BEST watercooler?? I want to piece it together

**matm347** · 07-01-2006

Originally Posted by amd_man2005

No, that is not the case. Auto coolants are non-corrosive as well and do not "attack" plastics and adhesives. I've seen many a people use a bit of antifreeze in their watercooling setup to prevent corrosion, and never have a problem.

Water wetter ate the glue from my reservoir, it literally fell apart in my hands when I changed the tubing up. Luckily, my cpu was unplugged. So yes, some additives aren't good for watercooling.

A quick search told me why.... Taken from here..
http://www.overclockers.com/tips1153/index08.asp

"As we mentioned before, sodium molybdate and tolytriazole are both well-known and effective broad-spectrum corrosion inhibitors. The Siloxane (silicone) polymer is used as a surfactant to lower the surface tension of water and increase its surface wetting ability. So far, so good, but what do those two ethers bring to the mix? Based on their structure, one chemist friend speculated they might be used to increase the boiling point and freezing point of water, but Red Line claims Water-Wetter doesn't significantly do that. What is clear, though, is that they are both small molecule, strong organic solvents, which could have detrimental affects on some plastics. This coincides with reports I have received from people experiencing problems when using Water-Wetter in systems that have Plexiglas (acrylic) reservoirs - significant crack formation and splitting joints. The ethers may also be related to the slimy coating reported by some that builds up on the inside surface of certain types of tubing (?).
I don't mean to be picking on Water-Wetter - I use it only as an example to illustrate the point that most coolant additives are designed for automotive cooling systems and may not be quite as well suited for PC water-cooling applications."

**casecutter** · 07-01-2006

While I do not doubt you, alot of people with acrylic reservoirs have significant cracking issues with any liquids used. I think they just are not meant for this application and should be avoided at all costs. In fact, running no reservoir is the best way to set up your loop. The biggest problem is when you run aluminum and copper parts together. Then you get galvanic corrosion no matter what fluid is used. Combine that with the fact that some people use steel/iron fittings and that is where all the major problems start. I have been running 90% tap water and 10% anti-freeze in my loop for about 8 months now. My liquid is the same color as it was the day I poured it in and my lines are clear as a bell. I added another GPU to my loop so when I had my system open I had a chance to sample it.