[D] Coolants

[Hyydrah]

Anything that has water in it is electrically conductive because any impurities in water cause it to conduct. Even having it exposed to CO2 in the atmosphere means its conductivity increases.

 

As most coolants are water based most coolants are conductive. Feel free to pour coolant over your PC but as long as you don't do it do not tell people that some coolants are not conductive enough to damage components.

Not all water is impure, though, and just because it is technically conductive doesn't make it dangerous to components.

[Ghost]

Not all water is impure, though, and just because it is technically conductive doesn't make it dangerous to components.

Like I said, pour it over your PC and then tell me it isn't conductive, then I can believe you.

[Hyydrah]

Like I said, pour it over your PC and then tell me it isn't conductive, then I can believe you.

I don't have any at hand, but this guy apparently had it happen.

 

Ok , my loop failed once maybe after i ran it without maintaining for several months, it leaked on to my video card nd my pc kept running until i saw the water.. i shut it down cleaned it up waited for it to dry put all back on and it worked... I beleive even if it may picked up copper particles eventually it was not enough for conductivity.

[JordanMac]

i use coolant because as you said ghost the price and availablilty of distilled water is ridiculous. i use xspc uv blue atm in my system although im going to change it soon and i think im gunna go with mayhems pastel blue.

[Hyydrah]

i use coolant becuae as you said ghost the price and availablilty of distilled water is ridiculous. i use xspc uv blue atm in my system although im going to change it soon and i think im gunna go with mayhems pastel blue.

Make sure you choose good tubing for Mayhem's Pastel, I've heard that Primochill Advanced LRT works well with it.

[Ghost]

Make sure you choose good tubing for Mayhem's Pastel, I've heard that Primochill Advanced LRT works well with it.

They very specifically say NOT to use primochill with it.

[Hyydrah]

They very specifically say NOT to use primochill with it.

Primochill has their Pro LRT tubing which is disastrous if used with it, but their Advanced LRT tubing has worked for people here on the forum.

[Hyydrah]

It's due to the plasticizer.

[R4STABAN]

Yeah mick has said publically that they are testing advanced and getting on well with it.

 

The issue with pro is not just leaching imo because mine went bright green ( using red pastel coolant), so it must've been something to do with the anti-microbial coating on the inside of pro lrt.

[Whaler_99]

Well, first off, Mayhems covers their butts by saying not to use Primochill period. Maybe the Advanced LRT though will work out. Just to many issues with M & P to be confident. :) Much easier to use say XSPC tubing or XSPC coolant, EK Coolant, etc and know it will be pretty safe.

 

As for water/coolant - all are conductive, to some degree. Even de-ionized water quickly gathers up ions and becomes conductive. If any "coolant" claims to be non-conductive - they either have in fine print somewhere "until you actually use it" or they just wrong.

Now, here is the tricky part - getting water on a component does not mean instant fry. You can be lucky and have water spill on components to such a degree that it keeps working. Remember, you would need active current to short. 

 

So - water/coolant IS conductive, to some greater or lesser degree. If you have a spill/flood you will many times actually be safe, especially if you get things shut down soon enough. BUT do NOT assume such a spill will be ok. The one time you get careless, pop, that shiny brand new card will be a smoking ruin.

 

Water cooling carries with it a very large risk - if you have a leak you can loose gear. Plan for the worst and more often then not, everything will run perfectly. (unless you overheat your water, stress your acrylic res and pop a seal - but that's another story :) )

 

And please, for the love of all that is decent, do NOT take Ghost up on his offer to soak you computer... :)

 

[zoltan]

Well, first off, Mayhems covers their butts by saying not to use Primochill period. Maybe the Advanced LRT though will work out. Just to many issues with M & P to be confident. :) Much easier to use say XSPC tubing or XSPC coolant, EK Coolant, etc and know it will be pretty safe.

 

As for water/coolant - all are conductive, to some degree. Even de-ionized water quickly gathers up ions and becomes conductive. If any "coolant" claims to be non-conductive - they either have in fine print somewhere "until you actually use it" or they just wrong.

Now, here is the tricky part - getting water on a component does not mean instant fry. You can be lucky and have water spill on components to such a degree that it keeps working. Remember, you would need active current to short. 

 

So - water/coolant IS conductive, to some greater or lesser degree. If you have a spill/flood you will many times actually be safe, especially if you get things shut down soon enough. BUT do NOT assume such a spill will be ok. The one time you get careless, pop, that shiny brand new card will be a smoking ruin.

 

Water cooling carries with it a very large risk - if you have a leak you can loose gear. Plan for the worst and more often then not, everything will run perfectly. (unless you overheat your water, stress your acrylic res and pop a seal - but that's another story :) )

 

And please, for the love of all that is decent, do NOT take Ghost up on his offer to soak you computer... :)

 

+1

 

Water is not H2O in natural form. It's H3O+ and OH- together. Deionised water is H2O, until the bottle is opened. When it's poored, it's mixed with ions in the ambient atmosphere, and it instantly ionises.

 

Whaler is quite right: there is no neutral to alkyne liquid that conducts thermal energy enough to be used for liquid cooling, that doesn't also conduct electrical energy. No pure single compound, no homogenous mixture, no solution, no alloy of liquid metals, it doesn't exist. Mineral oil doesn't conduct electrical energy, but conducts thermal energy very well, but it is often acid and it is a solvent, and it is abbrasive/corrosive, so it will corrode sensitive materials like plastics etc if those are not sealed from oxygen completely. It will also corrode the materials that are taken out of the oil on contact with the air, plastics will fall apart, metals will lose their shine, that is, if you can get the oil off, because it clogs up in all corners and oil creeps in where blood can't.

 

Functional liquid cooling is just an enthusiast thing I guess.

[Shyxlol]

You're still wrong, Even deionised water has H3O+ and OH- in it. Both have the concentration 10^-7 mol/L (in comparison: the concentration of pure water is about 55.56mol/L). But the electrical conductivity of those is neglible.

The deionisation only refers to (or mostly) mineral ions.

 

Water (H2O) "mixes" with CO2 to H2CO3 if you let it "breathe" for to long. But the most conductivity comes from metal/mineral ions.

[FluffyNuggets]

Have you had any issues with the pastel coolant?

I used Mayhems Pastel purple and it was fine at first and then my temps went through the roof. I drained it and used regular distilled water and my temps went back to normal. I may have used too much of the concentrate so that may have been why my temps went bad. 

[bradscoolio]

I've said this many times before and i will continue to say it. In my honest humble opinion, mayhems pastel coolant is the most aesthetically pleasing coolant to me, and when I'm building a loop that's very important.

[Ghost]

Thanks for a great discussion. The new discussion topic has now been posted up: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/19643-d-tubing/