Why not use liquid metal in watercooling?

[100manhufg]

I see so many people making watercooling setups with just regular old water. Why don't people use liquid metal? It would theoretically be better.

[Lurick]

It works in small quantities as an interface material but large quantities would make it extremely hard to move and a nightmare to cool. Water is used because it's a great balance of heat capacity and quick transfer of heat as well.

[Theguywhobea]

Even if this was feasible and we had pumps that could pump liquid metal, think how expensive that would probably be to get a couple quarts of the stuff.

[BrinkGG]

1 minute ago, 100manhufg said:

I see so many people making watercooling setups with just regular old water. Why don't people use liquid metal? It would theoretically be better.

Primarily because the effective temperature of LM is not low enough to work in a cooling loop like that. 

Also pumping liquid metal around would be more difficult then water, also it will coat whatever radiator it's running through which means the fins would need to be bigger, also cost of just a small tube of LM from Thermal Grizzly would make a full system more then the cost of another 240mm AIO...

There are a lot reasons why not.  

[KarathKasun]

Liquid metal is not as good as water in many respects.  Its thermal capacity is much lower compared to water.  Its more difficult to pump than water.  it eats other metals very quickly (put any gallium or mercury compound on aluminum).

 

Gallium compounds also solidify at around room temp.

[RainingTacco]

48 minutes ago, 100manhufg said:

I see so many people making watercooling setups with just regular old water. Why don't people use liquid metal? It would theoretically be better.

Viscosity. 

[lewdicrous]

Heat capacity, metal on metal corrosion, viscosity, etc..

Just cause something works well under some conditions, that doesn't mean it's going to work anywhere near as well in other conditions.

[Mick Naughty]

Also not a lot of people use regular old water in their loops. Some can’t afford distilled water so metal would be out of the question. 

[KarathKasun]

7 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

Also not a lot of people use regular old water in their loops. Some can’t afford distilled water so metal would be out of the question. 

WAT.  Distilled water is pennies per gallon.  If they cant afford distilled water, why have they dropped hundreds on custom water?

[Mick Naughty]

25 minutes ago, KarathKasun said:

WAT.  Distilled water is pennies per gallon.  If they cant afford distilled water, why have they dropped hundreds on custom water?

You say that like you have been everywhere on the world. 

[KarathKasun]

40 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

You say that like you have been everywhere on the world. 

Again, the cost of distilled water is much less than the cost of watercooling parts.  You can distill your own water with sunlight and trash if you wanted to.

[Mick Naughty]

19 minutes ago, KarathKasun said:

Again, the cost of distilled water is much less than the cost of watercooling parts.  You can distill your own water with sunlight and trash if you wanted to.

Tell it to the people who complain about the price or availability.

[KarathKasun]

Just now, Mick Naughty said:

Tell it to the people who complain about the price or availability.

Then quit complaining on their behalf?  I have never actually heard that excuse on the internet, anywhere.

[Mick Naughty]

1 minute ago, KarathKasun said:

Then quit complaining on their behalf?  I have never actually heard that excuse on the internet, anywhere.

I wasn't complaining about it. Seen it countless times on this forum.