Coolant dye goes clear

[hotbrass]

I used Bitspower blood red dye in my hard line cooling loop.  I hardly ever look at them because they are in the hallway on the other side of the wall from my desk(cuts down on the noise.)  I noticed today that my red coolant is now clear.  Some remnants of red, likely stained in the reservoir, but the rest is clear.

 

Computer runs 24/7.  My other computers that have older cooling systems with the same batch of dye and are all still red.

 

Do all dyes lose their color over time?  Heat?  Or just degrades?  I still have a gallon of dyed water with biocide I mixed about a year ago and it is still dark red.

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, hotbrass said:

I used Bitspower blood red dye in my hard line cooling loop.  I hardly ever look at them because they are in the hallway on the other side of the wall from my desk(cuts down on the noise.)  I noticed today that my red coolant is now clear.  Some remnants of red, likely stained in the reservoir, but the rest is clear.

Computer runs 24/7.  My other computers that have older cooling systems with the same batch of dye and are all still red.

Do all dyes lose their color over time?  Heat?  Or just degrades?  I still have a gallon of dyed water with biocide I mixed about a year ago and it is still dark red.

It sounds like something in the loop caused it to react with the dye. Was the loop properly cleaned and prepped before assembly? 

[hotbrass]

10 hours ago, W-L said:

It sounds like something in the loop caused it to react with the dye. Was the loop properly cleaned and prepped before assembly? 

Yes,  it was properly cleaned and it has been running 24/7 for about 5 months.  The level hasnt changed and there are no leaks.  It just went clear.

 

I am going to drain it this weekend and refill and see what happens next.

[W-L]

3 hours ago, hotbrass said:

Yes,  it was properly cleaned and it has been running 24/7 for about 5 months.  The level hasnt changed and there are no leaks.  It just went clear.

 

I am going to drain it this weekend and refill and see what happens next.

Check your blocks and rads to see if it's coating the insides at all or absorbed into something, that is kind of odd since those dyes are water soluble they shouldn't come back out once they are combined with the distilled water. 

[hotbrass]

39 minutes ago, W-L said:

Check your blocks and rads to see if it's coating the insides at all or absorbed into something, that is kind of odd since those dyes are water soluble they shouldn't come back out once they are combined with the distilled water. 

That is my plan when I take it offline either tonight or tomorrow.

 

I did get a reply from another thread saying that some dyes will degrade from heat.  CPU is running at 40c which is not too hot.  But it is consistent with the load it has.

[W-L]

1 minute ago, hotbrass said:

That is my plan when I take it offline either tonight or tomorrow.

 

I did get a reply from another thread saying that some dyes will degrade from heat.  CPU is running at 40c which is not too hot.  But it is consistent with the load it has.

40C is pretty good for a CPU, the fluid temps though will always be lower than the actual CPU and GPU temps. Some dyes can degrade as they age but usually it consists of a color change and not a complete falling out of the color to where the fluid will be clear. 

[hotbrass]

10 minutes ago, W-L said:

40C is pretty good for a CPU, the fluid temps though will always be lower than the actual CPU and GPU temps. Some dyes can degrade as they age but usually it consists of a color change and not a complete falling out of the color to where the fluid will be clear. 

I agree.  I will admit that I dont look at it often but I have to pass by it about 30 times a day and it is at eye level.  It just surprised me that it is as clear as it is and I didnt notice it getting that way.  But it has rgb lights that are on all the time changing color and that is really all I see.

[W-L]

6 minutes ago, hotbrass said:

I agree.  I will admit that I dont look at it often but I have to pass by it about 30 times a day and it is at eye level.  It just surprised me that it is as clear as it is and I didnt notice it getting that way.  But it has rgb lights that are on all the time changing color and that is really all I see.

What components do you have in the loop, I will say it's a little odd for clear dye to just go clear. 

[hotbrass]

I drained it and the liquid that came out was still red, but very clear.  I flushed a half gallon of distilled water through it and removed the intake on the water block and it was perfectly clean.  Same as the intake on the radiator.  So it looks like the non-staining Bitspower Deep Red Dye just gets clearer with 24/7 usage. I refilled the system with the same fluid I mixed originally and I put the date on a label so I know exactly how long it takes to clear next time. CPU temp is at 42C, but it is 80F in the house right now, 101F outside.

 

It is a mystery, but seems to have done no damage that I can see.

[W-L]

5 minutes ago, hotbrass said:

I drained it and the liquid that came out was still red, but very clear.  I flushed a half gallon of distilled water through it and removed the intake on the water block and it was perfectly clean.  Same as the intake on the radiator.  So it looks like the non-staining Bitspower Deep Red Dye just gets clearer with 24/7 usage. I refilled the system with the same fluid I mixed originally and I put the date on a label so I know exactly how long it takes to clear next time. CPU temp is at 42C, but it is 80F in the house right now, 101F outside.

 

It is a mystery, but seems to have done no damage that I can see.

Don't forget to add a biocide if your just going with distilled water, did your previous fluid have biocide?

 

See if it changes colors again I would look into switching fluids to see if it's the cause. 

[hotbrass]

It has biocide and dye in distilled water.  Nothing special.  I run the fluid in three computers and only the one has gone clear.  But it is the only one that stays on all the time. 

[W-L]

Just now, hotbrass said:

It has biocide and dye in distilled water.  Nothing special.  I run the fluid in three computers and only the one has gone clear.  But it is the only one that stays on all the time. 

Is that biocide your adding in cause the dyes do not contain any biocidal agents. Running the system constantly shouldn't cause the fluid to go clear though. 

[hotbrass]

6 minutes ago, W-L said:

Is that biocide your adding in cause the dyes do not contain any biocidal agents. Running the system constantly shouldn't cause the fluid to go clear though. 

Yes.  Biocide is Petra's Tech Nuke PHN Concentrated Biocide.  Dye is Bitspower Deep Red Dye.  Distilled water is from Walmart.

 

I have not explanation as to why the dye lost its color.  The system is perfectly clean, like new and runs great. All I can figure out is it just degrades with age and use.  RGB lights on it all the time could also have something to do with it but I dont know.  That is why I inquired.  Will see how long it lasts.

[hotbrass]

Well it happened again.  Bitspower Deep Red Dye went clear.  Not sure exactly when.  As I mentioned before I walk by it all the time, I just dont look at it.  My other computers are still running red just fine.

 

So I will try Bitspower UV Laser Green I got in the mail today and see how that turns out.

 

Will drain the system this weekend and fill with fresh fluid and green dye.

 

I have not done any additional research since the last time. But if the green goes clear I will certainly be contacting Bitspower or Titan.  The UV properties will probably stay.

[W-L]

Just now, hotbrass said:

-SNIP-

Since you still have the fluid before you toss it get some PH strips to test the stuff that has gone clear, if there is a large change in PH from the original that is not uncommon for color change or loss of UV effect to occur.

[hotbrass]

Great idea.  I do need some kind of benchmark.  Thanks W-L!

[W-L]

1 minute ago, hotbrass said:

Great idea.  I do need some kind of benchmark.  Thanks W-L!

The hard part at that point if that is the case would be pin pointing the reason for it changing if that is what happened. 

[hotbrass]

13 minutes ago, W-L said:

The hard part at that point if that is the case would be pin pointing the reason for it changing if that is what happened. 

My plan was to go with the same formula different color.  Then change the biocide if I lose color again.  Then change color brand and add biocide.  And so on....

 

My dilemma is that I use the same formula in my other computers with no problem.

 

However I just remembered that the one losing color has a D5 pump.  The others have a different pump.  Otherwise all copper rads and cpu coolers and same fittings.

[W-L]

13 minutes ago, hotbrass said:

My plan was to go with the same formula different color.  Then change the biocide if I lose color again.  Then change color brand and add biocide.  And so on....

My dilemma is that I use the same formula in my other computers with no problem.

However I just remembered that the one losing color has a D5 pump.  The others have a different pump.  Otherwise all copper rads and cpu coolers and same fittings.

The D5 does have stainless in the housing but it shouldn't any issue with copper and such in the loop.