Testing PETG with Ethylene Glycol based coolant.

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The last thread I posted was about how PETG did not react with UV LEDs or Cathodes after a year despite what many users claimed would have "turned yellow" or "become brittle" over time. This WILL happen under sunlight, but not UV lights.

 

Anyway, the most wide-known rumor is that any glycol based coolant SHOULD NOT be used with PETG tubing. Even Primochills website shows a warning in regards to this. However, Nanoxia claims their coolant WILL be OK with PETG even though it's a ethylene glycol based coolant. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've placed 1 PETG tube in a glass jar with this coolant, and will report back in a few months if the PETG tubing has been changed in any way. I have no idea what's going to happen. Also as a note, this coolant had small white flakes in it...

 

 

That is a very good question. While there seems to be some people concerned with using "ethylene glycol" with PETG, there is no reason to worry about that.Ethylene Glycol is one of the components used in making PETG, and is safe to use with PETG.Let us know if you have any other questions.Carlos M. | Eagle Tech USA Customer CareOur Brands: Nanoxia USA | Arion Legacy | Neptor | Ineo

[Enderman]

its not a rumour

its a widely known fact about how the chemicals react

 

the problem is that people started to use it for watercooling without knowing this

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its not a rumour

its a widely known fact about how the chemicals react

 

the problem is that people started to use it for watercooling without knowing this

 

The reaction is most likely really slow, but Nanoxia claims it will do nothing so who knows. No one seems to have actually tested this. It's all just repetition.

[brandishwar]

The reaction is most likely really slow, but Nanoxia claims it will do nothing so who knows. No one seems to have actually tested this. It's all just repetition.

It's been tested. The chemical resistance of Polyethylene Teraphthalate, glycol-modified (PETG), with ethylene glycol (also called ethane-diol) is known. They are not compatible. EG will break down PETG. Nalgene Labware classifies the interaction of PETG and ethylene glycol at just 20C at "Some effect after 7 days of exposure", and at 50C says "Immediate damage may occur. Not recommended for continuous use."

And since the coolant in water cooling loops can get into the 40s Celsius, and we can deduce from the data that the interaction only gets worse as temperature goes up, putting a loop under load tubed with PETG and cooled with ethylene glycol, you are risking your loop. How fast the PETG will deteriorate will depend on several factors, including the concentration of ethylene glycol. But the fact the two interact at all is why PrimoChill says to not use it, and will void your warranty if you did use ethylene glycol coolant with their tubing.

Instead stick to propylene glycol based coolants (also called propane diol) or glycerol-based coolants (Mayhem's X1, for example) if you're using PETG. I cannot find any data on whether acrylic (PMMA) is affected, and the report I linked above lists it as no data available.

[airdeano]

Instead stick to propylene glycol based coolants (also called propane diol) or glycerol-based coolants (Mayhem's X1, for example) if you're using PETG. I cannot find any data on whether acrylic (PMMA) is affected, and the report I linked above lists it as no data available.

 

wasn't the XT1 that is glycol based, not the X1 (vegetable extracts)?

[brandishwar]

wasn't the XT1 that is glycol based, not the X1 (vegetable extracts)?

According to Mayhem's MSDS sheets, XT-1 is based on ethylene glycol, and the X1 and pastels are based on glycerol, as opposed to glycols, and is derived from plants. Note that glycerine and glycerol are the same thing, and other sources I've found show glycerol to not be reactive with PETG.

[airdeano]

thanks for the clarification!

[Paul46946]

after reading this thread (first return from google) i emailed this query to watercoolinguk this is there brilliant response:(hope this helps other like it did me)

There are a hell of alot of conflicting information in our industry regarding Glycol and PETG, first off what you have probably seen is a chart of chemicals that react with each other and Glycol and PETG overlap meaning there is an issue.
Secondly, this chart and all other information are based around 100% neat Ethylene Glycol and PETG.. There is no coolant sold in our industry that has over 30% Glycol in it, so testing on this chart indicates an issue spanning use over 1 year, divide that by 3 to be safe, so 3 years would be fine with this setup.
If you wanted to avoid Glycol all together than look up the XSPC EC6 which is based on a none toxic blend of refined vegetable extract, this is an industry proven products which we've sold for over 9 years now.
If you wanted to go for a weak Glycol then you can look at the Liquid.cool CFX which is 15% glycol, but also contains a DETOX additive, meaning it's not aggressive towards plastics and other things.

Kind Regards
Customer Service
WCUK Online
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk

 

[JamesTheGreat]

http://sevierlab.vet.cornell.edu/resources/Chemical-Resistance-Chart-Detail.pdf

 

SHOWS NO REACTIONS BETWEEN GLYCOL AND PETG!!!!

 

[andrewmp6]

I had this talk with Daniel the owner is ufo technologies,He said hes run 40 to 50 different coolants with Glycol in them through PETG and nothing bad has happened yet.