Visible Flow Water Cooling

[ArgonautCaptain]

 

I want to be able to see the flow of liquid in my loop. Would it harm anything to put some mineral oil in the water?

[RedWulf]

To check if its flowing or just to look cool?(pun) 

[ArgonautCaptain]

Just to look "cool" haha

[RedWulf]

Ah well I think the only option you have is a "spin" reservoir.

I'm fairly certain oil in a cooling loop is a bad idea, even if it isn't dangerous it would eventually get mixed up(yes it happens, it gets separated into unnoticeable particles in the water) or settle at the top of your reservoir. Your other option is some water dye(same issues but prettier) or light weight particles(terrible for a pc loop).   

[W-L]

4 hours ago, ArgonautCaptain said:

I want to be able to see the flow of liquid in my loop. Would it harm anything to put some mineral oil in the water?

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Well mineral oil would not be a good option since it will eat away at the rubber seals and orings, and as mentioned separate when the loop gets turned off. If you want to see the flow you can get flow meters, but check out Mayhem's Aurora 2 series which has particles in the fluid that give it that flow or moment. Just note that it requires compatible parts for that type of fluid to prevent clogging and was initially designed as a show fluid but the gen 2 series is for longer term use.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/mayhems-aurora-2-concentrate-250ml-red.html

[NoobCase]

Just get a flow meter? 

[ArgonautCaptain]

11 hours ago, W-L said:

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Well mineral oil would not be a good option since it will eat away at the rubber seals and orings, and as mentioned separate when the loop gets turned off. If you want to see the flow you can get flow meters, but check out Mayhem's Aurora 2 series which has particles in the fluid that give it that flow or moment. Just note that it requires compatible parts for that type of fluid to prevent clogging and was initially designed as a show fluid but the gen 2 series is for longer term use.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/mayhems-aurora-2-concentrate-250ml-red.html

I am currently running the Swiftech H240 X2 (http://www.swiftech.com/h240x2.aspx). I honestly don't think the aurora 2 series fluid would be compatible, but how can I know for sure?

[0ld_Chicken]

Aurora 2 is what is in my profile pic 

[W-L]

2 hours ago, ArgonautCaptain said:

I am currently running the Swiftech H240 X2 (http://www.swiftech.com/h240x2.aspx). I honestly don't think the aurora 2 series fluid would be compatible, but how can I know for sure?

Yeah for that unit I'm pretty certain it wouldn't like the Aurora 2 series since it has a fairly compact res/pump system all built into one not to mention the super fine fins of the Apogee HD waterblock. You best bet may be to get a flow meter if you don't want to get new components. 

https://mayhems.co.uk/mayhems-aurora-guide/

 

1 hour ago, 0ld_Chicken said:

Aurora 2 is what is in my profile pic 

Just out of curiosity how has the Aurora 2 fluid been, I've always heard of issues with the first version settling out after 24 hours. 

[0ld_Chicken]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

Yeah for that unit I'm pretty certain it wouldn't like the Aurora 2 series since it has a fairly compact res/pump system all built into one not to mention the super fine fins of the Apogee HD waterblock. You best bet may be to get a flow meter if you don't want to get new components. 

https://mayhems.co.uk/mayhems-aurora-guide/

 

Just out of curiosity how has the Aurora 2 fluid been, I've always heard of issues with the first version settling out after 24 hours. 

it is definitely a picky fluid!  I had settling problems within the month but that was sort of expected since my loop wasn't based around the fluid's flowrate like it should be.  I've changed my set up a bit and am having another go at it now with seperate loops, better rads, less 90°s and seperate pumps/res instead of a pump/res combo.  We'll see if I can't tame the Aurora yet!

[W-L]

8 minutes ago, 0ld_Chicken said:

it is definitely a picky fluid!  I had settling problems within the month but that was sort of expected since my loop wasn't based around the fluid's flowrate like it should be.  I've changed my set up a bit and am having another go at it now with seperate loops, better rads, less 90°s and seperate pumps/res instead of a pump/res combo.  We'll see if I can't tame the Aurora yet!

Yeah I've been eyeing that stuff for a while now, unfortunately I would need to change my res as it's not a compatible one but the look of that fluid looks amazing.  

[0ld_Chicken]

5 minutes ago, W-L said:

Yeah I've been eyeing that stuff for a while now, unfortunately I would need to change my res as it's not a compatible one but the look of that fluid looks amazing.  

if I can ever get this stuff to last more than a couple of months I'll be super excited!  I just got done rebuilding this morning with a green loop for the GPU's and a blue loop for CPU using the seperate booster and x1 instead of the product "aurora 2" so we'll see

[ArgonautCaptain]

On 3/26/2016 at 9:10 PM, W-L said:

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Well mineral oil would not be a good option since it will eat away at the rubber seals and orings, and as mentioned separate when the loop gets turned off. If you want to see the flow you can get flow meters, but check out Mayhem's Aurora 2 series which has particles in the fluid that give it that flow or moment. Just note that it requires compatible parts for that type of fluid to prevent clogging and was initially designed as a show fluid but the gen 2 series is for longer term use.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/mayhems-aurora-2-concentrate-250ml-red.html

Also I tried to look into  mineral oil eating away at seals and I couldn't find anything. Could you cite a source on that please? 

[W-L]

1 minute ago, ArgonautCaptain said:

Also I tried to look into  mineral oil eating away at seals and I couldn't find anything. Could you cite a source on that please? 

It's fairly commonly found in info for mineral oil PC's, Puget here has a lot fo details for everything with mineral oil PC's:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php

 

For mineral oil cooling or where places where minerial oil comes in contact seals need to be compatible with the fluid like neoprene based orings. 

[ArgonautCaptain]

Okay now I see what you're talking about.... I looked into a manual for rubber o rings and found the following list of oils that wouldn't hurt them...

 

Castor Oil
Silicone Oil
Ucon Lubricant 50-HB-100
Ucon Lubricant 50-HB-260
Ucon Lubricant 50-HB-5100
Ucon Lubricant 50-HB55
Ucon Lubricant 50-HB-660
Ucon Lubricant LB-1145
Ucon Lubricant LB-135
Ucon Lubricant LB-285
Ucon Lubricant LB-300X
Ucon Lubricant LB-625
Ucon Lubricant LB-65
Ucon Oil Heat Transfer Fluid 500 (Polyalkalene Glycol)
Ucon Oil LB-385
Ucon Oil LB-400X

 

Could I mix one of them in? 

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, ArgonautCaptain said:

-SNIP-

I wouldn't recommend it since your mixing oil and water in a loop not exactly the best option with the different viscosity and separation when still not to mention how some of those might react with parts of the loop like the tubing. The Aurora 2 stuff would be the best in terms of a fluid as it was designed for long term use in a PC system while giving that flow type effect.

[ArgonautCaptain]

Okay.  Thanks for your help!