!

What a BUNCH of great posts!

Now: on a very cursory search I was unable to locate any colored PETG tubing. I found acrylic, but not PETG. Not even McMasters lists any. Do any of you all know of a source? I am dreading the thought of dealing with the brittleness of acrylic, so unless there is a source I will probably give up and use colored coolant.

(Heading off to test Ms. Google's searching power again)

Larry

 

[Eximo]

This stuff?

https://www.performance-pcs.com/pro...-1-2-x-5-8-36-4-pack-blood-red-petg-1258-4-br