DIY water cooling coolant

[Flewis]

Been thinking about this for a bit now. Was wondering whether I could make my own coolant for my WC system. I work in a chemistry lab and have access to pretty much any readily available chemical. Going to clean out and re-tube my loop (can get lab grade tubing for free). I can get very good quality distilled water and ethylene glycol. Anyone have any knowledge of this or ideas of suitable additives for colour or corrosion protection?

Or should i just buy a decent water additive like pentosin G11 etc?

[peterb]

De-ionised water would be pretty good - provided the system is sealed, if not CO2 will slowly dissolve in it and form carbonic acid, which will be mildly corrosive. Would it be corrosive enough to cause a problem on largely plastic components? Probably not, but you could try adding something to make the solution slightly alkaline - sodium bicarbonate perhaps?

But tbh, it is probably simpler to buy a proprietary product, or just use distilled (or de-ionised) water.

[TAKTAK]

Purpose of Coolant

Coolants purpose is A) Help cool the system B) Protect against galvanic corrosion C) Kill microbes or living organisms D) Lubricate the pump.

-While water alone is pretty much the best performing coolant it doesn’t fulfill B and C.
-Anti-algae or anti microbe additives (PT NUKE, Iodine, anti-algae) does part C but not B.
-Antifreeze (AF) is often added to distilled water in 10-20% concentrations because it fulfills all A-D but use 20-25% higher concentration of AF to prevent corrosion when having aluminum in loops but only slightly reduces performance.
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Don’t have to buy Pre- Made Coolant

Don’t buy coolants like Fluid XP, Primochill, MCT, Koolance, Feser, Zalman, Thermaltake, Gigbyte, or MISC brands; You can make you own. Most pre- made coolantsare made of antifreeze, distilled water, packaging, and extra $10-15 tacked on.
DO NOT get FLUID XP, it’s a marketing angle, and it won’t stay conductive forever and can still damage you computer if the setup leaks.
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Making Own Coolant

1) Buy 1 gallon Distilled Water ($1-2).
2) Buy 50/50% AF($8) or Additive (high concentration AF) ($3-$5). Buy 2-3 additive bottles for the future so you don’t have to buy it again.
3) Use 1 liter bottle to mix distilled water with additive per instruction to make coolant. Use 1 gallon bottle to mix water with 50:50AF using 25 oz., 38 oz., 50 oz., and 64 oz. or half AF and half water for 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% concentrations. Mark the bottles as coolant so no one confuses it with juice or Gatorade. Little more than ½ liter or 16 ounces on average are used to fill setups.
4) DON’T USE DRINKING WATER or TAP water , it contains minerals that will speed up corrosion.

Additives To Look At
Pentosin <> Zerex <> HydraX <> Feser <> PetraTech Long Life Red Additive http://www.petrastechshop.com/loliredcoad.html
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Galvanic corrosion

Galvanic corrosion can completely kill performance of water cooling loop and ruin all the parts. So take the proper precautions against it. In water cooling you different metals in contact with each by a liquid medium. Different metals have different galvanic potentials. The most negative potentials are very reactive (Zinc, Magnesium, Aluminum) and the most positive are very inactive and resistant to corrosion (gold, platinum, silver, carbon). WCing parts that contain aluminum, an active metal with negative potential, can corrode. Aluminum is often anodized or plated to help prevent corrosion but if you do use aluminum parts try to use higher concentration of AF and more additive, minimal 20%-25%. The extra concentration of AF will protect against corrosion and not reduce performance that much. Also note barbs, radiators, and pumps and other parts contain nickel plated stainless steel or brass. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion http://www.assda.asn.au/asp/index.asp?pgid=18533

from: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=282232

[Flewis]

Most of the additive are pretty much ethylene glycol. Might make up a solution of 4-5&#37; ethylene glycol in water. Also PT nuke seems commonly used as a biocide but it is just copper sulfate solution, they give a recommended concentration which works out at 8mg per litre which I can easily make up.

My only thought is what I can use as a colour additive, does anyone know what is used in WC coolants to give the colours? (don't really mind what colour but would prefer it over colourless)