@lynx

[Tormentor]

So wich cools better? Radiator coolent or distilled water?

[tesco]

Originally posted by clocker@1 July 2004 - 00:00
This may come as a shock to you.
Brace yourself.

Not everything you read on the internet is true.

so...you could be lying now? how do i know that your telling truth about water cooling? maybe it was teh other forum that's right, and every other forum (atleast this one) wrong?

[clocker]

Originally posted by Tormentor@30 June 2004 - 22:07
So wich cools better? Radiator coolent or distilled water?

Radiator coolant IS distilled water with antifreeze added.
In a car the ratio is 50/50.
Since our pcs aren't subject to the temperature extremes that our cars are the ratio is about 95/5.
The antifreeze just keeps crap from growing in the water.
You can use all sorts of other stuff instead of antifreeze to do the same thing.

so...you could be lying now? how do i know that your telling truth about water cooling?

Yup.
You don't.

Life's a bitch.

[Super Dude]

Originally posted by clocker@1 July 2004 - 05:00
This may come as a shock to you.
Brace yourself.

Not everything you read on the internet is true.

so...you could be lying now? how do i know that your telling truth about water cooling?

Yup.
You don't.

Life's a bitch.

[Tormentor]

Originally posted by clocker+30 June 2004 - 22:21--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (clocker @ 30 June 2004 - 22:21)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Tormentor@30 June 2004 - 22:07
So wich cools better? Radiator coolent or distilled water?

Radiator coolant IS distilled water with antifreeze added.
In a car the ratio is 50/50.
Since our pcs aren&#39;t subject to the temperature extremes that our cars are the ratio is about 95/5.
The antifreeze just keeps crap from growing in the water.
You can use all sorts of other stuff instead of antifreeze to do the same thing.

so...you could be lying now? how do i know that your telling truth about water cooling?

Yup.
You don&#39;t.

Life&#39;s a bitch. [/b][/quote]
sorry for being a asshole, but can you put that in idiot terms? Please.

[tesco]

Originally posted by Tormentor+1 July 2004 - 00:33--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Tormentor @ 1 July 2004 - 00:33)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Originally posted by clocker@30 June 2004 - 22:21
<!--QuoteBegin-Tormentor

@30 June 2004 - 22:07
So wich cools better? Radiator coolent or distilled water?

Radiator coolant IS distilled water with antifreeze added.
In a car the ratio is 50/50.
Since our pcs aren&#39;t subject to the temperature extremes that our cars are the ratio is about 95/5.
The antifreeze just keeps crap from growing in the water.
You can use all sorts of other stuff instead of antifreeze to do the same thing.

so...you could be lying now? how do i know that your telling truth about water cooling?

Yup.
You don&#39;t.

Life&#39;s a bitch.

sorry for being a asshole, but can you put that in idiot terms? Please. [/b][/quote]
In a car they use half radiator fluid, half water. exactly half of each.

in a computer, they aparantly use 5%radiator fluid, 95% water.

The antifreeze in a computer line keeps crap from growing in water (algae?).

the antifreeze in a car helps teh water from (i think) boiling and (for sure) freezing.

[clocker]

Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@30 June 2004 - 22:37


the antifreeze in a car helps teh water from (i think) boiling and (for sure) freezing.

And ( very importantly these days) the antifreeze also contains anti-corrosives that retards the corrosion you get from the action of water and dissimilar metals ( cast iron in the engine block and aluminum in the radiator).

[tesco]

Originally posted by clocker+1 July 2004 - 00:43--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (clocker @ 1 July 2004 - 00:43)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-ROSSCO_2004@30 June 2004 - 22:37


the antifreeze in a car helps teh water from (i think) boiling and (for sure) freezing.

And ( very importantly these days) the antifreeze also contains anti-corrosives that retards the corrosion you get from the action of water and dissimilar metals ( cast iron in the engine block and aluminum in the radiator). [/b][/quote]
so it does prevent boiling? i wasn&#39;t sure since it is in a sealed environment.

[lynx]

Actually, it&#39;s unusual for the coolant mixture to be 50/50 because it is not necessary in most places, usually it will be 75/25 (water/antifreeze) or 67/33 to keep costs down. It works because it is harder for the water to freeze with things dissolved in it.

A 50/50 mix is not always the best ratio of solvent/solute, it just happens to be for water/antifreeze. Once you go past 50/50 the freezing point of the mixture starts to rise, because it is now antifreeze with water as the solute.

At the other end of the scale the effect is not so pronounced, and it only raises the boiling point by a few degrees. I&#39;ve got a feeling that the optimum mixture is about 60/40, but the difference in boiling point over the range 75/25 to 50/50 is so small as to be irrelevant.

This is true.

All of it.

Maybe.

Btw, my system doesn&#39;t contain distilled water or antifreeze, simply boiled water, an anti-fungal product and a few drops of yellow ink (Epson). I wonder if cyan would have been better.

The main reason for using distilled water is to remove any lime which could fur up your system, or chlorine which attack the metal components. But if you boil the water in a kettle for a few minutes, lime of concentrations which could harm your system will be deposited in the kettle and any chlorine will be driven off.

[lynx]

@clocker, I&#39;ve just read the thread on OCF, perhaps I can throw a few comments in? I think you&#39;ll find some parts back your case, others contradict it.

I&#39;m not going to get into thermodynamics, I think all parties are agreed on that part.

You are certainly right that removing the thermostat in an engine will often cause it to run hotter, and also that race engines have restrictors, but the reasons are not the same.

Firstly race engines, the reason for different sized restrictors is to get the temp "just right". Piston ring gap in race engines is critical to engine efficiency. Too little flow and the engine will overheat, the gap closes and the rings will sieze on the cylinder wall, too much flow and the engine will be overcooled, the gap opens up and you lose too much cylinder pressure for it to run at peak efficiency. However, there is also something of the effect described below.

Secondly, the thermostat in a non-race engine. Obviously the primary function of the thermostat is to directly control water temp by opening and closing a valve. But flow restriction is also important. At the correct speed, water flows all round the engine, but if water flow is too high, it will take a path as directly as possible from the inlet to the outlet. The flow of water around the engine actually drops and the engine temp rises.

So how does that apply to water cooling your computer? Clearly there is no &#39;race engine restrictor&#39; benefit here, we want the temps to be as low as possible. But there may be a point where high flow rates cause parts of the system to receive little or no water movement. However, a lot of this is down to water block and radiator design and I think it is impossible to generalise one way or the other.

I wonder how many more ex-racers frequent forums such as this?