Regular car coolant for PC - Page 2

Mixed with swiftech hydrx or pt nuke

IT will work, but you don't need the added properties.


There's certain conditions, listed below, that an automobile engine has to deal with that a PC never does. To combat these conditions, and prevent certain engine damage, we mix(Usually 50:50) Ethyl Glycol, active ingredient in Antifreeze, with distilled water.


1. Operation well below 0C(Or 0F in most areas of the US. Cold cold).
2. Operating tempratures of 180-220F, not 90-125F.
3. Suspension of possible leaked-in oil and gasoline.
4. Believe it or not, but it also lubricates the impellor of the water pump.
5. Anti-corrosion.


It is used in engines, instead of straight water, because of those unique conditions and how it combats them. A combination of pressure and the ethyl glycol inside the antifreeze keeps the coolant from boiling at high engine temps(Some car engines are designed to run at 220F, above boiling point for water. Susposedly good for emissions :\\). It also has to prevent the water from freezing and blowing the side of your engine apart(Remember: Frozen water = bigger volume and solid aluminum/iron = not expanding to compensate.). No water-cooled PC I can think of has to deal with these kinds of extremes(Not even a Prescott, tho I might run a slight mix of antifreeze if I was highly OC'ing a Prescy or Pressler), so it's a waste to use it, and the pumps used in PC loops are designed to not need the lubricative properties of the antifreeze. Now, if you hang your PC's rad out the window, it might be beneficial to run a low mixture, probably 10% antifreeze, for the anti-freezing properties, but remember that PC cooling loops are primarily rubber tubing and more often than not have free space in the res. The water has somewhere to expand to...



Basically, altho it won't hurt anything, there's no real reason to do it...
Edited by TestECull - 10/24/08 at 4:08pm

im using the "yellow" automotive antifreeze outta a premix 50/50 container. seems to work ok, and i didnt really notice any temp rises.

btw, out of sheer stupidity i added regular ol' well water to the system back when it was just distilled water and it needed to be topped off. weeks later when my cpu and cpu rose to 100 deg C i realized i had a nice layer of white nappy stuff inside that had completely clogged a water block and then boiled the water off.

+1 for nvidia and amd for not actually frying, but damnit that was scary LOL

will coolwhip work?

no but "I can't believe its not butter" will

Been using a 6:1 ratio of tap water and Peak antifreeze for over two years... No problems.

'Well water' contains alot of lime and rust which isn't good. At least the tap water here isn't hard like that. I opened my block up last month and it looked as new inside as it did when I bought it.

Unless you are putting your liquid cooling loop outside your house and the air temp out there gets below 32F ... why bother?

It is a perfectly fine idea that will work without problems for years at a time if mixed correctly - I've been using auto coolant mixed with distilled water for almost a decade and would recommend it to anyone.

I buy 50:50 premixed auto coolant (it's basically Ethylene Glycol + corrosion inhibitors mixed with distilled water), and then I dilute it down further, by mixing it 50:50 with distilled water.

I always feel sorry for those ppl suffering from plasticiser buildup, staining, algae, gunk and corrosion - because I have never had a problem with any of it.

As for temp difference - it is not as large as some make out - it's been tested before and was found to average only 2C higher then straight distilled water - and I am more then happy to take a ~2C temp hit, considering the minimal maintenance and the added benefits of none of the usual problems (as I mentioned above) that others seems to have.

My current build has been running the same auto coolant / distilled water mix since January 2012 and I've not had to do anything to the loop since then and it still looks as clean and vibrant as it was back in January.

It's hard to take a picture showing just how vibrant it still is, but if you look closely you can see the color is still vibrant, the coolant is still transparent and the tubing is clear/clean:




That is good old auto coolant and distilled water inside clear tubing
Edited by un-nefer - 9/3/12 at 9:28am

Have you seen Redline Water Wetter. I would use this before Preston/Peak It is safe With Aluminum, Cooper, Brass, And Bronze. Mix with distled or Deionized water. I have not tried it but I thought about it.
http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10

WaterWetter®
Unique agent for cooling systems that doubles the wetting ability of water
Rust and corrosion protection allows for use of straight water in racing or reduced antifreeze levels in warm climates
Improves heat transfer and reduces cylinder head temperature
May allow more spark advance for increase power and efficiency
Use one bottle for most passenger cars and light trucks, treats 3 to 5 gallons or 13.2 to 15.9 liters. Vehicles with larger cooling systems should use two bottles. Small cooling systems should use 1oz (3 to 4 capfuls) per quart
Compatible with new or used antifreeze (including DEX-COOLTM and long-life versions) to improve the heat transfer of ethylene and propylene glycol systems
Satisfies ASTM D2570 and ASTM D1384 corrosion tests for glycol-based antifreezes

ABOUT RED LINE WATERWETTER® COOLANT ADDITIVES
Reduces or eliminates bubbles or vapor barrier that form on hot metal surfaces to reduce coolant temperatures by up to 20°
Superior heat transfer properties compared to glycol-based antifreeze
Compatible with new or used antifreeze (including DEX-COOL and long-life versions) to improve the heat transfer of ethylene and propylene glycol systems
Improves heat transfer and reduces cylinder head temperature
Designed for use with all modern aluminum, cast iron, copper, brass and bronze cooling systems
Cleans and lubricates water pump seals
Reduces cavitation and complexes with hard water to reduce scaling
Does not lower cooling system below the thermostatically-controlled temperature

Or:
Be Cool
http://becool.com/coolant

many years ago I used a little wtaerwetter in the loop - but that was only because I had it in the garage for use with my cars. The cost of waterwetter just to use in a loop makes it an expensive option and not worth the it.

Almost all brand-name auto coolants have the same anti-corrosion additives in them now anyway, and the temp improvement inside a PC watercooling loop is almost insignificant and definitely not worth the extra cost.

As I said in my previous post - some cheap premixed Ethylene Glycol based auto coolant, that has anti-corrosion additives in it already, mixed down/diluted further with distilled water at 50:50 is all you will need.

The only time I could imaging someone needing that extra ~2C improvement that straight distilled water offers, is if they were doing a bunch of watercooled benchmarks on the edge of stability - and those people will drop their overclocks down a little after benchmarking anyway, and the ~2C better temps of straight distilled water will not be a factor for their system's stability then anyway.

And as I also mentioned, once you consider the extra maintenance and all the problemsand extra maintenance associated with just distilled water and additives (dyes, silver, ptnuke or other biocides), the simple and cheap auto coolant option always ends up being the better option IMO.