"Distilled water"

[Cs342]

When people say that the best coolant is distilled water instead of premixed, do they actually mean the distilled water that we drink? Or something else? I've had a couple of mixed answers from friends and just want to double check this here.

[JordanMac]

Distilled water is water that has been evaporated and then condensed in another tank, this removes all impurities from the water so what you have is pure H2O. if your from america Distilled water can be bought in supermarkets, just look for the stuff labelled distilled. don't mistake Di water for distilled water they're not the same thing.

[Cs342]

Distilled water is water that has been evaporated and then condensed in another tank, this removes all impurities from the water so what you have is pure H2O. if your from america Distilled water can be bought in supermarkets, just look for the stuff labelled distilled. don't mistake Di water for distilled water they're not the same thing.

I'm currently not living in America, is the drinking water labelled "distilled" in supermarkets okay for WCing?

[Maskot]

I'm currently not living in America, is the drinking water labelled "distilled" in supermarkets okay for WCing?

Yes, but use antimicrobial additives/silver coil and anti corrosive additives.

[JordanMac]

I'm currently not living in America, is the drinking water labelled "distilled" in supermarkets okay for WCing?

look on the label, if in the ingridients there is anything other than water/aqua/H2O then its not distilled. Even then its not a guarentee that it is distilled. If you really want to be sure some of the major coolant manufacturers sell pure distilled H2O at a high premium though.

[SSOB]

If you don't trust your destilled water always get premix , premix isn't really that bad...

[xeks]

Supermarket distilled + silver kill coil works wonders. I haven't cleaned my loop for...almost a year now and it's still going strong. If you use additives, you don't need a silver kill coil but not sure it will help or hurt using both.

[Cs342]

Supermarket distilled + silver kill coil works wonders. I haven't cleaned my loop for...almost a year now and it's still going strong. If you use additives, you don't need a silver kill coil but not sure it will help or hurt using both.

How would that compare to something like this:

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/accessories/water-additives-coolants/ekoolants/ek-ekoolant-clear-premix-1000ml.html

 

How long will I be able to run this in my loop without having to clean it?

[xeks]

Fluid seems okay, just hard to guess how much you'll need. I believe for my rig I used about 1 gallon or maybe more (Also remember to rinse out your parts with the coolant). It's been said to clean your loop out every 6 months to 1 year. Remember to make sure you set up your loop with the ability to drain it from the bottom of the loop so gravity does most of the work for you.

 

That's why I like using distilled water, it's relatively cheap and available and with a kill coil you rarely need to replace it.

[Cs342]

Fluid seems okay, just hard to guess how much you'll need. I believe for my rig I used about 1 gallon or maybe more (Also remember to rinse out your parts with the coolant). It's been said to clean your loop out every 6 months to 1 year. Remember to make sure you set up your loop with the ability to drain it from the bottom of the loop so gravity does most of the work for you.

 

That's why I like using distilled water, it's relatively cheap and available and with a kill coil you rarely need to replace it.

How much longer would distilled water last compared to a premixed, clear fluid (no dyes).

Also, my pump is placed at the bottom of my case. Is that what you mean by "drain it from the bottom"?

Finally, do you have to order distilled water online or is it available everywhere?

[eXyLe]

I would look for 'demineralised water' as well, just another name used. 

[Cs342]

I would look for 'demineralised water' as well, just another name used. 

At my local supermarket they sell both demineralised and distilled water by the same brand. What's the difference?

[xeks]

In general it's said to flush your system out every 6 months to 1 year, doesn't matter what fluid you're using. Some people are more conservative and do it more often some people wait longer, like myself. For coloring I'd rather use colored tubing vs colored liquid.

 

Pumps are always usually at the bottom but you can use like a Y or T-splitter in your line somewhere to help drain. My res has 3 outlet ports on the bottom which one is plugged, one goes into my pump, and the last one is fitted with a quick disconnect for me to plug in the other end and drain.

 

Distilled water should be available at most big-box supermarkets but I don't know where you live except not in America so I'm unsure if you can get it.

[xeks]

Cs342, on 25 Jul 2013 - 04:29 AM, said:

At my local supermarket they sell both demineralised and distilled water by the same brand. What's the difference?

Demineralized water is the same as Dionized water, don't use it. Distilled is just pure water (h2o) where as demineral/dionized water can still contain charged molecules, algae, viruses, etc.

[Cs342]

In general it's said to flush your system out every 6 months to 1 year, doesn't matter what fluid you're using. Some people are more conservative and do it more often some people wait longer, like myself. For coloring I'd rather use colored tubing vs colored liquid.

 

Pumps are always usually at the bottom but you can use like a Y or T-splitter in your line somewhere to help drain. My res has 3 outlet ports on the bottom which one is plugged, one goes into my pump, and the last one is fitted with a quick disconnect for me to plug in the other end and drain.

 

Distilled water should be available at most big-box supermarkets but I don't know where you live except not in America so I'm unsure if you can get it.

But if you have to take apart all your waterblocks and radiators to clean your loop anyways, what is the point of having a T-splitter? You will still have to dismantle everything

[xeks]

But if you have to take apart all your waterblocks and radiators to clean your loop anyways, what is the point of having a T-splitter? You will still have to dismantle everything

 

You don't have to dismantle anything. Essentially all you have to do is drain the loop some how, refill your loop. You can refill, run a few cycles through the pump, re-drain, and refill if you want to be thorough. If your loop was built pretty clean, eg rinsing out all your parts thoroughly with either distilled water or the coolant, you shouldn't have any bits inside to worry about and can just drain and refill as I will be doing in the next few months. Having an easy way to drain and refill will make your life a lot easier; I use the extra port on the res to drain and a y-splitter on top behind everything to help fill. No need to ever disconnect any tubing or fiddle with a funnel inside my rig with a squeeze bottle.

[Cs342]

You don't have to dismantle anything. Essentially all you have to do is drain the loop some how, refill your loop. You can refill, run a few cycles through the pump, re-drain, and refill if you want to be thorough. If your loop was built pretty clean, eg rinsing out all your parts thoroughly with either distilled water or the coolant, you shouldn't have any bits inside to worry about and can just drain and refill as I will be doing in the next few months. Having an easy way to drain and refill will make your life a lot easier; I use the extra port on the res to drain and a y-splitter on top behind everything to help fill. No need to ever disconnect any tubing or fiddle with a funnel inside my rig with a squeeze bottle.

So you NEVER have to take apart your loop?!! 

[xeks]

Unless you're changing your tubing, replacing parts, or adding parts...no.

[Cs342]

Unless you're changing your tubing, replacing parts, or adding parts...no.

Then how come lots of maintenance guides say to take apart the entire loop to clean each component?

[xeks]

I don't know which guides you've been reading but I don't see why you'd have to unless you've really messed up somewhere. 

[Cs342]

I don't know which guides you've been reading but I don't see why you'd have to unless you've really messed up somewhere. 

Wow this is a huge relief - it means I don't have to completely disassemble my entire loop every 6 months :D I guess from now on I'm only going to do that when I'm actually upgrading something in the loop. Thanks

 

Would this be considered distilled water?

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=34086

 

If so, could you recommend some products from Performance-PCs that I could add to it? I've heard that you need to add "kill coils" and biocide, as well as "antifreeze"

[xeks]

Honestly if you can get regular distilled water from the market it will save you a lot of money since it costs like a few dollars vs almost ten. Just add some biocide from mayhem or a silver kill coil. You don't need antifreeze since I doubt it's subzero in your room.

I'll look around the site in the morning and get back to you, bed time for me. =)

[Cs342]

Honestly if you can get regular distilled water from the market it will save you a lot of money since it costs like a few dollars vs almost ten. Just add some biocide from mayhem or a silver kill coil. You don't need antifreeze since I doubt it's subzero in your room. I'll look around the site in the morning and get back to you, bed time for me. =)

Thanks for the help I'm just not sure if the distilled water from my supermarket is ACTUALLY distilled water.

[xeks]

Take a picture of it next time you shop and post it. Distilled water is pretty much exactly the same everywhere especially if the supermarket is a chain and has branded it to their label.

[Cs342]

Take a picture of it next time you shop and post it. Distilled water is pretty much exactly the same everywhere especially if the supermarket is a chain and has branded it to their label.

Can you take a look at this and let me know? Thanks so much

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watsons_Water